News Post

NCAA Football 09 (360) Review

01:40 AM - July 15, 2008 by RaychelSnr

We have just posted our review of NCAA Football 09 for the Xbox 360.

Quote:


	"With every summer comes the anticipation of sports games as gamers prepare for the new season of interactive entertainment. Soon we will be bombarded with great titles and have to make decisions on which games to pick up and which games to pass on. Now the sports gamers new year has finally arrived with the release of NCAA Football 09. The new year does not start off with a bang, but it definitely has started off with a quality title."

NCAA Football 09 screenshot gallery - Click to view

Game: NCAA Football 09Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS2 / PS3 / PSP / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 95 - View All

NCAA Football 09 Videos

Member Comments

# 21 swaldo @ 07/15/08 09:26 AM

Wow, it's amazing how much licensing adds to a review score! If you compared APF2K8 with NCAA 09 using the same rosters then APF would easily be the better choice. It played great out of the box and well that's great but since they have no license they get a sucky seven score. Really, an 8.5 for this game which is loaded with problems? Unfortunately, it aint raining whiskey where I'm from.

# 22 Matt Diesel @ 07/15/08 09:49 AM

People have different opinions. Not everyone is going to rate the game the same. You cant get mad when someone rates a game 8.5 for the same reason people should not get mad at you for rating the game a 4.5.

# 23 skinfan31 @ 07/15/08 09:53 AM

Look I'm not a big fan of EA either. I definitely hate the exclusive rights they have with certain sports. But at the same time guys are bashing this game like it's an unplayable piece of "S". The fact is, that couldn't be any further from the truth. It happens to be a very fun and enjoyable game.

No it's not perfect by any means. But at the same time there is a ton of good content. This issue isn't about a review of EA, (because if it was I would not be defending them) it's a review of a very good college football game. In my opinion 8.5 is a very accurate score.

# 24 BlyGilmore @ 07/15/08 09:56 AM

a few quick points ...

1 - Any roster bug seems to have been caused by one set of bad rosters that weren't released with the game and aren't even currently available. IMO that shouldn't impact a games score especially since its the kind of thing that won't be an issue at all in a couple of weeks.

2 - All-Pro Football was half a game. It might have been great on the field but it also had no replay value for the vast majority of gamers who like to play franchises. If EA released Madden or NCAA without a dynasty/franchise and instead just let you play season after season, regardless of how good its gameplay was people would flip.

As great as the game play was there's a reason it only sold about 200,000 copies and isn't being made this year. (The metacritic score for APF btw was a 75 for the 360 and 73 for the PS3 largely because of this).

3 - From what i've read EA has said they are listening to the community and will be looking into these issues people have been reporting. If I have missed it I would love to see a post from an EA employee saying, for instance, the pass rush is broken.

4 - The job of a reviewer is not to read the forums and factor that into his review. It is to look at the game from a blank slate, weigh what you see and grade the game based on that.

I am willing to bet many of you did not do that and no doubt started this game at a 2 and went from there.

# 25 allstar3970 @ 07/15/08 10:02 AM

its hilarious how the same people who loooove tecmo bowl complain about the most ridiculous "realism" minutia, sometimes in the same post (imagine if you could run 50 yards back to your own goal line then 100 yards the other way for a touchdown? people would FLIP!). Also, im over the NFL 2k5 thing, I bet about 30% of the people who rave about it here actually owned it. Btw, I dont think the game is perfect by any means, maybe an 8.0, but jeez, maybe not everybody is as picky as some people here.

# 26 JBH3 @ 07/15/08 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VikingFan4Ever


	Why no mention of the roster bug?

What is the roster bug...Is is the issue from last yr w/ the depth charts or something new?

*EDIT*

I guess you were referring to the one w/ Pasta's rosters. I thought it was something affecting everyone who owned the game...not an isolated incident only cropping up if you DL the pasta roster.

# 27 Ian_Cummings @ 07/15/08 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erivera7


	An 8.5? A roster bug. Broken pass rush - confirmed by Ian (EA). Broken punt/kick return - confirmed by Ian (EA). Unrealistic QB TD/INT ratios. Unrealistic QB completion %'s - confirmed by Ian (EA). Lack of CPU deep ball. Lack of penalties. The game is fun, sure. But with all those flaws in the game, how is that an 8.5? Especially when the majority of the problems EA has openly admitted to being problems in the game. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, I'm trying to be realistic. An explanation would be fantastic.

Thought I'd clarify...I never "confirmed" that these are bugs. The thread just says we have people looking into them right now. The last thing we wanted was utter silence when people get the game...we wanted to investigate any complaints and see if we need to fix any of them. What that means is we need to do a lot of testing first - we don't want to make quick drastic fixes based on a very small sample set...we could easily go in the wrong direction and throw off the whole fun of the game.

# 28 callmetaternuts @ 07/15/08 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFuture15


	Thought I'd clarify...I never "confirmed" that these are bugs. The thread just says we have people looking into them right now. The last thing we wanted was utter silence when people get the game...we wanted to investigate any complaints and see if we need to fix any of them. What that means is we need to do a lot of testing first - we don't want to make quick drastic fixes based on a very small sample set...we could easily go in the wrong direction and throw off the whole fun of the game.

Dont mind some of these posters, they justlike to throw out random accussations and hope they stick. I think low to mid 8's is fair and IF we get a patch, it could be in the high 8's low 9's range, but right now its a fun game, with some issues (but arent most games?)

# 29 distauma @ 07/15/08 11:59 AM

Even if there are these issues with the game, the real ones really being the QB not throwing deep, robo qb, and the D-line having trouble penetrating, from what I gather (since I haven't tried it yet outside of the demo) the game play is fun.

Isn't that worth any value? If you are having fun playing the game and enjoying yourself, then why shouldn't the game earn a decent score. An 8.5 to me says that the game is good but lost some value due to some issues that do not hinder the enjoyment of the game but can be annoying.

# 30 bkrich83 @ 07/15/08 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dickdalewood


	The game easily deserves the 8.5 it was given. As for this thread and it's "contributers"... wow has the OS community gone downhill...

The funniest parts are the guys who don't even have the game yet who are complaining about the score, and the guys who year after year try to push the exact same agenda. Again, who obviously haven't played the game either, but obviously tried to pull some impressions from others.

Same thing every year.

# 31 Rocky @ 07/15/08 12:16 PM

OK, forget APF2K8.

NBA2K8 got a 8. CH2K8 got a 7. The Show '08 got a 9.

It''s pretty safe to say that this game is NOWHERE near the representations of their sport than those games are mentioned. The score is very peculiar given all the issues.

# 32 aholbert32 @ 07/15/08 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjv31


	If you are insinuating that OS is somehow "in bed" with EA you are wrong.

I'm not saying this has anything to do with the review but this site is majority owned by an EA employee. OS will face accusations like those anytime it gives an extra positive review to an EA game.

# 33 yamabushi @ 07/15/08 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlyGilmore


	4 - The job of a reviewer is not to read the forums and factor that into his review. It is to look at the game from a blank slate, weigh what you see and grade the game based on that. I am willing to bet many of you did not do that and no doubt started this game at a 2 and went from there.

Not saying anything about this review, But I would think (hope?) to get a completely unbiased critical review of any product, The reviewer should start at 0 (a true blank slate) and go from there.

# 34 bkrich83 @ 07/15/08 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metallicatz


	And gee what a surprise, all the usual suspects are present and accounted for in lamenting a positive review score for NCAA (or any EA game for that matter) and over-blowing some minor bugs in a weak attempt to portray them as "game breakers". LOL. Such hatred for a software company. It's really sad. .

We're still missing a few of the "regulars" but I am sure it's only a matter of time.

I don't know why people get so tied up in to a score, instead of just reading the review. I have no problem with an 8.5, the game is fun, and I am easily getting 8.5 points worth of enjoyment out of it.

# 35 hail2thevictors @ 07/15/08 12:21 PM

I agree! I still have yet to play a football game that was perfect and the issues that the game did have weren't enough to keep me from buying it, or taking it back after I bought it. Bottom line, the game was still fun to play overall even if there were unrealistic gameplay issues at times.

# 36 Rocky @ 07/15/08 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkrich83


	We're still missing a few of the "regulars" but I am sure it's only a matter of time. I don't know why people get so tied up in to a score, instead of just reading the review. I have no problem with an 8.5, the game is fun, and I am easily getting 8.5 points worth of enjoyment out of it.

It's all about consistency. When I see this game get (much) higher reviews than games who almost won "The Best Sports Game Ever" Tournament, then it raises some eyebrows.

# 37 BlyGilmore @ 07/15/08 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yamabushi


	Not saying anything about this review, But I would think (hope?) to get a completely unbiased critical review of any product, The reviewer should start at 0 (a true blank slate) and go from there.

we could get into a semantics debate, but I don't think starting at 0 is a clean slate. You are starting at "this game sucks until proven otherwise" not "lets see how this game is." That was the point i was trying to convey with the 2.

By the same token you don't start at a 10 either. That's saying "this game rocks until proven otherwise."

Personally I think you start a review at a 5 or 6. That's a typical middle of the road score for a game that isn't good, but isn't bad either. You then go up or down from that spot.

# 38 bkrich83 @ 07/15/08 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocky


	It's all about consistency. When I see this game get (much) higher reviews than games who almost won "The Best Sports Game Ever" Tournament, then it raises some eyebrows.

Different reviews by different people. It's a subjective score.

NFL2k5 won the Best Sports Game ever Tournament, I know a lot of people around here that don't think it's anywhere near the best ever. And would score it lower than a lot of people would like.

It's a subjective score, I don't see how you can criticize someone opinion of a game.

# 39 swaldo @ 07/15/08 12:36 PM

Let's examine what an 8.5 score really means...

IGN = Impressive
Gamer 2.0 = Great
Gamespy = Great
Gamespot = Great

Peter Moore responds "Excellent job dev team, no need to push the boundaries next year." NCAA and Madden is like a baseball team winning 55% of their games - it keeps the fans buying and hoping.

I don't think this game is great and the majority of the posters seem to feel as I do - good but could be great if a patch fixes the problems. Games are not reviewed after the patch so I'm sorry but a 7 rating appears to be in order here.

By the way, the Gamespot review is up and the scores are as follows:

Gamepsot score - 7.5
Critic Score - 8.5
User Score - 9.6

What's wrong with that picture? You think maybe the EA employees are working some OT?

# 40 bkrich83 @ 07/15/08 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swaldo


	By the way, the Gamespot review is up and the scores are as follows: Gamepsot score - 7.5 Critic Score - 8.5 User Score - 9.6 What's wrong with that picture? You think maybe the EA employees are working some OT?

Seems to me user scores are usually higher. It also could just mean average game likes the game. Not everything in the world can be blamed on EA.

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