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Amazon Maximum Age: 20 years Amazon Minimum Age: 60 months Binding: Video Game Brand: Electronic Arts EAN: 0014633154610 ESRB Age Rating: Everyone Label: Electronic Arts Manufacturer: Electronic Arts Model: 15461 Platform: PLAYSTATION 3 Publisher: Electronic Arts Release Date: July 15, 2008 Sales Rank: 488 Studio: Electronic Arts
Features:
Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay
College Atmosphere & Pageantry
Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components
Product Description: Brings college pigskin action back with a new break away animation mechanic that will allow increased maneuverability on the field / ESRB E for Everyone
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Great Game
This game is great!!! I have more fun playing this game than madden 09. It would have been better if they kept the QB avoidance thing. They should put that in Madden too because of the underrated speed ratings of all QBs. I mean Def. Tackles can outrun QBs in these games so the QB avoidance can give them that extra second to make that game winning pass. But this game has awesome graphics and brings the feel of college football to your house.
Rating: - Quirks abound
I'm simply amazed. I had hoped that from peer reviews of PS3 football games that perhaps things had been fixed and it was finally time to buy a football game for it instead of my Xbox 360. The graphics are a step backwards alone then there is the gameplay. Defense AI is absolutely abysmal. Even selecting a player to go for a tackle is near impossible. You try to select the player expecting to get the closest one to making the play and you end up with some absurd player on the other end of the field, not to mention that corner backs are seemingly never covering their routes. I admit I'm a defensive player and fairly good at it therefore I lean towards the defensive side of the game in this review. Nether the less, how this game overall made it to being sold is beyond me. NCAA 07 is by far the best in the series and in my opinion in all football video gaming. I played '08 and wasn't too "keen" on it but I could manage with it. This year's version though is unacceptable. As far as offense goes, it's another thing that can be managed but still not very good. The button layout on passing is can be some what confusing. Previous games when dealing with L1 or R1 was mostly based on the direction the player was going on the field (left or right). This may seem minor but try throwing to that running back that's going right expecting to be R1 and your QB throws the ball away. This isn't minor in my opinion because when defense is pressing down on your QB its time for quick decision. Want to go for a Hail Mary on 4th and 21 with 30 seconds left in the 4th quarter? Ha, yeah don't expect your receivers to be going out that far for you. They go out to about 20 yards max then turn and stare at you with about 3 to 4 covering them. Trying to run in said situation isn't much help either considering that the AI defense against you is super fast even though you seem to have a fairly fast QB or even RB for that matter who miraculously have slowed down even with the sprint button pushed. Thank God I only payed $40 instead of $60 for this game. Like I said overall this game shouldn't be bought for even that much.
Rating: - Needs work
I have two caveats to this review--first, this is the first time I've played the next gen version of NCAA so I cannot compare it to last year's PS3 version. Second, although I only gave this game 3 stars overall, I've been playing it as much as I ever have in the past. With that out of the way, to the review...
NCAA 2009 has great graphics, the players and stadiums look great, and I like the playbooks compared to last year. I think they've missed some stuff (bubble screens, the jet sweep from under center like Oregon State and South Carolina run, etc.) with the playbooks, but their is a wealth of plays to choose from. However, most of these pros are lost by EA's insistence on "wide open gameplay". I think their effort to create this has actually hurt the game. Personally, I don't want NCAA to be a Madden clone. There has always been something fun to the more "arcade" feel to NCAA. However, the problem with this year's game is that the gameplay isn't as good as years past. Both the human and CPU defenses intercept way too many passes. Running the ball is nearly impossible for either side. Unless you mess with the sliders sacking the QB is nearly impossible. Unless you mess with the sliders penalties are almost non-existent. And the CPU will call way too many pass plays for teams that are usually run heavy or balanced. The game is fun, but the overall gameplay does detract from it somewhat. The thing that bugs me the most is really the lack of a running game. Granted, I am not the best gamer in the world, but I've been playing NCAA since the Bill Walsh days and I was always good at running the ball. On this years game you could have the best offensive line in history against the worst d-line and still struggle. It's just unrealistic. That has bothered me to no end.
In the end, the game is still fun, but I actually think it is a step down from previous versions even though many other reviewers are saying it is better than last year. I'm still a big fan of the franchise, but I hope EA makes some tweaks for next year.
Rating: - Great updates for 2009
NCAA 2009 for Playstation 3 is a great game that is different from last years. Besides for the updated rosters, the graphics are much better this time around and the stadiums look amazing. I enjoy this version more than last years.
The playbooks are different this time around and completely different from those on PS2. It's a different way to pick your plays which takes a little adjustment time. You still have the option to `ask Corso', but now you can also select plays by looking at all runs or all passes or all screen and so on. Once you get used to it though it's a breeze and simpler in my opinion.
This year has a new "icing the kicker" option at the end of the game which adds a new element to the game. Its more realistic and makes it more difficult, but not impossible, to make a game winning field goal as time expires. I particularly enjoy this setting when I have the lead in a fierce match up.
Tackling is similar to last years, but big hits are a bit different as you have the option to tackle up or down. However, there are no longer user strips. In addition to new game styles, it seems you can dive higher in to the end zone while on the goal line.
With these slight adjustments, I would recommend this game to anyone who has enjoyed the game in the past. I will look forward and continue to buy NCAA games from EA sports as long as they are made.
Rating: - Tredding water
NCAA 09 is still a lot of fun, but I agree with many other reviewers on this site that this years' version is no major improvement over the last few years.
Having played through a full college season schedule with my alma mater TCU (on the All-American level- and now playing another at the highest Heisman level), I'd offer the following criticisms, largely of gameplay features:
1- Agree the running animations look much worse than previous versions: players look like they are on ice-skates most of the time. Odd, because there are many other new and excellent animations for collisions, jukes, etc- but the basic running animation looks silly. Not a gameplay issue, to be sure, just annoying.
2- Biggest gameplay issue is the high percentage of pass completions, by either the human user or the AI. Consistently runs about 75%, and so far I haven't seen much effect of turning the slider bar for QB accuracy (or WR catching ability) down, either. Even on the Heisman level, this stays the same- and doesn't even change much depending on the team you are playing, either. There should be a lot more simple incomplete passes.
3- Defensive AI (even with the slider for this turned up to 90%) is still poor, for either the human player or the CPU- one of the reasons the pass completions % are so high, I guess. This plus #2 above lead to generally high scoring affairs in every game (same as in most previous years, only maybe worse). As an example, I averaged 64 points per game in 13 games in my TCU season, (and averaged giving up about 32 ppg, too). Lots of scoring is fun every now and then, but when it happens EVERY game, it gets annoying pretty fast.
4- The new menus for calling plays (several selections possible)are less user-friendly than before, and when you only have 24 ticks on the clock to work with between plays, navigating through too many screens to find the play you want is annoying. As a result, I usually run only a few plays every game, that I can find easily and quickly- I would guess I use about 10% of the available playbook for any game.
5- Thankfully, and unlike this years' Madden game, its not inevitable that the CPU will suddenly turn unbeatable and make every game close. I was able to blow out teams I should have blown out, and was in close games when they should have been close. However, should I really have been able to beat the one Division II team on my schedule 131-9?
6- Doesn't seem like the CPU has much in-game AI adaptation to your playcalling (much better in Madden). I kept running my star HB all year long, with just a few basic running plays, and even the best teams (ie: OU) never seemed to "catch on". As a result, my HB had a ridiculous season: averaged 194 rushing yards and 4 TD's per game, usually playing only 2-3 quarters, too.
7- On the plus side, the college stadium graphics and sounds (atmosphere) are great, and the player graphics and animations(except the running) are first rate. One thing still lacking, however, is the total inability of the CPU to anticipate and/or stop a QB sneak. One animation I've never seen in any football video game, that would be both realistic and nice to see, would be pile-ups of lineman in short yardage situations, with a controller button you have to hit to make your RB/QB either burrow down or try to leap over the pile. As it is, its too easy to get 3-5 yards just by sneaking your QB between the defensive tackles.About the only way the CPU seems to compensate for this is to have your QB tend to fumble a lot on sneak plays.
8- Penalties are rare, even with the sliders set way high for the same.
Hardly ever more than 2 penalties for either side per game. Didn't see a single defensive pass interference call in 13 games, for instance, though I have the slider for this set at 85%. I guess penalties and incomplete passes are felt to be boring by the game developers, but for those of us who enjoy a realistic game experience, they are important enough to tolerate.
9- Probably too much to ask for, but harkening all the way back to the old Front Page Sports pc football game series, I'd like to see a play editor, so you have the option of designing at least a few offensive plays and defensive sets for your playbook. That was always a fun feature of the FPS series: it also allowed you to "plan" a few new plays to deal with a particular opponent, too.
10- Overall, this is still a very enjoyable game, but like many others who have commented on this site, it seems like EA Sports is getting lazier every year, without improving the game in the many ways that it could be improved. This may be the last year I reflexly buy the next years' version, unless there is some clear sign that the game developers are listening to their customers.
- Great Game
- Quirks abound
- Needs work
