I loved the NCAA games so much as a kid. My friends and I used to play them to death. I talk about that here. Picking a bad team (Let’s Go Hoosiers!) and making them a powerhouse while competing for recruits. With the news of college football video games coming back, I was ecstatic with every news release that came with it. Knowing EA was holding the reins, I was ready to be hurt.
Me, 13 Years Ago
EA Sports College Football 25: Dynasty Mode
This is my favorite mode in a college football game. Heck, it is my favorite kind of game mode in any sports game. The ability to take control of a team and run through multiple seasons while making all the big decisions is so much fun to me. For this, I chose my alma mater, Indiana University. I decided to create a head coach with an emphasis on recruiting. You have 3 choices when picking a head coach, a motivator, a recruiter, and a strategist.
Coming into Memorial Stadium
As you start your season, you can still go through the tasks of the original game. I started by making a recruiting board, scouting players, and offering scholarships. You can also choose to change your schedule (I may have added a few easier games for myself) and choose what players to redshirt.
Overall, I am very happy with the Dynasty mode. It has so much control over what you can do with your team and it reminds me of the old games that I loved so much growing up. I did end up losing a lot! This game is pretty tough. It is also difficult playing in the Big Ten as the Hoosiers.
EA Sports College Football 25: Road to Glory
Another mode that is available that I never got too into before is Road to Glory. In this mode, you create your own player to live out your college career as a Freshman until you are either drafted or graduate. I decided to create a 5 star QB that decided for some reason to go play for Arkansas State.
As a player, you have choices each week such as studying to maintain your 3.0 GPA, practicing, being a community figure, being a leader, and resting. You will also get texts about other choices to make like skipping class or even NIL offers. Each week you can also do some practice drills to earn XP to make your player better.
As you play, you only control yourself. Based on how well you do, you earn your coach’s trust. I am only a few games into this mode, but it seems pretty addicting. This can be appealing to anyone, like myself, who loves a good RPG element in a sports game.
Online Experience
My friends and I instantly started an online Dynasty mode. For this, I chose Kennesaw State. I have never heard of them, but that one star was so tempting to take over and make better. Playing the Dynasty online is much like doing it offline, except you can do it with friends. I currently am playing mine with 8 other people and it is working out great.
Hoping for a 3 Star as Kennesaw State
Playing another person online went really well. I had no connection issues and there seemed to not be any lag interfering with the game. I did want to blame the lag for missing my kicks, but that was not the case, I am just really bad at this aspect of the game. If you have this to play with friends, you should be very excited to know it is a great time.
Bugs
I may be singing the praises of this game, but there are a fair share of bugs that I have run into so far as well. While playing at Northwestern, I noticed constant shadows were flickering all over the field for the duration of the game. Also, the game froze when super-siming the PAT and Kickoff to save time. This happened multiple times to my friends and me, with whom I have been playing.
There have been other random things too like the ref standing in the middle of the play or wrong players being shown on a team when they show stats. There is also an insane amount of roughing-the-kicker calls. Hopefully, since this is such an early release, EA can release an update to fix these few things.
Ultimate Team and Road to the College Football Playoffs
These are the 2 game modes that I did not spend any time with. Ultimate Team is typical of most EA sports titles. You are collecting packs of players to create your dream team. This is usually riddled with microtransactions and I never feel the want to do this.
Accurate IU Football Attendance
Road to the College Football Playoff is one I am not familiar with at all. I have not had time to try this out, but it seems that you pick your favorite team and run them through a college football playoff.
Gameplay
I love sports games and it’s the way my friends and I stay in touch while living in different cities. This is one of the most fun-controlling sports games I’ve played in a while, especially football. The feel is just much more fast-paced and it translated well to a video game.
Rushing Through FCS Midwest
Running the ball feels great. That’s something that is so hard to get right, but I’m having a blast juking, spinning, and trucking through players. Defense is satisfying to play too. Again, it is a challenging game, especially if you’re on Heisman.
It is fun seeing the crowd get bigger or smaller based on how your season is going. It is also great to hear Bachelor/Bachelorette host, Jesse Palmer, give some commentary during the game. The kick meter is interesting and super challenging.
Overall
I am so extremely happy with this game. Also, I am so shocked that EA was able to create something this good. It gives me the memories of playing the old NCAA games. College Football 25 has been selling extremely well too and that is good to see in hopes that this can keep being a regular release. Hey, maybe we can get a college basketball game too? Fingers crossed EA does not get greedy and ruin the game in future updates.
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