NCAA 14 = Dynamic Football - UMhester04's Blog

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UMhester04's Blog

NCAA 14 = Dynamic Football Stuck

Posted on June 11, 2013 at 04:00 PM.

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The very first NCAA 14 video clip, featuring LSU and Texas A&M came out last week. Contrary to popular belief, this clip showed off some new gameplay elements that weren't in the game before this year.

I wasn't really sure what to expect with NCAA 14, since in past years we would all hear the same old song and dance about how EA has revamped this and improved that. After being on OS for about 6 years, all the "NCAA hype seasons" have started to blend into one another, with so many years of high hopes leading to utter disappointment. Legacy issues have gone unchanged from year to year; such as the locomotion issues, defenders knowing your play and presentation not being able to find an identity.

With NCAA 15 going to next-gen, NCAA 14 will look to be the great send-off that we all hoped and prayed for with a college football game. In my opinion, I think we are going to somewhat get that game.

Dont get me wrong, there are still going to be long-standing issues in the game - one can already tell from that quick gameplay clip that the commentary is still basically the same since like '05 - however, there have been improvements to the game where I feel we will get a well rounded football experience that plays dynamic and looks solid visually.

As far as gameplay goes, I just want to touch on a few things. The main factor that I judge a sports game on that will keep me playing for a long time is how dynamic the gameplay is. If we keep seeing the same types of outcomes over and over, a game can get real old, real quick.

Past NCAA games ended up collecting dust for me because of how scripted and 'cookie-cutter' everything felt. Blockers would engage in blocks and stay stationary until the game determined the CPU should break the block (usually after I hit the sprint button with my ball carrier). Things happened like this that just made no sense - at least made no sense physically. Another thing was the running; God the running was horrible this whole generation and I could go on for days about it, but I will spare everyone reading this.

Now look at the quick clip. One doesn't have to look past the first play to see how dynamic the game can get. The first play shows the QB keeping the ball up-the-middle with a lead blocker in front of him. When the lead blocker peels off to the left to block a safety, something awesome happens. The lead blocker engages the safety and the block carries (or "rides" as I like to say) their momentum about 5 yard down the field, until they leave the camera.

Something so small that has been overlooked for so many years.

Demonstration time. Put your arms at your side and your elbows at 90 degrees like you are running, then angle your arms in a little so your hands are kind of pointing towards one another ( Like this / \ ) and make two fists. Now slowly make them go in the direction they are pointing and once they make contact, keep trying to force one through the other. What happens is your fists end up moving away from your body because of the momentum and force applied (I am no science whiz, this is just common sense).

Now pretend both of your fists are football players about to engage in a block, say the left fist is the safety and the right fist is the lead-blocking lineman. Give a little more power to your right arm and a little less to the left, and what you see is the safety "riding out" the "block". ISN'T THIS EXCITING!! This is what NCAA has been missing because for so long; once you were engaged in a block, no matter how strong one guy was or how much momentum he had, they both stopped and played patty cake.

Now imagine calling a pitch play and all your lineman coming off the LOS and executing this block towards the sideline. As a running back, you are now going to have to pick which hole you run through - you can't just get around the edge every single time like you could in the past.

We are going to be seeing more dynamic football this year people, believe it.

Comments

# 1 Asp86 @ Jun 11

The release point and where the ball came from at the 1:03 point of the video looks strange.

# 2 SnakeEyez @ Jun 11

same old engine will = same old problems

# 3 trainerdave @ Jun 11

Highlighting the issue that some of these flaws have been present since 05 makes me less likely to invest in the xBox One where I have to drop $60 on the game and realistically won't be able to sell/trade if the product is inferior. Obviously EA has made no attempt to improve the overall quality of their products, so what should we expect for the future??? Wait and see approach on the next gen systems.

# 4 BBallcoach @ Jun 12

@Asp86 are you really complaining about release point... This is what I dont get about OS, they kill a game for little things like release point. IF that's what you are complaining about. It seems the game is going to be very good.

The OP I agree with you this game looks good.

# 5 cusefan74 @ Jun 12

@BBallcoach I agree. To much worrying about little things. It did look strange, but I wouldn't worry about that at this point. The game looks pretty darn nice I think. Everytime there is a video of a new game there is someone saying what was wrong with it.

# 6 UMhester04 @ Jun 13

The new additions are too refreshing to keep harping on the old problems IMO. I'm not saying that everyone should let it all go, but the new stuff is going to make the game better - that's what we want as gamers and that's what we're getting.