Today, EA Sports revealed the first look at gameplay for EA Sports College Football 25. This trailer gave us our first look at all the new systems and features coming to the game this year. Among these include new player abilities, the wear and tear system, and new playstyles for different teams.
Wear and Tear
In College Football 25, the new Wear and Tear system will accurately reflect the physical toll a player’s body goes through during a game. Each body part will be tied to certain player attributes. Repeated hits to these body parts will cause these attributes to be temporarily decreased. For example, big hits to a QB’s throwing arm will cause their throw power or throw accuracy to be decreased.
This encourages players to regularly swap out players throughout the game. Players will be able to quickly sub players in and out on the fly to give them time to recover. This is a huge addition, and adds an incredible layer of realism to the game. Especially in college football, it is normal to see positions like running back, receiver, and defensive linemen regularly subbed in and out during a game. This new Wear and Tear system will allow players to do just that, making the snap counts for each player similar to what we see in real life.
Option Game
The option is one of the most exciting parts of college football. College Football 25 seeks to bring that excitement to the game with its new options run game mechanics. Among these new mechanics is the new pitch strength controls. If you hold down the pitch button, you will get a slower but more accurate pitch. However, if the defender is closing in quick, you can quick tap the pitch button for a quick pitch. You can also still fake the pitch by double tapping the pitch button.
You can now control when your QB breaks out of ‘option movement’ into a full spring. Once you hold the spring trigger, your QB will break into regular ball carrier animations. This will make it easier to take off down field with your QB if it is obvious the defense is playing the pitch.
Speaking of defense, new defensive logic has been added to help defend against these option plays. Read Keys defenders will now take the situation into consideration when deciding if to attack or stay home. For example, if the offense is close to a first down, the defender will be more likely to attack the dive option. Pitch Key defenders can now bluff if they are playing the QB or the running back. You can now also adjust bot the Read and Pitch key separately in coach adjustments.
Abilities
80 new abilities are being introduced in College Football 25. These abilities provide situational boosts, but no guarantees. There are two types of abilities: mental and physical. Likewise, each ability can be in one of four tiers: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Players can have up to five physical and three mental abilities.
The type of physical abilities a player can have is determined by their archetype. Meanwhile, their mental abilities are based on their position. As abilities reach higher tiers, their effects become enhanced. The Grip Break ability at bronze and silver tier give a higher block shedding chance on run plays. At gold and platinum tier, this boost is given for both run and pass plays.
Homefield Advantage
In College Football 25, it is going to be incredibly difficult to go into your opponent’s stadium and win. This will be even tougher for the top environments in the country. There will be both audio and in game effects when playing in stadiums like The Big House. You might see squiggly lines, play art showing the wrong play, or hot routes failing to go through.
These effects can also vary from one player to the next. You freshman receiver might be more likely to not hear an audible than your fifth year senior. The Stadium Pulse Meter and screen shake are returning from previous entries to encourage you to hype up your hometown crowd in the big moments.
Pre Play Adjustments
Changes have been made to make adjusting at the line of scrimmage more important than ever. Now, all QBs can access the entire route tree when making hot routes without needing an ability. You can also adjust the depth of certain routes with new Custom Stems. This will allow you to change a 5-yard in route to a 10 or 15-yard route.
On the defensive side, run commit has been adjusted to be more favorable to defenses. Previously, if you ran commit and the offense ran a passing play, you almost always gave up a touchdown. Now, the run commit will only affect players in the box, while outside defenders will still cover their receivers.
Revamped Passing
This year, Throw Power means not just how far you can throw the ball, but how hard you can throw it as well. When you start a throw, you will see blue, yellow, and red sections in the throw meter. The size of each sections is based on the QB’s ratings, abilities, defensive pressure, etc. Landing your throw in the blue section gives you a better shot at an accurate pass. The yellow section lowers your chances of completing the pass, while the red section indicates potential inaccurate throws. The more in the red section you are, the worse your throw will be.
Switch Stick
The biggest new feature for defense is the new Switch Stick. Now during a play, you can flick the right stick in the direction of the player you want to swap to. This new mechanic allows you to play multiple levels of pass coverage at the same time. Meanwhile, once the QB throws the ball or crosses the line of scrimmage, the right stick will turn back into the classic Hit Stick.
