NCAA Football 10 – 360 – Review

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Coming from Boise, Idaho, a town
with some serious love for college football, I look to EA Sports’ annual college
football titles very closely. While there have definitely been some highs and
lows for the franchise, NCAA Football has largely been the go-to series for
college pigskin fanatics. The latest entry to the long-running franchise, NCAA
Football 10, adds in some new modes, but largely plays out as an incremental
update over its predecessor. However, the new modes that have been added are
great additions, and there should be enough content here for long-time fans to
enjoy for a while.

On the field, NCAA Football 10
features very modest changes over 09. The game feels mostly the same, with the
overall feel and pace reflecting its predecessor. There have been some new
additions, including the ability to call conservative or aggressive plays by
switching your balance at any point in the game and a new Family Play option
that simplifies the game for more casual users.
The Family Play
option is a pretty compelling way for fans to get involved even if they aren’t
the best gamers, as it simplifies passing to one receiver and makes the AI very
lenient.
In fact, it is very difficult to lose when Family Play is enabled. Additionally,
the tried-and-true Dynasty mode has returned.

The Campus Legend mode returns,
albeit in somewhat different form under the Road to Glory moniker. This mode is
mostly the same as it was last year, allowing you to take one player through the
ropes from High School playoffs up to college glory. The one main change is the
addition of Erin Andrews, who serves as your host and sideline reporter,
offering some insight into your burgeoning career.

One of the game’s main new features
is the Teambuilder feature. Going online to the EA Sports website, players can
create and customize their very own teams, editing every detail they see fit,
from the logos to the team colors and even your home stadium. You can then
download your custom team from EA’s servers onto your Xbox 360, and then have
access to the team. You’ll also be able to check out and download teams created
by other players, adding to the game’s community element. Even though the
Teambuilder mode requires you to use a PC to create your team, the experience
would’ve likely proven unwieldy on the console, and feels much more deep and
intuitive on a PC.

The biggest new addition to the
online mix is the Season Showdown mode. In Season Showdown, players choose one
team, and through their own personal skill in the game, will add to the overall
rankings of their favorite team come the college football season. This isn’t
simply an online mode per se, as every single-player game you play as your
chosen team will contribute to their overall rankings online. There are key
areas that will help determine your team’s overall rating, including skill and
sportsmanship. While skill can be established by making big plays, including
User Sacks, big passes, and big runs, sportsmanship requires a different brand
of tact.

Should you decide to partake in the
game’s Season Showdown mode and play as your favorite team, then you may find
yourself playing a game with a pretty different strategy than you’re used to,
due largely to the Sportsmanship element. Earning good sportsmanship points
requires you to do things like punt the ball during a 4th down and not run up
the point margin between you and your outmatched opponent. Failing to do these
things will net you (and your team of choice) a bad sportsmanship rating.
Therefore, you’ll have to work extra hard, running the ball and running down the
clock in the 4th quarter in order to keep from scoring too high over your
opponent, which is quite the shift for players used to simply scoring as high as
they can in games.

Graphically, the game has added a
whole new host of animations, but the stadiums and character models look mostly
the same as last year, which isn’t at all a bad thing. The overall look is very
solid and moves at a solid framerate.

The sound is pretty good. The game
has a fair number of college fight songs and plenty of commentary, including
newcomer Erin Andrews in the mix. While some of Corso’s comments in particular
can get a little redundant, it’s still a pretty decent sound effort.

NCAA Football 10 isn’t really a huge
improvement over 09, but manages to play as a more polished and complete
experience, thanks to great new features like Teambuilder and Season Showdown.
It may not be the revolution that series fans would hope for, but they shouldn’t
be disappointed in this latest entry.

Review Scoring Details for NCAA Football 10

Gameplay: 8.5

While it doesn’t change the formula too much over its predecessors, NCAA
Football 10 has plenty of great new features added into the mix.

Graphics: 8.5
Not a huge improvement over last year’s aesthetic, NCAA Football 10 does
introduce several great new animations and still looks pretty solid.

Sound: 8.0
The game makes great use of authentic school fight songs, and the roar of
the crowd is dynamic and sounds great. The commentary can get a little
repetitive and much of it is recycled from last year, but the addition of Erin
Andrews to the mix is a nice touch.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.0
Not much has changed, but the incremental new features are a solid step-up.

Multiplayer: 8.5
The Online Dynasty mode returns from last year’s model, which is a great
touch for those looking for some online depth aside from head to head matches.
The Season Showdown adds a great element for those looking to capitalize on
their school spirit.

Overall: 8.3
NCAA Football 10 doesn’t change the overall formula from last year’s game,
but adds a solid new feature set that will be worth a look from college football
fans.