We are inching closer to the release of College Football 25 as the world famous (yes, I said it) video game makes its triumphant (or will it be?) return to the fingers and eyes of fans everywhere in 2 more months. In case you missed it, I’ve written about the game returning both HERE and HERE for a refresher. A quick synopsis of my thoughts…this game has mega potential but my goodness everyone should be at least a little skeptical of EA Sports’ ability to bring this cherished title back without several missteps.
Release Date
The game will be released in full on July 19th. That’s a Friday so plan accordingly if you feel the need to block off the entire weekend or longer to get your dynasty up and running in a NIL era.
Editions
The game will be released in 3 editions with the following prices:
Standard $69.99
Deluxe $99.99
MVP $149.99
The MVP bundle is basically the deluxe edition of College Football 25 combined with a copy of the upcoming Madden NFL 25 release, as well. Additionally, those who purchase the deluxe copy will be given early access to the game on Tuesday, July 16th which is a sneaky important detail and will probably boost sales of that edition.
Also, the deluxe edition will feature 4600 “College Football Points”, Heisman Hopeful Ultimate Team Pack, Alma Mater Ultimate Team Pack, Cover Athlete Ultimate Team Pack, and a Bring Glory Home Ultimate Team Uniform Item. I’m not sure what all of that means but it’s something.
Covers
The standard edition cover is the header photo in this article and features Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, Colorado corner and receiver Travis Hunter, plus Michigan running back Donovan Edwards.
I talked previously about how difficult the cover situation was going to be from a player popularity standpoint and how using current athletes wasn’t a thing prior to the NIL era. This also didn’t feel like a season where a current football player was clearly standing out as worthy of the cover by himself. As such, EA Sports went with multiple players even though none of them finished in the top 10 of last year’ Heisman voting–meanwhile Michigan’s 2023 backup running back got on the cover!
The deluxe edition shows the same 3 players, but also the backs of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, and Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins–the latter who hasn’t even played a game for the Buckeyes yet after transferring this off-season from Ole Miss.
I like the sentiment with the covers, particularly the deluxe edition, but both are really bad. I’m not a big fan of the screaming face look which makes Hunter look a bit ridiculous, plus the bottom of his cleat and veiny shin are distractingly prominent on the cover. Edwards has a nice smile, probably because he feels lucky to be involved, but most of his face is obscured by his dreads. Then we have Ewers with a face that looks like he doesn’t fit in with this group.
The deluxe cover has its heart in the right place. Good idea, but poor execution. A Michigan player front and center is gross. We have a Notre Dame player (no nameplate of course ugh) that looks to be wearing no. 2 (congrats to Jayden Harrison!) except there’s a weird extra bit on the number to make it look like a backwards “S.”
They really tried to pack in a lot of visuals on this deluxe cover and some of it is so difficult to see. Can you make out that Auburn flag? Why make a cover like this and use approximately half of the space for the sky and concrete sides of the tunnel?
Reveal
On Friday before lunchtime, EA Sports dropped the official reveal trailer for the new game. It’s the first real capture of gameplay for a new college football game in so many years.
Of course, this doesn’t show much nitty gritty gameplay as much as it does show off graphics and the excitement of a new college football pageantry-filled video game.
Boise State’s turf, the Clemson rock, Notre Dame’s Play Like a Champion stairwell, Boston College’s eagle, Florida’s gator, and LSU’s tunnel open the reveal video and then we’re off for more action.
The game looks wonderful visually. However, I thought Notre Dame’s uniforms looked maybe the worst about of anyone from anyone in the video. This looks washed out and similar to the way the uniforms looked in video games 15 years ago:
Given how obsessed EA has said they’ve been about details we can take this as a sneak peek of new jerseys featuring an all gold monogram on the shoulder and the Under Armour moving from the left chest to underneath the collar. Those pants also don’t look very mustard-y.
Here are some more details about game play modes released by EA Sports. The details are sparse so far:
CampusIQ – This is being described as EA’s new gameplay system featuring in-game player rating fluctuations, a wear and tear system, and home field advantage adjustments.
Dynasty Mode – Create your own head coach and take a current program to the playoff, we are back baby. Online dynasty with up to 32 teams will be included.
Road to Glory – Live the life a student-athlete and try to win the Heisman.
Road to the College Football Playoff – This sounds like an online league of sorts.
College Football Ultimate Team – Same as above, but with ultimate team packs.
Team Builder – Confirmed as returning, you will be able to start your own university.
I continue to be very concerned about the actual gameplay for this (because EA) but I at least think they’re going to nail the presentation aspect (which was not a given) so that’s something. Game modes seem solid but like with the gameplay I want to see the details. I don’t own the newer consoles so I would need to invest if I do want to buy this, so they’ll need to really wow gamers I trust.
My hope is that because the college game and Madden are run by different teams, this internal pseudo-competition between the games keeps them at least a little honest like it did before (Madden definitely lost a step once they had the NFL license exclusively and didn’t have to compete with 2k, but the quality really nosedived after the NCAA games ceased). Maybe the Madden games will stop sucking!
True, I want to see more dynasty mode details.
I’ve seen other ‘small’ details that are really encouraging so far.
A big difference i noticed with the madden vs ncaa14 was ncaa movement was physics based, whereas madden is animation based? (Correct me if I’m wrong here)
It seems like even to this day, ncaa 14 gives the user a better feel of moving the players, and it appears to be more responsive in-game movement wise. Like, seeing clips of madden, it just seem…. clunky?
I remember being blown away with the ncaa 14 movement when it first came out; I could spazz on the joystick and do Reggie bush moves with my player. I’d never experienced that before.
I have no idea if the gameplay will be good but I don’t care much if presentation and pageantry are nailed. NCAA 14’s gameplay wasn’t incredible or anything but because they did a good job with other elements I still ended up playing a crap ton of it.
It’s hard to see in some of the screenshots, but it appears Notre Dame is going with that shiny metallic gold for the monogram like we saw on the gold trim from the Cotton Bowl a few years back.
This pause caught a good look at it. I’m not sure how to feel about it, in some light it’ll look nice but in other light it will be too dark and hard to see. The imbalance with the white numbers is weird, too.
I read that EA did not get licensing agreement with UA, so since our uniforms are registered to UA they can’t replicate them exactly, hence the change. Who knows if that’s accurate?
Well that would be interesting…
Some “new” accessory related stuff in the trailer:
Can we subtract points for the ND band’s uniform? The back is white not blue.
Shuttup, nerd!
You are going to hate my upcoming series: “25 most iconic band uniforms”
Speaking of inconsistencies in non-football areas, what’s up with the helicopters in the fly-by?!?
The fuselage looks a bit like a CH-53 Super Stallion, but that twin tail is more like that of a UH-72 Lakota or a V-22 Osprey. And none of those models has just 3 main rotor blades.
/facepalm
It’s killing the immersion!
Interesting recruiting pickup. 3* DL out of St. X, Gordy Sulfsted. Not sure he was really on anyone’s radar.
This seems unexpected since physically, he is our 4th commit in the 6’4-6’5 240-250 range. I would have thought a 5th DL would have been a big body or a true pass rusher.
Sulfsted – 6’5, 240
Reiff – 6’5, 250
Hulak – 6’4, 240
Burgess – 6’4, 240
Are we just throwing a lot of darts at this body type? Mullins from last year seems to fit here, too. Are do these guys all project to different positions eventually?
I do think Sulfsted maybe projects easier to the interior than the others given that his dad played for the Chiefs at 6’3″ 320.
If we can’t land Keon Keeleys or Justin Scotts for whatever reason getting guys with NFL-like frames and going the development route is at least a recruiting theory that makes sense.
Nice. A lot of NFL bloodlines in this class.
Clearly this should have been the cover art if we were going to have to feature a MMichigan MMan. He’s gone MMad with championship fever!
Enhance
Enhance
Nightmares.