In this EA Sports College Football 25 review, we took a look at Electronic Arts' return to the college football video game world. Although it's been over a decade since their last college game, College Football 25 offers many classic modes that fans grew to love over the years. They've even added some new modes and unique features that set it apart from its predecessor and Madden NFL. But do all these changes make College Football 25 worth your time and money? Let's find out in this College Football 25 Review.

EA Sports College Football 25 Review – What is College Football 25?

College Football 25 is EA Sports' first college football video game since NCAA 14 was released in 2013. In the time between now and then, we've seen both the release of GTA V and the reveal of GTA VI. We've even seen two additional generations of consoles (PS4, Xbox One –> PS5, Xbox Series X) launch.

EA Sports' first entry into the video game realm of collegiate football took place in 1993 when they released Bill Walsh College Football for the SNES, Sega Genesis, and Sega CD. After another Bill Walsh game in 94, they then briefly changed the name of the series to College Football USA between 1995-1996.

Then, EA Sports changed the name of the series to the one most players recognize – NCAA Football – which they ran with from 1997-2013. Over the years, EA Sports added more improvements to the series, including fan-favorite modes like Dynasty and Road to Glory.

However, after NCAA 14 was released in 2013, EA stopped making college football games for a while. Explaining it would take forever. But essentially, it was a series of long-lasting legal battles revolving around NIL amongst other things. But for years that's all the news we had about College Football 25. So let's just put those stories aside and focus on the game.

College Football 25 features all 134 FBS Schools along with over 14,000 real players who opted into the game. The game runs on Frostbite Engine and is available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game is not available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch. Without further ado, let's dive into our College Football 25 review.

College Football 25 Review – Gameplay

The last time I played a College Football video game was back in 2019 with my roommates back at Temple University. So, of course, I had to play my first-ever game as the Owls. Upon starting my first game, I was already impressed with so many things.

EA Sports did a phenomenal job of capturing each team's intro and stadium details. Furthermore, there's so much more in terms of presentation. From mascots running out to the field, to players running out in different ways, I was quickly blown away by the attention to detail.

On my first ever play, a regular HB Dive, I noticed immediately how fast and smooth player movement is. It almost feels like NCAA Football 14 but with some slight influence from Madden. Now, as you can tell from the title, I don't think College Football 25 is a Madden re-skin. But understandably, it borrows a few elements, thanks to running on the Frostbite engine.

In my Madden 24 and even FC 24 review, I wrote that Frostbite engine made player movement feel awkward. In those games, it looks like players run with a stick up their rear. However, College Football 25's player animations look smooth. When a QB is running out of the pocket, or if a HB jukes to break a defender's ankles, everything looks so clean.

Another thing that reminds me of NCAA Football 14 is the way players break tackles in College Football 25. Sometimes your player just turns into the Incredible Hulk and refuses to go down. Once I managed to get Kansas RB Devin Neal to break 4 tackles as he ran down the field for a touchdown.

However, that rule applies both ways. Sometimes your defenders will be helpless against that massive TE or physical WR. It just reminds you that you're not playing the Pros like Madden and you'll need to strategize better.

Thankfully, College Football 25 features all 134 playbooks from every school in the game. While many of them share similarities, each playbook reflects both the offensive and defensive identities of their schools. And if you still can't find something you want, the game gives you the option to create your own custom playbooks. Just pick a playbook from any of the schools, and customize it with your favorite plays.

One thing I was worried about before playing was seeing the new Wear & Tear System. Essentially, every hit your player takes impacts your player's health. You get a diagram showing which limbs are affected and their level of wear and tear. The more damage you take, the more your attributes are affected.

My initial concern was that this would feel too “arcadey” or unfair. But thankfully my concerns were put to rest after playing a few games. Overall, Wear & Tear only seems to occur when you put players in a position to get hurt. If you keep scrambling with your QB, you risk that tear on his body. Run 30+ times with a HB, you risk his chances of getting hurt.

If anything, Wear & Tear feels extremely helpful. I use it to help me identify which players I should sub out. In Dynasty, I like to give my younger guys playing time. So when my starters take some damage, or if I'm up by multiple scores, I put my younger guys in and reduce my risk of injury. So Wear & Tear feels like a great way of helping you prevent injuries.

Another gimmick that I was concerned about was Mental and Physical Abilities. When I first heard about them, the first thought that came to my mind was the ridiculous X-Factors from Madden. However, I've fortunately been proven wrong once again, as Abilities feel great, but not overpowered.

Think of Abilities like Badges from NBA 2K. They make your players better in certain situations but also don't overpower them. Furthermore, there are different tiers of Abilities, with bronze being the lowest, and platinum being the highest. Some abilities make your receiver a better catcher in traffic, while others make your corners a more efficient ballhawk.

Regardless, Abilities make the game more exciting without compromising the authenticity of the game. Furthermore, it makes searching for recruits in Dynasty more fun. Do you want a 3-star player with basic abilities? Or do you want to go all in on a 5-star recruit with strong Mentals? Abilities add a fun level of strategy that enhances the gameplay of CFB 25.

Another feature that feels nice is the new Stadium Pulse mechanic. Essentially, you'll face tougher challenges on the road depending on where you play. If you play a road game at Texas A&M in a battle for the conference, expect the fans to give you a hard time.

Now, Stadium Pulse affects your player similarly to how it did in NCAA Football 14. You'll see squiggly receiver routes, disappearing receiver icons, and more. Unlike the momentum mechanic from Madden 24, Stadium Pulse feels empowering, but not indestructible. You can easily shut a crowd up by continuing to dominate in a game. Overall, Stadium Pulse is another fantastic feature in CFB 25.

But how does the actual gameplay on the field feel?

College Football 25 offers a new passing type, along with three familiar passing types from Madden. Overall, the options include Revamped Passing, Placement, Placement & Accuracy, and Classic. While I prefer Classic, the Revamped passing system does feel good. It takes time getting used to, but feels comfortable once you get the hang of it.

Essentially, the Revamped passing revolves around the power of your throw with a new meter. If your meter is in the blue when you release the ball, you'll throw a standard pass, but not incredibly powerful. If your meter hits red, you'll throw an inaccurate pass that can still somehow end up in the receiver's hands. Lastly, the gold color indicates you threw a perfect pass.

Overall, the system feels simple to understand and doesn't feel complex. I much prefer this passing system to Placement/Placement & Accuracy, which didn't feel right for me. Thankfully EA Sports allows you four different passing options to choose from.

Another nice thing about passing is how you can throw with more confidence. QBs can throw the ball high enough to move past defenders and land safely in the receiver's hands. This is great for those corner throws in the endzone when you have a man going deep. I used to be someone who threw mostly to slot receivers, TEs, and HBs. Now, I feel like I can throw just about anywhere if the route feels right. That's because College Football 25's Passing system feels extremely satisfying.

Of course, we'd be remiss not to mention the Run game. To me, the running feels like a faster version of Madden 24. Now, if you read my Madden 24 review, you'll know that I like the running game there. In College Football 25, it feels even better.

Blockers feel smarter, and make the appropriate blocks for me when needed. Running in the open field feels nice, and different moves like juking and spinning feel great. I like the differences in the speed of specific movements. An elusive HB will spin much faster than a Power back, but a Power back can get you those yards on tough situations like third and short.

Defense feels a lot more creative now, thanks to the different coverage shells. With these, you can disguise what your defense is really doing and catch offenses by surprise. For example, if you want to blitz, but make it look like you're running a cover 3 shell, you can do that. But there are just a couple of slight things about defense that affected my experience.

One issue that I seemed to have was switching to other players during the play. It either took too long or never occurred at all. Furthermore, sometimes my players refused to move to the side or outright tackle on some plays. While I eventually found a play style that works for me, it took a lot longer to understand defense than it did offense. Nevertheless, defense still feels fun to play.

Lastly, College Football 25 introduces a new kicking system which actually feels amazing. Overall, you need to hold the A button (Xbox) or X button (PlayStation) and hit the greens on two separate meters. Although it looks complex at first, it's actually both simple and challenging enough to provide excitement. Making a game-winning field goal never felt more satisfying.

The added level of challenge feels appropriate for a college football game. After all, you're not kicking with Jake Elliott or Justin Tucker. Instead, you'll be kicking with kids who might end up pursuing a career outside of football. Therefore, expect a greater but more rewarding challenge that makes kicking more exciting than ever before.

Another thing that looks so smooth is the player animations and player movement in general. I'm seeing new kinds of tackles and new ways for players to break those tackles and it all looks really good. Of course, you can expect to see a glitchy animation here or there, but it never really compromises the experience.

And College Football 25 does have its fair share of glitches, which is to be expected. But in my experience, these glitches seldom had any effect in-game. In fact, only once was my gameplay affected by a glitch. In a game between Middle Tennesee and Troy, my running back was ruled down a split-second after receiving the hand-off. Not sure why it happened, but it never occurred again.

The only type of glitches that do appear are just minimal visual ones. Sometimes cheerleaders or mascots appear out of thin air. Sometimes crew members on the sidelines freak out and spin like crazy. But these are mostly funny, and they make the experience more fun. Plus, I know EA Sports will release updates and patches over time to alleviate these issues.

Overall, EA Sports College Football 25 delivers the best gameplay experience of any sports game out there right now. It feels fast, smooth, and extremely satisfying to experience.

So, how do the different modes of College Football 25 feel?

College Football 25 Review – Game Modes

Dynasty is hands-down the best mode in the game. If you played NCAA Football 14's Dynasty, you'll feel right at home with it in CFB 25. However, although it retains many similar qualities, there's a lot more detail now throughout each phase of your coaching career.

Of course, you can still start as a head coach or coordinator, and you can still upgrade your skill trees to become a greater asset to your team. And just like in NCAA Football 14, you have a dedicated amount of time to influence recruits. But it's a bit more advanced now.

Instead of just spending weekly points and offering scholarships, you need to pitch players on what your school offers. Some players want to play close to home, and others want to go to a school with big NIL opportunities. You still spend points (now referred to as hours) every week researching and influencing players, but now you need to learn more about them.

You'll still see a player's top schools every week, and which school currently has the most influence. Furthermore, you can still invite them to visit your school during a bye week or game. I love the extra influence boost you receive when you invite two prospects from complementary positions. For example, I invited a Strong Safety and Free Safety to visit me on a bye week at the same time, and it helped increase my influence on them.

College Football 25 also adds something completely new – The Transfer Portal. This brought a whole new dimension of recruiting that can help you earn highly talented players in a short amount of time. The process works similarly to the regular recruiting process, though you need to act fast if there's a player you really want.

I found myself recruiting a three-star QB because I liked his Mental and Physical Abilities. But then once the Transfer Portal hit I saw QBs who made my recruit look like a nobody. I poured every resource I had into getting the signal-caller I wanted and fortunately succeeded. I'm not sure how I'll explain this to my recruit and his family. But hey – business is business.

Jokes aside, my favorite thing about College Football 25's Dynasty Mode is the fact that you always have something to work toward. There's always a position that needs more players. Or, you might want to coach somewhere else, so you need to build up your resume. There's so much offered that Dynasty feels like its own game alone.

But let's not forget about Road To Glory, which also returns from NCAA Football 14. Overall, this mode lets you create a player, choose from one of five different positions, and play out your collegiate career. Of course, it's a bit more complicated than that.

In CFB 25's Road to Glory mode, you'll choose from one of four journeys. You can start as a two-star recruit and rough it out, or start as a five-star prospect and receive offers from the best schools right away. This is a great detail that not only influences the difficulty of your journey but gives you control over what you want to be.

When you create your player, you choose a position and archetype, which influences the type of player you are. I created a three-star QB and took a starting job at Kennesaw State to pad my stats before entering the Transfer Portal. But I soon found out that RTG was more than just practice and playing.

Every week, you have a limited amount of energy points to spend on your Agenda. Do you want to Study and earn the Fan Favorite Mental Ability? Or do you want to increase your Brand awareness with NIL deals? While I personally opted to be a good boy, I was tempted at times to ditch the study sessions and focus on other things.

Some weeks, you'll even receive texts from teammates, advisors, coaches, and other companies who'll ask if you want to partake in activities. Some of these activities can be risky and can result in you lowering your grade or losing the trust of your coach. Others will ask if you want to spend energy points to improve certain areas of your player.

But the most important thing of all is maintaining your coach's trust in you, as well as maintaining a 2.0 GPA or higher. Your coach's trust indicates your status as a player. If it gets too low, you might lose your starting job. Conversely, you can work your way up as a backup and engage in a position battle. And keeping your grades high ensures you get to see the field every weekend.

All of these different factors made Road To Glory much more fun and detailed than I expected. But when you hit the field, things will feel more restrictive.

You have little control over your play calls in RTG. For example, my Kennesaw State QB could only call one play every time we entered the huddle. That's because your coaching staff selects the plays. Now, the more coach trust you earn, the more times you can ask for more play options. When you ask for more, the coaches provide you with up to two more plays to select.

Personally, this system worked awkwardly in my case. Sometimes, my coaches kept calling for run plays, no matter what the situation. They'd call run plays on 3rd and long, or when we were down with little time remaining. I understand my HB is a senior with a good rating, and that I'm just a freshman. However, when my HB gets 25+ carries a game, when I get 20-23 passes at most, I feel a bit underutilized.

Plus, this impedes my progress as a player. I can't reach new milestones, break records, or earn player of the week awards thanks to the play-calling. I understand the decision to have a run-heavy offense. Additionally, I get that my low OVR and little experience means I won't have as many reps yet. However, I just wish the play-calling felt a little more realistic.

Tip: There are a few ways to work around this, though. If you call a hurry-up offense, you'll be able to audible and select from a few different plays. While you can't do it all the time, it might be useful in two-minute warning situations.

Another thing I wish RTG had was more positions. I think you should be able to play any position, no matter what it is. You can't play as a Safety or a Defensive Lineman, which are actually pretty fun positions to play with. Furthermore, TE could also be fun. But that's not the point.

Adding more positions would give players more control over their RTG experience. It already feels restrictive with the limited play-calling. I know a position like DE might seem boring to some, but others would relish the opportunity to rack up 15+ sacks a year.

Nevertheless, I think the formula in RTG is both fun and addicting. With the right improvements, this mode could be even better in future installments. Despite some of the issues listed above, I still found it extremely enjoyable. It's a nice mode to play if you want a break from all the responsibilities Dynasty has to offer.

College Football 25 does offer Ultimate Team, and I'll tell you in full honesty that I barely touched this mode. While I have no problem with a card-collecting mode where you can build your dream team, the execution of Ultimate Team since the beginning has been terrible. Essentially, they follow a pay-to-win structure where you spend money to receive more Player packs.

While I think College Football 25 is incredible, the microtransactions did affect my final review score, as they do with all sports video games I've reviewed. Nevertheless, the core gameplay experience in College Football 25 is amazing. If you don't like Ultimate Team there's still way more you can do in the game to enjoy yourself.

Road To The College Football Playoff is a unique mode to College Football 25 and offers a bite-sized seasonal experience. Instead of managing rosters and recruiting new players, Road to the CFP lets you take your favorite team and head into short online matchups against other users. Apparently, with each win you earn, you face tougher opponents.

I'm not sure about that, because I ended up getting my rear served to me on a silver platter starting in game one. As someone who prefers to play solo, Road to the CFP isn't a mode I see myself playing often. But for those who love the thrill and challenge of playing online, it offers a suitable experience. So there's nothing bad to say about it, and I do hope to see it return in future installments.

Between great gameplay and a solid choice of core modes, College Football 25 offers everything you could ask for.

EA Sports College Football 25 Review – Graphics

Despite my gripes with Frostbite Engine, one thing it does well is pave the way for some charming visuals. College Football 25 is the best-looking sports video game on the market.

What makes the game look so good is the attention to detail EA Sports put in almost every area. From stadiums to mascots, to player uniforms, almost everything looks authentic to the real game. I also like the added details of helmets updating over the season. Whether you're playing for the Buckeyes or Seminoles, you'll see an authentic visual representation of the game of College ball.

Although it adds an extra layer of challenge, I love playing in the rain. Watching the rain slide down the players' helmets, especially on prime-time TV just feels different. For me, it adds this extra sense of pressure and weight, which makes the experience more fun. It sounds strange, but the graphics heighten the gameplay experience, or at least when it's raining.

One area though that I think could look better is snow games. To be brutally honest, the snow looks awful, and it looks like De Blob just ran all over the field (points to you if you get that reference). Jokes aside, I think it'd be nice to have more details, like player movement affecting the snow beneath them.

Overall, graphics have never played a big part in my final score. Nevertheless, College Football 25 looks incredible.

EA Sports College Football 25 Review – Presentation

The developers didn't lie when they said that they made this game with the mindset that “Every team is someone's favorite”. Between unique team entrances, authentic stadiums, all 134 fight songs, and much more, College Football 25 puts you in the world of collegiate football.

The attention to detail on Mascots is the first thing that caught my eye. I love watching the Minnesota Golden Gopher spin his head when his team scores. Demon Deacon looks like a total boss riding out with the players of Wake Forest. And whenever you go to Instant replay, you can see the mascots (animals or suited) watching the game from the sideline. While I hope to see more mascots join the series in future titles, I think EA picked a solid 50.

Another area where the attention to detail shines is school stadiums. The Student sections look full of energy, and I love the dedicated sections to the bands and away team. There are also tons of little details that I would've never expected EA to add, like the Blue 22-yard line at UNC. I'm really impressed with the level of detail EA put into both the accuracy and atmosphere of the stadiums.

Sure, you'll find some errors here and there. Not all Stadiums are 100% accurate, and there are some errors on a few uniforms and other things. But I can forgive these things because I greatly appreciate EA's effort to create an authentic game. I also understand how difficult it is to make sure that all 134 stadiums, uniforms, songs, playbooks, and more are authentic. EA Sports did a great job here.

Lastly, College Football 25 features over 14,000 real athletes, who you can play as in the game. While not all player models will look 100% accurate, kudos to EA for the amount of time and money they spent on securing so many players. This improves the game's presentation and helps immerse you into the world of College Football. Plus, it's a great way to learn about this year's upcoming stars, especially if you're new to college ball.

However, I think when you're off the field, the presentation could be a bit better. Instead of just a Top Stories menu in Dynasty, it would be cool to have a weekly newspaper or even a podcast. Madden NFL 06 had the Tony Bruno Show on PS2, as well as national and local newspapers for you to read. Heck, even the newer Madden games have their weekly show dedicated to the Superstar mode.

I'm not saying it ruined my experience, but I think it would go a long way to add a few more presentation elements to make the action off the field more exciting. But this is more of a nitpick, rather than a full-on critique. I think EA Sports did more than enough for their first installment in over 10 years.

But that said, I do like the cleanliness of the menus and how easy they are to navigate. Everything feels fresh and the 134 different main menu themes are a great touch. I laughed when the Temple Main menu included tickets for our 2015 victory over Penn State. I guess that was our own little National Championship.

Overall, while I think the Presentation is amazing on the field, there could be a bit more done off the field to boost the presentation in modes like Dynasty and RTG. Nevertheless, College Football 25's presentation is still spectacular, and can easily be improved on in future titles.

EA Sports College Football 25 Review – Audio

As I mentioned, EA Sports College Football 25 features all 134 fight songs, which already deserves a lot of praise. And boy, do they sound good. You could close your eyes, and with the sound of both the band and the crowd, you'll feel like you're listening to a College Football broadcast.

The crowds are awesome. You'll hear team-specific chants and cheers, all of which hype you up. I love hearing my opponents' fans do one of their iconic chants before I upset them with a big play. And of course, you gotta love the fans giving you love when you're playing at home in a big rivalry game.

And the inclusion of three different commentary crews keeps the experience from getting stale. Speaking of the broadcast groups, they all have extremely impressive dialogue that spans across a variety of scenarios. Throughout my experience, I heard unique comments and analyses I would never expect to hear in a sports game.

The announcers spoke in such detail that made it feel like they actually were watching my game. Of course, the more you play, the more you'll hear the same lines. But it'll take you a lot longer to get bored of this game's dialogue thanks to the expansive commentary teams. I just recommend lowering the crowd volume down if you want to hear them better. Those fans sure are loud…

In the menus, you'll hear an assortment of band drums, which all sound nice and fit the theme of the game. It's much better than Madden 24's High-hat-induced, rap-filled soundtrack. I wouldn't have minded a few featured songs, but I'm more than satisfied with the music selection in the background.

Overall, College Football 25's sound and audio quality is perfect. It executes its job in immersing you in the world of College Football. You won't be disappointed in the sights and sounds come Gameday.

That wraps up all the talking points of our College Football 25 Review. So, how did the game fare?

Verdict: Is EA Sports College Football 25 Worth Your Time & Money? – Review

We're only halfway through July, and EA Sports College Football 25 is already the best sports game of the year. Between its fast-paced gameplay, addicting Dynasty and Road to Glory Modes, and sweet graphical presentation, it sets the precedent for future all Football video games.

EA Sports has brought College Football back to the world of gaming, and it's better than ever. I think I can safely say that NCAA Football 14's time has come. And to those who believe this game is a Madden re-skin, I encourage you to try this game out if you can. Whether it's through an EA Play trial, or if it ever shows up on PS+ or Game Pass, you should definitely see for yourself if that's really the case. I think you might be surprised.

Despite running on the same engine as Madden NFL, College Football 25 feels unique and way more advanced. It proves to me that sports games can run on this engine if executed properly. EA Sports seems to have finally found a way to make me enjoy gameplay on Frostbite.

There's probably so much more I forgot to mention, like Team Builder, which just released prior to the standard edition launch. But that just goes to show how content-rich College Football 25 is. As you play the game, you'll discover something new every time to make every session memorable. As of right now, College Football 25 is the new king of sports video games.

My only minor gripes with the game came from microtransactions and minor technical issues with gameplay. However, the latter can always adjusted as EA Sports will undoubtedly patch and improve the game. But other than that, I struggle to find any major issues with the game. The gameplay is just too fun, and it alone more than counters any negatives.

The real challenge for EA Sports now will be to create new innovations that will keep the College Football series from getting stale. But for now, I think the developers deserve to celebrate for a job well done. The base formula is there, and now it's just time to continue to improve and grow without fixing what isn't broken.

I think if you loved the NCAA Football games, you'll be right at home with College Football 25. I think it's definitely worth picking up, especially if some of the modes and features mentioned above excite you. College Football is back baby. For those who never stopped believing, you have been rewarded with one of the best sports games ever made.

Score: 9.5/10

That wraps up our College Football 25 Review. Keep checking back with us for more guides, roster updates, and more throughout the season. We hope you enjoy CFB 25!

Editor’s Note: ClutchPoints received a PS5 review copy to allow us to cover this game. These copies did not, in any way, affect our EA Sports College Football 25 Review score and verdict.

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