NCAA 08...not that Great?!.....

[Whaaaazuuuuup]

i've had the last 3 days off, with the wife and kid away with some friends. so i got a chance to spend ALOT of time with NCAA 08(360). i decided to learn this game inside/out so that i may get a better feel and appreciation for it. what i got out of it was, it's not that much better than 07 beside the obvious:

-framerate is much better, because EA downgraded graphical things from 07. player definition, field, sideline art, ect... most of the animations are the same as last years but look alot better because they're now at 60fps.

-cpu AI is not very good. ex. in practice mode, you have to select the defense's play (rather than letting them select their own, randomly). that being said, the cpu AI (defense) won't adjust. the same can be said about the users OL. they'll allow the same DL to get to the QB untouched. last night, i closed my eyes, counted to 3, and passed to a selected receiver, each time he was open and scored a td. this was done 15 consecutive times. now,i know what you'll all say, you're talking about PRACTICE! yes, PRACTICE. i can't realistically prep my skills because i'm getting the saaaame scenario, play after play. that means i should be able to close my eyes and get an accurrate off consistanly, even in practice. the passing game has very little feel to it. the ball lacks projectory, allowing some unnecessary int's.

-player controls feels like i'm playing NBA LIVE with all the skating. the tackling engine needs to be re-done. if i get tripped up by a 350lb DL lying flat on his back, or when i fake a defender, and he runs pass me, but for some reason i get tackled, one more time. another thing i'd like to see is for the QB to have his own moves when getting out of sticky situations (i know 2k8 has this, but EA can come up with their own gimmick).

don't get me wrong, there are some really good things about the game.

-the dynasty and legend modes are very fun and challening. and the radio and video updates are a nice touch. if they would only use the Espn stuff for in-game presentation, but you guys know all of this.

i'm sure i'll get blasted for this thread, but i thought i'd share my opinoins on this game. i won't compare it to the other game that is out, because NCAA08 is a different game, all in it self. maybe if i give it a few more weeks i'll see things differently...

[ac11367]

One thing I do like about practice mode is for improving my vision in finding holes for the RB. The way the line opens up is a bit different for each snap, so that part of practice is pretty dynamic. But the inability to pass against random defenses bugs me as well.

[ycbs]

Quote: Originally Posted by Whaaaazuuuuup

-player controls feels like i'm playing NBA LIVE with all the skating. the tackling engine needs to be re-done. if i get tripped up by a 350lb DL lying flat on his back, or when i fake a defender, and he runs pass me, but for some reason i get tackled, one more time. another thing i'd like to see is for the QB to have his own moves when getting out of sticky situations (i know 2k8 has this, but EA can come up with their own gimmick).

Actually, the QB does have his own moves to avoid tackles. Go back to practice mode and just keep letting the CPU do the drop back. He'll move and shimmy to avoid sacks and basically everything BUT throw the ball. Now, some of the moves seem to be out of the user's control even if you don't do the auto-drop back, but after playing around with this last night, after reading a tip about it here, I liked what I saw in this area. It actually seemed to help with DL pressure, too. I was able to scan the field easier, instead of having to worry so much about my QB's position, which increased my completion % and lowered my INT's.

I completely agree about being tackled by guys lying on the ground. What makes this even worse IMO is that you'll often go flying like you got hit by Ronnie Lott just from running into the player lying on the ground. I mean, if my player doesn't hurdle the guy on the ground, the laws of physics dictate that there should definitely be contact, but the resulting reaction needs to be appropriate for the type of contact. Maybe the ball carrier should trip and fall face first or just stumble but maybe regain his balance. Basically, just about anything other than reacting as if he'd be nailed by a flying LB or SS.

And while it is definitely improved from last year, there are still some phantom tackling issues. Instead of being 3 or 4 feet away from the tackler, I still see the occasional tackle that replays show there wasn't any actual contact. If they make the same amount of improvement in this area next year that they did this year, we should see some pretty sweet collision detection next year. That's IF they actually work on it this year.

[ODogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by ycbs

Actually, the QB does have his own moves to avoid tackles. Go back to practice mode and just keep letting the CPU do the drop back. He'll move and shimmy to avoid sacks and basically everything BUT throw the ball.

So he'll never throw the ball if you use auto-drop back???? Are you sure?

[Benz87]

Quote: Originally Posted by ODogg

So he'll never throw the ball if you use auto-drop back???? Are you sure?

I actually learned of this a few days ago after reading about it in another post. It's great. Everytime i pass I let the CPU handle the whole drop back process and never move my QB.

I guess you couldnt say he NEVER will throw the ball, but atleast i havnt seen it happen yet after using this with 100+ passes.

For everybody who is complaining about there being no touch passes, this fixes the problem as well, you can do perfect lobs if you dont move your QB.
I'm getting great ove rthe shoulder catches on PA's down field.

[ODogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by jkwon0709

I actually learned of this a few days ago after reading about it in another post. It's great. Everytime i pass I let the CPU handle the whole drop back process and never move my QB. I guess you couldnt say he NEVER will throw the ball, but atleast i havnt seen it happen yet after using this with 100+ passes. For everybody who is complaining about there being no touch passes, this fixes the problem as well, you can do perfect lobs if you dont move your QB. I'm getting great ove rthe shoulder catches on PA's down field.

Thanks man, that rocks, i'm going to try it tonight. I had heard that this wouldn't work without a auto-throw disable, which NCAA 08 doesn't have, so I never tried it. I had heard about how good this was back in the PS2 days but when i'd drop back the brain-dead CPU QB would throw some lame pattern for me so I quit using it (I didn't know on the PS2 there was a disable for auto-throw).

[RedmanR]

I found that you can also lob on the run from time to time. With a mobile QB that is.

[OpTiOnMaStA]

Although I have had great success with this type of thing in the past, I have a really hard time actually doing this.

I have noticed a major difference, though, in my QB having more time to throw if he takes a drop out of a formation rather than using a shotgun formation. It seems like the shotgun gives me less time to pass. I could just be perceiving more pressure that way, though, that isn't actually there.