I miss football. Don’t get me wrong, baseball has its moments, but there is just something reassuring about seeing football on television. Hmmmm. Maybe it’s a sign that summer is over. God, I wish that were the case. Maryland is a swamp here. BLEH.
Anyway, College Football 26 from developer EA Orlando was recently released, which has set my football tingles to go off, and I have been playing it all week. While I missed last year’s relaunch of the revered franchise, I loved it from afar and secretly wondered why Madden NFL wasn’t as good. Whatever the case, and maybe the devs with Madden NFL 26 are going to surprise me, this year’s college football game hit hard.
College Football 26 concentrates on gameplay rather than gimmicks. The devs seem hellbent on getting things right with how the game feels, how it performs at some level, and how long they can keep you playing before the actual college football season. The game delivers on precise controls, good feels, and superb attention to detail in various areas. What the game falls short in is good teammate AI, which was frustrating at times.
Before we embark on this review journey, let me remind you once again that I didn’t play last year’s version. That means I have nothing to compare it to regarding any improvements or shortcomings. This is just purely one person’s description of a new experience with an old series. Fresh eyes, if you will.
So, let’s sit back, break out some diet soda (it’s still not good for anyone), and get our favorite team’s jersey on to discuss College Football 26.
New hotness on an old skeleton
I admit that headline was bleh at best, if not gross, but it’s a good description of how I felt during my review time with College Football 26. The last time I played this game, Tim Tebow was on the cover, and all was well with the college football gaming world. Even back in the day during the Tebow years, the series had far exceeded expectations, and doubly so with a stumbling Madden NFL that was struggling to find a new blueprint to wow players. Going into this review, I was ready to be impressed, as that was my last emotional experience with the series, and it did not disappoint.
The gameplay for College Football 26 is mostly outstanding. Throwing the football is easy, as it is fun to learn. Finding an open receiver, leading them properly, and progressing on the field feels natural and what you would want out of a college football game. Offense is rarely an issue with these games, unless you have a cone involved, but it was nice to see the tradition of near perfection continue with College Football 26. I especially enjoyed running the ball in the game, as holes would show themselves on the field so that I could hit the right one to gain the most yards. This and the offense overall acted and executed beautifully. I truly enjoyed the offensive part of the game.
On the defensive side, it wasn’t quite perfect. During my time as the Kentucky Wildcats (they must win somewhere, right?), I parked most of my defensive ass on the line. Since the late 90s, with NFL 2K on the Dreamcast, I have always enjoyed being up front and knocking the hell out of a quarterback. With College Football 26, the game did a wonderful job of providing a wide range of plays, easily attuned audibles to switch back and forth when needed, and just a good feeling of solid control over the player I had selected during the action. It made taking down the quarterback so much fun. It felt good, worked well, and provided me with a variety of different ways to attack the opponent.
Now, what didn’t do well was my teammates’ dependability. The intelligence of my teammates was, at best, lacking. While I’m sure they’re smart bots crunching numbers, their reaction to 1-on-1 scenarios or preventing the opponent from making a first down/touchdown was frustrating. There were plenty of moments when the opponent’s QB would run for a first down after my secondary locked everyone down. My linebacker just stood there watching…waiting…probably thinking about Superman and how it did this weekend and if DC was going to finally do well, but the teammate didn’t react until the QB was at arm’s length. In whatever coding fashion these ‘teammates’ were made, they need to be made better and smarter. There were more than two handfuls of these moments during my season run to the National Championship game in College Football 26, where my teammates failed me. For example, during a normal defensive play, I would do my best to lock up my opponent at the line because if I didn’t, I would risk any good chance of secondary stopping them. If this happened once to me, I would write it off as my bad. But it happened repeatedly and throughout my journey. Unless you blatantly take control of said teammate, don’t count on them reacting well enough to stop simple plays from unfolding. It was very frustrating to deal with that on defense.
With all the above said, that doesn’t mean the game was severely lacking overall. I enjoyed the absolute hell out of the College Football 26. Enough so that I spent eight straight hours playing a season because I couldn’t put it down. For the most part, it felt like the old game, but worked better and gave me hope that EA Orlando truly knows what the hell it is doing. They made some great gameplay that was mostly accurate and thoughtless to execute (that’s a good thing, I swear).
It’s in the details
Several good modes are featured with College Football 26, but the two best, in my opinion, were Dynasty and Road to Glory. While Ultimate Team and Road to the CFP are best left to the online enthusiasts who obsess over winning relentlessly against actual people, the offline modes were super solid on their own and kept my attention for most of this review period. Let’s talk about those two modes.
Dynasty isn’t just an ’80s show
Dynasty is your franchise mode. You pick your team, you select how you’re going to focus on your team, via coach or otherwise, and then you go into the actual season of said team. While the college football season is short and not nearly as complicated as the NFL or MLB, Dynasty still brought some lovely details to the table that made the experience motivating and fun. For example, I chose to focus on coaching during my season, which had me dreading that perhaps I was about to be Sega Football Manager’d, where I would make decisions but not participate on the field. Nope, it’s not that at all. You concentrate on coaching decisions, focus on how to improve your team, which includes management and such, and you must deal with recruitment/transfers/NIL. In a way, it’s acting like Sega’s Football Manager, but it also allows you to see and control your decisions on the field.
While Dynasty can be a lot and not as simple as just practicing or improving your players, it’s also deeper and better, especially on the recruiting side. You must work for that portion of the game, and it’s exciting. The better you do, the more you gain notoriety, and the better you can recruit against the big boys. That’s assuming that you’re not already one. Anyway, it’s a mode packed with details and features a fun season of football with your favorite team. I could get lost in this mode repeatedly.
On the Road to Glory again
On the Road to Glory side of the tracks, it’s your journey as a high school recruit and making it to a college team of your dreams. Answering questions, doing the right thing, worrying about grades, and concentrating on getting better is the focus of this mode. In its execution, it works so very well, even though it’s an uphill journey that can get frustrating and complicated at times. The fact that you’re a raw recruit and you must balance school and work/football is not an easy task. And the game truly puts your feet to the fire with school, as you must prove, through XP, that you can maintain a scholarly life, or risk getting kicked off the team. Some of you probably think life as a student athlete is limelight and luxury, but it’s not. It’s hard work and dedication, as well as balancing out your normal student life with your sport. Road to Glory does a great job of bringing a taste of that life to the game, and it makes the experience so much deeper than other sports games.
Now, as for Ultimate Team and Road to the CFP, they’re well done. They are what you would expect from them, and you won’t be disappointed if you love those modes. They’re not my cup of tea, though, and I didn’t spend a great deal of time with them. I’m just not the competitive type.
Graphics with one small hiccup
College Football 26 is a gorgeous game. From stadiums to lighting, and from textures and animation to cheers and jeers. The game excels with its presentation, and I hope EA Orlando continues to improve upon it visually or at least squeeze as much as they can from their engine.
For the first time, I must compliment the aesthetic of the brand presentation. It’s got that college feel to it from transitions between games to basic menus. It is playful, fun, and it exhumes the very spirit of college football. It’s got that scratchy text with chalkboard drawing as the main theme. It’s so cool and stylish, and it deserves some good presentation props. At the very least, the aesthetic separates itself from the NFL brand. It certainly creates a good visual identity.
You know what is not stylish? The eyes of the players and people. I’ve never been creeped out by a football game before, but the eyes of every virtual living being in this game were haunting. It didn’t ruin the experience, but my GOD, it was noticeable. I hope those get improved. Everyone either looks disappointed or they’re striving to become the next Dexter. It’s just the eyes that fail the presentation, and most of the time, you can’t see them under the helmets. Most of the time. They’re always staring at you.
Eyes aside, the rest of the game is so darn good with how it is presented. The audio of the crowds chanting your team’s name (or the chant that goes with the team) and even the background music during the game, to keep everything exciting. The audio portion of the game is very well done. I enjoyed that aspect thoroughly.
Overall, the presentation was outstanding for College Football 26. It will get you in the mood for the fall ball.
On that sweet note, let’s wrap up this review.
Conclusion
College Football 26, from developer EA Orlando, is a marvelous football experience that picks up where the series left off last year and the years prior. It brings a good personality, refined gameplay that feels optimized and natural on offense and defense, and plenty of modes to keep college football fanatics happy. The only real hiccup in the game is teammate reaction and intelligence. It’s lacking and needs some improvement.
