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Christmas in July has arrived. The EA Sports College Football 25 video game is now available for early access. It's been more than 4,000 days since the last version, NCAA Football 2014, was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Since then, we've experienced a global pandemic, two presidential elections and 11 college football national championship games. It's safe to say it's been a while. Time to reminisce about the old game and dive into our initial review of the latest version.
Please note this review was based on the PlayStation 5 version, focused on the Dynasty (offline) and Road To Glory modes and played at an All-American difficulty level.
NCAA Football 2014
The game was released on July 9, 2013, featuring Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson on the cover. Gamers could choose from several modes: Season, Dynasty, Road to Glory and Ultimate Team. Initial reviews were above average, with a 7.4 rating on IGN and a 6 on GameSpot, both declining from the previous year's 8 on IGN and 6.5 on GameSpot. However, the game seemed to age like fine wine, as gamers have been willing to spend hundreds of dollars in recent years to play it.
One of the best examples of the game's increasing popularity was during COVID-19 when Dan Katz ("Big Cat") from Barstool Sports live-streamed himself playing on Twitch. Katz created a fictional character, "Coach Duggs," to coach teams such as Toledo and Tennessee. The Twitch streams averaged more than 32,000 views per game and surpassed 100,000 views for a national championship game.
Dynasty Mode
Whether offline or online, the most popular mode allows you to manage and control a college football team for up to 30 seasons, including game strategy, player development, the transfer portal and recruiting. Players can start as a coordinator on either side of the ball or as the coach. A new feature this year lets you choose your coaching focus: recruiter, motivator or tactician. I decided it was time for a national championship trophy to reside in San Antonio and started my dynasty with the UTSA Roadrunners and selected a recruiting focus for coach Jake Scruggins.
The Good
If you're into this mode, one of your favorite features has to be recruiting. You'll love the depth and breadth of this feature if you are a recruiting enthusiast, so plan on spending at least 30 to 45 minutes building your initial prospect board. A pro tip for recruiting is to use the filters to identify recruits that already have you in their top 10.
The game offers 14 different ways to sell your school to recruits, ranging from academic prestige to pro potential, with each school having different grades in each area. For example, using UTSA, being in the talent-rich state of Texas helps with the proximity grade for many in-state recruits, but the low academic grade of "D" or program tradition of "D-minus" can be deal-breakers for others. It's a plus the pipeline option goes deeper than just Texas. As an example, offering options like North Texas, East Texas and Southwest Texas. The addition of the transfer portal adds another level of complexity, simulating the real-life challenge of having to re-recruit your entire team every year.
The Bad
You can start a dynasty as a coach, offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator. This feature doesn't add much to the game. The development team should have focused their attention elsewhere. Most gamers will start their dynasty as a coach and may only use this option after months of gameplay. It's not a worthless feature, just not worth the time to include unless you really want to get through games faster. EA would have better off spending the time putting actual coaches like Luke Fickell or Deion Sanders in the game.
The Ugly
Gamers complaining about the 30-season limit per dynasty. How many people really play that many seasons and how much of the games are they simulating? Many have been playing this game since dynasty mode was added to "NCAA Football 1998" when Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel was on the cover, and there has never been concerned about this limitation.
Dynasty Rating (1-10): 8.5
Dynasty mode delivers many of the features we enjoyed in prior versions while incorporating the current realities of college football. Be prepared to spend hours outside of actual gameplay building your team.
Road to Glory Mode
The best mode of the game allows you to create a custom player and navigate their college career. How are your grades? Do you want to enter the transfer portal? Can you achieve the dream season of winning the Heisman and a national championship? As a Wisconsin Badger fan, I wanted to revisit the glory season of 2011 when we had a high-caliber quarterback in Russell Wilson. I'm happy to announce that elite quarterback Coke Dupley from Menomonee Falls, Wis., has committed to the Badgers.
The Good
Just like in dynasty mode with recruiting, the star of this mode is the depth of functionality. You can create your player, choose mental abilities, spend skill points and decide where to focus energy tokens. While real college football may need restrictions on the current transfer portal setup, the option to play for four different schools in four years is amazing. Who else is going to try and win four national championships with four different teams?
The Bad
The position options available in this year's game are quarterback, running back, wide receiver, middle linebacker and cornerback. Why can't we start as a defensive lineman or safety? Both were options in the last iteration, and safety used to be a sleeper choice for the second-best position after quarterback. Safety allowed flexibility to play at any of the three levels: drop in coverage, sit on short routes or blitz the quarterback. While I didn't expect it this year, I hope they add the ability to play on both sides like Travis Hunter at Colorado.
The Ugly
"Boo" to EA for removing the option to start your player's journey by playing out their senior season in high school. Instead, you now select your recruit prestige (elite, blue chip, contributor or underdog), each with an overall rating ranging from 60 to 79. An honorable mention for not providing more control over play calling.
Road To Glory Rating (1-10): 7
The gameplay is enjoyable, but I found the extracurricular activities tied to skills and energy points to become tedious a few weeks into the season. The first NIL deal I signed with a barbershop to improve my leadership skills was cool but the luster of it quickly wore off. Bringing back more position options and high school play is a must for next year.
Game Day Experience
What makes college football so great? The sound of your band playing the fight song after a victory, the sight of your team's mascot doing pushups after a touchdown and so much more. For EA to hit the mark with the overall game day experience, they needed to nail not only the gameplay but also the sights and sounds of the game, as promised in their deep dive. How did they do?
The Good
EA has struck the right balance between the realistic elements and depth of a simulation game with the fast-paced and exhilarating gameplay of an arcade game. Besides the ability to disguise coverages, the impact of wear and tear is a great example of this realism. If your quarterback has been getting hit all game on his throwing arm, he shouldn't be able to easily throw 50-yard bombs in the fourth quarter like it's the first play of the game.
Additionally, the option game is well done and fun to execute with the right players. From the beauty of Folsom Field to the electric atmosphere of a night game at Camp Randall, the experience is immersive, making you feel like you're truly "in the game" rather than just playing from your couch.
The Bad
As mentioned earlier, mascots are a big part of the college game day experience, and there are some significant gaps in the game. EA was only able to include 40 team mascots and 10 real animals. Given that there are 134 schools in the game, 84 schools were potentially left out of having this aspect of their home-game atmosphere included. Honorable mention goes to the inaccuracies in stadiums, such as Hawaii's football stadium not being correct in the first release. Additionally, I found the kicking controls difficult to figure out at first, which may be a user error but is worth noting.
The Ugly
EA Sports should have included iconic traditions such as Virginia Tech's entrance to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica or Badger fans bouncing to "Jump Around" by House of Pain. I understand the cost component, but Metallica is open to their music appearing in video games, as evident by their partnership with Epic Games and Fortnite. As for House of Pain, the group broke up in 1996, so I cannot imagine they would demand top dollar for their song to be included. Honorable mention goes to the absence of FCS schools in the game. I'd rather play against North Dakota State than the generic FCS Northwest Sharks.
Game Day Experience Rating (1-10): 9
Are there things missing from the overall game day experience? Of course, but EA can address these minor gaps in future versions of the game. Most importantly, they have delivered authentic and enjoyable gameplay back to the hands of college football fans.
Final Verdict on EA Sports College Football 25
This game epitomizes the saying, "good things come to those who wait." College football fans have waited a long time for this game, and EA Sports has delivered an impressive reboot of the franchise.
It combines the best of past and present gameplay, providing a fun experience for all players. A solid foundation has been laid for future versions to build upon.
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