Review: ‘NCAA Football 09′
Like a team putting on the pads for the first practice of the season, “NCAA Football 09″ makes its share of mistakes, but it’s hard to ignore the potential that lies beneath the rough exterior.
“NCAA 09″ is the latest installment in EA Sports’ college football franchise and the third game in the series to appear on next-gen consoles. It’s clear that the developers are getting more comfortable with the new hardware as “NCAA 09″ is far and away the best next-gen “NCAA” to date. Unfortunately, while many of the bugs that plagued past editions have been squashed, many more have been created.
Let’s start with special teams play. Returning kickoffs and punts is way too easy in “NCAA 09.” Punt coverage is especially horrid as linemen hold their blocks too long and fail to get downfield and engage the returner. This opens up the field to huge punt returns on a consistent basis. If you’re in need of a big return, just call for a punt block and guarantee yourself 25-30 yards of open field.
Another major issue this year is the insanely-high quarterback completion percentages. Partly a result of the game’s new “wide-open gameplay” and partly a result of the complete lack of a pass rush, quarterbacks now pass the ball with laser-like precision. And I’m not just talking about the elite quarterbacks.
Here is the stat line for Arkansas State’s QB in a game against Ohio State — 34-of-38, 429 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Because I was unable to put any pressure on the quarterback, he was able to sit back in the pocket and wait for his receivers to get open. Underneath routes are also overly effective as short crossing patterns result in 8-10 yard gains every time.
Both the kick coverage and quarterback accuracy issues could be helped with sliders, except that sliders don’t work, either. That’s right, the sliders for the CPU do not work. The human sliders have universal effects, meaning that lowering the QB accuracy slider for humans lowers it for the CPU, as well.
And finally, one of the key new features of “NCAA 09,” online roster sharing, is useless out of the box. Sure, the process works just as it should, allowing users to upload or download rosters from the EA Locker. But a bug causes teams to disappear from the game’s menu if you begin to edit players’ equipment or other data.
One of the nicest additions to “NCAA 09″ is the improved running game. Ballcarriers are much more responsive and the new animation system allows for users to have greater control over the players on the field. This leads to some great sequences, especially using a shifty player like WVU running back Noel Devine. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of leaving a would-be tackler grasping at air after a well-executed stutter-step juke. It’s moments like these that can make you forget about the game’s other problems and show just how good “NCAA 09″ could be.
Online dynasties finally appear and deliver everything most gamers hoped they would. Dynasties function just like they do offline, with the exception of job offers and conference invitations. Still, those small omissions don’t take anything away from the overall experience of playing and recruiting against real people. The Campus Legend mode returns virtually untouched, though the position-specific camera angles have been somewhat improved.
While it may sound like “NCAA 09″ is a hopeless mess, that isn’t the case. The developers at EA are aware of the problems that exist and are working to resolve many of the issues I’ve mentioned above. A patch is already in the works to fix the roster issue and a second patch to address gameplay issues is reportedly being considered.
If the gameplay problems could somehow be corrected, “NCAA 09″ would have to be considered one of the finest football games of all time. Yes, there are problems. But in spite of those, I’m still having an absolute blast playing the game. The score below indicates my feelings about the game right now. But if EA can come through with a patch to tighten up some of the gameplay issues, “NCAA 09″ would be a solid 9 out of 10.
Score: 7.6/10
