Should I Buy This Game?

[JordanC]

Let me preface this post by saying this: I've never played a complete game of NCAA football or watched a complete game of college football ever.

I am an NFL freak and play Madden viciously, but I feel like I'd simply like to try something new. The tradition and uniqueness of each team attracts me, and some of the in-game options like recruiting sound like a ton of fun.

So I have a few questions to ask.

1. How does this game play after all the patches at this point? Is it realistic? I only play coach mode.

2. Is recruiting as fun and intriguing as it seems?

3. To what extent is this game different enough from Madden to warrant a purchase?

4. Can I enjoy this game while knowing extremely little about college football?

5. Do the names still appear as "QB #5"? Can I download a roster with names?

10/15/11 EDIT:

I added a new post on page 2, but in case people don't see it, I have somewhat of a follow-up question. I'll just copy paste what I wrote there.

I appreciate all the replies.

I have one follow-up question. Knowing while little involved I am with the current NCAA in real life, do you think buying the older version (NCAA 11) for half the price is worth it?

In other words, objectively speaking (meaning exclude the matter of which is current), is NCAA 11 a better game? Especially for only 30$.

Thanks again guys.

[johnnyg713]

i can only answer numbers 4 and 5 for you bc i do not own the game either but im interesting in buying it. I owned ncaa 11 but stopped playing it bc the defense sucked. However I was in an online dynasty for a little while and I absolutely LOVED playing the game.

4) Coming from my own personal experience, u may be able enjoy the game but not nearly as much as you would if you actually watched the sport.

For example i bought NBA 2k12 this year bc the game is sick. The presentation the gameplay, its awesome. However i am not enjoying it at all because i dont care about basketball. I was never big into the sport and even though i live in boston i could care less about the celtics. I don't know a thing about actually playing the sport (sure I know the basics but setting up a play and running a pick and roll is something that doesnt appeal to me) but being a fan of sports games and knowing its such a good game i figured i would give it a shot. Im not losing hope yet and really want to get into it cause i don't want to waste money but forcing myself to play something I don't enjoy is pretty hard lol

My advice to you is simple, watch some college football on Sat and try and get into the games. Chances are if you dont like watching it, you wont like playing the game.

Oh and number 5) yes you can download rosters with the names

[psychicDB]

Quote: Originally Posted by JordanC

Let me preface this post by saying this: I've never played a complete game of NCAA football or watched a complete game of college football ever. I am an NFL freak and play Madden viciously, but I feel like I'd simply like to try something new. The tradition and uniqueness of each team attracts me, and some of the in-game options like recruiting sound like a ton of fun. So I have a few questions to ask. 1. How does this game play after all the patches at this point? Is it realistic? I only play coach mode. 2. Is recruiting as fun and intriguing as it seems? 3. To what extent is this game different enough from Madden to warrant a purchase? 4. Can I enjoy this game while knowing extremely little about college football? 5. Do the names still appear as "QB #5"? Can I download a roster with names?

1. Still quite bad, and now no huddle is broken too.

2. It's fun for a while but then it gets boring and repetitive. The process of targeting recruits to fit your needs etc is cool but the actual calling the recruits and talking to them gets old.

3. Never played madden but you get the whole rankings+bowl games+conferences+rivalry stuff from college and I would guess there are more formations.

4. Idk

5. No, you can dl a roster with names easily.

[guitarzero303]

Quote: Originally Posted by psychicDB

1. Still quite bad, and now no huddle is broken too.

No huddle has been fixed in patch #3

[fistofrage]

It depends what $60 means to you. For me its a round of golf or a nice steak dinner with a few drinks. Both of which I get 4 hours of enjoyment out of roughly. Along with multiple hours of frustration, I have probably got 4 hours of enjoyment out of this game.

Now that I think about it, its like the aforementioned round of golf where I hook my 1st tee shot OB and they overcooked my steak a little.

[thomhunt]

If you are a fan of ridiculous leaping linebackers and in your face CPU cheating then this is your game....if not just get Madden. FOr the first time in years Madden is actually much better.

[Saturated Feline]

1.This game is alot different to play than madden, i have played guys that excel in madden and crush them by 30-40 points on NCAA. The patches have fixed a few minor details like the no huddle bug and other things but you will still get the super jump LB's and the psychic DB's and WR's letting the ball bounce off their heads. As far as realism goes its pretty decent, each team has its own play style with the multiple playbooks and coach tendencies. For more realistic gameplay i suggest using sliders to fit the game to your skill level. I dont really ever play coach mode so i cant tell you much there.

2. Recruiting is my favorite part of dynasty. You start by targeting the prospects you need and the ones you want and during the season and after you make calls to these players and pitch different aspects of your team from fan base to academic prestige. i have recruiting advisor so i get tips on guys that have certain things unlocked or double xp points for pitches and i get hints to higher rated players that i can recruit that otherwise wouldnt show interest in my tiny little 1 star program. well worth the 140 or so MS points i used to get it.

3. This game is completely different from Madden. the play styles and the overall game are much different. you have 120 teams to choose from instead of 32 and the recruting takes place of any free agency or drafting you would have done on madden. you also can keep 70 players on your roster for the entire season and get players from other schools to transfer to your school. you will need some basic college football knowledge to play this game well so i suggest watching some games and taking notes of any tips the announcers might give you.

4. You can enjoy this game because just like madden its football. just the different things between the college and pro game are the only things you will need to focus on. you still call plays and all that its just different styles than the pro style the NFL plays.

5. You can download two different rosters, its really simple. there is a named roster for the players that are on the default rosters (FAIRDALE KINGS) and then there are the OS community rosters (mustangs84) that are updated frequently with players added or removed and updated ratings and equipment and all that stuff. just like getting a roster update from madden but this guy seems to do it at least once a week.

[ReMeDy]

I personally haven't watched any college football, yet I'm enjoying this game immensely. I love the customization options - you can create your own teams, logos, edit stats, edit names, etc. Because the players are all fictionally random names, you do not need to know who everyone is in real-life college football.

Personally, I'd buy it, yea.