10 things we learned about EA College Football 25 in the first 48 hours

I won’t end the story here: Madden 25 hasn’t even been released yet, but EA College Football 25 is hands down the best football video game I’ve ever seen.

So does that mean I love every bit of this game? No, but I definitely think every video game football lover should have one of these in their collection. Also, before I get into the meat of this article, I should mention that I haven't had a chance to dig too deep into Ultimate Team yet.

I prefer to wait until the servers are completely full and EA has a chance to ramp up its impact on an excited user base. Below are 10 key details I learned in my first 48 hours of playing EACF 25.

This game is visually stunning in every way.

From a purely graphical standpoint, this feels like the first truly current-gen football game ever: the player models, 3D grass, lighting and environments are strong.

I took loads of snapshots of gameplay in the replay suite and was amazed at how detailed some of the games were.

Not only is the gameplay visually stunning, but the presentation is also fantastic, with multiple camera angles, mascots, cheerleaders, stadiums and crowds adding colour to this beautiful game.

The game is fast

It took me about half the time of soccer to get used to it, but EACF 25 is a faster game than any soccer title to date. I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but once I got used to the fast-paced nature of some of the movements, everything else felt too slow.

I like the variety of fast and slow players, it makes controlling game-changing stars that much more fun and allows them to be the dominant players they should be in college football.

The players' names are rarely mentioned in the commentary.

The downside to commentary is that it can sound generic, and with thousands of names in the game, coordinating all those callouts with one commentary team would have been a huge undertaking, let alone three.

However, the rest of the game is presented at such a high level that it's noticeable that the commentators barely mention the players' names – hopefully that will be tweaked post-launch to improve the audio, but as it stands the commentary is very generic.

Right now, this sounds like something you'd hear in the fifth year of a dynasty when the school is full of guys with custom names and the game's database doesn't have their last names.

Road to Glory has some great elements, but freshman year can get tedious

The single-player campaign feature is back and there's a lot to like about it: I love the option to choose whether you want to be a 5-star, 4-star, 3-star, or 2-star athlete.

I also like how I get to decide which school to attend when my college career begins. However, I didn't like not having the option to play in high school games. In the old days of NCAA games, that experience was always a great option. The other issue, and perhaps the biggest issue, is the whole structure of activities for your freshman season if you enroll at a school that doesn't allow you to play from day one.

I like the position battles and building trust with my coach through mini-games. I also like the option to practice and earn XP that can be used to upgrade my players. I also like having to balance studying for exams with my football duties.

But something is missing. The initial goal should be to eventually qualify as a starter, but EA missed the mark when it came to creating engaging mini-games for non-starters. Playing simulation games against lower-ranked players and opponents would be a good stimulant and preparation for when you can play in the real game.

In fact, after simulating the first three or four weeks of the season, I was bored and couldn’t wait to get my freshman year done.

Dynasty mode is great and recruiting is even better than before, but…

EA clearly understands how important recruitment is to the overall quality of Dynasty mode, and honestly, they could have given fans the exact same recruitment system as NCAA 14 and I think the majority of users would have been happy.

The inclusion of transfer portals was a necessity, but the other layers of the game, tags, improved UI and notification system make this the best thing ever.

When I’m working through recruiting and free agency in sports games, I ask myself, ‘As a content creator, is there enough here for me to use this aspect of the game to tell a story to my audience?’ The answer is a thousand times yes.

However, a lack of customization options has hampered adoption a bit.

You cannot create or edit existing freshmen. Therefore, you cannot create or customize your freshman class. This will be a major issue for some. I remember creating a crazy 5-star freshman in NCAA 14 and having fun watching multiple schools compete to get him in.

That need will be satisfied by a supply of computer-generated recruits. Thankfully, there is a lot of variety in potential recruits, but nothing beats recruiting your own.

Injuries are part of the game, but I would probably add a few more injuries.

Shortly before release, I was concerned that injuries weren't working the way they should in the game, and there were some strange wording in the descriptions around wear and tear and injuries.

I hate seeing real people get injured, but in a sports video game injuries add realism and immersion. Thankfully, I've simulated weeks of action and seen players miss up to 15 weeks. I've never been more relieved to see a serious injury. I didn't see any injuries in the game other than basic injuries.

I think I'll try raising the injury slider from the default (10) to around 20 or 25 and see how it feels.

Not being able to edit the roster angers some users

My biggest issue with the game is the inability to fully edit your roster – this level of customization was one of the biggest features I always looked forward to in the game.

As it stands, the game excels in many ways, so the limitations on roster editing are easy to swallow, but for some who have been eagerly awaiting the series' return, the restrictions may come as a major disappointment, especially for those looking to recreate the world of college football.

TeamBuilder is ready after release

The limitations on player customization are further exacerbated by what appears to be a delayed release of the TeamBuilder website.

EA hasn't said that the feature is being delayed. Instead, an update for this feature is scheduled to be released on July 19. There will be a limit to how many schools you can add to your dynasty, but we're confident this feature will be powerful.

A little more transparency would have made this part of the release go a lot smoother.

My journey to the College Football Playoff gave me the competitive spirit I needed.

A good franchise/dynasty mode can make playing sports games offline a lot of fun, and EACF 25 is one such game.

But sometimes I want to test my skills against other players, and while CUT may provide some opportunities for that, I think the Road to the College Football Playoff is what I'm most looking forward to.

Trying to figure out which school would be a good fit for playing my style of football and playing against other users was fun, especially considering the large number of opponents available.

The ranking system seems strong so far and I expect I could play at least five of these games a week.

EACF 25 will help sell Madden 25

Aside from the MVP pre-order bundle that gets you both EACF 25 and the top editions of Madden 25 at a discount, the gameplay quality of the former helps demonstrate the improvement of the latter.

While EACF 25 and Madden 25 are different games, the collegiate version offers a glimpse into the direction EA is looking to take its American football products, and that's a good thing.