EA College Football 25 is coming on July 19th, probably a little early for me as I’m waiting to review the game.
From my brief preview, I got a little hands on with what felt to be arguably the most fun soccer video game I’ve ever played.
As the game’s release approaches, I’ve already planned my approach to reviewing College Football 25 and quenching a thirst that’s been building for over a decade.
Here are the ten things I can’t wait to do in EA College Football 25.
Check player ratings and likenesses
Player similarities are probably the most important story related to the return of college sports video games. I took a look at many of the similarities, but didn’t have time to make the comparisons I’d like to make overall.
I’ll do that first when I get my hands on the game to gauge how accurate some of the odds are, especially for the more high profile players.
I’ll take a look at the player ratings as well. I’ll be uploading the Athlon, several mock drafts, and similar benchmarks to see how closely EA’s ratings compare to the experts’ ratings. We know EA enlisted the help of Pro Football Focus for player ratings, but I wasn’t able to see what the most stars rated in the game.
Explore the Roster Editing Suite
During the preview, one of the biggest issues we discovered was the limitation in player editing and roster sharing. In the old NCAA Football games, users were able to edit and share rosters without restrictions.
Due to the addition of Name, Image and Likeness players, the amount of editing allowed has been limited. We’re still determining how limited it will be, and that’s one of the first things I’ll be checking.
Build a school with TeamBuilder
I’m over the moon to have the TeamBuilder site back. I hope it will be available as a mobile app as well. I’d love to see EA give users early access to the site before the game’s release, but that might not happen.
Before I play a game, I’ll probably find out how deep this school creation suite can go.
Start a Dynasty mode
We learned a lot about Dynasty mode during our preview, but there’s a lot under the hood that you’ll never learn during a short stint with the game. I’m going to start a Dynasty, slowly over the course of a few weeks to measure player progress, injuries, in-season presentation and award matches.
This process will give me a better idea of what to expect during my dynasty.
Create a QB for Road to Glory
I may play Road to Glory at multiple positions, but I plan to start with a QB. This will give me the best opportunity to control many aspects of the game and greatly influence the success of my school.
Start a road to glory
I’d like to see how unique some of the side quests are and if the Wear-and-Tear system is something for my RTG character. I’m going with a dual threat QB and he might end up playing for the Miami Hurricanes since that was my favorite college program when I was younger.
During my second run, I will likely play middle linebacker in the Big Ten. We’re told the entire RTG series is designed to last 10-20 hours of gameplay.
Play Michigan vs. Ohio State at The Big House
Speaking of the Big Ten, we saw the atmosphere of a game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was impressive to see the level of detail and frenetic environment that EA was able to create.
Even if it’s just a Play Now game, I’ll activate it. Since I’ve already played 4 full games, I have a good index of the gameplay, this piece will either confirm my initial thoughts or start a new discussion.
Watch CPU Play Georgia vs. Florida State
Call me crazy, but I like to put Madden into SuperSim, change the simulation speed to Slow, and select “Go to End” to watch a play-by-play on a TV-style broadcast camera.
It looks amazing and thankfully this feature is in EA College Football 25. I started to watch Georgia play Florida State in the preview, but we ran out of time. I’ll have this running in the background while I review the game.
There are a few reasons: It gives me a good rating for visual fidelity and presentational elements. The sim monitor shows how the CPU plays calls and makes a great B-roll on a YouTube channel.
Play 5 Games to Drive to the College Football Playoff
I like franchise modes more than anything else in sports games, but I’m also highly competitive, so much so that I can start neglecting my franchise mode experiences in search of competitive encounters.
Road to the College Football Playoff will be the game’s competitive mode, and I’ll be spending quite a bit of time there. Once my review is complete, I’ll try to limit myself to a few of these contests per game session, but during the review process, I’ll be sure to list at least five.
I’m looking forward to seeing which schools get picked more often and how well users do in the ranking system, which is supposed to reward you for beating lower ranked teams.
Getting face-to-face online games will provide me with the final piece of the game puzzle.
Check in Ultimate Team
While Ultimate Team in EA’s soccer games isn’t one of my favorite modes, I’d be lying and doing the community a disservice if I didn’t give it an in-depth look.
I suspect Ultimate Team will give us our only access to legendaries and other goodies. Unfortunately, we’ve learned very little about how the mode will work in College Football 25, so until the game launches, I’ll be able to get my first taste of the experience.
Be on the lookout for more coverage of the game as we get closer to release and my full review.