NCAA Football: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

[BenGerman]

I've long debated posting what I thought EA did well, and not so well in this years version of NCAA Football. The reason I've held off so long is because I think, like most of us, I was waiting for EA to fix some of the glaring issues. But alas, it is mid-football season, and some of us are having trouble getting the games biggest features to work at all. My biggest reason for posting this however, is not to complain. EA knows what it did wrong (or so I hope), and OS has had no trouble making it clear they are not happy with the release. I'm posting this because I wan't EA to see what it did right, some things it did wrong, and some things it didn't even bother trying at all. Sorry if this isn't the correct place for such a thread.


The Good:

• Coaching Carousel is finally here, and it isn't half bad. EA did a terrific job of not only giving us the most wanted feature of nearly every college sports video game since College Hoops 2K8. They even let us choose our path to the top. Do we want to be a defensive coordinator, and hope that if we put together a few years worth of staunch defensive units, we can make some worthwhile Head Coaching lists? Do we want to begin as an Offensive Coordinator, and become one of the games all time play callers? Or do we just want to coach our favorite school, and feel the pressure of a demanding contract? The possibilities are nearly endless, and give the game replay value it hasn't had in years.
• Custom Playbooks. As much trouble that's come with them, they still give the user the ability to create a unique coach, with a unique style. This indirectly improves the overall feel of recruiting, as it is now prudent to recruit to your playbook. Personel finally matters.
• Zone Defense finally feels authentic. There are obviously still gaping holes as far as gameplay goes, but I'd go as far as to say that EA giving the Zone Defenses a boost made the purchase of NCAA '12 worth it all by itself. Defense has finally become as important as Offense.
• It's still impressive that EA has been able to implement all their main features over to Online Dynasty. This is something that Madden really needs to improve on.
• I finally feel the difference between a bruiser of a RB, and a speedy RB.
• More underthrows/overthrows from QB's, especially with a lowered throw accuracy. This has always been a glaring issue.
• The replays look beautiful, and the game, for the most part, looks incredibly. I've seen some pics here on OS that blow my mind.
  • Quarterbacks can finally scamble! This was implemented very well IMO.

The Bad:

• A lack of animations really take out of the overall experience of the gameplay. There is more this year, but through 5-10 games you really don't see anything very new. It lacks "The Show Factor" where every game you see something new, where that be an animation, some kind of overlay, etc.
• Speaking of overlays, there is a massive lack of. Get that fixed EA, we are way to far into this Generation for there to be any excuses on this front.
• The sidelines could very easily be considered part of "The Ugly" if it weren't for some neat new cutscenes. I understand the players and coaches on a sideline can't look perfect, but they also shouldn't look like stick figures.
• Still no real goaline animations. This includes fade routes that don't really work as they should, Goaline stack formations should really clog up the run (often times I'll go untouched into the endzone, which rarely ever happens), and a lot of times there will be a player who only needs to reach over the goal line and they'll have a touchdown. Instead a normal canned animation takes over, costing the team 6 points.
• Road to Glory. As impressive as some of the updates were, its still a long ways from the elite sports games. No player should reach 99 overall by their Freshman year.
• Still no Heisman ceremony. This is another addition that would really add to the RTG mode.
• Slants are open 90% of the time. Which is better than last year (where it was like that 100% of the time), but still is a glaring issue that needs to be looked at. Also, Four Verticals.
• CPU Playcalling is close to horrific. Four Verticals called every other play, often times in completely inappropriate situations. A team that is dominating the trenches should continue to run the ball right up the gut.
• Some animations still look awful. For example, the one where the Wideout will come down with a catch, and while he is on the ground he starts shaking his fist all over the place. It looks more like an injury than a good play.

The Ugly:

• Online Dynasties not being able to work is embarrassing. A lot of gamers who purchase this game get it specifically because of this revelatory game mode. I understand EA is trying their best to fix this, so I won't vent any further.
• The presentation/atmosphere. The pre-game entrances really helped out (and a lot of the fan cut scenes are great too) what would have otherwise been a game killer. The commentary is as stale as two year old bread, and Kirk and Brad sound completely out of sync. A lot of times, their commentary doesn't even make sense. EA has done the multiple broadcast thing before, so I know they can do it again. It's either that or dynamic commentary.
• The Custom Playbook glitches are awful. As great as Custom Playbooks could be, it really detracts from the whole idea when the game forces me to keep in six or seven formations I have no intention of ever using.
• The warping and skating has to go. Look at any other sports game (Madden not included), and you find minimal skating. What you will find is foot planting, actual locomotion, and ball physics. My guess is we are stuck with this stuff until EA gets another engine in there, which most likely won't be until next gen.
• Psychic CPU is one of the most frustrating things in a video game to me. It takes out all the strategy that comes with football games. Creating a diverse attack, audibles, and setting certain plays up.

If you read through this whole thing, I applaud and thank you. I'm not trying to reprimand EA here, as I like the game and love the series, I just wanted to give some constructive criticism. I don't want to mislead EA into thinking they didn't do anything right because they did. They took a huge step this year in a lot of categories. If you guys have anything to add, please do so. I know I forgot some stuff in each of the three categories.

[SoundTheAlarm]

VERY well written sir.

It's nice to see someone rationally put together an entire list of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly without simply saying "EA NEEDS TO FIX ______ RIGHT NOW! IT'S TERRIBLE HOW COULD THEY SKIP THAT!!!! F*CK EA!!!!!"

I agree with everything on this list.

Quite honestly, EA needs to just scrap their archaic game engine and just build up a new one. I wouldn't even be mad if they skipped a year and went on two-year developmental cycle to build their new engine...

[BenGerman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Wyldd

VERY well written sir. It's nice to see someone rationally put together an entire list of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly without simply saying "EA NEEDS TO FIX ______ RIGHT NOW! IT'S TERRIBLE HOW COULD THEY SKIP THAT!!!! F*CK EA!!!!!" I agree with everything on this list. Quite honestly, EA needs to just scrap their archaic game engine and just build up a new one. I wouldn't even be mad if they skipped a year and went on two-year developmental cycle to build their new engine...

I appreciate it Wyldd. I completely agree the best thing for us as consumers would be for EA to build up a new engine, and slap it onto NCAA. My worry is that with increasingly great sales (which I think had a lot to do with some of the big features they implemented this year), EA isn't going to want to take much of a risk until they absolutely have to.

[pendo]

Good job bro. I agree with everything on there.

To me the biggest problems are the lack of animations and the skating/sliding in the running game. How is it that a game made in 2004 (on a far more primitive console) looks more realistic (graphics excluded) than a game made in 2011? I don't think it is impossible to fix with this engine, as it is built off of the same one used back then. I want cutting to mean something, there is no point juking in this game, instead you can just turn the stick and lose no speed.

If they insist on using an animation based engine, they really have to quadruple the number of animations that they have. Animation sharing is once again far too prevalent on O-Line and D-Line interaction. The double hit tackles were a nice RE-ADDITION, but how often do they make absolutely no sense? Your running full pelt down field, you get hit and start to stumble, then you end up facing the wrong way because the linebacker chasing you dived and that was the only animation the game had.

I am going to post my own on of these later this year outlining some other points/gripes, but you hit the nail on the head here.

One extra thing, why is there no double teaming in pass protection? They have it in run protection but not pass protection? I might be wrong here, but in the 20 odd games i have played, I have never seen a guard and tackle both block my DE at once.

[BlastX21]

I'd request you add stronger outside reveivers to the good list. Previously, people would just throw in the slot 90% of the time because the outside receivers would always be shut down, but thats not true this year. #1 receivers are actually #1.

I'm not sure how linebacker deflections aren't on the Ugly list. Its worse this year than any other.

I'm glad that you mentioned the psychic CPU. Hasn't gotten the attention it deserves this year, probably because its just been around for so long.


Great post by the way. I'm more of a gameplay guy so I can't relate to all of the presentation reviews, but I still agree with a lot if stuff up there.

[pendo]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlastX21

I'd request you add stronger outside reveivers to the good list. Previously, people would just throw in the slot 90% of the time because the outside receivers would always be shut down, but thats not true this year. #1 receivers are actually #1. I'm not sure how linebacker deflections aren't on the Ugly list. Its worse this year than any other. I'm glad that you mentioned the psychic CPU. Hasn't gotten the attention it deserves this year, probably because its just been around for so long. Great post by the way. I'm more of a gameplay guy so I can't relate to all of the presentation reviews, but I still agree with a lot if stuff up there.

The game i just played, i ran it 15 times in a row from the strong 2 back formation and the other team blitzed on every play, straight up the middle. I come to the line in the same formation, only this time i am running slants over the middle, the linebackers are all in zone and i get picked off. FML physic defense.

[OGKing]

For the love of god, someone end this link to the developers..twitter maybe. Can we please get some realistic catches? I Hate Hate HATE when you throw a deep pass only to see your player NOT jumping or even attempting to go up for it, please fix cpu psychic db"s, mlb high jumps, better blocking. Its too late for 12, I can only hope 13 blows 12 out of the water.

[BenGerman]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlastX21

I'd request you add stronger outside reveivers to the good list. Previously, people would just throw in the slot 90% of the time because the outside receivers would always be shut down, but thats not true this year. #1 receivers are actually #1. I'm not sure how linebacker deflections aren't on the Ugly list. Its worse this year than any other. I'm glad that you mentioned the psychic CPU. Hasn't gotten the attention it deserves this year, probably because its just been around for so long. Great post by the way. I'm more of a gameplay guy so I can't relate to all of the presentation reviews, but I still agree with a lot if stuff up there.

I think for me, the Linebacker stuff is just something I've managed to avoid. I get two or three plays a game where I can say, "Wow, that linebacker should not have made that play!". Certainly it is there, but my guess is if it wasn't it would be nerfing the CPU defense.