I dont really know what it is and I cant put my finger on it
but there is something missing from the gameplay for me. I have been playing this game since the dreamcast days and have always enjoyed it's depth and realistic approach but for some reason I dusted off NCAA Football 2004 for the first time in a few months and jumped right into it and had a blast playing it. What I think could use some work in next year's ESPN is the passing game.
While the results on the field seem to be pretty accurate, its the feel of the passing game and defending it that just doesnt feel as engaging or as dynamic as the Madden engine games. What I would suggest for next year are a couple of areas to tweak or focus on and I would like your oipinion on this as well:
1. The CPU rarely throws real deep with a long ball, the most you can hope for is some scattered 15-25 yard passes if you leave his guys wide open...and the qb rifles bullets rather than looping bombs.
2. The physics of passes could use some more variety, when I toss a ball 40 yards downfield to a streaking reciever, it should hang or catch air more like a real bomb rather than looking like a 50 yard zip pass on a predetermined line.
3. The CPU will rarerly under or overthrow his recievers....everything is a tight spiral...on the mark.
4. Playing as a secondary defender or just trying to defend the pass is quite a bit more awkard in comparison to Fever, Madden and other titles in the past...there needs to be a little playability tweaking to make the chore more fun and exciting.
5. I think there could be even more variety added to different types of pass receptions to make it more exciting.
6. While the tackling engine is fanstastic and really looks more realistic than any game on the market, they still need to tweak it a bit....there is a slight sensation of motion captured 'predetermined-ness' What I mean is this, you almost feel as if your player is going down a split second before the contact even takes place, leaving no hope of ever breaking out of the tackle. If you watch the replays in slo mo, you can easily understand why.....players actually start their 'being tackled animation' a split second before they are actually hit or a player makes contact with them......this gives you that slight pre determined motion capture feeling rather then a true impact feeling.
6. Player running animations need some work....players, especially recievers dont give you the sensation they are kicking it into 2 gear and long leggin' it down the sidelines to daylight. Different position players have different running styles...for example, alot of running backs motor...they stutter step or shuffle thru a hole then 'motor' into high gear once they hit daylight.....While recievers like to 'high tail' it more with longer sprinting strides. Fever 2004 actually does a pretty good job of capturing 'that' small aspect of the sport.
7. On a seperate note, I think the franchise mode could use some more depth...its very simplified in alot of areas such as the repetitive scouting reports or owner comments and observations you'll recieve. The stat screens could use some aesthetic and cosmetic improving...it looks too jumbled and spreadsheet-ish.
8. I would just love for 1 single CAREER or DYNASTY based game ( football, basketball, baseball, anything ) to really allow the game to compile HISTORY from season to season and allow the users to actually be able to look back at any single season and view things like standings, records, awards, for any year they want. All these career based games basically reset themselves each year and only record minimal stuff such as player's independent data and their age. I'd love to be able to see ALL the History I've created in my little world. I want to be able to have the luxury and pleasure to scout a team by being able to pull up the last 10 times the teams played each other and view their boxscores and stats, ect....that would be so cool! Things like that would really make these DYNASTY modes real DYNASTY modes!
9. The different teams seem to pool the same AI styles a bit too much. I know each team has their own specific playbooks but I think the AI manages each team too similarly. I'd like to see more of a seperation of gameplay style and focus for each team.
10. The kicking game, most notably field goals needs some work. The cpu just doesnt miss field goals. It never challenges a play unless it knows its 100% right...which kinda defeats the whole purpose of adding the challenge play feauture into the game.
I would also like to see the occassional bad snap on shotguns, punts, even right under the center to add a bit more variety into the game.
Overall, these things are alot of little peaves or annoyances but they add up to more robust game if tweaked properly...at least in my opinion. Anyone agree at all with any of these observations or want to add more areas you feel the game could use more improvement?
I still think ESPN Football is the best video game football to date on any platform but it could still improve with attention paid to some of the above mention. And I think it's always good to discuss ways to better enhance a game.
but there is something missing from the gameplay for me. I have been playing this game since the dreamcast days and have always enjoyed it's depth and realistic approach but for some reason I dusted off NCAA Football 2004 for the first time in a few months and jumped right into it and had a blast playing it. What I think could use some work in next year's ESPN is the passing game.
While the results on the field seem to be pretty accurate, its the feel of the passing game and defending it that just doesnt feel as engaging or as dynamic as the Madden engine games. What I would suggest for next year are a couple of areas to tweak or focus on and I would like your oipinion on this as well:
1. The CPU rarely throws real deep with a long ball, the most you can hope for is some scattered 15-25 yard passes if you leave his guys wide open...and the qb rifles bullets rather than looping bombs.
2. The physics of passes could use some more variety, when I toss a ball 40 yards downfield to a streaking reciever, it should hang or catch air more like a real bomb rather than looking like a 50 yard zip pass on a predetermined line.
3. The CPU will rarerly under or overthrow his recievers....everything is a tight spiral...on the mark.
4. Playing as a secondary defender or just trying to defend the pass is quite a bit more awkard in comparison to Fever, Madden and other titles in the past...there needs to be a little playability tweaking to make the chore more fun and exciting.
5. I think there could be even more variety added to different types of pass receptions to make it more exciting.
6. While the tackling engine is fanstastic and really looks more realistic than any game on the market, they still need to tweak it a bit....there is a slight sensation of motion captured 'predetermined-ness' What I mean is this, you almost feel as if your player is going down a split second before the contact even takes place, leaving no hope of ever breaking out of the tackle. If you watch the replays in slo mo, you can easily understand why.....players actually start their 'being tackled animation' a split second before they are actually hit or a player makes contact with them......this gives you that slight pre determined motion capture feeling rather then a true impact feeling.
6. Player running animations need some work....players, especially recievers dont give you the sensation they are kicking it into 2 gear and long leggin' it down the sidelines to daylight. Different position players have different running styles...for example, alot of running backs motor...they stutter step or shuffle thru a hole then 'motor' into high gear once they hit daylight.....While recievers like to 'high tail' it more with longer sprinting strides. Fever 2004 actually does a pretty good job of capturing 'that' small aspect of the sport.
7. On a seperate note, I think the franchise mode could use some more depth...its very simplified in alot of areas such as the repetitive scouting reports or owner comments and observations you'll recieve. The stat screens could use some aesthetic and cosmetic improving...it looks too jumbled and spreadsheet-ish.
8. I would just love for 1 single CAREER or DYNASTY based game ( football, basketball, baseball, anything ) to really allow the game to compile HISTORY from season to season and allow the users to actually be able to look back at any single season and view things like standings, records, awards, for any year they want. All these career based games basically reset themselves each year and only record minimal stuff such as player's independent data and their age. I'd love to be able to see ALL the History I've created in my little world. I want to be able to have the luxury and pleasure to scout a team by being able to pull up the last 10 times the teams played each other and view their boxscores and stats, ect....that would be so cool! Things like that would really make these DYNASTY modes real DYNASTY modes!
9. The different teams seem to pool the same AI styles a bit too much. I know each team has their own specific playbooks but I think the AI manages each team too similarly. I'd like to see more of a seperation of gameplay style and focus for each team.
10. The kicking game, most notably field goals needs some work. The cpu just doesnt miss field goals. It never challenges a play unless it knows its 100% right...which kinda defeats the whole purpose of adding the challenge play feauture into the game.
I would also like to see the occassional bad snap on shotguns, punts, even right under the center to add a bit more variety into the game.
Overall, these things are alot of little peaves or annoyances but they add up to more robust game if tweaked properly...at least in my opinion. Anyone agree at all with any of these observations or want to add more areas you feel the game could use more improvement?
I still think ESPN Football is the best video game football to date on any platform but it could still improve with attention paid to some of the above mention. And I think it's always good to discuss ways to better enhance a game.
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