It’s a collegiate reunion
It has been a long time coming, but college football is finally back. One of the most popular series in gaming has been dormant since the 360/PS3 days, the last iteration came out in 2013. This means it skipped an entire generation. This was due to licensing among other things, but that has all been settled. The series has returned, and EA has taken this opportunity to recreate the series with a bunch of new features to welcome its return. What we end up with is a mix of great ideas and some technical hiccups and lack of features. Still, it feels good to have the series back to complement the EA Sports library.
Let’s kick things off with what College Football has always done well, presentation. Having played Madden year in and year out, one of the things I miss so much about College Football is the atmosphere. The developers have really raised the bar with this entry. Schools have unique opening sequences, the crowd has interactions, there are cheerleader presentations alongside mascots. It really does an amazing job of capturing that spirit of Saturday. It is wild that this game picks up exactly where it left off and sets the standard that Madden needs to match this year and going forward.
MSRP: $69.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $69.99
There is so much going on during a game that it can be hard to keep track of it all. There are stat windows while picking plays. The bottom ticker has tons of information that is dynamic based on player performance. This game feels more like a broadcast presentation than Madden has in years. It feels like the team just came in and put that series to shame when it comes to these aspects, and I have high hopes that the Madden team took notes for this year’s game.
One of the things people will talk about when it comes to the differences between college and pro football is how much faster the NFL is when players transition. For the video games, this is completely the opposite. The on-field action in College Football feels MUCH faster than Madden. Everything happens at a brisk pace, and I found myself having to shorten quarters in Dynasty mode to achieve more realistic stats. Everything from play calling to the actual action just feels faster. This is in part to no accelerated clock (unless you turn it on) when picking plays.
Playing the game itself is a treat. Player locomotion when running the ball feels outstanding. I felt like I had more control over my cuts. The new passing system took a while to get used to. It feels like a hybrid of precision passing from Madden, with a little more refinement. There is also a simplified version of it as well as classic passing where taps are lobs and holding the button throws more of a bullet pass. I can say that this game feels amazing to play and I hope Madden carries over a lot of this game’s feel.
Not all is great though. There are plenty of weird glitches I ran into when playing. Camera cuts that are off. The new kicking meter is frustrating, and good luck completing a pass with a bad offensive line. I tossed multiple interceptions before I got used to it. The game feels rough at times and can detract from the experience. Even with these things though it is still a lot of fun game to game.
While the game is great to play, you can tell this is a first outing in years. The modes, while plentiful, and a little barebones across the board. Let’s kick off with Road to Glory, which allowed me to create a recruit player and manage their journey being chosen by a school. It kicks off letting me choose a position and a star rating. The lower you pick, the harder it is. Each week I was tasked with dispersing my Rest Points into various areas such as academics and training. It is almost like a spreadsheet system that will dictate play time. This mode feels like a simpler version of Superstar from Madden, which is certainly not a compliment.
Ultimate Team also returns, and this is a mode I simply do not get into. I never have, and likely never will. This version feels familiar, but sadly the training mode is tucked away in here. So, if you want to dig into the more nuanced portions of the game, you will have to at least boot it up. I am sure this mode will make a ton of money and become the most played mode, but it is simply not for me.
Dynasty is where I spend most of my time. I like playing the role of a head coach and making those decisions at the top level. Once again, this mode features a set of RPG-like elements as I was able to create a coach and slowly upgrade a skill tree over time that increased things like recruiting. This is addictive if you get into the nerdiness of football. The recruiting process is in-depth. It also takes into account the school, so if you are coaching a lower end team, it will be harder to bring in 5-star recruits. Players could lose themselves in this and it is rewarding when you sign that star and end up changing the trajectory of a school.
The other modes are pretty standard fare with quickplay being exactly what it sounds like. Road to the College Playoff is an online mode that is fun if you can find a league to play with. There is a lot here for a game that has been dormant for 11 years, but each mode still feels a little shallow at times.
There is so much more to this game, but I am not equipped to go into the details of a lot of college football. I am more of an NFL guy. Still this game should make players who have been dying for the series return extremely happy. It does a lot of great things and sets the template for future games. The foundation is great, and they just need to flesh out the modes in the future and fix the glitches that crop up. It feels good to have this series back, and I hope it serves as inspiration to improve Madden as well.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
