That is especially the case with the annual sports game juggernauts that tend to tweak, not reinvent the wheel, when they come out each year.
So it is with College Football 26, the first follow-up to last year’s wildly successful re-entry of EA Sports into the fascinating, wonderful, colourful, crazy world of US college football.
That was a seismic release for the sports gaming world.
College football is a gigantic business and an insanely popular sport, but the action on the university gridiron had not been recreated for 11 long years due to the draconian restrictions of the NCAA, the governing body for all college sports.
Now the college footballers are no longer essentially slave labour — many of the top players can now earn millions while at school — the video game series is surely here to stay.
EA have poured an immense amount of resources into the first follow-up, and it shows. Which is the perfect word — because college football is a show. A big, colourful, noisy pageant that, honestly, is just as much about the spectacular scenes off the field as the action on it.
You are again spoilt for choice with hundreds of real-life universities, 10,000 players, 300 coaches, painstakingly recreated stadiums, mascots, marching bands, traditions and spectacles.
Add in a remarkably detailed set of plays and coaching plans, and you have a sports game offering a million ways to play.
And it plays well. The College Football, and sister game Madden, mechanics are built on 30-plus years of development and improvement, and everything on the controls is super smooth.
Different gamers always feel different things, but for me a highlight has been the work done on the defensive end. It’s actually fun now, and no longer will I exclusively play as the handsome quarterback or the dynamic running back.
The in-game atmosphere is unrivalled — and yes, I include hearing the Anfield crowd chanting while playing as Liverpool in FC 25 — and whether the crowd and the music and the stadium buzz is for you or against you, it really does affect how you play. So does the weather, and the wonderful seasonal shifts, as well as the wear-and-tear system that forces you to keep an eye on the health of your players.
A very cool addition is a trophy room with no fewer than 85 coveted real-life trophies from rivalry games up for grabs, which encourages you to play as lots of different schools.
All the regular modes are back, but there has been clearly been most emphasis put on Dynasty and the in-depth process of recruiting future stars and navigating the transfer portal.
At times, it can be overwhelming, as there is so much information to access. Take your time and have a little luck, though, and the feeling you get when you build your college into a superpower is rather nice.
Road to Glory — create yourself, get some reps in a high school game to impress recruiters, and try to secure a scholarship to your favourite college — is a lot of fun, and Ultimate Team is ideal for dip in-dip out action.
I’m still of a mind that you need to have some interest in college football to be able to really enjoy a game like this. But if you know who Arch Manning plays for, and you can name the university where players run out to Enter Sandman, this will give you hundreds of hours of enjoyment.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL 26 From: EA Sports For: PS5, Xbox Series X/S ★★★★+ By Hayden Meikle
