View Profile
View Forum Posts
Private Message
View Blog Entries
Visit Homepage
View Articles
Ok, so I've had about 3 weeks to play the game now and it's time for Moodini's official review. Going in, I didn't expect to game to be as deep and as fine tuned as the current gen versions because EA had to pretty much create everything from scratch for the 360. I was right.....and then some. This game is marred with glitches and errors, and the lack of depth doesn't help either. Some will be shocked by this review, but I gotta speak the truth.
Pros-Let's start with the good stuff.
1. The graphics are solid and the players look amazing close up. The stadiums are spectacular down to the very minute details.
2. It's a college football video game! The stadiums, the bands, the fight songs all add to the experience.
3. Dynasty mode is solid, basically the same as last year, but lacks the spring drills and spring game on the current gen versions.
4. Online play is fun with ranked games and leaderboards, although the game does play much slower online.
Cons-Ok, now to the bad stuff. Many of you probably looked at my avatar and location, and thought I was an NCAA freak. (Which I am) But then you looked down at my sig and noticed that I haven't been playing NCAA that much. Well, there's 32 reasons for that. DrTre and were fed up with the game last night and actually sat down and made a list. Tre was actually so pissed he took the game back today! Please take the time to read all of these. They really need to be addressed.
1. You only have one box to select your play, and if you're playing with a friend, they can see exactly what play you picked.
2. Sometimes, for no reason, your playbook re-shuffles and you'll have no clue where that shotgun trips formation is.....the playclock is ticking!
3. That leads to my next point, there just isn't enough time to find your play (in the re-shuffle), get to the line of scrimmage, put players in motion and call hot routes. I've probably had about 30 delay of game penalties called on me to this point.
4. Mobile QBs are again unstoppable. All you have to do is call a deep pass play and scramble for a guaranteed first down.
5. Running the ball is very difficult.
6. Due to the inablility to run the ball, every game turns into an aerial assault.
7. If you select a DE, all you have to do is hold down the sprint button and you can beat the tackle everytime.
8. You can run a WR screen and pick up a guaranteed 10 yards everytime. I saw Tre do it and he scored 3 touchdowns in about 3 minutes.
9. No hurdle button.
10. Due to the lack of the hurdle button, the programmers at EA decided to make the moves for you. You press up and the right stick and your ballcarrier might truck the defender, might spin, might hurdle, might juke...you just don't know and never feel in total control of your players.
11. The brings me to the juke, which this year is completely ineffective. I've probably played about 50 games and I've probably had about 2 successful jukes.
12. Blocking field goals and extra points happens way too frequently and completely changes the game.
13. Everyone's favorite running play is still there. Call an inside run, and bounce it outside, it's just about your only chance to gain yards, if your RB doesn't get "hung up" on one of his linemen.
14. Probably the thing that pisses me off the most. If the handoff to the RB is botched, if they run into each other, your QB will sprint directly towards the sideline and you can't control him! Just wait it out and get tackled for a 5 yard loss.
15. Having a dynasty and using multiple profiles is a big hassle.
16. For some reason your center false starts! Yeah, the guy with the ball will stand up out of his stance for a 5 yard penalty! Ridiculous.
17. Common football penalties are just not in the game. I got my first holding penalty 20 days in and still have not seen a facemask penalty.
18. Phantom pass interference penalties. A receiver will be wide open, untouched, and a pass interference penalty will be called.
19. But, if you jump by pressing Y and totally bump a receiver off of his route, no penalty is called.
20. If you run a zone on defense, your safeties will get roasted by the deep ball every single time.
21. The computer AI is enamored with the passing game.....again. I played Texas A&M in my dynasty last night, and the have a running back who is an impact player and a 91 overall, and he had 2 carries. The were going 4 and 5 wide everytime and chucking it.
22. Computer (mostly RBs) can perform moves that you can't. Maybe you could if you were actually the one deciding what kind of move you did.
23. Some plays are confusingly unchallengeable. I was playing a dynasty game last night and the CPU receiver caught the ball in the endzone, and I thought he didn't get a foot down. So I go to challenge the play, and it tells me the play is unchallengeable? WTF?
24. If you're playing the computer and get a decent lead, they will have a mental collapse, just chuck the ball everytime and you'll get user picks by the boatload. I had 4 user picks with my LB the other night. If you get a good lead on the CPU, expect at 3 TD win.
25. If you're playing an online game, you must select what side of the field you want, but can't see which direction the wind is blowing.
26. Baby kickoffs. I have a kicker with 88 kick power, my kick meter would be full and he would routinely kick the ball to the 15 yard line.
27. No alternate uniforms, they must be PURCHASED from the Xbox Live Marketplace.
28. Now we get to some huge errors. The clock. If you get a first down and run the no huddle, like right before the half or the end of the game, the clock stops to move the chains right? Nope, not in NCAA 07. Your QB will be scrambling to the line, trying to line everyone up and the clock will be ticking, losing valuable seconds.
29. Let's say you're winning by a TD with 1:00 to go and it's 4th down and the other team is out of timeouts, you're nervous right? Because you have to punt and they'll get the ball with plenty of time. Don't worry. Because all you have to do is keep taking delay of game penalties and the clock will not stop. Just keep taking them until the game is over. This is not the rule in real football.
30. Now, let's flip the script. Let's say you're down by a TD with :20 to go and are out of timeouts and it's 4th down and 7. You lose right? Nope! All you have to do is jump offsides once and the clock stops making it 4th and 2. Again, not the rule in real football. "If it's in the game, it's in the game". My ace!
31. Another clock issue. If it's the end of a half or a game and the offense needs to score quickly, they pick their play ASAP and the clock should stop so they don't lose time. But that doesn't matter, because if you're playing against someone, they can take their sweet old time and the clock will continue to run the whole time. The clock keeps running the entire time the defense is selecting their play.
32. The teams don't take the field and there are no player introductions before the game. These were two things that really got me excited to play the game.
You're probably thinking, "WOW Mood!" You went off! I'm sorry. NCAA is the game I look forward to more than any, and when I popped the game the first time I was very disappointed. The more I played, the more flaws I noticed and I got very frustrated. Don't get me wrong, the game is playable, and it's an NCAA football game, so I'll continue to play it, just not as much as usual. The graphics in HD and the college atmosphere are very impressive, but there are plenty of bugs on the first NCAA game on a next-gen system to really hurt the experience. Play this game if you are a die hard NCAA Football fan like me, but be prepared to question a lot of things.
SCORE-6/10
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by DrTre11
Bookmarks