After properly revealing it a few weeks ago, EA Sports has finally provided fans a first look at gameplay for the highly anticipated return of college football video games, giving us a first look at some new features coming to College Football 25 such as Campus IQ, Wear & Tear, and more.
College Football 25 introduces a slew of new changes that aim to recapture the spirit of college football in a virtual capacity and provide more immersion to make players feel like they are a college football player and/or coaches. Among the new changes is Campus IQ, encompassing three fundamental pillars of College Football 25: All 22+, 134 Ways to Play, and Stories of Saturday. All provide things like differentiation, team variance and their different strategies, and momentum-based gameplay.
Some interesting tidbits the deep dive covers include confirmation there will be 80 abilities. These abilities are categorized by physical and mental and are further broken down into a four-tier system: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Players can have up to five physical and three mental abilities. One example of an ability is “Pocket Shield,” which makes the offensive line hold better blocks when executing a standard pass play, though EA says even if the lineman have the highest tier, they can still lose in a matchup.
Wear & Tear, a new system previously teased in the formal reveal, is a physics-based damaged system. While it sounds like a fatigue system, EA Sports is trying to illustrate it more as a management system designed to replicate real-life scenarios like players’ damage and fatigue from playing a game, displaying every limb and body part of a player, each tied to unique attributes. For example, suppose a QB has been throwing a lot in a game and taking many hits. In that case, he will likely have a decrease in throw power and accuracy, and those effects may carry over the following week if you are playing Road to Glory or Dynasty mode.
Weather conditions will also play a bigger role in adding depth and challenge to College Football 25. If it is raining, for example, it can be harder to throw or handle a wet football. Heavy rain or snow can also impact the trajectory of your kick while on special teams.
College Football 25’s first deep dive also digs into the Option game. EA notes it wanted to make the mechanic mirror an exchange that can occur between the quarterback and the running back.
Another feature EA introduces in College Football 25 is Confidence and Composure. This system will see how players can maintain both attributes in high-pressure situations to match the energy seen in college football. So, rivalry games will have more stakes in maintaining composure than standard games.
Alongside Confidence and Composure, EA is also cranking up the pressure for a visiting team to win on the road with a home-field advantage, making it harder for visiting teams to win on the road at the Division 1 level. EA confirmed this home-field advantage would bring back NCAA Football 06’s classic Stadium Pulse Meter, which causes the screen to shake and allows players to tell the crowd to “Get Louder” by flicking the right stick (RS) up.
College Football 25’s gameplay also includes adjustments to passing and kicking. The former has increased the variance of the left stick (LS) pass lead intent, in addition to the development team making a significant overhaul to throw power, which now impacts not only the distance of the throw but how hard one is throwing to their intended target. While the new kicking mechanic removes the ability to use a thumbstick to aim and power up, the ball will automatically move side to side and you have to first lock the ball and then hold the A/X button to achieve maximum power.
Beyond the overhauls to offense, one major tweak to defensive play is the introduction of the Switch Stick. This mechanic will allow players to incentivize more defensive switching. For example, players can flick the right stick to switch the direction of their coverage while lurking in pass coverage.
The entire deep dive covered a ton of the new mechanics and systems introduced to College Football 25. EA teased plans to do more deep dives of other aspects College Football 25, such as Dynasty Mode and Team Builder, in the future.
College Football 25 is out on July 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more, check out our first hands-on preview.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
