Off the Shelf Media

College football is an American pastime full of tradition, rivalries, and energetic fandoms spread all over the country. Since the last iteration in 2014, we did not have a game to experience that for well over a decade, and last year saw the return to consoles. With this newest release coming to PC, I was excited to return to a game series I loved. Overall, EA Sports College Football 27 was a hit of nostalgia and a significant enough change from its sibling Madden, but I wouldn’t say this game is a masterpiece. 

Gameplay: 2

One of the main areas I was interested in was: how does the gameplay differ from another game I have reviewed, Madden NFL 25? Would this just be a clone of that game with the college logos slapped on? I was happily surprised by this, and the level of detail you can get into is staggering. To be honest, it’s a bit too overwhelming for the casual college football fan who doesn’t know all the ins and outs. 

Starting with Dynasty Mode, you can become a coach running any college football program you want. You can even start as a coordinator instead of a head coach if you don’t want the pressure of running the team, and the customization options are great. You can give yourself the full control to woo every college recruit, focus on scheduling their visits for key games, spend NIL money to convince them to join your program, and many other features. Or if you are like me and you are more interested in the gameplay on the field, you can automate pieces of this or all of it and turn your focus to the X’s and O’s instead of the Jimmy’s and Joe’s. 

The gameplay on the field is really interesting and dynamic as well. There are similarities to Madden, of course, but lots of other options too that make it its own game. All sorts of mechanics related to blocking, wide receiver routes, and the flexibility of playbooks are a lot to take in. 

As someone who loves the run game, the amount of plays and ability to build an offense around the option offense is great. I can have a 5-star school running the Navy offense with two running backs and a fullback where we never pass, or an air raid offense where my quarterback (QB) is averaging 50 pass attempts a game. The strategy differences here make for interesting matchups and make every game feel unique as you play schools with different skill levels and matchup differences for your program. 

One thing that is awesome too is playing on the road, especially against ranked opponents. Early on, I had a game in week one against #1 ranked Notre Dame in South Bend, and it felt like I was entering a warzone. The crowd was loud, and it was impacting my ability to see and call plays on the field, and you could feel the pressure of being a coach going into that environment. Pro football has some loud stadiums and fan bases, sure, but there’s something different about the college game, and with so many schools to play against, it really nails the vibe and feel of each of their unique stomping grounds. 

Story: 1

You don’t come to a sports game for the story generally, but this one isn’t a total failure. Dynasty Mode is an interesting way to follow the story of your coach, but you also have the ability to be a player yourself. This is where it gets really interesting, and where I think Madden could take some pointers from for their similar game mode, which is terrible. 

You start in high school playing a few key games to earn the eye of big programs trying to recruit you. You can take many things into consideration when picking where to commit, such as where you are on the depth chart, how good the team is, what conference they are in, and the chance for success. 

As you enter a college program, you need to balance your time in between games as much as on the field. From focusing on coursework to avoid your GPA dropping to getting in extra practice reps to help develop your skills, it’s a delicate balance. If you choose a school where you are not a starter, you also have to compete in practice each week with other players to try to earn your way into the starting lineup. This is an interesting feature and can be really fun to show up as a no-name QB who wins the starting job after grinding his way up the depth chart. 

It’s not a game-changing story or anything that will win awards, but where I think the story in this game shines is based on how you experience it. You can start up as an offensive guru coordinator for a small school and build an offense so dominant that every Big 10 and SEC call wants you to run their program. Or you can be a high school player with expectations through the roof and trying to live up to that billing for your new college, winning as many titles and Heisman Trophies as you can in four years. And this is where being a player is really unique to college, as you only have those four seasons to build your legacy. However, if you do buy the corresponding Madden game, you can transfer this player into Madden to continue your journey in the pros. 

Atmosphere: 2

The atmosphere in this game is electric, and I think it is the highlight of the franchise. Starting with the music in the menus and in the games, all the background noise is college marching bands playing hit songs that give the game a great vibe. Each stadium has unique songs that they play for things like third down and touchdowns, too, that really build on the tradition of each school. When you hear those horns blasting on thirrd and long on the road, and the stadium pulse has the screen shaking as tens of thousands of fans scream at you, it’s a chaotic environment. 

The dedication to each school itself is something great too. All the big programs especially have their own unique quirks like mascots and songs, but you also have the ability to do things like the Penn State White Out to change the appearance of the crowd for big games. This makes every game feel special, and the big games on your schedule feel even more imposing.

When you are playing as a player, this atmosphere is even more immersive. You start the game running onto the field with all the sounds and sights of game day around you from the perspective of the player running out of the tunnel, and you can look around at the crowd. This is an awesome way to feel the gravity of the situation as a true freshman QB walking into Death Valley to take on LSU, and experience these epic stadiums and fan bases. 

Value: 0

At the end of the day, this is still an EA Sports title, and they almost never live up to their value. I would be hard-pressed to say any game at a nearly $70 value is worth it, and this is no exception. They clearly are looking to bleed the game dry with their standard Ultimate Team Mode to get people into microtransactions, but this year it bled into single-player. The game launched with the ability to spend real money to improve your single-player experience with the speed of leveling up your coach and player. Due to negative feedback, they quickly removed this from the game, but the damage was still done. 

In last year’s version of the game, you could set your experience gain on a slider from Very Slow to Very Fast with five available options. This year, they removed the fast and very fast options and introduced the ability to buy the experience boosts to level up faster. While they removed that microtransaction, those fast and very fast selections still were not available. While I do enjoy this game, clearly removing a feature to try to sell more on an already inflated $70 is a horrible business practice that I can’t get behind. 

Duration: 1

There isn’t a main story or questline for you to complete like some games, so this game will give you exactly what you want out of it. You can do a 20-year-long coaching storyline going from school to school and rebuilding everything from the ground up to build on your legacy. Or you can focus on dominating for four years and taking home the Heisman. If you like both game modes, you can really get a lot out of this game, and the options for replayability are strong.

You can experience coaching a 5-star program like Clemson, or trying to bring a plucky 1-star team to greatness and everything in between. And with the player options being so vast, you can play a multitude of different offensive and defensive positions and really keep coming back to this in many ways. I would say I probably got a good 30+ hours out of this game, which is alright, but not really worth the price tag. 

Total Score: 6/10

Giving a rating this low really hurts me because I truly loved this game, and have been waiting over a decade for the resurgence of a college football game. There are many great game modes that are fun, and the atmosphere on game day is incredible. 

However, with each iteration of these sports games, you can feel the corporate greed of companies like EA Sports trying their best to ruin a great thing, and that leads to my overall mid-tier rating. My recommendation would be to wait for a steep sale, which happens often with these games, to pick it up. It’s still a fun title that you can enjoy for hours, but not worth the full price tag.