Official NCAA Impressions Thread (360, PS3)

[Rockamakis]

I haven't yet expierenced a lot of the problems that others have. The only one I have expierenced is my defender tripping on a blade of grass while in pursuit.

I'm playing with UM and haven't had any problems getting to the quarterback. My corners are picking off passes. I mainly with MLB or OLB.

I've played several games that have been defensive battles. Haven't had any shootouts yet. Usually if it isn't a tight game I blow them out.

[chia51]

After playing for a while now, the things that I see that are the real problems of the game 1) lack of defensive speed 2) special teams in general.

If these two things were to be corrected then the game is probably the best NCAA to date.

1) The lack of defensive speed makes you play a soft zone b/c you can't play man at all. I have found that playing Press Cover 2 is the only man denfense in the game that actually works.

2) Special teams is horrendous! On punts your blockers hold blocks for a godlike 10 seconds on the o/d line. The spread of the gunners is atrocious, two jukes and your gone! Kickoffs don't let me start about that, the thing I noticed are that the outside runners run straight up the field then inwards at a 90 degree angle instead of going after the ball carrier.

I haven't seen the problems that alot of people are spazzing over, I can get a pass rush, I average around 3-4 sacks a game and give up just as many as well. So dunno about that. And thats on Heisman 35pass 40catch 45PassBlk 60Run 65RunBlk 35DAware 100Knkdwn 0Int 50BrkBLk 35Tkl

[StormJH1]

I've said this a million times before, but the problem generating a pass rush is less about AI sliders and more about the fact that we have half as much control over defensive lineman as we did 4 years ago.

Pop in a copy of Madden 2005 or 06 on PS2 or XBox. You have several weapons at your disposal on the D-line:

1) If you have a strong lineman, you have a button ("X" or "A") that would push the O-lineman back. This allowed you to disrupt the line on running plays and create lanes for linebackers on the blitz. Sometimes, you could almost bullrush a guard back into the QB--it was a lot of fun.

2) You had direction specific buttons that would tell a lineman to swim left or swim right while engaged. This was crucial b/c when the play started, you might end up being pushed in one direction, and you needed to respond by moving to the opposite direction.

In NCAA '09, you get 2 buttons: Power move and finesse move. But before you can even do anything, a precanned animation jerks your lineman in the direction the play tells him to go (you can't control it). After about a second, your guy locks up with a lineman, but you can't tell him which way to try and evade the blocker, nor can you truly "push" the lineman like you could in 05/06. Your only chance of getting around him was if one of the two "auto-dekes" you select frees you from the blocker, so that you're free to use the L stick again.

Line play has taken a huge step back from last-gen, and I want the old system back. Playing defensive line used to be fun.

[JB_BE]

Just had my best game of 09 yet! Thanks to firktaf for his great Heisman sliders. It was the first game of my Cal dynasty, against Michigan State and it was exciting to the finish, I didn't play very well but it was a close game which made up for it.

Some stats:

MSU at CAL: 27 - 17 Final

Team:

CAL: 15 First Downs, 218 YDS OFF, 2 Turnovers, 0 Penalties, T.O.P. 17:53
MSU: 16 First Downs, 304 YDS OFF, 0 Turnovers, 2 Penalties, T.O.P. 14:12

Individual:

Passing:

CAL: Longshore: 15-30 (50%), 125 YDS, 1 TD, 2 INT, 0 Sacks, Avg. 8.3 YDS, Long. 17 YDS
MSU: Hoyer: 16-27 (59%), 200 YDS, 2 TD, 0 INT, 2 Sacks, Avg. 12.5 YDS, Long. 35 YDS

Rushing

CAL: Montgomery: 15 ATT, 64 YDS (4.2 YDS AVG) [Injured]
CAL: Vereen: 12 ATT, 24 YDS (2.0 YDS AVG), 1 TD
MSU: Ringer: 24 ATT, 106 YDS (4.4 YDS AVG), 1 TD

In conclusion, a really great game with very realistic CPU play. No strange animations, running out of bounds etc. On defense I play safety for the entire play, for the entire game, no switching.

I was actually in control 17-10 when my RB got injured... and he was running so well too

I got behind after that, had two chances to tie it up late but I missed a 52 yard field goal and my receiver got blown up on 4th down on the next drive... he had the ball in his hands damnit!!!!! Very cool animation though!

EA SPORTS World: NCAA Football 09 Video

MSU then added the last TD after I threw the ball in double or maybe even triple coverage on 4th down on my very last drive.

One false note at the end though: MSU kneeled to run out the clock and then the clock just stopped at 0:01 while the play clock kept running down. I had to pause and resume to get the game to end. Strange. That's the sort of thing that immediately snaps you right out of a great game.

[Cardot]

In the main menu, do they still have the user highlights in the background? That was one of my favorite '08 features.

[Teddy_Long]

country, either i am too good or this game is too easy. Again, I am dominating on D. I had 2 more interception returns. Sometimes I might be the LB, S, or DE. I am pretty much zoning in coverage on obvious passing downs. I beat Penn St. 44-0 in their building and Purdue wasn't much competition either. This is on Heisman, so I might try some sliders soon.

[Herky]

I'm getting pretty sick of the computer converting on 3rd and long. Swing passes and crossing passes are killing me and I'm running nickle and dime defenses and controlling the middle linebacker and it still doesn't matter.

This is getting old fast.

Also, is there a confirmed speed cheat for the CPU on Heisman. I'm seeing at least one time per game where a RB will just blaze a long run without having one all game. This usually happens in the second half.

I hope I'm doing something wrong, because this is pissing me off.