Initial NCAA 13 Impressions - rudyjuly2's Blog

rudyjuly2's Blog

Initial NCAA 13 Impressions

Posted on July 12, 2012 at 08:25 AM.

I�ve played two games of NCAA 13 which isn�t enough for a full review of course but my initial feeling is that the game is average. I didn�t see a lot of crap but I don�t see any excellence to this game that wants to me to keep playing other than I want to get my monies worth after renting.

Presentation and Atmosphere

This just isn�t good enough imo. The commentary is so stale now it�s white noise. I can�t even tell you if I heard any new or interesting things because Herbie is so boring after this many years you just tune him out. I know one time my TE dropped a wide open pass down the middle and he commented that there was a defender in the area when there was nobody. I do know they don�t comment on players getting injured and many times I don�t know I lost a player until I see the injury report on the ticker. Very few stat overlays (two in two games, 7 minute quarters) and they aren�t commented on at all. I saw only one game track and accidentally skipped it. Not sure how that happened. We desperately need a new commentary team just to change it up.

The crowd is mediocre. It helps to turn the other volumes down and crank the crowd up. Sometimes there is an audio glitch in the sound as well where you can tell the sounds aren�t spliced together correctly. The pre-game introductions are very stale and I already skipped over them for game two. The entire design needs to move towards a TV style broadcast with more team and individual stats. I really enjoyed Madden 12�s TV style focus and I think NCAA needs to commit more to this approach. One negative note for freezing, my game froze right after the end of the second game so that�s another concern.

Passing Game

I think this is the biggest improvement in the game. I hated the super LBs and super zones of NCAA 12. The new pass trajectories really help let you put the ball where you want to. I didn�t see a single crazy swat in two games by a super leaping LB. I used the lead passing a couple times and it was nice. I have seen the issue with the safeties leaving WRs running free down the middle of the field. I burned the defence twice for TDs on this. I tried not to take advantage of this stuff but its hard not to over the course of a game. This needs to be fixed.

The cpu calls a lot of screens and this needs to be toned down a little and also made more effective. On Heisman I did see them run this successfully a few times but the majority of time it�s a sack. I saw Alabama run an option play in the last minute of a game in hurry up. Why? Also saw them run a fake punt on 4th and 20 early in the 4th quarter (they were down 1 or 2 TDs, can�t remember). That was so long it would have been nearly impossible to convert and they didn�t.

Running Game

My first game was with Michigan at home against OSU. I got over 100 yards rushing with Denard using the read-option and I thought it was nicely done. I did have a long TD run where a defender was just stuck in a back pedal motion and didn�t even try to tackle me. That wasn�t good as it should have been an average gain and not a 40 yard TD run. I didn�t see the cpu run it too often with Braxton Miller and when they did it wasn�t that great. Miller did scramble quite a bit so I liked that. I didn�t see many broken blocking assignments but those happen all the time in real life and it�s not something I look for. Nothing in two games bothered me here.

I think the tackling engine is old and stale. Not only does NCAA 13 not have the Infinity engine but the variety here is weak and significantly worse than Madden 12�s tackling engine imo. Warp tackling is in full force. Hit the tackle button and your defender will leap forward a couple yards for the wrap tackle.

Player movement still lacks momentum and the animations seem twitchy and unnatural and this was while playing on Slow speed. It doesn�t look or feel right imo. I do like how the r-stick juke is better this year. Made a nice move with Denard using it although it looks a little goofy. I'll still take it over last year's neutered move. Why the heck does Georgia have so many option plays in their playbook? Now I realize why I saw cpu Georgia running so many options with Aaron Murray in some pre-release videos.

Difficulty

I started right out on Heisman difficulty (I�m not that good, trust me) after reading people say it was the way to go. I tweaked my old NCAA 12 slider set based on some things I read and beat OSU 38-7 with Michigan. I took Georgia into Bama and the game was tied 7-7 going into the 4th and I broke it open with three TDs to win 28-7. The game is definitely easier than it was in the past. I saw nothing cheap on Heisman and quite honestly, this is probably what All-American should be (unless they create a difficulty between AA and Heisman like I think they should).

Overall

I used to consider NCAA 11 to be the best game of this series but this is probably the best. However, I also consider the NCAA series to be largely disappointing this generation. NCAA 13 is an improvement but it doesn�t wow me. It still has a long way to go to be considered a great game like the Show. Improvement is needed in almost every area. Most of all they need to change something so that the game actually feels fresh and different. That includes player movement, animations and presentation. You will get the same feeling while playing the game you did in the past (good or bad). The strength of the game has always been the ability of dynasty mode to suck you in and overlook some of the average game play while you recruit and build your dynasty. I don�t see this year as much different.

Comments

# 1 Sausage @ Jul 12

Good impressions, in a way I'm happy I didn't play 12 often; I definitely agree the series is extremely close to becoming stale. Hopefully they don't ruin what's working with the inevitable title update and tuners.

# 2 rudyjuly2 @ Jul 12

I just played Oregon and was pleasantly surprised by how well they ran the read-option along with draws. They had a few successful screens but took way too many sacks including one that gave me a safety to tie the game at 30. The biggest problem with the cpu option game isn't the read option but the speed option. The cpu QB is horrible at running this play.

I lost 33-30 as I threw my third pick with under 30 seconds and in FG range. Best game so far. I really dislike the feel of the players though, particularly on defense. It feels as though I'm just skating around out there out of control.