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  NCAA Football 09
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Also available on:
PS3, PS2, WII Nothing comparesEvery year while millions of fans wait out the summer for the newest release of EA Sports Madden series, I get going a couple weeks early with the release of NCAA Football. As popular as the NFL is, there is nothing in professional football that compares to the rivalries in college football. Nothing in professional football compares to the intensity of college ball and nothing in professional football compares to the atmosphere of the college game. For NCAA Football to succeed each year it needs to find a way of extracting the things that are better about the college game and translating them to the video game screen. Each year NCAA seems to bring more to the table than Madden. This year is shaping up to be no different as the developers at EA Tiburon once again set out to add more features and hopefully more fun to their college game. As always the graphics are getting an overhaul. Last year's graphics looked good but this year the player models are designed to look more like college athletes than professional body builders. It is nice to see that my freshman wideout doesn't have 24 inch pythons like some hulking athletes. Another noticeable graphical upgrade is in the more finely tuned stadium models. Coupled with the new audio enhancements playing at Beaver Stadium with Penn State, this means you will be backed by the 'We Are Penn State' crowd and few things are scarier than that for an opposing team. Messing with the quarterbackBut while graphical upgrades are wonderful, they are also fully expected. What isn't expected though is too much tinkering to the video game football formula that has worked for so many years. EA Sports has in past years taken the “If it isn't broke don't fix it” model but they seem to want to take some risks this year and are changing the way you play the most important position in the game, quarterback. Messing with the quarterback controls is a tricky situation. Madden tried it a few years ago with mixed results. NCAA Football 09 is tampering with it in a different way, and it just may work to make this game truly stand on its own. If you are at all familiar with college football you know that college quarterbacks are a fragile bunch, and by fragile I'm not talking about their bone structure but more so their psyche structure. In an effort to simulate these frail psyches, EA Tiburon is trying something new: depending on how your team performs, your quarterback's confidence may slip, making it harder for him to play the game. Instead of seeing the pre-snap passing routes, your rattled quarterback will see lines that don't match up with the routes chosen. Your quarterback's skill will also drop and accuracy and velocity will be directly affected on screen. It is a big risk but one that could work out very well if executed properly. Teaming upThe biggest addition to NCAA Football 09 would have to be the online dynasty. You and 11 of your closest, college football-loving buddies will be able to take your recruiting and rivalry online. According to EA you will be able to 'develop your program as you schedule your opponents and recruit head-to-head online with up to 11 players for 60 seasons with the same ease and flexibility of managing a fantasy football league.' You won't need 11 additional players so if you can only muster a handful of friends together you will still be good to go but it goes without saying the more the merrier. Something else in college football that is almost as synonymous as scholarships, are team mascots. Who can forget the Spartan from Michigan State or the Pelican from the University of Miami? In past NCAA Football games they have been featured prominently but this time around players will actually get a chance to control them with the all new Mascot Play. Players will be able to, for lack of a better word, "taunt" their opponents when they score a touchdown by taking control of their team mascot. The mascot can both be a boost to your team and a hindrance. If you anger the opposing teams’ crowd by taunting their mascot, your team could be playing in adverse playing conditions, so use your mascot wisely. Big changesNCAA Football 09 is aiming to be an improvement over last year's outing and the big additions look like they could mean big improvements but we will have to wait and see, although not to long as the game is out today. |
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| At a glance |
| NCAA Football 09 looks to simulate the college football experience with a slew of new features. |