Is it just me or are the years going
by faster and faster? It seems like only yesterday that college football ended,
but here we are again, a new season getting ready to play and a new NCAA game
released as well. Last year was the first year that NCAA was released on
next-generation consoles, and while it was a good game, there are many features
that this game was lacking, especially when you compared it to the “current”
generation systems at the time. This year EA has fixed that little problem and
now we gamers are given the full taste of their latest college football game.
There are several modes that will
keep players occupied with this game for a long time. First off there is the
practice mode where you can hone your skills with various plays. Then there are
three mini-games to play. The first one you can play is called bowling, players
start at the 10-yard line and try to make a touchdown. If you get it on your
first try it is a strike, or your second time it is a spare. The frame is open
until you finish your second try. Next up is tug of war, where two teams start
at the 50-yard line and alternate plays until one team scores. Finally there is
the option dash, in which you are given two minutes to go down the field as many
times as possible. These mini-games really help give the game a really unique
and fun twist and a nice change of pace.
If you want something with a little
more meat you can go into Play Now, which allows you to play against any team in
the NCAA. This mode allows you to either play versus a computer or a friend. If
you don’t have a friend and you want to play against a human you can hop on to
Xbox Live and play either a ranked or an unranked game. I found very few
problems with playing online and rarely ran into any lag.
Hook em Horns!
The real meat in this game is the
Campus Legend and Dynasty Mode. In Dynasty mode players try to become a national
powerhouse and try to get into and win the championship year after year. Players
are in charge of everything from the recruiting, the rosters, and many other
things. This year there are several new options while recruiting that makes it
more challenging and fulfilling. First off you can now track all of your
prospects throughout the United States on a stat-by-state basis. You can make
promises to prospects to gain an upper hand in ensuring they will sign letters
of intent to play for you. You can rank prospects by the level of interest you
have in them, and many other options. This mode will keep you entertained for
many hours just trying to obtain the perfect team.
Campus Legend allows you to either
edit an existing person or create your own character and see if you have what it
takes to leave your mark on the college gridiron. You begin this mode by
selecting your character and customizing everything from their appearance,
position to play, to where they went to High School. I created my own personal
character from Texas and was surprised to see even my personal High School
listed in the ones to choose from. From that point you then get thrown into the
high school state championship playoffs. After completing them, depending on how
you did you will get to choose which college to go to.
When you get into college you will
then get used to student life, which means going to practice to ensure you stay
No. 1 on the depth charts, to doing extra activities. Most of these actives are
nothing but stat increasing so that is good, such as going to work out, or going
to a pep rally. When you go into a game, you will notice that you can only
control your player. The coach will call the plays, and it is your job to
execute them with perfection. When you are not on the field the game will go
into Super Sim mode; which means that the game will simulate everything except
when it is your time to play. This mode is extremely fun to play, the only down
side to it is that it is extremely easy to make your character into a legend,
especially with all of the extra stat boosts you receive.
One annoyance that I found with this
game is the amount of fumbles you will see during a game. I played the game on
every difficulty level, and it seemed like there was always several fumbles
during the game. Many times it was a double fumble, meaning that my star running
back/receiver would fumble the ball, the defense would pick it up, run two yards
and fumble it, then my offense picks it back up. This happened more often than
not during the course of this game. I know that fumbling happens quite
frequently in football, but at times it really gets ridiculous.
The AI for this game is also not too
intelligent, especially during Campus Legend mode. It is the most evident during
this mode, since you can’t call your own plays, only the coach does. Many times
they will pick plays that baffle your mind, defense is anticipating the run, and
have already stopped exact same play twice, so you assume the coach will pick a
pass play or even a different route for a running play, but in his infinite
wisdom he picks the same play for the third time. You will want to scream at the
TV, especially since I was playing the position of quarterback and there was
nothing I can do for the play except hand the ball off and pray they get to the
first down. It is calls like this that will have you most frustrated with the
game.
One of the biggest changes to this
game is one of the first things that players will see: the menu home screen. The
background to this screen is now located in your school’s trophy room. In there
you will see trophy cases, school banners, and best of all video screens. When
you play a game and do a wonderful play, you can save the highlights and when
you are in this room they will display on the screen. Also there are various
photos that are taken during the game you can save as well and they will be
displayed here. This is a wonderful addition and it makes the game feel way more
personalized and always keeps you pumped up to try to get better highlight
screens, and a way to remember some of the best games you have played. As you
get more in-depth in this game you will fill up this trophy room with various
trophies, awards, and things that will commemorate some of the best games you
have played. Plus it can always be used for bragging rights against your
friends.
The graphics for this game are good,
but not great. To begin with, the stadiums look extremely like the real-life
counterparts, which is always a good time. The player models look really
realistic on the field and this in part due to more body types that there are to
choose from, especially when you are making your own player. This is also
enhanced by new and more animations for each of the players, but the animations
also lead into one of the major issues I have with this game. There are some bad
clipping issues that can be seen all over in this game. While there are some
clipping issues to be found in almost any game, at times the clipping is very
noticeable and at times can be an issue because it can lead to big plays for the
player.
Another issue I have with the game
is the camera angles. This is especially noticeable when you are looking at game
highlights or snap shots. The game always seems to destroy an awesome-looking
highlight or snapshot due to the poor angles that it chooses to take the
picture. While a work around for the highlight is viewing from another camera
(which sometimes works, but does not provide as cool of a real), the photos are
only taken from one angle. I had more ruined photos due to a lineman’s arm in
the way then I care to recall.
Nicely detailed stadiums
One last complaint I have is a small
but noticeable one. The atmosphere while playing this game feels way off. Unlike
other games in the series I can’t recall ever seeing the mascots, band members,
cheerleaders, or referees on the sidelines. The stadiums don’t have crazy fans
with signs or other noticeable traits of a college football game. This is a real
disappointment as I really enjoy all of the ambient features of playing and
being at college football games.
The sound for this game is good.
First off the commentary given by Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and Brad Nessler
never fails to impress. What I really enjoyed is that the commentary was more
serious than last year’s game, but still retains the edgy and goofiness that
these three commentators are known for. The crowd noise is decent and the fight
songs are spot on, but like I mentioned earlier the real college atmosphere is
really lacking in this year’s version of NCAA football.
NCAA Football 2008 is rated E for
Everyone. If you want to use your memory card it will take up 12 MB. The game
also supports multiplayer (online or off) for two players.
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Gameplay: 8.2
Even with some faults, NCAA Football 2008 is a
complete blast to play. I really like the new menu home screen for this game as
it makes you want to get even better so you can fill up your room. Even some of
the changes on the field make the game more seamless and allows you to remain in
the action without distractions. Also a high frame rate that never seemed to
falter makes this game even better to play. The only downfall is the stupid AI,
why continuously call plays that never work.
Graphics: 8.5
The graphics for this game are really nicely done. The stadiums are all
nicely done and look like their real-life counterparts. What I liked is the new
animations that make this game smoother while playing. The only bad thing is
that while there are new animations there is still some clipping issues that pop
up occasionally.
Sound: 7.8
The commentary given by Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and Brad Nessler
sound good, and doesn’t get to old or repetitive in this game. What I felt was
missing was more crowd interaction, as this made it feel less like a college
football game. I want to hear more variety then just the fight song, with
different crowd noise filled with thousands of shouting fans.
Difficulty: Medium
Like all sports games, this game has adjusting difficulty so you can
play at a level that you are comfortable with before you move up a bracket and
face tougher opponents.
Concept: 8.6
The new additions to this game really improve the overall feel of it.
The addition of the Weather Channel feed, which provides real weather
information when you play, makes this game all the more realistic. Having the
ability to create your own highlight real and photos is a real treat, especially
for bragging rights to your friends. The new menu home screen is also leaps and
bounds better than previous versions.
Multiplayer: 8.2
Xbox Live is one of the best online gaming services out there for
a gaming console. It is so easy to set up a game and get right down to the
“nitty-gritty” of playing against another person. It is a shame that there are
any more modes available to play though, instead we are left with the standard
ranked and unranked matches.
Overall: 8.1
EA has made some strides over last year’s college football game,
and the main reason why is that they finally included all of the features from
previous console generations game. The brand new features included in this
year’s version is very nice, I really enjoyed the new presentation for the
entire game. If you are hankering for some college football action then you
can’t go wrong with NCAA Football 2008. See you on the field.
