EA Sports College Football 26 may blow you away...and frustrate you in some ways

A new college football video game is here in all its glory, and here come some first impressions of EA Sports newest release.

EA Sports fully released College Football 26 on Thursday with Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith and Alabama's Ryan Williams gracing the main cover. The popular game made its highly anticipated return last year after a 10-year hiatus.

This second edition of the revamped game seems to have just enough improvements and additions to splurge on the new version.

CFB26 is an improved version of the last

The most anticipated changes were to the game's "Road to Glory" mode, mostly because EA Sports added a season of playing in high school before starting your college career. There is a catch, though, making this improvement somewhat disappointing.

You don't get a full season of preps football, or even a full game for that matter. You get five games with usually four moments each to achieve and improve your recruiting stock. It's definitely better than what we got last year, but still not the full experience we cried for.

Another improvement to "Road to Glory" is different camera angles. The last game stuck you with just one camera angle that didn't adjust properly and made the game mode almost unplayable. At least now, overall, we have a playable "Road to Glory."

"Dynasty Mode" also got some upgrades, including with XP progression and more coaching archetypes.

Commentary while you play in any mode is also better, or worse depending on how you look at it. While trying to enjoy a video game, Tennessee fans could be reminded of the Nico Iamaleava debacle this offseason and Sooner Nation could be reminded about OU's thumping from Texas last year while trying to get revenge in the Red River Rivalry. Whether it conjurs up bad memories or not, relevant commentary over just generic phrases certainly improve game play.

There's also the obvious excitement of updated rosters, so now Oklahoma and Miami fans can play with their new quarterbacks. Ohio State fans also get the luxury of having Smith, who is a cheat code in the game.

CFB26 certainly isn't a flawless game and fans will be screaming for different improvements before next year's release, but it's definitely an upgrade from the debut version. And if you really love this version, the hours you spend playing as your favorite team can now benefit the program with royalties going to schools based on how much they're played as in the game.