It was only a couple weeks ago when EA Sports dropped the trailer for College Football 25, but that was a mere taste of what was to come for the long-awaited return of the NCAA gridiron video game franchise. Now that the July 19 release date is drawing nearer, we’re getting treated to even more gameplay footage.
Friday marked the release of a “gameplay deep dive” featurette, where broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit walks gamers through all the prominent new features in the game.
One step closer to making game day every day#CFB25 Coming July 19
Pre-Order Now 🔗: https://t.co/h079QzWxaP pic.twitter.com/t2t5r6olzA— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) May 31, 2024
One major criticism of the Madden franchise is its lack of innovation and changes throughout the years. Although college football has been absent from the sports gaming landscape for a number of years, the long wait looks to be well worth it based on the myriad enhancements developers have brought to the screen.
At the center of College Football 25‘s upgrades is a trademarked technology known as “Campus IQ.” Under this umbrella are a variety of cutting-edge features. Herbstreit first outlines the “Wear and Tear” element that’s meant to realistically simulate fatigue, stamina, and durability that factors heavily into the fourth quarter of real games.
From there, Herbstreit goes deeper on player abilities. There’s a graphic of all kinds of sophisticated attributes that are designed to separate and elevate the nation’s best players from the rest of the pack. Married to that is the concept of home-field advantage. You can see on-screen displays of just how loud the crowd is, and that impacts players who are less experienced or have inferior levels of composure as part of their overall ratings. I guess this stadium meter was a thing back in the day, though?
EA brought back the stadium pulse meter from NCAA Football 06 for College Football 25!! pic.twitter.com/8wEqqYBLZK
— Bordeaux (@bordeauxyoutube) May 31, 2024
Then, we get to the “Unique Playbooks” element of College Football 25. The older games did a pretty good job of this. For instance, it’s not a novel concept to see Air Force operating a run-heavy, triple-option attack. What separates this game from the previous iterations is the level of nuance and detail. Herbstreit alludes to how everything from the wider splits at Oklahoma to the pro-style run game schemes at Michigan are accounted for.
Everything we know about abilities in College Football 25:
– 80 in-game abilities
– Split into 2 categories, Mental and Physical
– 4 tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum)
– Even at the highest tier, they don't guarantee a specific result
– The most a player can have at any… pic.twitter.com/B2ahfZFI2F— Bordeaux (@bordeauxyoutube) May 31, 2024
On top of all that, the graphics are obviously a lot better. While there isn’t much difference from the view at the line of scrimmage, the close-up shots of players celebrating, alternate camera angles, and basically anything not to do with the on-field matchup itself are eerily lifelike. With all the advancements in AI expected in the coming years, it won’t be long before these virtual players look truly hyper-realistic.
I’ve only begun to touch on all the cool concepts. It seems like the gaming community generally agrees with my glowing review of what we’ve seen thus far from College Football 25. I might even have to buy a new console just to be able to play it.
Thank you God. We back. pic.twitter.com/DNsGfEop1j
— Tiger Vibes (@Tiger__Vibes) May 31, 2024
My boss when he asks me to pick up a shift on July 19th pic.twitter.com/qyxmjPnMqi
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) May 31, 2024
It looks nothing like Madden. I’m so happy pic.twitter.com/35OeR91twh
— Irvin 🐍 (@YouUglyToo) May 31, 2024
Me watching EA actually do a good job with EA College Football 25 pic.twitter.com/kC1vDVC29N
— TND (@TNDTweets) May 31, 2024
I can't wait to spend my entire summer getting unfathomably mad at myself for recruiting mentally weak bums in College Football 25. This is what my life has been missing
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 31, 2024
Wear & tear in College Football 25 seems to be inspired from a feature in NFL Head Coach 09 as you can see here. Individual body parts have health. Getting hit in different areas effects different attributes. Loved this feature in 09 so excited to see it in again pic.twitter.com/fG48NZs3Ie
— Drew (NTE) (@NotTheExpertYT) May 31, 2024
Base Align is NOT in EA CFB 25.
Instead, there's a disguise coverage mechanic. Before you choose a play, you can select a Coverage Shell to show.
With this feature, you can “show” a Cover 2 before the snap, but it’s actually a Cover 3 defense.
Game-changing.
H/T @MisterCiv pic.twitter.com/TLjCqz5Znk
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) May 31, 2024
