After announcing its release all the way back in 2021, Electronic Arts (EA) has had the college football community in the palm of its hands with “College Football 25”.
After a more than 10-year hiatus, the “College Football” IP has finally returned and easily become the game of the summer, if not the game of the year.
Releasing in mid-July, “College Football 25” absolutely exploded, garnering 5 million active players upon release and clearing $500 million in sales in just the first week of release.
Everyone is playing “College Football 25.” I can only hope Kyler Murray is locked out from playing this game because he may not step on the field this season if he gets his hands on it.
Players were spending up to $150 on deluxe editions of the game to unlock early access, in-game currency, DLC card packs and more, but not me.
I have rent and tuition to pay for, and I don’t think it’s possible for me to care less about any game’s form of Ultimate Team, so I frugally purchased the $60 base version on Playstation 5. Here’s what I think.
Madden’s monopoly over football games is terrible for consumers. The same goes for 2k, MLB the Show, NHL, FIFA and any other sports game franchise that’s been ruled by the same developer for 20-plus years.
Because there’s no other studios able to step up and challenge these powerhouses, they can continue to churn out uninspired, uninventive, copy and paste games year after year, slap the insert sport + year title on the box, and continue to make millions upon millions each and every year.
That’s been the case for years. And players continue to buy year after year hoping that the next one will finally turn things around, but it’s never the case. Instead, they just get three or four more beads of sweat on Lebron’s forehead, a few more overpriced cosmetic items and a different color for the menu.
But it’s safe for me to say that “College Football 25” might be the game to break the cycle. It feels like a breath of fresh air that players have desperately needed for a long, long time.
When you boot the game up, you select your favorite team, which is then used to customize all main menu navigation with that team’s cosmetics. Of course I picked Troy, so my menu is lathered in cardinal and silver with Power Ts scattered about. It’s a nice touch to build an even stronger relationship with the team you support.
Next, you pick a game mode, all of which have been staples of previous Madden games twisted to fit the college narrative.
There’s the classic “Play Now” where, you guessed it, you play a quick exhibition game with whatever rules you want.
There’s Ultimate Team, which I highly recommend scribbling out on your screen with permanent marker. It’s for your own good.
In layman’s terms, you collect players from all across the country and build your team from scratch, and the more you play, the more players you slowly earn to add to your roster. You can skip grinding and just pay for microtransactions to make your team better, which defeats the entire point. I’m not playing it, and neither should you.
My favorite is Dynasty, which is based on Madden’s Franchise mode. You command a team of your choosing as either head coach, offensive coordinator, or defensive coordinator.
You control player recruitment, offensive and defensive schemes, scholarship management, and of course, the games on your team’s schedule.
Dynasty is the best way to experience the game. You get a little bit of everything and have complete control over everything you do. Do one of these tasks sound boring? That’s fine, you can skip over it and have it simulated each week.
The last big addition is Road to Glory, where you follow your custom character and their journey through Division 1 football. One of the biggest focuses in this game mode is time management. Each week, you get a certain amount of ‘free time points,’ which you’ll assign to different tasks like studying, working out or building relationships with your team. Each task has their own benefits, but you must use your time wisely.
When you figure out what you like, it’s time to hit the field. The gameplay has had an immense overhaul when compared to Madden’s engine. Running feels much more intense, passing has been revamped and defense has been absolutely massacred.
The developers said they want to focus on high-scoring games, so defense got nerfed just a bit. Absolutely fine by me. Leave 0-0 ties to soccer games. I want to try and hit triple digits.
Overall, “College Football 25” is such a turnaround to sports games of the past. It’s obvious that this was a passion project, with lots of effort and care put into its development. All I hope now is that other game studios take some notes!
Comments