Thinking about coming back.

[Gagnon39]

Alright, I need a little help. I haven't bought an NCAA Football game since NCAA 07. I've not bought Madden since Madden 09. I've all but lost interest in video game football and that's a crazy though considering my past.

Some of you might not remember but I used to do NCAA Football rosters for the XBOX. Football video games were what I looked forward to the most every year. With the 2005 football season, I was in virtual gridiron heaven. I rotated NCAA and Madden 2005. Playing each game as the games came up NCAA then Madden, playing as the Fighting Irish and the Bears. I imported draft classes, played probably close to 10 seasons (on both games) and loved it.

Then everything, as many of us know, went downhill. However, I'm hoping there is a comeback in the making.

I watched some videos on NCAA Football the other day and I have to say for the first time in years I am genuinely interested in playing and possibly buying this game. I just need a bit of convincing. For veterans of the series and those that know, how accurate is this game to real life in terms of gameplay. Are the there still issues that have plagued video game football for years?

And as silly as it might sound, one of my biggest complaints was that the running animations were terrible. They looked stiff and unrealistic. I can't completely tell by the video(s) but has this been fixed.

I'm hoping this is the year that I get back into this game.

[georgiafan]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

I'm in my late 20's and have played football video games for as long as I can remember. When I bought my ps3 at launch NCAA was pretty much the only game I played. I never even bough non sports game until a few months ago.

You will hear a lot of complains around here on OS and to me they are to harsh. NCAA '11 is the best football game i've ever played and the my all time fav. ps3 game. It's not a perfect game just like none of them are. If you haven't bought it since '07 then you have to pick this up as they are lots of changes that have been made since then.

The thing that set this one apart for me was that it was a challenge both on the field and in recruiting. The old days of landing any 5* recruit you wanted can no longer happen. My first year of recruiting I refused to believe this and still stuck with my old recruiting strategy. I ended up with an awful recruiting class which left me paper thin and this year would have got me fired. This was bc I wasted to many minutes after prospects that I couldn't sign. Also on the field was a challenge as with UGA I never won a national title. This was bc I just couldn't beat alabama as they was just better then me.

Teambuilder - Not sure if it has been updated this year or not. But being able to download other peoples team and put them in your dynasty is still cool. Everything from high school to NFL to teams about the simpsons can be downloaded.

Locomation - Was huge as I no longer after to hold down the sprint button

[The JareBear]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

I'm in my late 20's and have played football video games for as long as I can remember. When I bought my ps3 at launch NCAA was pretty much the only game I played. I never even bough non sports game until a few months ago.

You will hear a lot of complains around here on OS and to me they are to harsh. NCAA '11 is the best football game i've ever played and the my all time fav. ps3 game. It's not a perfect game just like none of them are. If you haven't bought it since '07 then you have to pick this up as they are lots of changes that have been made since then.

The thing that set this one apart for me was that it was a challenge both on the field and in recruiting. The old days of landing any 5* recruit you wanted can no longer happen. My first year of recruiting I refused to believe this and still stuck with my old recruiting strategy. I ended up with an awful recruiting class which left me paper thin and this year would have got me fired. This was bc I wasted to many minutes after prospects that I couldn't sign. Also on the field was a challenge as with UGA I never won a national title. This was bc I just couldn't beat alabama as they was just better then me.

Teambuilder - Not sure if it has been updated this year or not. But being able to download other peoples team and put them in your dynasty is still cool. Everything from high school to NFL to teams about the simpsons can be downloaded.

Locomation - Was huge as I no longer after to hold down the sprint button

I never played APF2k8 but I know 2k made great football games.

But, like GF said, if you haven't played since 07 you will be very impressed with 11

[dan_457]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

These games are by no means perfect, as I usually find something that makes me scratch my head every time I play, but I still love to play them. NCAA has been making huge strides though, and is no longer Madden's little brother, imo.

As far as gameplay goes, NCAA 11 had great gameplay, but was still flawed in many aspects. NCAA 12 looks to have fixed quite a few of them, one major flaw being Zone coverage. They've also said that suctioning has been removed, which was a huge part of the gameplay, so I don't know if anyone can really give an accurate account of how 12 will play. They also introduced locomotion in 11, which completely changes the dynamic of how players move. In 11 Scrambling was practically non-existent, but according to several EA Gamechangers, scrambling happens much more frequently in 12. All in all, the gameplay is good, but still has a ways to go to be considered realistic in my book.

As far as running animations are concerned, they look great to me. I remembering them looking horrible up till around NCAA 10, but after that I've never even noticed the running animations, which is a very good thing because It looks natural to me, although some could argue differently.

I'd recommend buying NCAA 12 though, at the very least renting it.

[SECElit3]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

So you haven't bought an NCAA game since 2007? That is sad because you really missed out on an excellent game in 2011. To date, it is the best football game I have ever played.

Locomotion made the difference! It added true acceleration and weight to the players. The graphics are unbelievable and the presentation, while not perfect, is great!

By the looks of things, NCAA is only going to get better with 12!

[J-Unit40]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

On a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being real life, it will be about a 6. I was starting to get excited about this game because they announced some features would be in that we've all been screaming for. But EA never ceases to amaze me. Yes, there is a coaching carousel, but if you're the head coach of the program, you have no say in hiring or firing your coordinators. WTF? Also, once again there will be no neutral site games or the ability to set what time the games are played. Absolute bull-****. But the real killer is they just refuse to allow in-dynasty editing of players. So once again we will be forced to live with the ******** recruiting classes the game generates for us. I mean, even the full conference customization, which is an absolutely awesome idea, has some fatal flaws. They let you change the name of the divisions, but not the names of the whole conferences? WTF? And you can change BCS tie-ins, but not the tie-ins of all the bowls. This can really screw some of the more exotic conference realignment plans I've seen. Let me tell ya brotha, this game everyone is so hyped about, may turn out to not be worth $60.

But I say all that with the assumption that you understand the gameplay was still going to be absolute garbage anyway. I mean, even if they implemented all the features correctly, the absolute best these games can be in my book is a 7. You asked how accurate the gameplay would be to real life. The answer is an astounding LOL. However, I don't know if you've heard, but 2K made a game a couple years ago. It's called All Pro Football 2K8. You can get it at Gamestop for about 3 dollars. It is hands down the best football game (gameplay wise) ever made. It blows EA's crap out of the water. If you're looking for a realistic representation of football, I highly recommend it because it's your only option. You won't get any of the cool new features you would get for $60 with EA, but all those features appear to be implemented only half-way, so what's the difference? If you've put off since '07, my advice would be to put it off one more year, and maybe in '13 they'll have done all these cool features the right way.

APF 2K8.....APF 2K8....APF 2K8....APF 2K8.

Yeah. No agenda in your posts. None at all. Go enjoy your APF 2K8 if you choose to do so.

Anyway, Gagnon39, I remember you from years ago. NCAA 11 was pretty good and NCAA 12 appears to be taking it another step in the right direction.

[The JareBear]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

My agenda is quality gameplay. Your agenda must be cosmetics.

Nice man. Nice. Way to contribute.

[hurricanefootball4]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

All I need to say about the series is that it's May and I'm still playing NCAA Football 11.

[Gagnon39]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

Is the running animation improved? I honestly can't tell from the videos as most everything I have seen is from behind. Its hard to tell if they still look like they're running with a corn cob stuck up their butt.

[coogrfan]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

On a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being real life, it will be about a 6. I was starting to get excited about this game because they announced some features would be in that we've all been screaming for. But EA never ceases to amaze me. Yes, there is a coaching carousel, but if you're the head coach of the program, you have no say in hiring or firing your coordinators. WTF? Also, once again there will be no neutral site games or the ability to set what time the games are played. Absolute bull-****. But the real killer is they just refuse to allow in-dynasty editing of players. So once again we will be forced to live with the ******** recruiting classes the game generates for us. I mean, even the full conference customization, which is an absolutely awesome idea, has some fatal flaws. They let you change the name of the divisions, but not the names of the whole conferences? WTF? And you can change BCS tie-ins, but not the tie-ins of all the bowls. This can really screw some of the more exotic conference realignment plans I've seen. Let me tell ya brotha, this game everyone is so hyped about, may turn out to not be worth $60.

But I say all that with the assumption that you understand the gameplay was still going to be absolute garbage anyway. I mean, even if they implemented all the features correctly, the absolute best these games can be in my book is a 7. You asked how accurate the gameplay would be to real life. The answer is an astounding LOL. However, I don't know if you've heard, but 2K made a game a couple years ago. It's called All Pro Football 2K8. You can get it at Gamestop for about 3 dollars. It is hands down the best football game (gameplay wise) ever made. It blows EA's crap out of the water. If you're looking for a realistic representation of football, I highly recommend it because it's your only option. You won't get any of the cool new features you would get for $60 with EA, but all those features appear to be implemented only half-way, so what's the difference? If you've put off since '07, my advice would be to put it off one more year, and maybe in '13 they'll have done all these cool features the right way.

Talk about unintentional comedy.

The man spends an entire paragraph bitching about NCAA 12's dynasty mode, and then offers up as an alternative a game with no franchise mode at all.

Oooooh-kay.

[coogrfan]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

Is the running animation improved? I honestly can't tell from the videos as most everything I have seen is from behind. Its hard to tell if they still look like they're running with a corn cob stuck up their butt.

The running animations, while not perfect, are much improved over NCAA 07-09 (NG).

[Gagnon39]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

Talk about unintentional comedy.

The man spends an entire paragraph bitching about NCAA 12's dynasty mode, and then offers up as an alternative a game with no franchise mode at all.

Oooooh-kay.

I agree. Believe me, I understand what its like to be a frustrated gamer. But to get on OS and make outrageous claims gets you know where. Trust me. I spent some time "away" from OS for some stupid comments. I suggest that we keep this thread civil. I was asking an honest question and I'm still very optimistic that this will be the year that I can get back into NCAA Football.

[Gagnon39]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

The running animations, while not perfect, are much improved over NCAA 07-09 (NG).

Thanks. This is one area that has always really irked me. How on earth can EA not make sure running animations are perfect? That should be at the top of any priority list.

[josh1559]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

The running animations used to irritate me because they were so bad, but NCAA 11 is the first one in over half a decade that I've played a lot, and it's a good game. Either I don't notice the terrible running animations anymore, or they are much improved. I believe it's the latter.

[Pokes404]

Re: Thinking about coming back.

If you're looking for realistic gameplay, NCAA is not the series for you. If you're looking for authentic teams, great graphics, fluid controls and a game that emulates football to a decent degree, then you'll like NCAA.

Despite improvements made to the game, there are so many basic aspects of the game (in terms of physics, technique, and strategy) that are either done poorly in the game, or are absent altogether. Things like poor OL/DL interactions, unrealistic pass speeds/trajectories, lack of footplanting, superhuman speedbursts and jumping, little penalty for change of direction on either side of the ball, mirroring DBs, ridiculous accuracy from QBs, receivers that don't fight for the ball, weight and momentum being meaningless during collisions/blocking, etc. I could go on and on. These are not little quirks that every football game has suffered from, these are major problems that occur year after year. These are also things that have been done better before by either EA or 2K. So, I don't think I have unrealistic expectations.

I'm not saying you can't have fun with this game. A lot of people enjoy the game, and I'd be lying if I said that I haven't had some good times with it, as well. But if you're looking for realistic football, this isn't it. I'd advise either playing NCAA on the XBOX/PS2 or picking up All-Pro Football 2K8 (which I bought for $4). Backbreaker is another option (the physics are amazing), but this game is underwhelming in several areas (passing mechanics being the biggest for me). I'd recommend renting BB before you even consider purchasing. Hope this helps. I also hope that NCAA 12 surprises me.