By Will Smith – Entertainment Editor

“EA Sports: College Football 25” was released officially for consoles on July 19. The game is the first college football game to be released since “NCAA Football 2014” in 2013.

The game has a multitude of game modes to choose from. Play Now is a game mode used to play a game of college football. This game mode can be played with friends both online cross platform included or users can play together on the same console. Players pick their teams, select the settings they want to use, and enjoy.

Road to Glory is a game mode where players can make a custom character and play through their time in college football. Characters can be a middle linebacker, cornerback, halfback, receiver, or quarterback. The character the player creates will also start with a certain level of skill. Once a player has completed character creation, they choose which college they want to attend. Each week, users have energy to do various activities such as keeping grades up or building a character’s fame. Players should put some energy into each one and not put all of their eggs in one basket. Additionally, players are able to transfer their characters to “Madden 25” after they’ve graduated from college. 

Dynasty is a game mode where players become the coach of their own college football team. This game mode features an online mode (not compatible with cross-platform), so users are able to create their own league with friends. In this game mode, the biggest priority is recruiting talent for one’s team so that the team can become better off than it was before. Depending on how well the team performs each week, players will earn EXP to improve their coaching styles such as tactician, recruitment, or motivator. 

Road to College Football Playoffs is a head to head game mode. There are 10 teams if players win against eight of them, they are put into the College football playoffs. Each team is a different tier – the better the team, the higher tier the team will be. If users play as a lower tier team and win, they can earn more ranked points. Playing as a higher tier team will earn less points playing against lower tier schools.

Lastly, College Football Ultimate Team is an online game mode where the goal is to create the best team possible by purchasing or earning packs of players to use to make the ultimate team. There is a wide variety of players that users can win from packs. Challenges which can be used to earn points can vary in difficulty which can result in different amounts of points being earned or even exclusive rewards.

The game boasts lots of variety in its gameplay and designs. Each college has its own unique intro to the football game that will be played depending on the college. If a team is the visitor, the opposing crowd can interfere with their screen. The screen can shake and even make users forget their play calls. 

The only negative about the game is it’s not innovative enough. EA took the most basic ideas and put them into the game. The game is essentially a Madden game with college teams. It feels like sports video games have stagnated when it comes to innovation while the game has good graphics and mechanics it lacks any real growth when it comes to differences in previous games. Besides the graphics, who’s playing, and how high the players overall are not a lot changes when it comes to how the game is played. There’s always been a Play Now, Custom Character, Dynasty Mode, and Ultimate Team in “Madden.”

Overall, the game is a step in the right direction for EA as “College Football 25” shows some growth from previous “Madden” games.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars