As a big fan of football games on my now aged PS2, I generally try to pick up either Madden or NCAA football every year, generally alternating. Ever since EA Sports ruined Madded with the introduction of the execrable passing cone, however, I’ve generally tended towards the college series. NCAA 07 was a damn solid game, my only complaint being that none of my friends are as into college ball as I am, so we would just end up playing Madden 06 with the passing cone off instead. With that in mind, I was somewhat excited to play the next-gen version of NCAA on the Xbox 360 and boy does it suck. It wasn’t quite a NFL Street 3 level of suck (Here’s an idea let’s take everything fun out of one of the sweetest games ever and get rid of it in the sequel! God I want to stab whoever ruined that franchise) So, what went wrong? Here’s a list:
1. Play selection – the new play selection interface is horrible. First it takes way more time to navigate than the old system that’s been in place for the last x amount of year. Apparently, EA couldn’t leave well enough alone and had to alter something that worked absolutely perfectly. Second, it’s WAY to easy to see what your opponents plays are since EA forces you to highlight the play you’re selecting, rather than choosing 1 of 3 options on screen (or 6 additional ones from the previous or subsequent page, which was a feature in later NCAA games). Quite frankly, the new system sucks. It’s convoluted, hard to navigate, and an unnecessary change to a system that already worked.
2. The game is WAY too easy, especially in head to head. I have played about 10 games versus another player and in none of them have I been held under 200 yards rushing, usually with a 9-10 ypc average, no matter who I’m playing against. Playing against Michigan is the exact same as playing against Temple. Furthermore, I’ve surrendered over 200 yards rushing in every game, again no matter who I’m playing or who I play as. In a game where I played as Penn State vs. Michigan, I injured the top 2 running backs for Michigan and they were still running for 12 ypc even against 8-9 men in the box. Meanwhile, I ran for 281 yards on 22 carries. The juke is all powerful, DBs never bring down a running back, and no one is ever (ever) pushed back. It is literally impossible to stuff someone on a third and 1 (especially with the all powerful QB sneak which allows at least 4 ypc without question). It’s essentially like playing Tecmo Bowl, occasional stuffs in between 60 yard touchdowns. The same thing happened against the computer, which is utterly unable to defend against the option even in All-American mode in Heisman you simply fumble the ball every time you are hit. This is pretty inexcusable.
3. EA has fixed NONE of the actual problems with the 07 game. Certain pass plays (safety bait) still ALWAYS work against the computer, the computer will still only run the ball against you about 5 times per game if you stuff them twice, the commentary still sucks, No-fucking-way games still happen, and nothing has actually been improved.
Essentially, EA has taken a great game and made it shittier, just like they did with Street 3. Since, I’m not yet ready to spring for on of the next gen consoles it means I’m stuck playing 07 until….whenever. I feel like the football franchises from EA are due for another downturn similar to the years before 99 when Madden really took off again. Oh well…
Speaking of games that don’t suck. BIOSHOCK fucking buy it, it rules.
