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Review
By: |
Ramz |
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Date: |
10/30/2003 |
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Released: |
07/16/2002 |
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Publisher: |
Tiburon |
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Developer: |
EA Sports |
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Platform: |
Xbox |
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Rating: |
 |
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As an incredibly loyal fan to NCAA football
I find myself purchasing video game football annually. In fact, the past few years I have
found myself buying more than one football game per year; however one title usually finds
itself sitting the bench as the backup quarterback. Ever since the option to import NCAA
graduating classes into the Madden series, I have been overly enthusiastic. Last year I
was psyched to play out 10 or more NCAA seasons and import them each time. I never did.
Instead I simply played NCAA football and left Madden collect dust. I have a gut feeling
that I will be doing the same this year. Here is why:
College football titles, in the past, have been missing the atmosphere. While it may be
virtually impossible to mimic the conditions of collegiate football,
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it is possible to do
so from a spectator’s aspect. NCAA does that and more. From classic rivalries, to fight
songs, to mascots, NCAA football 2004 does an excellent job at representing the sport.
There are some sections of the game that need to be 'enhanced', but generally you’ll see
that EA Sports is firing on all cylinders. Instead of listing each characteristic of this
version, I would rather give you a peek into what has been added to the 2004 edition. For
those of you teetering on the edge of buying the game or are new to the game:
- 20 new mascots, new cheerleader animations, cannons firing, as well as added team
introductions.
- Trick plays
- College Classics Mode (which gives you the opportunity to rewrite history)
- 36 new 1-AA teams and 100 additional classics teams
- Sports Illustrated Covers
- My NCAA (write your own page in college football history with the Top 10 User greatest
games and track single game, season, and career records.)
- EA Sports Bio
It may sound as though this version of
NCAA football is not much different than 2003, but I can tell you from experience that
this is not the case. If you end up with both versions, 2003 and 2004, you will play
2004 exclusively.
Gameplay
The gameplay is very similar to all of the previous Madden/NCAA games, however I feel
that the response time has been improved. In addition, you will no longer “skate on ice”;
rather you will be able to stop on a dime, as long as your players have good ability.
Players are broken down into several various categories, most of which contribute to
how well they can be controlled.
The controller button scheme is also similar; however a few things have change, although
none of worth mentioning, persay. If you have liked the feeling in the past, then prepare
yourself for more of the same. I am becoming annoyed with the comparisons to past games,
but it is necessary simply because most of you are familiar with the series. Also, the
game has not changed that much, but the changes that have been made are great at adding
to the experience.
The game features your typical game modes: Play Now, Dynasty, College Classic Matchups,
Rivalry Games, Mascot, and Practice.
You can also access NCAA 101, which offers 'tutorials' for all of those college football
beginners out there. And if that was not enough, you can create a school from scratch and
place it into a division of your choice. (You can also create a single player, but that’s
quite typical to present day titles)
As you can see, NCAA football has enough goodies to keep you locked to your XBOX for a
lengthy period of time, but what good are the features is they have not been developed
to the fullest? Well, as far as my mind is concerned this game shows promise from every
angle. The “create a school” is unique and well done. From creating the stadium to choosing
the jersey type, you can customize ‘til your heart is content. Let me give you fair warning:
Creating a school and placing it in some unknown division will take blood and guts to get
you into the Top 25. If you think that you are going to enter the season with Roy Rogers
University and finish national champs then you have a reality check in your future. Maybe
after a few years of recruiting (MAYBE), but not in your first year as head coach.
Briefly, the audio and visual aspect of the game remains on par with years past. The
commentary really gets annoying; thankfully it can be toggled off. I guess for a game
or two it may be insightful and entertaining, but it will not be long after that until
you grasp the talent of tuning it off. If I could get a version minus the audio then I
would surely buy that one....at least that way they could incorporate something else into
the game with that much more available room on the disc.
Visually the game is sound. You are not going to be able to trick your friends into thinking
that they are watching a real live game, but you will be able to enjoy what you watch on your
screen. The animations are fairly good, but unfortunately they are not shown in excess. In
fact, I wish that they would add more new animations in order to make it look like you didn’t
buy last years game in a new box. Even so, the graphics are nice enough to keep you playing
without having you complain about them. That is good isn’t it?
Okay, in order to attempt at keeping this review relatively short I am going to focus on the
“Dynasty Mode”. Just remember that you can play the classic games (to try and change history),
practice games, single games, seasons, mascot games, and rivalry games. I apologize for being
ignorant, but the Dynasty is the heart and soul of college football.
After editing the rosters (if you choose), choosing a team, signing a contract, etc. you will
find yourself in the main game menu of the dynasty mode. This is your control panel that will
allow you control what goes on in your dynasty. You can do everything that you would expect,
such as: edit the settings, play your next scheduled game, view the standings and stats, as
well as a ton of other options to keep you busy.
Before I forget, this year the sliders that command the AI are outstanding. If you find a
happy medium, in regards to those sliders you can expect realistic results from game to game.
During my latest search I came across a great slider set, so if you are interested in having
your digital football game mimic real life pigskin, do not hesitate to email me. I can not
take credit for developing the sliders, but I will give credit if I send this configuration
out to anyone. Back to the review...
During your Dynasty session you will notice a few great additions such as, Sports Illustrated
covers. The game now offers up magazine covers providing news from around the league. This
attribute is not groundbreaking, but it is satisfying. Seeing your team progress to number
1 in the country will merit you your own glorified cover, which I must say is refreshing.
Other than just that the covers serve no particular purpose, yet I wouldn’t want to play the
game without reviewing them from week to week.
Also new is scheduling your team's games. You are not able to schedule your divisional games,
but you have the ability to choose the non conference games. This is a real nice feature that
again doesn’t serve up any Earth shattering concepts.
Again you will have recruiting demands in an attempt to solidify your team; you can “red shirt”
players, and exploit the strong areas of your team. Just be aware that if you leave an area of
your team underdeveloped then the computer will trounce all over you. The computer’s AI in the
game will exploit your team to the fullest. Some may call it cheating; others just say it is
part of the game. The computers ability seem a bit outlandish to me, however I am not about to
make a cheater out of my invisible opponent. Before I get too far off of the subject, you should
know that if none of the recruiting phase is particularly important to you, then you have the
option of letting the AI control this phase of the game. Personally, I enjoy taking an hour or
two to recruit and attempt at getting players to sign to my squad. You can even make efforts to
talk players out of leaving your school (NFL or transferring).
Once you have a squad full of scholarship players and invitees it is time to train your athletes.
Shortly after that you get to knife the players who just aren’t playing up to your expectations.
Yes, you get all of the perks of being the head coach of your very own college football team.
Dynasty mode is a lot like you may expect it to be. It contains a plethora of time wasting
options, but in the broad scope of things it also misses out on capturing a semi-realistic feel.
I do believe that it is the best that any football has done to date, but I see much more
improvement to come in the future editions.
Ok I do have a few gripes with the overall smell of the game. Here they are in NO particular
order:
- Big plays from small time players. What? Well, the computer seems to have determined the outcome
of the game prior to the first snap. The result is a team like Dunham Dinky Doughnuts will freakin’
pounce on you throwing for 500 Yards passing. Can a team like Miami get thrown on for 500 yards?
Yes, but not from some lousy team that really doesn’t exist.
Ok, maybe you haven’t witnessed a team running over you like that, but I guarantee that the computer
will frustrate the hell out of you with the successfulness of big time plays. It is Third and
twenty-six when the computer will pass the ball deep...it bounces off of 3 defenders and lands in
the hands of the received...Touchdown. Well that isn’t so bad, but when it happens 2 - 3 times in
a single game it makes you wonder. Or when the computer runs the ball and he breaks 5 - 6 tackles
on route to a 70 yard touchdown. Once is fine, but 2 - 3 times to even the score...no way. The
computer AI seems to have the good ole rubber band associated with it, so that when the score is
unbalanced it will become extremely good in its performance. Unless you have the settings bumped
down to WUSSY.
Although, you can customize the game to provide "realism" the realism seems a bit fake, in a
sense. The computer coming back over and over and over again gets old and while the end result
makes the game look to be providing the realistic outcomes, you will not be so forgiving during
the game, trust me.
- Give me more animations. The game seems to have 3 animations that it uses. While the animations
are new from the 2003 edition, after a game or two you will really be crying for a few new scenes.
After a touchdown just show me a celebration or something....just not the 3 cheerleaders running
the team flag in the end zone.
- I want it to mimic more modern day college football. We need those player celebrations and with
those we need the 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty. Fans of the game want flags for knocking players
down at the end of the play. We the fans want blocked punts, field goals and everything else that
really goes on Saturday afternoon.
Conclusion:
This year’s game is really as good as it gets, but the later section of the review gives the sense
that the following years will be better yet. The game is not perfect, nor does it ever show to be,
but the game is entirely too fun and addicting. I have several gripes with the game and I have
thrown my controller at least one time in each game that I have played, but guess what...I still
sit at work and devise a game plan to kick my opponent’s ass. Yes that is right, I still keep
playing. I would really like to see some of my wish list implemented in the next version, but
for now I am making due with NCAA 2004. I will keep bitching at the screen about how UNBELIEVEABLE
the computer initiated 99 yard pass is, but one thing is for sure...the glitches and hookups are
easily overcome by the absolute intensity that is brought about by the game.
For the ability to knock over the major hurdles limiting this game from being truly monumental I
must hand out 4 Planets.
Talk about
NCAA football 2004>> |
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