Let's get this out of the way: There was no way in hell that EA Sports College Football 26 was going to land with the same impact as last year's game. Impossible. From announcement to release, EA's return to the college gridiron in 2024 capitalized on a fanbase — a nation of people, really — that had waited years to virtually don the colors of their favorite school and dive into the circus of humanity that only big-time college football provides. It landed at the perfect time and satiated a vital part of sports fans' souls.

It feels like EA knew this, too. In EA Sports College Football 26, we simply get ... more of everything. Instead of reinvention, we get more real-life college coaches hitting up our created players who are still in high school, telling them how much they'd like to see them suit up for the (name school or school mascots here). We get more plays, more trophies to win in rivalries, and more options in character creation. Of course, we also get more to do in the game's famed "Dynasty" section, where it's on you to build or maintain every part of your school's football program — and that means getting pulled into the vortex of recruiting.

I look at sports games a little differently than some in that I don't immediately hop online to start playing against other people just to watch them spam spin moves. In fact, it's the opposite because I want to see what kind of escape this game offers. What's in it for me? That's what made two of the game's modes so appealing: the aforementioned Dynasty and Road to Glory, which is the game's single-player, RPG-like campaign where you create a player and guide him throughout his college career. The bones of those modes are mostly intact from last year's edition, so check out last year's review if you're looking for a full breakdown of what's in them.

For this season, Road To Glory (RTG) features a novel addition that kind of works and kind of doesn't: high school. This isn't the first time an EA Sports game has tackled high school football. Madden tried this years ago, with an emphasis on story. It was comically awful. Thankfully, RTG doesn't try to give you "Friday Night Lights" — instead, it builds on the concept of getting your self-created player, be it a five-star recruit or lowly underdog, noticed enough by schools to field a bevy of scholarship offers. Players have to compile a top 10 list of schools and play well enough in games to compile a "tape score" that, once reached, can lead to a scholarship offer. The tape score targets are different for schools at different levels; it takes more to get an offer from, say, Georgia than it does Kent State.

Your play also determines what level of prospect you are. If you enter your senior year as a five-star prospect, you have to play well enough to maintain that status.

Here's where it gets weird. Each game features a list of "goals" your player has to meet, such as "gain 20 yards on outside runs" or "stiff arm a defender." That's not the weird part. What's odd is that these very specific goals have to be met on specific drives or plays. No matter what's happened in the game earlier, you have to do this particular thing now. This means if your goal is to truck somebody, but you end up running by everyone for a long TD run instead, you "fail" that goal and lose out on points for your tape score, which can affect your rating. My player was challenged by Mike Elko of Texas A&M to actually break out a 50-yard run on a particular drive, and I wasn't able to do it. However, I'd cracked one open earlier in the game. Doesn't matter. It didn't happen on the drive it was supposed to, so either try the drive again or take the L on points.

I'm sorry, but ... what? This gave the high school experience, which is cool in concept, that annoying "list of mandatory chores" energy and distorts reality to hilarious levels. Really? Ryan Day (Ohio State) is going to ignore a quarterback's 350 yards and 4 TDs because he threw his long TD bomb in the second quarter instead of the third? Then he's going to DM that player with something like, "We didn't get to see what we wanted from you"? Come on, now. One can only hope future iterations of this feature get a second, and more thorough, look. Being able to narrow down my list of schools to three and then participate in the cringey hat-selection process was a nice touch, however. What wasn't a nice touch was heading to a school that had me projected as the No. 2 guy on the depth chart, only to actually join the school and find myself buried on the bench. Savage.

If it's details you want, the game's Dynasty mode returns with even more stuff than the last one. Recruiting remains the beating heart of this mode, and it's the one mode where a player can truly get sucked in for hours upon hours locked in the dance of trying to evaluate and pick from a talent pool of thousands of players (some of them with truly goofy names). You only have so many hours and resources each week to invest into wooing players to come to your school of choice, but among the refinements in this year's title is a nod toward realism. The "cost" of player visits actually changes depending on location, which is helpful for anyone taking on the challenge of trying to build up their more humble college program with the help of in-state players.

I also noticed there's more modern football terminology used when it comes to player positions, like a "Sam" linebacker or an "Edge" rusher. The most noticeable and welcome change is how the "team needs" for you are in a handy graphic right at the top of the prospects screen. This didn't exist in the last game, which meant as you were searching around for prospects, you had to keep toggling and flipping to the "team needs" screen back and forth. From a logistics standpoint, this was a godsend.

As far as the on-field product goes, the game is as pretty to see from a wide lens as before. Some of the pre-game traditions have a few different camera angles, school bands and stadiums have a greater library of tunes, and the sense of overall pageantry is still present. Commentary teams are still on fire, regaling you with tidbits and insights about the teams on the field as you play. They're also on their game in RTG, where they start waxing poetic about past players at your particular position. If you're a running back at Michigan State, be prepared to hear about dudes like Le'Veon Bell or T.J. Duckett.

However, the act of actually playing football felt and looked a bit clunkier than last year's vibrant, speedy offering. A host of new animations and a greater turn toward realism might have had something to do with it, especially in the running game and zone-blocking schemes. It didn't feel as crisp as I expected. Also, while I know several patches have already been established, this year's release was dirtier and buggier than last year's, and it got ugly enough times to give social media plenty of ammo.

EA Sports College Football 26, especially patched up, will definitely get you ready for this year's IRL college football season. But I can't shake the feeling like it slipped a half-step or two. The honeymoon period is over. Let's see how they respond.

Score: 7.6/10