Customer Reviews

NCAA Football 10

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I must preface this review by stating that I have been a fan of the NCAA Football series since it was "Bill Walsh Football". I have become accustomed to each year only having a few updates and modest improvements and those have been enough to satisfy my needs as a college football enthusiast.

THIS LATEST INSTALLMENT LEAVES MUCH TO BE DESIRED.

I play this game as follows: 50% of the time is spent in dynasty mode, 25% is spent playing against friends, 25% is spent playing online. With that said, dynasty mode is the mode that I obviously really focus on. I was alarmed to find out as soon as I booted up dynasty mode that it starts soliciting you to buy "add ons" that you would think would be standard. You have to pay an additional $2.50 per add-on ($12.50 for the total dynasty add-on package) -via the PSN store- to have things such as a second pipeline state, a recruiting advisor etc.

EA could have greatly improved dynasty mode this year by releasing these new options as standard features instead of gouging for more $$$.

It's not that the add-ons are expensive, but its that they are unwarranted and it is a matter of principle. I can honestly say that this will very likely be the last time I purchase a release from the NCAA Football series.

EA Sports has finally made a challenging football game. Playing the CPU on Heisman mode is like playing last year's Madden on Your Level. The game now adapts to the way you play just like a real (good) coach does. You can't run that option over and over, you will get stuffed!

In addition to making CPU play harder and more realistic, there is a new mode called Season Showdown where you chose your favorite team and everything you do on and offline gets tallied toward an end of the season winner. In Season Showdown mode, you get points based on many categories including Skill (making certain plays yourself), Strategy (Choosing the upcoming play type while on defense and successfully stopping it), and Sportsmanship ( where good sports that don't go for it on 4th get points and those that do or run up the score get them taken away). There is also an online trivia component where you go to the EA Sports website and answer 10 trivia questions each week for points. During the season, each week you can play your team's game online against players from the other team to get points. You get points whether you win or lose, but you get more for winning. Season Showdown is a great way to show support for your favorite team and it also gives a rating so when you are in a lobby you can tell if someone who is participating in Season Showdown will go for it every 4th or not and if they know how to stop plays by looking at their Strategy rating.

Teambuilder is another new mode where you can go to the EA Sports website and create your own school and design the uniforms, stadium and player names and attributes and then download it into the game. And you can use your Teambuilder teams in online dynasties, which is pretty cool.

Online dynasties are better, you can now create a custom team conference by swapping your members teams with teams in an existing conference. For example you can swap all the Big 12 teams with all 12 of your dynasty member's teams. This makes it easier for scheduling user vs user games. They also fixed last year's bug where you talked a player into staying (from going to the NFL draft or transferring to another school) they and they still left. The recruiting process is more involved now, you can talk down other schools the recruit is interested ins attributes and you have a recruiting adviser that tells you when someone is ready to sign, is interested in your school or gets a call from a mom who tells some of a recruit's interests.

The other new addition is Road To Glory, which has been in the game before but is vamped up with a video segment on your player after winning games that is hosted by Erin Andrews, who discusses your play during the game with Herbstriet and shows auto saved highlights from the game. Look for a similar video show presentation in Madden NFL 10 which will have a video show for the online leagues showing highlights from members of the leagues teams each week.

PROS

Season Showdown - It has brought a new sense of competition to the game, where everything you do helps your favorite school in the rankings.

Adaptive CPU Play - You have to really be on your toes to win against the CPU on Heisman mode now. All American mode is as hard as Heisman in NCAA Football 09.

Road to Glory - Your player is now ranked so you can see how others playing on your favorite team are doing. Plus you get to see Erin Andrews. lol.

Family Mode - This is another adaptation from Madden, which has an easy mode. Now, you can play a tough game against grandma. Family mode is a very simplified set of controls where even your sister can make a TD pass. So now, just about anyone can play and be good at it.

PS3 Trophies - For the first time you get trophies for your game play.

Tweaks to Graphics - Close ups are more polished, although most of the graphics are the same. Marching bands are now shown pre game and they have added additional uniform settings and TD animations (My team, USF, can now do the horns hand sign after TDs)

Players Are More Realistic - No More sub 4.3 40 yard dash players. Speed is not as much a factor as ability to catching or running through a tackle.

Ability to Tweak Team Play - Now you can tweak how your D and O play on different aspects such as blocking or tackling, with choices being Aggressive, Normal, And Conservative.


Cons

EA has now gone the money route. Additional items, like "Dynasty Accelerators" where you get things like an extra pipeline state in Dynasty Mode you have to play for, WITH REAL MONEY! You want to be a 5 star high school recruit in Road To Glory? You can pay for it now, 2 bucks. If you lost your manual for the game, you won't be able to download your Teambuilder team to the game without paying for it. And if you want to download other teams you have to pay for each team. Its not quite as bad as they have done with Tiger Woods Golf, but look for more of it in future additions depending on how successful they are this year.

Adaptive CPU Play - I know, I said it was a Pro, but its both. I am seeing players struggling in Dynasties that are set at Heisman mode, good players. When someone is ranked high against other players (top 1000) plays a game against the cpu in Heisman mode with Penn St and loses to Akron, you know something is wrong. Luckily, the CPU sliders are still included in this addition. Sliders can be adjusted to so that CPU and User play can be adjusted, like increase the likelihood your receiver will catch balls or your QB will throw more accurately.

Graphics and Presentation - While I know that they have worked more on game play and features this past edition, it would be nice to see a better presentation. Not all the mascots are in 2010 yet, there are more in the PS2 version. Many of the lines of the commentators are the same they have used for several versions now. The graphics are pretty much the same, although you get a glimpse of some better graphics during the brief close ups after plays.

Putting your D on Aggressive Stripping the Ball results on face mask penalties on just about every play. Its pretty much useless.

The video is pretty repetitive in Road To Glory. Heck Erin doesn't even have a wardrobe change. It would be nice to see her change wardrobe, and spice up the video some.



Overall, great improvements to last year's game. Much of this is because Tiberon, who makes the game for EA Sports, let seasoned NCAA gamers have a day with the game early enough in development to get input and use it to change and tweak the game before it was shipped. They also did this to Madden this year.


UPDATE: The more I play Madden, the less I like NCAA 10. Why? On the harder settings its like work. And conversely, Madden is pretty fun, even when you are losing. On the harder settings in NCAA 10, one mistake can cost you the game. The game presentation is boring and rather dull compared to Madden. Even though I am #1 for my school in Season Showdown, I still am considering selling my copy. Hopefully next year EA Sports will take the things that work in NCAA 10 and Madden separately and include them in both of next year's offering.

I purchased each game in the series for many years. Not much has really changed in the last few years, so I didn't expect too much from this one either. The gameplay is imporved from last year dramatically. The CPU is more intelligent and seems to react to what you are doing better (such as coverage, play calling, audibles, etc). However there are time when you really wonder (such as when the CPU calls a quarter defense when you are in the goal line formation running the clock down). The graphics are imporved, however they are not as polished as they should be for a next gen game (at times they are SLOW). The plays themselves are a copy from last year, no change (could be negative or positive).

I mostly play the dynasty mode and that is where my main grips are. In order to be really competative in a online (or just a normal dynasty unless you choose the easiest settings or re-sim everything 20 million times to get perfection) you really are going to feel the need to buy those dynasty add on's. And those are where most of the controversies are. You just spent a ton of money to buy the game and now you have to go and fork over about a quarter of another ton to get all of the dynasty add ons. Once you get them, you come to realize many of them are just junk and do nothing. Why in the world do I care about an add on that gives me the time I spent with a recruit in a week? However the recruiting advisor however, does come in handy.

For EA Sports greed is the sole reason I think this game deserves a two star rating. Madden follows this 'charge more for add on's', as well as many of the other EA Sports franchises. If you purchase the game anyway, at least give EA Sports two cents about the extra money!!!

In the age of technology in which we currently live, it's impossible to fathom how a next generation football game takes a step back from '09 to '10. In last year's version, if you fielded a good team, you could manipulate the audibles and the defense would react the same way every time. If you needed 15 yards, you could get 20. It got to the point where I would stop calling certain plays in the playbook because it was guaranteed to work every time. That has been fixed this year but for several reasons, this game takes two steps back.

NCAA Football 2010 ushered in some unforgivable mistakes that sink this game all the way to complete mediocrity, such as fumbles when the other team needs the ball back, facemask penalties when they need a first down, and a completely idiotic camera angle which happens when you accidentally click the L3 button when trying to rush the quarterback (which happens to be the same button that moves your defensemen). Once you click the button, if you don't click it again in time you end up off sides because down causes your player to move up and up causes the player to move down and if you're trying to blitz the quarterback, you're trying to figure this out before he snaps the ball because you're already off sides. This happens to me about ten times a game, about half of which wind up in a penalty. I'm forced to play the other half from the idiotic camera view which is so worthless that I don't even play the down.

The worst of these miscues is easily the facemask. I turned the facemask penalty slider as low as it would go and I still get flagged for it 4-8 times every game, usually on third and 10+ so the other team can get a first down. The computer NEVER gets flagged for facemask, or any other penalties for that matter. Penalties only apply to the user and not the AI. This is unacceptable. Also, if you try and play conservatively with the lead, yeah, you fumble the ball and the defense recovers. I once had a 27 point lead in the 4th quarter when I fumbled the ball. The defense returned for a touchdown, kicked off, I fumbled the return, the computer scored on the next play, recovered an onside kick, threw a bomb for a touchdown, RECOVERED ANOTHER ONSIDE KICK, and slowly drove down the field and scored with barely any time left on the clock. I realize that EA needed to make this game more challenging, but there are better ways to do that than creating ways for the computer to cheat. A couple of other maddening issues worthy of mention include tipped passes and defensive AI. My tipped passes end up intercepted while the computer's float haphazardly into the hands of the intended receiver for a thirty yard gain. They intercept nearly every mistake I make while my defense will drop three balls thrown straight to them on the same drive. Also, the computer always makes defensive plays on the ball whereas you can try and swat or intercept the ball during the play and rarely does it ever work. I'm beginning to think that these "mistakes" are intentional so that consumers will break the disc in half in a fit of rage and go buy another. Seriously, how does this happen after twenty years of experience?

I learned my lesson with EA years ago. They no longer get any of my money. Every EA game I buy comes from Ebay or used from Amazon. I also wait until I can get them for less than $20 so that I'm not pissed when I get ripped off like this. Every year I read reviews just like this from people that continue to buy these mediocre games brand new. As long as EA is raking in billions of dollars in sales, they won't care about the quality of the product. If people would quit buying, then we may finally see a game with some quality effort put into it. Some competition would do the trick too, but EA owns the rights. Go figure.

I'm not going to write a long review of the game but I will say this: I own NCAAF09 as well and enjoyed it thoroughly (even though that game had major flaws as well). I think the real problem with '10 is the fact that EA decided to spend time improving the most unimportant features. What's more important -- flashes in the crowd or decent AI? Seriously, Heisman mode is infuriating. First of all, EA doesn't seem to understand that simply increasing the amount of fumbles and interceptions in a game equals a better team. Also, simply sliding the speed bar of the opposing team to 100 is not realistic. "Heisman mode" should equal more completed passes, generally better skill, but not turbo mode. If you can deal with the annoying AI, then this may be the game for you. But until EA patches this game, I don't know if it's worth it.

First off let me start by saying this is a fun game to play...to an extent. The AI is better and gives the game more of a challenge. However, if you are in dynasty mode and playing another team that is ranked prepare to play the whole game and don't expect to put the game away early. A 24 point lead with 1 minute left in the half will become a 10 point lead at half and that lead will become a 4 point deficit by the end of the 3rd Qt.

Problems:
-Pass rushes will take .4 seconds to get to you and opposing db's run your routes better than your own WR.
-Your QB will get hit before almost every throw and the ball will go straight up and there will always be a defender there to pick it off and return it.
-QB's and RB's will fumble the ball every 4 to 5 plays even when your O is being conservative.
-An opposing QB with ratings in the 80's will be perfect under pressure and make perfect throws while being hit and their RB's and WR's will break tackle after tackle.

Even mixing things up doesn't work, the computer still plays defense perfectly.
So prepare to be frustrated because when thinking you have a game won you can easily find yourself down 5 minutes later
Still a lot of things to fix for next years game

First off, let me state that this is the first time I bought or play NCAA Football on any platform. So I'm coming at this from a totally uninitiated standpoint. The game has excellent graphics which you would expect, and the surround sound is excellent as well. So far so good. The gameplay is easy enough to pick up in a hurry and enjoy yourself, but offers depth enough for anyone capable of remembering a gazillion button press/stick maneuver combos to really control every aspect of each play. That is good too IMHO, although I would never remember all that is required to get your OLB to move farther out on the line or blitz, or at least right away. The play calling is intuitive and can also be manually controlled, or you can "Ask The Coach" and you'll get three (relatively) appropriate plays to choose from.

There are several modes as is typical of an EA sports title including "Road to Glory" with Erin Andrews (yeah!), Quick Game and Online and Offline Dynasty modes which allow you to build a program literally from scratch if you choose to make up your own school. This ability called Team Builder is a web based whiz bang flash application that is pretty cool really. Personally, I created the Faber College "Beer Hawks". If you have to ask...

Now on to the "I could do without it" stuff. The whole recruiting process that exists in both the online or offline dynasty modes is extremely tedious to me. I know that there are some who truly enjoy this aspect of college football (my son is one of those) and so I understand why it is there. But seeing as there are maybe 5-6 player images that they cycle between, it just seems like a waste of time to me. But thankfully, you can automat the vast majority of this kind of thing which I did. That was not the ultimate deal breaker for me.

The deal breaker is the kickoff bug. If you don't know what I mean, then you're lucky because it is frustrating as hell dealing with it. I have been computer gaming since the 1970's and I know that these things are programed with distinct personalities. For instance, the team you are playing is getting it's backside thoroughly thumped until crunch time when they suddenly become Knute Rockey's All American squad. That I expect and can deal with. But this game when played in the default level of dificulty (Rookie I think) has a bug where the opposing team gets at least one lickoff return for a touchdown in each game. Sometimes, they get two or three! Now, I've been watching college football for years and you might see a return break fro a touchdown a handful of times in a whole year but in this game, your cover squad gets pancacked all the time and the returner goes untouched into the end zone. Doesn't matter what team your playing against either. This happened one too many times to me and yesterday, I traded it for Madden 10 and that game is, from a pure football playing perspective, light years better than this title.\

Bottom line? If you love the college game and dig the whole recruiting schtick and you believe that EA will eventually patch up the unstoppable kickoff return bug then this game will suit you fine. I personally just wanted to play football and although in many ways I prefer the college game to the pro game, at least Madden is playable now without hoping for a patch. That's how I see it.

First, I should note this is my first football video game in many years, so I can not compare it to previous games. Having said that...

Do not waste your money on this game! It is a source of endless frustration. While the base of the game is great, certain aspects are so poorly implemented as to destroy the whole experience.

For example, when kicking, your entire team will fall down in the back field. Even while utilizing the best special teams in college football, a kick or punt returned for a touch down will happen one or two times a game, and I've had it happen as many as four. However, when your team is returning a kick or punt, again, your team will fall down and you will get hit by 4-6 guys - nowhere to go. Blocked kicks/punts don't seem to work. I've never seen one. Special teams is the wost part of this game by far.

Fumbles and interceptions are entirely too prevalent. Interceptions can be avoided if you are very careful. However, there is virtually nothing you can do to stop fumbles besides get out of bounds or dive to the ground before you are hit. My last five offensive plays (before I gave up on this game) ended in fumbles returned for touch downs. That's five in a row, and not during hand offs or something - only when I get hit, even while tucking the ball. Unacceptable.

It is one thing to lose because the game is hard and you got out played. But it is another to lose because the computer just decides you can't hold on to a ball and your players can't stay on their feet.

Spend your money elsewhere.

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10/21/2009 Edit
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So I have given this game another try and it turns out that it just has a serious learning curve.

In order to increase my skills I've had to study football strategy in depth. Certain aspects of this game are very realistic. For example, you have to constantly switch up your strategy or the defense will adapt and make interceptions or force fumbles. I run a much smaller play book now, but I change it up and understand those plays well. Now my games are far more realistic, and I usually only lose to teams that would have had a good chance of beating my team in an actual game.

As for special teams, I have yet to find a way to stop teams from so often returning punts/kicks for touch downs. If you have a great kicker, you can kick deep and take the touch back. Otherwise you are taking a 25% chance at a touch down. Also, I've still never seen a blocked kick. I rarely even try any more. For PATs, I just run a goalline defense to stop any possible fakes. Special teams remains the worst part of the game.

Only get this game if you are REALLY in to football and don't mind learning it as well as an actual player or coach.

The first thing I did before writing this review was reading every other review posted for the product. I feel the need to dispel a few nagging untruths about the game and talk about my own personal experience as well as the pros and cons of the game itself in order to guide other consumers.

First of all - every negative review I read mentioned special teams. Yes. There is definitely a system to ensure that you score a return TD once a game or so. If you're playing against an especially great team (be it controlled by a user or CPU), then it will definitely be more difficult to employ, but it can work. Be aware of it.

Second of all - the game's AI will employ a few cheap tactics when you play against the CPU. Holding penalties that negate big plays, facemask penalties that aggravate you progress on defense, and fumbles or spectacular interceptions by the CPU's defense when they need the ball back.

I've noticed that some of these things (penalties) are related to your team's composure and the game situation. If you're losing, your team is likely to be more anxious and commit more penalties. If you gave the ball up via an interception and you did NOT guess the defense's play, your team's composure will dip and the CPU will have the momentum.

Then again, if you're playing Dynasty mode the game gives you a chance to get better through recruiting year in and year out. If you play well enough, you can turn a 2 or 3 win team into a powerhouse within a few seasons.

Better players produce better teams which produce better results, and you'll see that when you play against any CPU team after a while. Make sure you go after those five-star recruits even if they don't have an interest in your team. If they live in your home state and don't have top-drawer universities hounding them and offering scholarships, you have a pretty good shot at getting them.

It's a deep game, it's an enjoyable game, but it's also a flawed game. Use this information to your advantage and be prepared for the pitfalls, but also be prepared to have a good time.

They have improved two of the biggest issues with '09: no pass coverage and no kick coverage. There is noticeably better coverage with each. The sliders have more effect now also, so you can manipulate the settings to create a relatively realistic experience. Recruiting is still too tedious...wish they kept it simple like 2007. But, this is better than '09 if just for the improved AI.