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Logo by Max Layne Photography
| Microsoft Xbox 360 |
Since the beginning of videogames, football has played an important part in the gaming community. However, NCAA Football has been
a game that had been mostly ignored in the EA Sports game collection. It always sells well and those who play it enjoy it, but there is
gap between the NCAA franchise and other football franchises.
The first and most evident sign that this is a standalone football game is the new visuals given to the game. Overall, everything in the
game has a much more realistic look to it. The lighting system brings a new level of detail to the player models and their animations
are much more fluid that in previous games. Players will notice details on the player’s faces, such as a grimace after a missed play.
The AI players can now catch the ball and they don’t run directly out of bounds if they are close. The blocking works. It works so well in
fact that many players can go depend on their linemen to set a block for them during a run. All of these changes make the game much
better than past versions.
Even though the AI is better than in the past, it still isn’t perfect. There are still a few moments when players will be wondering what just
happened and why. At times the opposing quarterback will take off backwards down the field, only to get sacked for 20 yards. Though
this is helpful to the player, it isn’t very realistic. Another issue will be seen during extra point attempts when the camera will randomly
move to a different location on the field, sometimes making the view difficult to line up a kick.
Overall, the game play is by far the best that has ever been seen in the NCAA Football series. Animations are more fluid and realistic
and everything looks more like an actual college football game. This is possibly the first time that the success the game outweighs the
flaws, and players are going to enjoy every minute of it.
One item in the game that may disappoint fans of the series is the fact that the variety of modes of play haven’t really changed, including
Offline Dynasty and Road to Glory. The Erin Andrews cut scenes from last year’s game are reused again for this year’s game. Very
disappointing. When it comes to Dynasty Mode, players can expect to find a new world of online game play, but everything stay the
same when playing offline. Players can hop into an Online Dynasty and set it to private and enjoy the new interconnected functionality.
Included in the Dynasty Hub online are the new StoryBuilder and Dynasty Wire StoryBuilder, which is similar in name to TeamBuilder
which is back this year and unchanged, allows players to select photos and videos, assign a headline and write a quick paragraph
about the outcome of a game. It is simple and works pretty well. Of course, for those who don’t want to take the time to create custom
stories, the game will automatically create them in needed. Players can then upload these stories to Facebook or YouTube and that is
when the real trash talking really begins.
Trash talking is of course a great way to get after opponents, but any real football fan knows that their performance on the field is the
best way to show how good a player really is. The shining star of Online Dynasty is the recruiting system which gives players 10 hours
per week to spend talking to possible athletes. It is up to the player to strategically budget their time across their 35 top prospects in
order to sway them towards playing on the team. Players can make a variety of promises, offer scholarships, compare the school to
other schools the player is looking at, setup school visits and more. When it comes down to it, the recruitment system feels a bit like a
management mini-game rather than something that players have to trudge through.
Many players aren’t going to be blown away by the game modes offered in “NCAA Football 11” since a majority of it is brought in from
previous games, but the new functionality and connectivity for Online Dynasty seems like it could bring a new standard for multiplayer
features.
Overall, “NCAA Football 11” is a great game of football that hardcore college football fans are really going to enjoy. The core game play
from previous versions of the game has been taken to another level with more fluid animations, dual analog control and smart AI on the
field. All of these elements brought together offer players a game that looks awesome and feels original, rather than a rehash of a
game from the Madden series. However, for those that aren’t going to take advantage of the connectivity offers by the Online Dynasty,
the modes of game play are going to feel outdated. Those that do take advantage of the new features in Online Dynasty, there is a lot of
fun to be had with only a few minor frustrations.
The complete, $60 package of “NCAA Football 11” is the best that the series has produced in quite awhile. Now players only need to
hope that EA Sports will put a little more time into Road to Glory and the core elements of Dynasty Mode to give them the same fresh
feeling that the rest of the game has seen this year.
a game that had been mostly ignored in the EA Sports game collection. It always sells well and those who play it enjoy it, but there is
gap between the NCAA franchise and other football franchises.
The first and most evident sign that this is a standalone football game is the new visuals given to the game. Overall, everything in the
game has a much more realistic look to it. The lighting system brings a new level of detail to the player models and their animations
are much more fluid that in previous games. Players will notice details on the player’s faces, such as a grimace after a missed play.
The AI players can now catch the ball and they don’t run directly out of bounds if they are close. The blocking works. It works so well in
fact that many players can go depend on their linemen to set a block for them during a run. All of these changes make the game much
better than past versions.
Even though the AI is better than in the past, it still isn’t perfect. There are still a few moments when players will be wondering what just
happened and why. At times the opposing quarterback will take off backwards down the field, only to get sacked for 20 yards. Though
this is helpful to the player, it isn’t very realistic. Another issue will be seen during extra point attempts when the camera will randomly
move to a different location on the field, sometimes making the view difficult to line up a kick.
Overall, the game play is by far the best that has ever been seen in the NCAA Football series. Animations are more fluid and realistic
and everything looks more like an actual college football game. This is possibly the first time that the success the game outweighs the
flaws, and players are going to enjoy every minute of it.
One item in the game that may disappoint fans of the series is the fact that the variety of modes of play haven’t really changed, including
Offline Dynasty and Road to Glory. The Erin Andrews cut scenes from last year’s game are reused again for this year’s game. Very
disappointing. When it comes to Dynasty Mode, players can expect to find a new world of online game play, but everything stay the
same when playing offline. Players can hop into an Online Dynasty and set it to private and enjoy the new interconnected functionality.
Included in the Dynasty Hub online are the new StoryBuilder and Dynasty Wire StoryBuilder, which is similar in name to TeamBuilder
which is back this year and unchanged, allows players to select photos and videos, assign a headline and write a quick paragraph
about the outcome of a game. It is simple and works pretty well. Of course, for those who don’t want to take the time to create custom
stories, the game will automatically create them in needed. Players can then upload these stories to Facebook or YouTube and that is
when the real trash talking really begins.
Trash talking is of course a great way to get after opponents, but any real football fan knows that their performance on the field is the
best way to show how good a player really is. The shining star of Online Dynasty is the recruiting system which gives players 10 hours
per week to spend talking to possible athletes. It is up to the player to strategically budget their time across their 35 top prospects in
order to sway them towards playing on the team. Players can make a variety of promises, offer scholarships, compare the school to
other schools the player is looking at, setup school visits and more. When it comes down to it, the recruitment system feels a bit like a
management mini-game rather than something that players have to trudge through.
Many players aren’t going to be blown away by the game modes offered in “NCAA Football 11” since a majority of it is brought in from
previous games, but the new functionality and connectivity for Online Dynasty seems like it could bring a new standard for multiplayer
features.
Overall, “NCAA Football 11” is a great game of football that hardcore college football fans are really going to enjoy. The core game play
from previous versions of the game has been taken to another level with more fluid animations, dual analog control and smart AI on the
field. All of these elements brought together offer players a game that looks awesome and feels original, rather than a rehash of a
game from the Madden series. However, for those that aren’t going to take advantage of the connectivity offers by the Online Dynasty,
the modes of game play are going to feel outdated. Those that do take advantage of the new features in Online Dynasty, there is a lot of
fun to be had with only a few minor frustrations.
The complete, $60 package of “NCAA Football 11” is the best that the series has produced in quite awhile. Now players only need to
hope that EA Sports will put a little more time into Road to Glory and the core elements of Dynasty Mode to give them the same fresh
feeling that the rest of the game has seen this year.
| Genre: Sport Developer: EA Sports Publisher: Electronic Arts |
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