College Football 25 review: "Cancel any summer commitments because Dynasty is going to rule your life"

GamesRadar+ VerdictThe best American football game in a decade, with a career mode which will take over your life – along with fabulous levels of college pageantry and authenticity.Pros+Too many teams, players and playbooks for you to ever experience them all+Dynasty Mode is astounding offline – and playable with 32 online coaches too+Gameplay brings the fun whether you run, pass or RPO every playCons-Defense is tough, which won’t suit everyone-No option to port Dynasty draft classes into Madden-Lack of customisation, while inevitable, prevents you tweaking real players GamesRadar+ Verdict GamesRadar+ Verdict The best American football game in a decade, with a career mode which will take over your life – along with fabulous levels of college pageantry and authenticity. The best American football game in a decade, with a career mode which will take over your life – along with fabulous levels of college pageantry and authenticity. Pros+Too many teams, players and playbooks for you to ever experience them all+Dynasty Mode is astounding offline – and playable with 32 online coaches too+Gameplay brings the fun whether you run, pass or RPO every play Too many teams, players and playbooks for you to ever experience them all Dynasty Mode is astounding offline – and playable with 32 online coaches too Gameplay brings the fun whether you run, pass or RPO every play Cons-Defense is tough, which won’t suit everyone-No option to port Dynasty draft classes into Madden-Lack of customisation, while inevitable, prevents you tweaking real players Defense is tough, which won’t suit everyone No option to port Dynasty draft classes into Madden Lack of customisation, while inevitable, prevents you tweaking real players Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy. Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy. MVP Baseball 2005, ESPN NFL 2K5, MLB 11 The Show, NCAA Football 13. That list may read like a ragtag assortment of antiquated sports games, but in fact it’s a pantheon of greats. All these super sims have one strength in common: the lost art of a comprehensive, all-encompassing managerial experience. You can immediately add College Football 25 to its illustrious ranks, thanks to an unputdownable Dynasty mode that offers variety, longevity, and limitless whoop-and-holler enjoyment. Fast Facts: College Football 25(Image credit: EA)Release date:July 19, 2024Platform(s):PS5, Xbox Series XDeveloper:EA OrlandoPublisher:EA Fast Facts: College Football 25 (Image credit: EA)Release date:July 19, 2024Platform(s):PS5, Xbox Series XDeveloper:EA OrlandoPublisher:EA (Image credit: EA) Release date:July 19, 2024Platform(s):PS5, Xbox Series XDeveloper:EA OrlandoPublisher:EA (Image credit: EA) It’s a lot of fun. And punch-the-air joyful when you land someone you’ve spent two evenings trying to haul in through delicate move-making – 10 hours points making an introduction on social media, 40 hours points giving the hard sell on your college’s athletic facilities, playing time, and pro potential. All prospects have individual desires and dealbreakers. All prospects can also be lost, crushingly, with one wrong move. Case in point: my Ole Miss save, where I brought a pair of five-star blue-chippers in to watch a winnable game against Middle Tennessee State – but was so excited to move things along to the next week, I made terrible decisions and lost 25-28. That was all they needed to see. Run-stopping linebacker DeShawn Meryl, my top target, committed to LSU. Slot corner Max Smithson committed to Texas. I committed to unloading every single swear word in my vocabulary. Perfect pageantry (Image credit: EA) Creative offenses are what make the college game so special for some, and they’re replicated expertly. Delving into those vast playbooks to unleash option plays or deep downfield throws is as satisfying as you’d hope, with every inch of the turf at your disposal. Running wide to escape the trenches feels just as dangerous, and effective, as going south to north. The passing meter is especially intuitive: release in the blue for a perfect throw, yellow for a less certain trajectory, red for a wild dart and potential interception. Good defenses cope well, mediocre ones can be shredded mercilessly. As happens in real life. See? Punishing. But also fearlessly realistic. (Image credit: EA) Road games are tough – tougher even than the NCAA games of yesteryear. Bring up your play art before a snap and you see wiggly lines where your routes should be. Yep, the old screen shaker is back, but with new wrinkles, like junior players' routes being even more blurry or inaccurate than seniors'. Sometimes they forget routes completely. The new kicking system, meanwhile, can be agonizingly tough in loud stadiums. To initiate a field goal attempt, you stop a horizontal meter moving left and right, then hit the sweet spot on a vertical power bar. On the road, these stopping points move swiftly, even more so with an inexperienced kicker – and you will shank critical three-pointers. Again, zero coddling. College Football is a game for devoted, committed fans, and rightly takes pride in that. The solo path (Image credit: EA) Less genre-defining but still playable is Road To Glory mode. You sample a college career as a player in one of five positions – QB, WR, RB, MLB, or CB – with five, four, three or two-star potential. These early choices define how hard it is to initially crack the starting line-up. Neat RPG elements pepper the tale, requiring you to commit time to studying and building your brand, all while interacting with team-mates, students, reporters, and putting in hours on the practice field. Not happy with your playing time? Use the new transfer portal to change colleges at season’s end. Road To Glory doesn’t quite match the life-swamping immersion of Dynasty, but makes for a neat diversion should you need a break from that mode’s recruiting/gameday loop. Like you’ll ever have time for a break… (Image credit: EA) One thing you are missing out on, however, is the option to edit players. While this a long-standing feature of the sports genre, previous legal disputes – you know, the kind that killed off NCAA Football the first time around – mean names, attributes and likenesses are locked up tight. There’s also no option to export your draft class to Madden like the olden days, and see how your seniors fare on an even grander stage. That’s a bit of a blow – but something you’d hope becomes a priority for the sequel. Because there’s no doubt that College Football 25 merits a sequel. From nowhere, it’s suddenly the sports game that all others have to beat. CATEGORIESPS5Xbox Series XPlatformsPlayStationXbox CATEGORIES More about college football 25From College Football 25 to WWE 2K24, here’s the best sports games of 2024 that really made us put in the workAfter 18 years, College Football 25 obliterates the best-selling PS2 NCAA game’s record and rockets past Helldivers 2 on the US top seller charts More about college football 25 From College Football 25 to WWE 2K24, here’s the best sports games of 2024 that really made us put in the workAfter 18 years, College Football 25 obliterates the best-selling PS2 NCAA game’s record and rockets past Helldivers 2 on the US top seller charts From College Football 25 to WWE 2K24, here’s the best sports games of 2024 that really made us put in the work From College Football 25 to WWE 2K24, here’s the best sports games of 2024 that really made us put in the work After 18 years, College Football 25 obliterates the best-selling PS2 NCAA game’s record and rockets past Helldivers 2 on the US top seller 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