Last week a group of college football reporters were invited to EA Sports offices in Orlando, Florida and given the opportunity to test drive the much-anticipated College Football 25.
The resulting feedback won’t do anything to tamp down the hype. In fact, if it’s at all possible to get more excited about the game, these reviews will certainly do the trick.
Among the more fascinating details revealed by The Athletic’s Chris Vannini are which songs made it into the game. Amazingly, the controversial LSU anthem “Neck” — a cover of Dem Franchize Boys’ “Talkin’ Out Da Side of Ya Neck” — will reportedly be getting an instrumental version. Fans can feel free to sing the very NSFW lyrics at home.
Unfortunately, some tracks that have become ingrained in college football culture didn’t make the cut. Vannini noted the rights to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” were too expensive, so Virginia Tech players in the game instead take the field to generic rock song. Wisconsin fans will be similarly disappointed to not hear “Jump Around” at Camp Randall Stadium:
The first team I pulled up was Virginia Tech because I wanted to experience the Hokies’ “Enter Sandman” entrance. Unfortunately, “Enter Sandman” is not in the game — licensing Metallica songs is really expensive. It has been replaced by a generic rock theme that sounds somewhat familiar. So that was a disappointment. (“Jump Around” is also not played in games at Camp Randall Stadium, for similar reasons.) But the feeling quickly dissipated when I began playing the actual game.
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While “Enter Sandman” is not in the game, “Zombie Nation,” “Sandstorm,” “Tsunami” and “Mo Bamba” are. We see the Army Corps of Cadets jump up and down for “Tsunami” before kickoff, something the TV broadcast rarely shows. Beaver Stadium plays “Zombie Nation” after Penn State touchdowns. Every school has unique fan chants, as EA acquired thousands of assets from schools and in many cases had staff members replicate the cheers for recording. The studio also recorded 41 real game crowds over the last two years, from big to small programs. And yes, I saw sheet music for an instrumental version of “Neck.”
The more details about this game that continue to come out, the more we can’t wait to play it.
