NCAA 11 Demo Impressions - rudyjuly2's Blog

rudyjuly2's Blog

NCAA 11 Demo Impressions

Posted on June 15, 2010 at 08:36 AM.

POSITIVES
� I thought the pass rush was pretty good on AA. Played 5 games on that level and it's too easy despite my rust. I went 4-1 and beat OSU pretty easily with Miami.
� Playing as a DL is a lot of fun. Less suction blocking imo. I was able to get some nice sacks with the Miami DE and the Clemson DE. It felt instinctive and fun with the r-stick moves. Probably too easy to get user pressure as opposed to my cpu lineman teammates although I never tried any game planning stuff.
� Sideline awareness is a lot better. You can swing passes out, especially on the short side of the field without smacking yourself in the head for even trying it.
� Locomotion is nice but part of me wishes it was even more effective (heavier momentum). I still think receivers can get in and out of �out� routes a little too quick. Certain routes should require a little more slow down imo.
� Some people are saying the deep ball is too easy. Not sure about that but I did hit a few and if it's too easy I'm OK with that. I saw a WR beat a CB jam on one play and toasted him. Very nice.
� I feel with the toned down passing speeds I'm a factor on defence. Madden 10 passing speeds were too slow imo - these feel just right.
� The camera is good. I like it better than NCAA 10�s. It doesn�t pan around like it did but I still can�t get used to the player lock camera. I�d like a true defensive perspective camera but I�m happy with what they have on the demo!
� PS3 ball rotates in replays! Play of the game works on PS3 demo.
� I like that auto strafe is back.
� The graphics look good and the play seems smooth.
� I like the ESPN music and pre-game stuff. I like seeing a player spotlighted in warm-ups again along with in-game fan cutscenes.
� The trajectory of passes does seem improved. Leaping defenders are toned down. It�s subtle but I snuck a pass in the end zone that never would have been completed in the past.

NEGATIVES
� Too many fumbles imo. I hope there is a fumble slider. I�d like to hear more about the slider system and options as well.
� The worst thing about the demo is the play call screen limiting you to 3 plays and the slow cycling. This is worse on defence imo. You better know your playbooks. I wish they hadn't changed this as the old way was a lot better imo. I will have to learn to adjust.
� Why did the cpu win the coin flip in OT and go on offense first? Wasn't this fixed already?
� CPU QB still makes a few too many bad decisions on default AA imo. AA is too easy in the demo but sliders will help at retail.
� Definitely saw a few instances of warping to the ball (WR sped up to catch).
� The cpu tried to run about three screen plays � never even completed one pass.

NEUTRAL
� I don't have a good feel for the running game yet and barely tried the option. I saw some nice runs but didn�t see enough of the pro-tak and gang tackling yet. Need some longer quarter games and more play time to get a good feel for it.
GAMES
� I beat OSU with Miami 28-7 in my first game. Pryor threw 3 picks (one pick 6).
� Beat Texas with OU 14-7 in OT. CPU coin toss logic needs fixing for OT.
� Lost to FSU with Florida 7-3. I need work running the option.
� Beat Mizzou 17-3 with Clemson.
� Beat OSU again with Miami 17-0.
� The computer hasn�t scored more than 7 points on me (all on AA). Will try Heisman out tonight.

OVERALL

Overall I liked it. I won't say I was blown away by it but this demo is infinitely better than the NCAA 10 demo. It started to grow more on me as I got comfortable. I definitely like the locomotion and added momentum but I think it might be even better if it was more pronounced. It may be fine too � I need more game time. The two minute quarters aren�t so bad but you really can�t establish a ground game in such limited time. I haven�t tried turning on the auto sprint. I�ll try that tonight.
You can definitely tell that the underneath engine is still the same core engine. If people were expecting a totally different experience I think they will be disappointed. But the addition of locomotion and a lot of refinement makes the game a lot better than NCAA 10 imo. It's a lot more polished. Definitely a day one purchase for me at this point.

Comments

# 1 GoToledo @ Jun 15

So the coin toss logic for overtime is still wrong?? That is disappointing.

# 2 DJ @ Jun 15

Good review, Rudy. I feel the same way on a lot of points. Did you play with Auto Sprint on? I did and really enjoyed the feel. Like you, I'll have to try out Heisman as All-American was way too easy; I beat Florida with FSU, 32-0.

Basically what it boils down to is if you liked Madden 10, you will enjoy NCAA 11. A lot of what was in Madden 10, including camera angles and cutaway scenes, are in this game. I did enjoy Madden 10, so I think NCAA 11 will be a smooth transition.

# 3 rudyjuly2 @ Jun 15

I'm going to try auto-sprint tonight along with Heisman. I like the camera better than anything M10 and NCAA10 had. It doesn't "rock" so much. I hate FPS type of things like that.

# 4 rspencer86 @ Jun 15

Great stuff Rudy. Hit on a lot of points I'm going to make when I get around to posting full impressions.

# 5 ShaneFu @ Jun 15

Is anybody having framerate issues with the instant replays on the ps3 demo?
The low angle replays were quite jittery today. I hope the retail version mixes up the replay angles some, not all ground level.

# 6 rudyjuly2 @ Jun 16

I hope we can some broader replay angles too although I don't mind the close ups - just not all the time. My demo has lag issues here and there so I'm sure we are all seeing some similar glitches Shanefu.

Played two games on Heisman last night. Beat Mizzou with Clemson 24-14 (they scored at the last second) and got shut out by OSU 14-0. I prefer playing against an AA defense but I like the better cpu offense on Heisman. Sliders will help a lot for the retail copy.

# 7 kingbrandon56 @ Jun 16

I thought all american was easy as well. I tried heisman and used florida state and ended up being roted 38-0 and it could have been worse but they ran the clock out in the fourth. When florida got the momentum everything went down hill for me. I like the challenge this presented.

# 8 cmehustle @ Jun 17

i liked the game as well on heisman. i would never play this game on anything lower than aa tho. for me even tho this was a demo this has been the best football game i have ever played beating out last years madden 10 defintly. i dont know when the last time i said that about a ncaa demo

# 9 smlmeyer @ Jun 18

Heisman CPU defense has the ability to read minds. Sliders and a game speed adjustment should help a lot of this get evened out and eradicate most of your cons. User pass rush is WAY too easy, on any difficulty. I thought it was easy last year even when the suction occurred.