NCAA Football 09 Postmortem

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by stoncold32

I gotta disagree dude. This game is borderline terrible if you've ever played the PS2/Xbox versions. You say the biggest problem is the CPU running game, but I think it's WAy more than that. What about the CPU never passing deep? I think I've counted a total of two pass plays where the ball traveled at least 30yds before the WR caught it....and both of those were in the same game.

I just listed the biggest problem which I think is the cpu running game. I would agree that the cpu never passing deep is a big problem but #2 on my list. In terms of the speed issue, the biggest problem there was RBs running routes against LBs. I also thought the QB's were too slow.

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

1. Improve the anemic cpu rushing attack. With the horribly watered down sliders this year, that wasn't possible. 2. Bring back the deep ball! The cpu never threw it deep and it was rare to see a WR actually get behind a DB as well. Better cpu QB AI in general. 3. Improve the DL moves and map them to the R-stick. Playing as a DL sucks and is no fun currently. 4. Better player control on defense. It's too hard to manually defend the pass.

[rhombic21]

My review of NCAA Football '09 is this:

The AI issues, particularly on defense, combined with the lacking playbooks, made head to head play a lot less fun than it probably could/should have been with better gameplay tuning. Additionally, the game is still in the dark ages when it comes to CPU AI, both in terms of game planning/game management, and in terms of roster management and recruiting, which made offline gameplay/dynasty uninteresting -- particularly for people with above average gaming skills.

Still, it did some things well. Graphically they took some important steps forward with the field textures and player models. The stadium sounds feature is something that could potentially be expanded and improved on even further in the future to build on atmosphere/presentation. The EA locker made roster sharing easier, and will probably eliminate scum like Kaldenburg. And of course, online dynasty is a blockbuster feature that, when the rest of the game catches up, will be an even bigger hit. That's the sort of big-time feature that will not only drive NCAA forward in the future, but which will put pressure on other sports games to expand their online modes as well, similar to the way that EASW revolutionized things a year ago.

So, I think that if you rate NCAA 2009 by itself, you have to give it somewhere between a 7.0 and 8.0. It was a mediocre game that was generally not all that fun to actually play. But if you look at the game as a step in the process, towards NCAA 2010 and beyond, I think it may go down as a serious contribution, assuming of course that EA eventually gets around to fixing the core gameplay issues that are currently holding the series back.

[deebo2246]

I am still trying to figure out if the producer of this article played the same game as everyone else. However, everyone has a different opinion on what videogame football should play like. Maybe he just enjoys playing a game that offers no realistic aspect of the game we watch and have played over the years. EA as a whole need to go back to the drawing board with their football and basketball games and re-invent them from the ground up with new visionairies that can make a realistic engine for those 2 sports. They need to talk more with FIFA and NHL producers to help them make a more definitive game. They may need to take the approach of utilizing two studios to make the development process longer with them alternating release years. If football is EA's claim to glory then treat it like a superstar it once was and not a prima-dona rookie that it has become.

[bangpow]

I think NCAA 09 is absolutely brutal. It is not a fun game to play at all as the AI is probably the worst I've ever seen. I just never feel like I'm playing a game of football.

In fact, while NCAA 08 wasn't all that perfect either, I think I might go picked up a used copy tonight as I remember actually having some fun with that game last year, especially after the last patch that came out for it.

[Tovarich]

The absolutely pitiful angles taken by the AI, the random sabotaging of speed when the CPU gets outside, the lack of custom playbooks, the baffling playcalling by the CPU, the awful DL animations...gameplay is no better better than a C...at it's core level, gameplay is broken unfortunately I think. I agree the complaints about pass rush were excessive. Eliminating robo QB could fix that. It's not all about sacks. If you got pressure, robo QB appeared. CPU screens...result in sacks more often than not for me. The DL getting flipped head over heels though was funny the first 200 times I saw it, then I just shook my head. Graphically, very nice. Presentation was simply a lack of effort in my opinion. They did ok with what they tried to do, they just didn't do anything. Online dynasty is nice for the first try. Some very strange problems with it though...basic stuff though like schedules...why is the 09 season the 07 schedule? How the hell does that even happen? 1-AA teams need to stop being treated like HS teams. Because seriously, you have to try not to score 100 on the 1-AA teams on Heisman with 5 minuete quarters even. Rosters thankfully are editable because whoever did those had to be clueless about football. I know you can't know the true depth chart when the game is out, but yikes. A lot of this just strikes me as lack of effort. All very fixable, except gameplay at its core probably needs to be built back up from scratch.

[bigjake62505]

With all the other issues that have already been stated here one thing that really takes away from the beauty of the game is the horrible running animations. It looks so stupid when the running back breaks a long run then starts to bobble and hop when they are doing that horrible animation. I want whoever is responsible for this to watch some football games and pay attention to the running style. Who in the world of college football runs like this? And for the love of god fix this. The RB's are just an example, Watch the DL/OL guys run. That is the stupidest running style I have ever seen.

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigjake62505

With all the other issues that have already been stated here one thing that really takes away from the beauty of the game is the horrible running animations. It looks so stupid when the running back breaks a long run then starts to bobble and hop when they are doing that horrible animation. I want whoever is responsible for this to watch some football games and pay attention to the running style. Who in the world of college football runs like this? And for the love of god fix this. The RB's are just an example, Watch the DL/OL guys run. That is the stupidest running style I have ever seen.

The long runs do look dumb. I think a lot of that is due to the fact they are trying to calculate fatigue on the fly during a play. It ends up retriggering the running animations all the time and looks bad. They need to fix that. Just get rid of fatigue during the play for all I care.

I would like to see game long fatigue (ie. 30 carries killing a smaller RB) and season long fatigue/physical condition implemented if possible.

[fistofrage]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

The long runs do look dumb. I think a lot of that is due to the fact they are trying to calculate fatigue on the fly during a play. It ends up retriggering the running animations all the time and looks bad. They need to fix that. Just get rid of fatigue during the play for all I care. I would like to see game long fatigue (ie. 30 carries killing a smaller RB) and season long fatigue/physical condition implemented if possible.

Thats another problem with the game....When the guy gets the "cobb up his a$$" animation on a long run, he doesn't actually slow down. He just starts doing the Hemoroid Hop. I think its supposed to be fatigue setting in, but it doesn't work. Looks more like he's trying to run accross burning coals without hurting his feet. But it doesn't allow for defenders to catch up as they should.