HIGH There has never been more immersive atmosphere in sports gaming.

LOW Ultimate Team remains either expensive, a grind, or both.

WTF Running up the score with a large fourth quarter lead, CPU? For shame.

A few years back, I reconnected with an old college buddy. We agreed to meet up for a couple of beers and spend a few hours traversing memory lane. The first hour was wonderful and emotional. The second hour was enjoyable, but a little strained. By the time the third round of drinks ran dry, we both started checking our phones — and once that regrettable fourth beer was gone, we exhaustedly agreed that it was great to see one another, and that we should try to stay in touch, knowing full well it was probably our final farewell.

That ‘we’re done here‘ feeling was what I had with EA Sports College Football 25. It was great times back then and the nostalgia was high, but after a few dozen hours on memory lane, flaws, gaps and cracks started to appear — and before long, the same old things began to wear on my patience. Still, it was a fine return by EA Sports, and I stand behind my 9 out of 10 review.

Readers who skip to the end are going to notice this year’s entry scored the same as its predecessor, but to be clear, College Football 26 is a significant upgrade from ’25 and a true return to form. To be honest, it might be the finest football game the venerable publisher has produced. Everything that made fans happy back then has now been amplified, optimized, and improved across the board.

In fact, let me lead with some hyperbole — College Football 26 might offer the most immersive sports gaming environments to date.

(Something tells me readers are going to want me to back that up.)

The atmosphere is one area in which College Football 26 truly shines. From stadium flyovers to note-perfect fight songs, to lifelike mascot and fan behavior, there’s little EA left on the drawing board here. A bonafide electricity comes from hearing (and even feeling) a packed stadium in a rivalry game. In fact, I took some rough phone videos and sent them to my non-gaming friends. They were transported to the coughcoughmid-1990scough the same way I was.

Of course, window dressing hardly matters if the gameplay doesn’t measure up. College Football 26 takes the rock solid foundation of its predecessor and gives it 100% more soul. Where last year’s iteration sometimes felt mechanical, 26 flows with the more realistic, unpredictable energy of the real thing.

Yes, I just wrote that College Football feels like, well, college football. But in reality, these players aren’t supposed to be perfect athletes. They’re college kids prone to physical lapses, and mental and emotional mistakes. This year’s version captures that in ways a cutscene never could.

Running backs don’t magically find holes in defenses in the first quarter. Instead, they work and learn over the course of the game, and try to expose weaknesses after being coached. Quarterbacks being chased by 750 pounds of linebackers don’t stay poised, they react with panic when their blocking collapses. Perhaps a professional can maintain composure under these circumstances, but these players shouldn’t be confused for NFL veterans.

Another major upgrade this season is the vastly improved fatigue system, which eliminates arbitrary stamina bars in favor of real performance dips. For example, if a running back carries 4-6 times every possession, he’ll definitely lose explosiveness by the fourth quarter, perhaps when the player needs him the most. 

Perhaps most important of all, the gameplay simply feels better. The best sports sims feature controls that respond instantly, almost like an extension of the player. College Football 26 features far fewer canned animations and ‘magical’ plays. Instead, I found myself discovering defensive gaps and exploiting them like a real player would. Option plays, which were hit or miss in 25, feel much more natural. It’s altogether more intuitive and responsive, and as a result, more enjoyable throughout.

My reviews always have to mention a few flaws, and this one is going to sound familiar, but I wish I could be enthusiastic about College Ultimate Team. Despite some improvements that make the card drops seem less random, this mode still feels like it belongs in a mobile game, not my $100 title on my $500 console. The menus are clunky, loading times are long, and the whole experience still prioritizes spending money over delivering a good time. It has its merits, but if there was a mode that needed some revisiting, it’s this one.

Getting back to the positives, Dynasty Mode has evolved considerably, bringing a good amount of strategy along with it. In last year’s edition, hiring and scouting felt like unavoidable homework between games. Now, these decisions have more impact on and off the field. I chose disciplinarian types for my staff and was rewarded with a hard-working squad of well-behaved kids. However, at season’s end, I noticed a number of my star players entering the transfer portal, likely as a result of the relentless training and coaching. These decisions matter now, and they matter for the future of a user’s legacy.

The Road to Glory story mode tries valiantly to capture the personal journey from high school superstar to campus legend, and there are some good moments, to be sure. However, the high school portion drags with oddly finicky missions to conquer, and more school selection drama than a teenager probably should endure. It can drag, but once chosen by a dream school, the Friday Night Lights moments are easily forgiven.

Online, the game performed well for roughly 80% of my time there near launch, and has been flawless in recent weeks thanks to a series of patches that have eliminated online animation glitches and matchmaking discrepancies that I experienced at launch. Today, the online portion is solid, enjoyable, and balanced.

This isn’t a title to nitpick, so, let’s break this down to the important things. College Football 26 is an absolute blast to play, and is a massive step forward for the reborn franchise, thanks to the type of year-over-year improvements that will please even the most cynical gamers. A title this deep and layered will never be perfect, but seeing last year’s foundation turn into this year’s celebration has been wonderful. I’m not likely to put this down any time soon.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is available on XBX/S and PS5. This game copy was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX. Approximately 21 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to online multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. This is a realistic representation of full-contact college football, and some tackling animations and injuries may concern some parents.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are available in the Game Settings menu.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: College Football 26 features subtitles, speech-to-text, and numerous tactile feedback features in all modes. (See examples in the pictures posted.) The game is easily playable without sound and is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, the game’s controls are not remappable.

The post EA Sports College Football 26 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH That moment when your old dorm is accurately represented in a videogame.

LOW Mode selection is a little lackluster.

WTF Academic performance tracking is my weekly nightmare come to life.

I don’t remember exactly where I was the last time I played a new college football game but I’m sure the scene involved me, my couch, and a noticeable cushion dent from hours of endless play. It’s not a pretty picture, but it is an accurate one. Now, after nearly 11 years away from digital collegiate gridiron, I was skeptical that EA Sports would be able to recapture that “just one more game” feeling.

Oh, EA Sports proved me wrong in so many wonderful ways.

College Football 25 (No “NCAA” this time around) is an outstanding, immersive, nostalgic title that quickly carves out its own identity against the inevitable Madden comparisons. Yes, those familiar with EA’s pro title will easily adapt to College Football 25’s controls and gameplay, but those — ahem — schooled in collegiate strategy and atmosphere will find themselves with a notable advantage.

The unparalleled college vibe is one of the biggest surprises after more than a decade away. The old NCAA series always did a solid job of emulating stadiums and crowd noise, but modern technology has allowed them to recreate the unique environments that each home school provides.

Fans of major programs like Clemson and Alabama will lose themselves in how seamlessly the designers implemented mascots, in-game chants, student traditions, and more. There’s even a noise meter that shakes the screen and affects playcalling, giving home teams a distinct advantage in competitive situations. Small, moderately successful schools might trigger the needle a little, but big schools with bigger money programs will regularly reap the rewards of the home field.

It even showed for my alma mater, the University of Maryland, which may not be a top-tier football school among its peers in the Big Ten Conference, but we did have an original set of chants and music to accompany our team. Sure enough, when in a crucial in-game situation, the students reacted accordingly, elevating the atmosphere tenfold. All of it was flawlessly represented alongside the nuances that made our school stand apart. And no, this level of detail isn’t exclusive to bigger schools — even the smaller programs receive the same level of detail and unique presentation.

Of course, none of this matters if the on-field visuals are lackluster. Thankfully, EA Sports made the most of its 11-year respite — every player on the field demonstrates a unique look and feel. Linemen seem a little jumpier than their professional counterparts. Defensive secondaries find themselves scrambling a little more before the snap. Quarterbacks don’t appear quite as composed. In other words, they seem like young adults tasked with handling some immense, big-game pressure. Plus, the player models are (generally) a little smaller and less monstrous than professional players. These details are subtle but add so much in helping College Football 25 stand apart from its more established big brother.

Another exciting aspect of the college game is that not every player is awesome. Deep pass plays are riskier, and big running gains are more likely against suspect defenses. Where Madden has its handful of top-rated receivers who seem to have glue on their gloves, the college level reflects teams of players who are still learning as they go, and that means nothing is “automatic.” When big plays happen, they just seem to mean more to the player.

That said, CF25 acknowledges those who take time to learn. (This is a college game, after all.) While smaller programs might not see initial success against juggernauts and experience some initial frustration, growth is earned and learning how to maximize each player’s skill set is a rewarding experience from season to season.

My only complaint about College Football 25‘s gameplay is the same I’ve made for most football titles — there continue to be plays and moves that are simply too easy to spam. (Just check YouTube for some of the spin move “highlights.”) Good players will always find a way to adjust, but newcomers online might find themselves stopped before they even get started. I was fortunate to not see many people abusing these quirks, but over time, I anticipate steeper beginner learning curves.

Since launch, I’ve seen a lot of online chatter about College Football 25’s “thin” and “disappointing” selection of modes and features, but I see this as a positive because I think it was vital for the developers to focus more on developing unique, rewarding on-field gameplay, and it seems they agreed. Of course, it doesn’t exactly lack variety with a solid selection of the modes we’ve come to expect from EA Sports titles.

For those looking to spend significant time in the trenches, Dynasty mode is far more rewarding than its professional counterpart, mostly because the focus is on winning, player development, and team success, rather than keeping high-profile players satisfied season over season. Here, users can help a struggling program methodically improve and find intermittent successes along the way. Maybe it’s getting close to being ranked among the top 25. Maybe it’s knocking off a top-ranked opponent. Maybe it’s being considered for a coveted bowl game. Minor, moral victories seem to matter more at the collegiate level since there’s just so much more to aim for than one solitary trophy.

Unfortunately, the touted Road to Glory mode, while more streamlined than Dynasty, doesn’t give users enough to do over its shorter career span. At first, this exercise of allocating experience points to improve on-field performance seems enjoyable. But tasks like improving academics and resting injuries quickly become a week-to-week slog, more busywork than play. Likewise, the limited Road to the CFP mode will appeal to those who want bragging rights, but there’s little to do beyond seeing a name on leaderboards. With more attention, this could become a legitimate mode for those seeking to achieve online immortality, but there’s still room to expand it into something deeper than just a ranking.

As expected, College Football 25 features its own Ultimate Team mode, which is identical to the countless revisions we’ve seen in Madden over the years. For users into card collecting, trading, and yes, spending to build an unbeatable squad there are no surprises to be had, other than some moderate challenges to break up the grind. While I probably need to get with the times and accept these modes as part of gaming reality, here it seems redundant, rather than necessary.

Online, the game performed flawlessly during my testing, with no lag or latency. Lobbies were easy to navigate, and games started quickly. It allowed me to recreate my favorite college matchups, playing with my favorite college roommate. Only now, 1,300 miles separated us, even though the conversations and laughs remained the same.

And that perfectly illustrates the bigger point. To fans like me, College Football 25 is about as pure a gaming experience as there is. It wasn’t an online leaderboard or card-collecting mode that made fans beg EA Sports to bring back college football. It was the memories of trash talking on the couch, and recreating a rivalry. It was figuring out those spam plays and finally shutting them down. It was a throwback to gaming’s roots when higher scores were all people needed to enjoy themselves.

I could belabor this review with more examples, but in the end, there’s only one key takeaway — College Football 25 delivers on the memories I just listed, alongside countless others. And I can’t wait to see where the series goes from here.

Score: 9 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is published by EA Sports and developed by EA Orlando. It is available on XBX/S and PS5. This game copy was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX. Approximately 15 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. Approximately 5 hours of play were devoted to online multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. This is a realistic representation of full-contact college football, and some tackling animations and injuries may concern some parents.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are available in the Game Settings menu.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: College Football 25 features subtitles, speech-to-text, and numerous tactile feedback features in all modes. The game is easily playable without sound and is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, the game’s controls are not remappable.

The post EA Sports College Football 25 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.