College Football 26 Review (XSX) – College Life Struggles.

So here we are. A new school year means new recruits battling it out for a position that may already be filled. But are you ready for the heart-racing, brow-sweating, edge-of-your-seat riding experience that EA has masterfully constructed?

College Football 26 takes everything EA SPORTS learned in the last year and has magnified it to an enormous scale. Adding in over 160 new school-specific chants, 10 stadium-blasting PA tracks, including Metallica’s Enter Sandman and the pounding drum theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey, and more dynamic commentary. Even the marching band covers soundtracking College Football 25’s menus have been expanded to include fight songs from campuses across the US.

So tighten your laces, tuck in your jerseys, and let’s GO!

Game Name: College Football 26
Platform(s): Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PS5
Developer(s): EA Orlando
Publisher(s): EA Sports
Release Date: July 10th 2025

How’s The Gameplay

Unfortunately, like most sports games that have been released in this modern generation of gaming, I feel that it is really difficult to innovate and improve to a point that is noticeable. That being said, there is a definite improvement this year in College Football 26. Things like the Home Field Advantage – the system that makes playing at home mean something. Plus, the addition of over 2,800 plays combined with 300 real-world coaches, and you have yourself an endless amount of systems.

The run game feels nice with new animations for jukes and spins, meaning the offensive player has a bag of manoeuvres to pull from.

One of the changes I’m most excited about is how defenders now react to passes in the air. If you’ve played College Football or Madden in recent years, you’ve likely been picked off—or had one of your defenders grab an interception—without them even turning to locate the ball. It often felt like they had eyes in the back of their heads, which could be pretty frustrating. EA says they’ve addressed this issue, and from my experience, they really have. Defenders now need to actually see the ball to intercept it. You’ll notice them turning their heads (or not) as the ball approaches. If they don’t look, they can’t intercept, but they can still knock the ball down.

This tweak is great for two reasons: first, you now have a genuine incentive to swat the ball rather than always going for the interception, and second, it highlights the difference between elite defenders and average ones—better players can make tougher plays.

I’m also really liking the addition of dynamic substitutions and customizable coverage zones. Dynamic subs let you switch players right on the field instead of only through the playcall screen (finally!), though there might be a slight delay before it takes effect. Custom zones are the defensive counterpart to last year’s offensive custom route stems, letting you adjust zone locations on the fly rather than diving into a settings menu. Since I prefer playing defense over offense, having this kind of real-time control is a big plus. I’ve been experimenting with these features a lot, and I expect to keep doing so.

Audio Brilliance

Something I have to point out—the main selling point in this game is the absolutely amazing audio. From the superb soundtrack, made entirely by marching bands, to the inclusion of popular songs like Industry Baby by Lil Nas X, DNA by Kendrick Lamar, and Swag Surfin’ by Fast Life Yungstaz. The game also includes school-specific songs. Bonus: Some schools have a few well-known tracks, the biggest being Enter Sandman by Metallica.

But for all its ups, there is unfortunately a down. The commentary in-game just doesn’t hit. In a game with so much hype and bravado, having lacklustre commentary does rip you out of the immersion.

College Ultimate Team

Starting off with one of EA’s most profitable game modes across its four sports games. Once again, they’ve followed the formula from last year without really adding anything groundbreaking. We once again have season passes with Premium and Freemium routes—Premium costing 1,500 points. It includes everything you’d expect at this point if you’re a returning player: challenges, solo, and online modes.

Strive to make your best lineup by opening and earning packs. Unfortunately, unless you are a die-hard Ultimate Team fan, this really isn’t the reason you should want to buy this game. Is it a nice add-on? Yes, but it should not be the thing you sink the most time into. That will be reserved for when Madden 26 comes out.

Time To Start A Dynasty

Do you dream of leading your favorite college program? In Be a Coach, you can do just that. Recruit players, run plays you like, and level up your coach. With the addition of offensive and defensive coordinators, you don’t have to do it all if you don’t want to. Want to just play offense? You can. Want to just build teams and never play a game? You can.

Be a Coach lets you do everything that comes with running a college team. You scout players who narrow down their picks of schools. What will you do to make sure you get your guy? Offer scholarships, “Send the House,” arrange a visit? You can even try swaying a player’s mind to join you, but be warned, if it fails, that player’s opinion of your school may disappear entirely.

Will you unearth a future Heisman, or will they just be a bust?

Road To Glory

The meat and potatoes of this game. The big cheese. The main reason you should be buying this game. Road To Glory: create your player, choose your position—will you be a generational QB, or will you snag interceptions on defense as a CB? Once you’ve made your choice, you’ll start by playing your high school moments to attract colleges, then commit to a college. That’s when the real fun begins.

Play all four years of your college career. Will you be recruited by an established dynasty like Oregon or Ohio State, or will you choose to play for a smaller-market team? That choice is yours.

High School Moments – You choose 4 out of 5 scenarios to play out in a moment type challenge. These can sometimes be set via a school that is monitoring you. But it’s usually just 2 Challenges-Catch a Touchdown as a WR. The better you do, the more Colleges will start to offer you scholarships, and you will rise in their depth charts.

The Decision – After your high school moments, it’s time for you to narrow down the colleges you’d like to attend to the Top 3. Then the crucial moment, the picking of the HAT! You have a few choices on how you’d like to do this. Will you throw one of the hats away? Or will you fake a hat pick? Either way, in the end, you will finally commit to a College.

College Life – So now you’re in college, it’s time to practice, study, and do anything you can to rise in the coach’s good books. Every game week is split into three different segments: Practice, Weekly Agenda, and Game Day. Practice is what you think it is; you choose a drill to run, trying to achieve a gold medal rating. Game Day, again, is exactly what it says on the tin: you play the game you love, Football.

My only criticism with playing is that if you choose to be anything on offense besides QB, you still choose the play that is run. As someone who just wanted to catch the ball, I think it would be better to be told what to run, especially as a freshman.

Weekly Agenda, however, is not so easily explained. This is where you have a set number of actions each week, and you have to use them wisely. Will you decide to study something you need to do to maintain a 3.0 GPA? Will you become popular on social media and grow your brand, allowing for more sponsorships? The choice is yours, but it’s a very fine balancing act.

Now that you know all that, it’s time to play through your College career. Strive to be great, win a few games, and try to make it to a National Championship. But what next…. Graduation. NFL time. But that will have to wait till the release of Madden 26.

Final Thoughts

If you love football, I do think this is for you. However, maybe give Xbox Game Pass a look—College Football 25 is now in the EA Vault, giving you a peek at what CFB26 will be like. If you enjoy that, maybe an updated roster and new graphical delights will be enough to sway you. But in all honesty, just get Game Pass and play 25. You also get the pleasure of playing thousands of other games.

Review Disclosure Statement: A copy of EA Sports College Football 26 was provided to us by EA for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.

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