EA drops gameplay for College Football 25
Earlier this week, college football media and sports gaming content creators dropped important details about the long-awaited EA Sports College Football 25. EA invited them for a presentation and demo of the game in Orlando last week, and on Wednesday, they were allowed to share their experience.
Today, at long last, we received official gameplay footage for College Football 25. EA released a deep dive into gameplay on their YouTube channel, narrated by ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit, highlighting the exciting new style of play coming to football video games.
Specifically, they went into the details on the new "Campus IQ" system, which is broken into four main categories. Here's what makes up Campus IQ...
Wear and Tear
Wear and Tear is a player health mechanic that will factor in every hit players take during a game. With each hit, players will experience some sort of physical fatigue. But where those hits happen and how hard they are will impact players differently. A hit to the QB's throwing arm could be more detrimental than just a routine tackle. You'll need to manage your player over the course of the game with substitutions and diversified play-calls to limit Wear and Tear's effects.
Player Abilities
To emphasize the wide range of talent levels in college football, each player will have certain Player Abilities that vary with experience and skill level. Physical abilities will impact how well a player can win their in-play matchups on field and stay healthy. Mental abilities will impact how well players can diagnose what their opposition is doing and perform under pressure. Players can have up to eight abilities with varying levels of effectiveness.
Homefield Advantage
College football has some of the wildest stadium atmospheres in all of sports, and it can have a major impact on games. Homefield Advantage will be a big part of College Football 25, as visiting offenses will have a much harder time executing while dealing with a raucous crowd. Because of HFA, having players with strong mental abilities will be key, as they'll better handle the noise.
Unique Playbooks
All 134 FBS teams are featured in College Football 25, and EA created 134 unique playbooks for each of them. While the original NCAA Football series would give each team a playbook to fit their real life style (such as Texas Tech running the Air Raid or Navy running the Option), the plays themselves were fairly generic and not particularly team-specific. Now, not only will a team's playbook match their style, the actual formations and plays featured will replicate what those teams run on Saturdays.
Other Features
College Football 25 will feature revamped passing mechanics designed to better mimic the types of throws QBs make in specific situations, and users will be able to adjust how they throw each individual pass. The audible system has become far more diverse with more pre-snap changes available to the user. Users can switch players during the play with a directional switch stick to quickly get to the ball. And the kicking meter has been updated to better encapsulate the adventures of "college kickers".
The gameplay in College Football 25 looks incredible. There will definitely be an adjustment period for those that spent years of playing NCAA Football 14, but the wider range of player abilities, game mechanics, and play styles should create a gaming experience that gives us the most realistic football game yet.