For many, the
beginning of another year of college means a chance to enrich their minds with
9:00 am classes, drunken reverie in dorm rooms of debauchery, and freedom from
the evil clutches of parents. For the hundreds of thousands who fill the
monstrous athletic facilities ritually, the return to campus means one thing:
another season of NCAA Football is beginning.
To the folks at EA
Sports Tiburon Studios, the new college football season means another chance to
improve on their excellent NCAA Football series. EA was fortunate enough to
have continually built on a franchise that was nearly flawless since its
inception on the next-gen consoles and follow through in their latest version,
NCAA Football 2004.
With both NCAA
Football and the Madden franchises heeding the old adage of “If it ain’t broke,
don’t try to fix it”, many of the football sequels in the EA lineup have been
mere polished versions of their predecessors with refined graphics and gameplay,
added animations, and updated rosters. While this is great for die-hard fans of
the games, casual sports fans don’t need to buy the latest edition just for some
extra tackling motions or more chiseled facial features. This year’s version of
NCAA Football 2004 epitomizes this trend. There’s very little added to the
game, but thankfully for EA, last year’s game was simply awesome.
Back from last
year is the rich Dynasty Mode that allows players to take control of a program
from the ground up. Everything from recruiting and red-shirting to conference
games and national championships is governed by players over several playable
seasons. This year’s Dynasty Mode allows up to 12 user-controlled programs to
compete together in the same ongoing seasons, a great way to decide football
dominance against your friends. Other modes returning are the hilarious Mascot
Mode (players are replaced by school mascots) and Rivalry Mode, a great way to
settle age-old scores once and for all.
Every Division 1
team, several Division 1AA teams, and new classic teams are in the game and at
gamer’s disposal, but the real treat comes in creating your own school and
players and throwing them into a juggernaut conference to duke it out with
existing programs. Not only can you pick the conference, strength, and schedule
of your team, but NCAA Football lets players decide uniform colors, stadium
design, and logos. It’s a great way to get involved in the college game without
worrying about academics, just like the ACC.
The gameplay has
been slightly tweaked for more realism, and it is noticeable to veteran EA
football gamers. Perhaps the greatest addition to the game is the change to the
play-action plays. The AI has been reprogrammed to bite at the fake handoff
more often, and the ball carrier cursor (the star around the player who has the
ball) actually sticks on the running back for a second to fool even the sharpest
of human players. This causes defenses to bite on the run, and leaves receivers
with a little more space to catch the ball. If you played last year’s EA
football games, you’ll no doubt remember the frustration of the play-action
plays that often led to a 10-yard loss.
There are several
other smaller adjustments to gameplay to make this year’s version more
complete. The AI is much better at exploiting weaknesses in 2004. If your
offensive line crumbles like a cookie, the defense will blitz more often. If
your defensive line can’t stop the run, the CPU will run all day. The computer
also does an excellent job of stopping repeated plays, forcing players to call a
more realistic game. Returning kicks looks more authentic with special teams
forming a realistic-looking wedge (send in the 4th string
linebackers!). Running plays are harder to alter mid-play. For example,
running a HB Blast up the middle is harder to bounce out to the outside.
Instead, your HB’s momentum will take him up the middle forcing plays to be run
as they were called. The passing system seems to think that college players
have iron hands. Several short passes to wide open players will result in more
incompletions than a Pee-Wee league game. In the game’s defense, the CPU drops
just as many passes, but it is none-the-less frustrating.
EA did add a few
items worth note. College Classics mode pits gamers in some of college
football’s most defining moments. Whether it’s finishing the job with Miami in
last year’s championship or re-creating “The Play” with Cal against Stanford,
it’s your opportunity to rewrite history or show that it was no fluke. Sports
Illustrated has joined with EA to offer magazine covers highlighting the
season’s most noteworthy accomplishments. It’s mostly a gimmick, but seeing
your player on the cover of SI is awfully satisfying. NCAA Football 2004 is the
first of EA sports games that use the EA Sports Bio, a system of rewarding
gamers for playing EA Sports titles. As users play more of the EA games, they
can unlock different powerups, see major accomplishments, and actually see how
long they have spent playing the game.
The graphics of
this year’s edition are once again fantastic. Not much has changed except a few
more cutscenes and plenty more player animations. Close-ups have been
sharpened, particularly on referees. Other than that, expect the same quality
graphics that EA has continually provided.
The audio in the
game is, just like the rest of the game, slightly better than NCAA Football
2004. The commentary has been improved in this year’s game, but only
marginally. College football gurus Lee Corso and company call the game (if
your team is worthy of a televised game) and quip about the contest very
fluidly. All the school fight songs are back and fill the game with college
spirit, crowds have specific chants for situations (they love going for it on
fourth and short), and cheers erupt during big plays.
When all is said
and done, NCAA football is an improvement over last year’s version, but not so
much better that football fans should rush out and buy it, especially because
Madden 2004 comes out next month. However, with its improved gameplay,
graphics, and authenticity, it will satisfy the pickiest NCAA Football fans.
Gameplay: 9.0
EA has addressed
some gameplay issues in this year’s version, particularly the play action, and
the result is ultimately positive. Only people who played 2003 for days on end
will notice the differences, however.
Graphics: 9.3
Once again, little
improvements here and there add depth to the look of the game, but no major
changes.
Sound: 8.5
No significant
leap in any direction for the sound. It’s nearly identical to last year’s
version.
Difficulty: Medium
There’s really
something for everyone here. The difficulty levels range from incredibly easy
to incredibly difficult and everything in between.
Concept: 8.0
With very little
added to the game this year, there’s not much to laud in this category. More of
the same of college football’s best video game.
Multiplayer: 8.5
The only change to
multiplayer on the Xbox is the multi-user dynasty mode. Only the PS2 version
allows for online play.
Overall: 8.8
NCAA Football 2004
is definitely a solid title and a must for NCAA Football fans. Other than that,
I don’t recommend purchasing the title for the casual football fan.
