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My Review of NCAA Football 14

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Old 05-04-2014, 08:30 PM   #1
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My Review of NCAA Football 14

So this is my vid review of NCAA Football 14. I wrote the review when the game came out, but got around to producing the vid yesterday. I'm an aspiring content producer looking to get into the vid game journalism industry. Please let me know what you think. I come out with weekly reviews if you're interested. Leave feedback/praise/critiques if you can. It would help a lot! Thanks so much!!

HERE IS THE NEW, UPDATED VID WITH BETTER SOUND: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tErJVzjCVfI

NCAA Football 14 Review

NCAA Football 14 is EA’s final college football effort on generation 3 platforms, and perhaps this entry marks the coup de grace for the franchise. After seven years of sub-par outings, can NCAA Football 14 finally grow up and offer fans a simulation experience that is worthy of being the only college game on the market?

GAMEPLAY

On the field, NCAA Football 14 represents the greatest yearly evolution the series has seen. The game still plays similarly to previous outings, but if one looks beyond the surface, its not hard to find a myriad of improvements that culminate with a gameplay experience that presents the most realistic football sim ever. In its final year with current gen systems, the team at Tiburon finally introduces core gameplay improvements that stem from internal technological investments rather than simply polishing already broken game mechanics.

This begins with the Infinity Engine; new and improved over Madden 13, this engine introduces real time physics that dynamically impact tackle animations. Tighter and less buggy than its Madden predecessor, the infinity engine is a first step towards having physics dictate the events on the field rather than canned animations. The engine allows for a greater variety of collisions, although it only applies to tackling, trucking, and stiff-arm animations. While more of an aesthetic feature, the Infinity Engine ultimately produces more dynamic on-field action.

The most tangible gameplay addition is found in the new running game improvements. It starts with the addition of hard cut animations, which for the most part rid the legacy issue of “swerve running.” A new locomotion system is in the works for next gen systems, but the implementation of animation based direction changes is a band-aid approach that greatly improves the run game. It’s never felt so good to use someone’s momentum against them.

The offensive line was made much smarter as well. Guards pull appropriately, lineman do a better job getting off their blocks and into the second level, and targeting defenders in general is noticeably improved. Again, small, under the hood improvements are key here. Notable is the addition of 20 new option types. Thankfully, the A.I. is appropriately adept when orchestrating said schemes. The option plays develop much faster, the relationship between the pitchman and quarterback has been redone, and quarterbacks are no longer slowed down when the ball is snapped.

On the whole, the game is much smarter, faster, and more dynamic than ever. For the first time, it feels like every play is a legitimate option. The diversity of college football playbooks is finally represented. You can attack your opponent with a multitude of options; thus, each offense is both more realistically portrayed and more viable. Playbooks ranging from spread offenses to pro style offenses are aptly represented, and the options are nearly limitless.

Unfortunately, many issues from previous years persist in this iteration. For starters, the ball remains tethered to the receiver, rendering the passing game much too easy. Essentially, the passing mechanics are outdated; the math behind the scenes that dictate the outcome of throws is too simple. Instead of the ball being thrown to a spot on the field that is influenced by the ratings of the quarterback and user input, the game uses a dice roll to determine if the ball is perfectly thrown or an overthrow. There is no variation in a quarterback’s accuracy when the game decides the ball will be a completion. The ratings only affect the number of overthrows, not the degree of inaccuracy on any given pass. The passing game in NCAA 14 consequently feels inorganic and pre-determined.

Additionally, line interactions continue to suffer from the win loss animations that permeate both run and pass plays instead of having contextual animations that alter dynamically based on the events that unfold during the play. Much like the passing mechanics, the lineman interactions ultimately feel inorganic and scripted. Other notable issues include inadequate cornerback and receiver interactions, deficient secondary A.I. over the top, and special teams play that resembles something from the dinosaur era.

PRESENTATION

NCAA football 14 is possibly the best looking sports game on the market. The art direction is phenomenal. From the more saturated color palette, the progressive lighting that changes along the course of a game, to the insane level of detail put into each stadium, the game is undeniably gorgeous.

The commentary though is as stale as ever. Unless a new engine is put in place that allows for interruptible commentary and branching dialogue, commentary will remain dreadful. The crowd similarly lacks energy and intelligence. Moreover, repetitive cutscenes encumber the presentation and unnecessarily slow down the pace of the game. Likewise, the “on the field presentation” starkly contrasts the simultaneous attempt at broadcast presentation, highlighting the franchise’ lack of direction over the past seven years.

GAME MODES

NCAA 14 is packed with content off the field. Dynasty mode has seen the biggest upgrade, although in this case, upgrade is synonymous with streamlined. Gone are the days of phoning prospects and allotting X amount of time to each one. Recruiting has been condensed to a simple, yet effective game of point allocation. Each team is given an equal number of points to spend on recruits each week, with bonus points provided to teams with higher rankings in various categories. The streamlined approach to recruiting is much less tedious and time consuming, although some may miss investing large amounts of time every week to land a prized prospect. Ultimately though, NCAA 14’s refurbished recruiting engine generates more realistic recruiting classes.

RPG elements are incorporated into the game with the all new Coach Skills system. As your program racks up various accolades throughout your dynasty, your coach can level up to which you can invest in two different skill trees: recruiting and coaching. The addition of perk trees is great in concept but poor in execution. Your coaching stats increase way too quickly, and there is no risk of losing the points you’ve gained. In just a couple of years, you can be the next Nick Saban, and after you’ve unlocked various perks, (some of which are clearly superior to others) you remain a coaching legend regardless of how poorly you perform in subsequent years. The lack of a risk and reward system within the RPG elements nullifies what is otherwise a great idea.

Other game modes include the much-needed addition of a skills trainer, which allows veterans to hone their skills and newcomers to get accustomed to EA’s brand of football. There is a season mode that acts as a barebones dynasty mode. Other than that, Road to Glory mode remains untouched while online play prevails as the high point of the series. Overall, Tiburon has added to the already jam packed feature set, meaning this game will certainly last until next season.

CONCLUSION

NCAA 14 offers a solid brand of football. The gameplay still possesses many legacy issues that simply won’t be ameliorated until the advent of new consoles, but what gamers do have is a game that finally lives up to its potential. It’s been a rough outing these past seven years, but EA Tiburon has created a game that is undeniably fun. It’s not perfect, but NCAA 14 is the best college football game ever produced. It’s just a shame that when things finally seem to be looking up for the franchise, legal matters might prevent the series from reaching its peak. Here’s to hoping that EA gets the opportunity to climb that mountain and deliver fans an accurate representation of the greatest sport in the world.

NCAA FOOTBALL 14 gets a 7.4 out of 10.

Last edited by Wolverines05; 05-06-2014 at 10:41 AM. Reason: Forgot written review..
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Old 05-06-2014, 01:32 AM   #2
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Re: My Review of NCAA Football 14

This is a good review. WAY LATE.... which means you missd a lot of exposure, but it's a good review. Couple of things since you're "aspiring" so to speak....

Nice overlays, I liked them. You spoke fluidly in the beginning of the review... then... you ... started... talking... word... by... word. Your audience isn't dunb, go ahead and speak at a normal pace, we'll follow.

Anyway, good review, you gained a sub.

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Old 05-06-2014, 01:42 AM   #3
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Re: My Review of NCAA Football 14

Ahaha, I still haven't purchased the game.. but that was a good review. As Wesman stated, I did notice that you started out nice and smooth but seemed hesitant later on. Overall, very in depth and informative. That honestly felt very professional.

Good luck to you on your goal of becoming a video game journalist.
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Last edited by bruinkid626; 05-06-2014 at 01:47 AM.
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Old 05-06-2014, 01:59 AM   #4
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Re: My Review of NCAA Football 14

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wesman
This is a good review. WAY LATE.... which means you missd a lot of exposure, but it's a good review. Couple of things since you're "aspiring" so to speak....

Nice overlays, I liked them. You spoke fluidly in the beginning of the review... then... you ... started... talking... word... by... word. Your audience isn't dunb, go ahead and speak at a normal pace, we'll follow.

Anyway, good review, you gained a sub.

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk 2
thanks man. yeah check out my review tmrw morning. its the same review but with much better audio. I wasn't happy with the audio in the vid above. it will be fixed in the morning (uploading now). And its a good minute shorter because I talk at a quicker pace. Thanks so much for the feedback. I completely agree.
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