So it's been about week since NCAA Football 11 was released and while my initial impressions of the game were gleaming with positivity the post release buzz is starting to wear off and I'm seeing things from a slightly more critical standpoint. The problems with the online and season showdown are not an issue for me because I rarely play online and don't care for a gimmicky feature like season showdown. However, there are issues with this year's game that really annoy me. The sting of these problems is magnified by the fact that I had heard nothing but good things about the game this year. Even good old trusty OS gave a very positive review. So when I got the game I was expecting a very satisfying experience.
The way I approached anything related to EA's NCAA Football this year was different in many ways. For one I actually became apathetic to whatever news was coming through the wire. I had let EA get the best of me since the release of '07 on the Xbox 360 and this year was the first time I actually stood by my commitment to not give in to my own curiosity. It wasn't until the demo was made available that I even acknowledged the game was coming out. In previous years I'd try t avoid playing the demo and the finished product would be the first time I would play the latest NCAA Football game. While I was impressed by some aspects of the demo I was still slightly hesitant to give in to the prospect that maybe NCAA Football was finally back.
So it all came down to release day, I got my copy that afternoon and patiently (foaming at the mouth) waited for the next few days for Fairdale King's named roster file to be finished. At first I was so impressed by how good the locomotion felt and how nice some of the animations looked. I was relieved and started thinking my favorite sports game franchise was returning to it's former glory. Then after a few games the problems started, and I couldn't believe what was happening.
The pass coverage was the first thing that I noticed. Defenders were somehow reading my receivers' minds and running their routes better than they were, spiking passes down like volleyballs. While the issue was a disappointment, it certainly was not a game killer. I continued playing and then something even more disconcerting occurred, during what looked like a hand off play the CPU QB somehow missed the hand off and continued to run a great distant into the backfield. I witnessed this 3 times during the next couple of games, twice by the CPU and once by my own QB. The CPU quarterback was sacked for a huge loss by my defenders and then chucked up a pass the second time and actually completed it although it wasn't for a first down. I was sacked for a loss just after the animation came to a halt and I regained control only to be destroyed by a huge defensive end.
This was the point where I started to realize something was askew. Other issues started popping up, for some reason the CPU was constantly fumbling when in the redzone, obvious facemasks were being ignored, and during punt returns for both me and the CPU there were occasions where everyone except for the return man would end up in the middle of the field in a group of bodies that looked like a mosh pit while the return man was allowed to run untouched down either sideline for a touchdown. I didn't understand how a game that felt so right was being sabotaged by these glaring bugs.
To top it all off I realized how unbalanced the gameplay is, Varsity is too easy, All American is harder on offense but the CPU can't seem to score and Heisman is unpredictable. I was at times settling for field goals every possession on Heisman and the CPU was dominating then I'd play the same team again and I was still getting field goals and maybe one touchdown but then the CPU couldn't score at all. This game needs a second patch badly, if EA does decide to release one this game could be everything it feels like it should be. Honestly, this game feels to good to be this bad. The controls are on point yet the gameplay is lacking.
The way I approached anything related to EA's NCAA Football this year was different in many ways. For one I actually became apathetic to whatever news was coming through the wire. I had let EA get the best of me since the release of '07 on the Xbox 360 and this year was the first time I actually stood by my commitment to not give in to my own curiosity. It wasn't until the demo was made available that I even acknowledged the game was coming out. In previous years I'd try t avoid playing the demo and the finished product would be the first time I would play the latest NCAA Football game. While I was impressed by some aspects of the demo I was still slightly hesitant to give in to the prospect that maybe NCAA Football was finally back.
So it all came down to release day, I got my copy that afternoon and patiently (foaming at the mouth) waited for the next few days for Fairdale King's named roster file to be finished. At first I was so impressed by how good the locomotion felt and how nice some of the animations looked. I was relieved and started thinking my favorite sports game franchise was returning to it's former glory. Then after a few games the problems started, and I couldn't believe what was happening.
The pass coverage was the first thing that I noticed. Defenders were somehow reading my receivers' minds and running their routes better than they were, spiking passes down like volleyballs. While the issue was a disappointment, it certainly was not a game killer. I continued playing and then something even more disconcerting occurred, during what looked like a hand off play the CPU QB somehow missed the hand off and continued to run a great distant into the backfield. I witnessed this 3 times during the next couple of games, twice by the CPU and once by my own QB. The CPU quarterback was sacked for a huge loss by my defenders and then chucked up a pass the second time and actually completed it although it wasn't for a first down. I was sacked for a loss just after the animation came to a halt and I regained control only to be destroyed by a huge defensive end.
This was the point where I started to realize something was askew. Other issues started popping up, for some reason the CPU was constantly fumbling when in the redzone, obvious facemasks were being ignored, and during punt returns for both me and the CPU there were occasions where everyone except for the return man would end up in the middle of the field in a group of bodies that looked like a mosh pit while the return man was allowed to run untouched down either sideline for a touchdown. I didn't understand how a game that felt so right was being sabotaged by these glaring bugs.
To top it all off I realized how unbalanced the gameplay is, Varsity is too easy, All American is harder on offense but the CPU can't seem to score and Heisman is unpredictable. I was at times settling for field goals every possession on Heisman and the CPU was dominating then I'd play the same team again and I was still getting field goals and maybe one touchdown but then the CPU couldn't score at all. This game needs a second patch badly, if EA does decide to release one this game could be everything it feels like it should be. Honestly, this game feels to good to be this bad. The controls are on point yet the gameplay is lacking.
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