NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

[zpq12]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

I like the new tackling. It seems very solid. I have been getting a few too many sacks, but I feel that can be fixed.

I'm concerned about the QB AI on runs and the spread option in general. Oregon didn't frighten me on offense like they should have on AA. On one play Thomas kept the ball on a read option, shuffled a few steps, stood facing the wrong direction, turned around and was destroyed in the backfield. That play was the worst, but overall the Oregon runnng game in all the games I played was really ho-hum. Its just a little disappointing that the spread option isn't a little more dynamic in the game.

On a semi-related note, I wish AI quarterbacks would take off more often. For some reason inthe games I have played against FSU, the quarterback will get flushed out of the pocket or roll out or whatever, shuffle to the LOS and stand around until he's sacked for a loss or minimal gain. TAKE OFF. I'm begging you. Please be a running threat. Hopefully I've just had some bad experiences and the rest of you guys are seeing some better things with quarterback running.

One final note - it takes away from the realism when Oregon dips into their non-shotgun portion of their playbook. I realize that they have those plays, but I bet we won't see Darron Thomas under center, at least not between the 10s, at any point this year. I don't know how EA can fix that without overhauling the playcalling AI, but it can be frustrating. Thats been a gripe about EA football for me for years. A team will go shotgun with 4 wides one play and come out with weak formation twins the next play. I'm not too huge a fan of that.

Despite all that negativity, the game seems pretty fun.

[canes21]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

I really like how when you pass it to a WR and he catches it and then gets surrounded you can hit X and they'll fall down to avoid contact instead of the old dive head first and fumble.

[Dynasty411]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Bottom line is this.....either the guys at EA (NCAA staff) are incompetent or their hands are tied when it comes to incremental upgrades for the game. Because each year it truly is just slightly incremental upgrades when it comes to game play, etc.

The crowd noise (I know it's supposed to maybe be better with the final release) is still a joke. The people that work on this game really don't understand college football. If you had some really college football fanatics working on the game they would blow away all expectations. That leads me again to believe they don't have a clue or their hands are tied because of no competition. This really is a shame.

I agree with you. I don't know if you played NCAA football when it was on the PS2 or not. But, EA is just adding what they already had in the game. Crowd noise was solid in 05 or 06. Every time you had a big run... the crowd was shaking with volume. Especially on long TD's!!

[ManiacMatt1782]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Definitely some improvements, glad to see the game going in the right direction. Still, a lot of work still needs too be done on the gameplay end. The game still feels too... i guess loose, is the word I am looking for. Players still cut too easily, and while multihit tackles have been added there are still instances of animations not registering and still looking like you cant make a 2nd clean-up attempt at times. Still I commend EA for actually working on adding things to the gmeplay this year. It is what a lot of us have wanted for a while now, and I am truely happy to see that being improved. I may just buy it this year to support their efforts on improving gameplay.

[steelersfan7]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

There are some improvements from last year. Played on AA.
CPU run game is much better.
There are actually overthrows by the CPU.
No more suction blocking and tackling.
Got to join in on a tackle a few times, but also still see guys tumble weeding.
Pass rush seems ok for both hum and CPU.
CPU had 2 kickoff return TD's out of 8 games.

There are things that need to be fixed still same as last years game.
Super leaping LB's gotta go. If they are in the path of the ball it gets batted or picked.
CPU mirroring routes, could be fixed with slider adjustments.
My last game I had 4 sacks in a row against Bama, CPU seems to hold onto the ball too long at times.
Option plays are useless to the CPU.
Players cut on a dime without stopping.
Seeing the same tackles over and over.
Used the DE every play and got thrown to the ground alot.
Dreads look horrible, lol.
Atmosphere could be better.
Sidelines are still a joke, no interaction.

Overall I like the game, but at first it felt fresh and new, but after about 10 games, I would say this could be NCAA 11.5, but its the demo we will see July 12th. The things that bothered me the most was the super LBs and the mirroring the routes, which could be fixed by lowering the CPU pass coverage slider... other than those 2 things, I am happy with the game. I would say this though, its not worth another $60, but I will buy it anyways.

[ThaShark28_316]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

This telekinetic defensive play calling is getting old.

If I call 5 wide/QB Draw, the CPU should NOT get in a 4-3. PERIOD.

[DIESEL]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

I really want to like this game but as of now it's a no go. And I LOVE football. As an offline player I need two things confirmed before buying.

1. The CPU has to be able to run the spread option. I've played Oregon on every difficulty level in the demo and they are yet to score. And I am an average player at best.

2. I want scrambling QB's to kill me. If nobody's open the QB should take off and be a challenge to bring down.

So far in the demo these issues have not been fixed. I'm hoping for a miracle in the retail version.

[Lavar]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

I really want to like this game but as of now it's a no go. And I LOVE football. As an offline player I need two things confirmed before buying.

1. The CPU has to be able to run the spread option. I've played Oregon on every difficulty level in the demo and they are yet to score. And I am an average player at best.

2. I want scrambling QB's to kill me. If nobody's open the QB should take off and be a challenge to bring down.

So far in the demo these issues have not been fixed. I'm hoping for a miracle in the retail version.

Triple option playbooks still broke someone who got to play this for a while tried with Army vs Navy , so that means not playing with or against any triple option teams. The spread option is broke again like last year as seen in the demo with Oregon which is easy to crush.

And the no huddle is not a no huddle but a hurry up offense again.

Looks good for this year then.

[zpq12]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

I really want to like this game but as of now it's a no go. And I LOVE football. As an offline player I need two things confirmed before buying.

1. The CPU has to be able to run the spread option. I've played Oregon on every difficulty level in the demo and they are yet to score. And I am an average player at best.

2. I want scrambling QB's to kill me. If nobody's open the QB should take off and be a challenge to bring down.

So far in the demo these issues have not been fixed. I'm hoping for a miracle in the retail version.

I'm feeling the same way.

[Cpre5]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Starting to see an issue with kick returns a little to much. On kick return middle the the blocker comes to close to the return guy and he'll just let the ball bounce of his head with out trying for it. I have to click the blocker sooner and keep him away so the return guy can auto catch it.

[canes21]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

My demo must be different than everyone else's. On Heisman Oregon is able to run on me from the shotgun, I am able to run against them from the shotgun, and I am not seeing psychic play calling.

First play of the game, I come out in a 4 wide set and called a read option, ended up getting 8-9 yards because they were in a dime and the DE broke towards the RB so I ran off the tackle for a nice gain. Second play of the game, I call QB power, defense comes out in a nickel, I get the first down plus some. The only time the CPU ever comes out in a 4-3 when I am running from the gun is when I pick the two TE formations, or it's the 4th and I am in the lead and they know I should be running the clock down, or if I ran every 1st down for 5 straight times, then they'll pick up on my tendencies a lot better than last year.

I am also seeing the CPU make great reads and runs out of the shotgun. It's not because I am bad at defense, it's because the CPU is making the right reads on the option plays, or they get their blocks set up, or I get too deep on a draw. I call my defenses just like I always have, which last year shut down the shotgun, but so far on Heisman in the demo Oregon has been able to run effectively from the shotgun.

I almost feel as if some of the people saying the CPU can't run are using an exploit of some sort. Switching players on defense mid play will make any play type a lot less effective. And so will unrealistically reacting to the play.If you stay as one player through an entire play and stick to your assignment, the CPU is actually able to run, something they couldn't last year.

[DoomsDayD1978]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

After a few more games of the demo last night, the defensive aspect of the game grows on me more and more. My biggest gripe with defense in the past on the NCAA series was the fact that most zone blitzes were highly ineffective. I now see that this was mainly due to the way EA designed zone coverage for years. Now that this has been redone for the better, zone blitzes work very well. I don't mean they work well for instant sacks, they work well in that the there's not that wide open receiver vulnerability and the QB is usually forced to throw it away due to the pressure. In the past, the cpu would pick you apart.

I'm finding myself just wanting to play defense on the demo now.

[blklightning]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

everything looks like garbage when you capture it off screen. the issues i have with the ps3 version are the frame rate of replays, the initial slowdown of game track replays, and the fact that grass is only 3d during certain cutscene-like replays.

[pistonica]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

everything looks like garbage when you capture it off screen.

believe me...it looks the same on screen...

[Sean Q]

Re: NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Have the developers chimed in about the lack of QB scrambling?