GameDaily
NCAA Football 09 runs the same old route.
by Robert Workman on Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Every year, EA Sports attempts to put a fresh spin on its sports franchises, giving them that certain edge to justify spending $60 on another version of games you already own. With NCAA Football 09, the company listened to some of its long-time fans, throwing in a new online Dynasty mode and a few other small features. Unfortunately, even with these features, they're not the drastic changes the series needed.
Most of the features found in last year's edition are back. In Campus Legend, you pluck a customized player out of high school and run him through the routes of becoming a college football legend. Aside from some AI assistance with the playbook and training, there's really nothing staggeringly new here. It's a great mode, but without any genuine forward progress in development, it feels like deja vu.
NCAA 09 Screenshots
Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay It's Wide Open - Bigger holes, cutback lanes, and open receivers, making the game feel more wide open than ever before. Directional pump fake on the R stick. New college specific tackling engine Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components - Pre-play confusion and difficulty making adjustments when on the road against tough teams. All new toughest places to play with dynamic rankings. All-new Mascot Mode with User Controlled Celebrations College Atmosphere & Pageantry - All-new Dynamic Crowd System. College sidelines are packed with additional players, mascots, cheerleaders, and more. All-new authentic fields with new textures, lighting, and field degradation. New college player models, including more than 50 alternate uniforms. User Customizable Stadium Sounds & Music. Breakaway crowd reactions Depth & Innovation - Online Dynasty. Roster file sharing online. Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode highlighting ease and accessibility. New post game presentation and play by play commentary. 1-4 player offline co-op. Return missed field goals. Bluff your play art to confuse opponents. Formation audibles. Smart routes. Bobble catches. Better passing control. Post play continuation. All-New Mini Games. Random play selection in practice mode. Quick replay. CPU vs. CPU (watch mode). Smooth 60 FPS on PS3. Even teams option in play now.
Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay It's Wide Open - Bigger holes, cutback lanes, and open receivers, making the game feel more wide open than ever before. Directional pump fake on the R stick. New college specific tackling engine Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components - Pre-play confusion and difficulty making adjustments when on the road against tough teams. All new toughest places to play with dynamic rankings. All-new Mascot Mode with User Controlled Celebrations College Atmosphere & Pageantry - All-new Dynamic Crowd System. College sidelines are packed with additional players, mascots, cheerleaders, and more. All-new authentic fields with new textures, lighting, and field degradation. New college player models, including more than 50 alternate uniforms. User Customizable Stadium Sounds & Music. Breakaway crowd reactions Depth & Innovation - Online Dynasty. Roster file sharing online. Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode highlighting ease and accessibility. New post game presentation and play by play commentary. 1-4 player offline co-op. Return missed field goals. Bluff your play art to confuse opponents. Formation audibles. Smart routes. Bobble catches. Better passing control. Post play continuation. All-New Mini Games. Random play selection in practice mode. Quick replay. CPU vs. CPU (watch mode). Smooth 60 FPS on PS3. Even teams option in play now.
Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay It's Wide Open - Bigger holes, cutback lanes, and open receivers, making the game feel more wide open than ever before. Directional pump fake on the R stick. New college specific tackling engine Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components - Pre-play confusion and difficulty making adjustments when on the road against tough teams. All new toughest places to play with dynamic rankings. All-new Mascot Mode with User Controlled Celebrations College Atmosphere & Pageantry - All-new Dynamic Crowd System. College sidelines are packed with additional players, mascots, cheerleaders, and more. All-new authentic fields with new textures, lighting, and field degradation. New college player models, including more than 50 alternate uniforms. User Customizable Stadium Sounds & Music. Breakaway crowd reactions Depth & Innovation - Online Dynasty. Roster file sharing online. Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode highlighting ease and accessibility. New post game presentation and play by play commentary. 1-4 player offline co-op. Return missed field goals. Bluff your play art to confuse opponents. Formation audibles. Smart routes. Bobble catches. Better passing control. Post play continuation. All-New Mini Games. Random play selection in practice mode. Quick replay. CPU vs. CPU (watch mode). Smooth 60 FPS on PS3. Even teams option in play now.
Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay It's Wide Open - Bigger holes, cutback lanes, and open receivers, making the game feel more wide open than ever before. Directional pump fake on the R stick. New college specific tackling engine Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components - Pre-play confusion and difficulty making adjustments when on the road against tough teams. All new toughest places to play with dynamic rankings. All-new Mascot Mode with User Controlled Celebrations College Atmosphere & Pageantry - All-new Dynamic Crowd System. College sidelines are packed with additional players, mascots, cheerleaders, and more. All-new authentic fields with new textures, lighting, and field degradation. New college player models, including more than 50 alternate uniforms. User Customizable Stadium Sounds & Music. Breakaway crowd reactions Depth & Innovation - Online Dynasty. Roster file sharing online. Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode highlighting ease and accessibility. New post game presentation and play by play commentary. 1-4 player offline co-op. Return missed field goals. Bluff your play art to confuse opponents. Formation audibles. Smart routes. Bobble catches. Better passing control. Post play continuation. All-New Mini Games. Random play selection in practice mode. Quick replay. CPU vs. CPU (watch mode). Smooth 60 FPS on PS3. Even teams option in play now.
Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay It's Wide Open - Bigger holes, cutback lanes, and open receivers, making the game feel more wide open than ever before. Directional pump fake on the R stick. New college specific tackling engine Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components - Pre-play confusion and difficulty making adjustments when on the road against tough teams. All new toughest places to play with dynamic rankings. All-new Mascot Mode with User Controlled Celebrations College Atmosphere & Pageantry - All-new Dynamic Crowd System. College sidelines are packed with additional players, mascots, cheerleaders, and more. All-new authentic fields with new textures, lighting, and field degradation. New college player models, including more than 50 alternate uniforms. User Customizable Stadium Sounds & Music. Breakaway crowd reactions Depth & Innovation - Online Dynasty. Roster file sharing online. Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode highlighting ease and accessibility. New post game presentation and play by play commentary. 1-4 player offline co-op. Return missed field goals. Bluff your play art to confuse opponents. Formation audibles. Smart routes. Bobble catches. Better passing control. Post play continuation. All-New Mini Games. Random play selection in practice mode. Quick replay. CPU vs. CPU (watch mode). Smooth 60 FPS on PS3. Even teams option in play now.
Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay It's Wide Open - Bigger holes, cutback lanes, and open receivers, making the game feel more wide open than ever before. Directional pump fake on the R stick. New college specific tackling engine Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components - Pre-play confusion and difficulty making adjustments when on the road against tough teams. All new toughest places to play with dynamic rankings. All-new Mascot Mode with User Controlled Celebrations College Atmosphere & Pageantry - All-new Dynamic Crowd System. College sidelines are packed with additional players, mascots, cheerleaders, and more. All-new authentic fields with new textures, lighting, and field degradation. New college player models, including more than 50 alternate uniforms. User Customizable Stadium Sounds & Music. Breakaway crowd reactions Depth & Innovation - Online Dynasty. Roster file sharing online. Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode highlighting ease and accessibility. New post game presentation and play by play commentary. 1-4 player offline co-op. Return missed field goals. Bluff your play art to confuse opponents. Formation audibles. Smart routes. Bobble catches. Better passing control. Post play continuation. All-New Mini Games. Random play selection in practice mode. Quick replay. CPU vs. CPU (watch mode). Smooth 60 FPS on PS3. Even teams option in play now.
Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay It's Wide Open - Bigger holes, cutback lanes, and open receivers, making the game feel more wide open than ever before. Directional pump fake on the R stick. New college specific tackling engine Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components - Pre-play confusion and difficulty making adjustments when on the road against tough teams. All new toughest places to play with dynamic rankings. All-new Mascot Mode with User Controlled Celebrations College Atmosphere & Pageantry - All-new Dynamic Crowd System. College sidelines are packed with additional players, mascots, cheerleaders, and more. All-new authentic fields with new textures, lighting, and field degradation. New college player models, including more than 50 alternate uniforms. User Customizable Stadium Sounds & Music. Breakaway crowd reactions Depth & Innovation - Online Dynasty. Roster file sharing online. Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode highlighting ease and accessibility. New post game presentation and play by play commentary. 1-4 player offline co-op. Return missed field goals. Bluff your play art to confuse opponents. Formation audibles. Smart routes. Bobble catches. Better passing control. Post play continuation. All-New Mini Games. Random play selection in practice mode. Quick replay. CPU vs. CPU (watch mode). Smooth 60 FPS on PS3. Even teams option in play now.
Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay It's Wide Open - Bigger holes, cutback lanes, and open receivers, making the game feel more wide open than ever before. Directional pump fake on the R stick. New college specific tackling engine Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components - Pre-play confusion and difficulty making adjustments when on the road against tough teams. All new toughest places to play with dynamic rankings. All-new Mascot Mode with User Controlled Celebrations College Atmosphere & Pageantry - All-new Dynamic Crowd System. College sidelines are packed with additional players, mascots, cheerleaders, and more. All-new authentic fields with new textures, lighting, and field degradation. New college player models, including more than 50 alternate uniforms. User Customizable Stadium Sounds & Music. Breakaway crowd reactions Depth & Innovation - Online Dynasty. Roster file sharing online. Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode highlighting ease and accessibility. New post game presentation and play by play commentary. 1-4 player offline co-op. Return missed field goals. Bluff your play art to confuse opponents. Formation audibles. Smart routes. Bobble catches. Better passing control. Post play continuation. All-New Mini Games. Random play selection in practice mode. Quick replay. CPU vs. CPU (watch mode). Smooth 60 FPS on PS3. Even teams option in play now.
Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay It's Wide Open - Bigger holes, cutback lanes, and open receivers, making the game feel more wide open than ever before. Directional pump fake on the R stick. New college specific tackling engine Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components - Pre-play confusion and difficulty making adjustments when on the road against tough teams. All new toughest places to play with dynamic rankings. All-new Mascot Mode with User Controlled Celebrations College Atmosphere & Pageantry - All-new Dynamic Crowd System. College sidelines are packed with additional players, mascots, cheerleaders, and more. All-new authentic fields with new textures, lighting, and field degradation. New college player models, including more than 50 alternate uniforms. User Customizable Stadium Sounds & Music. Breakaway crowd reactions Depth & Innovation - Online Dynasty. Roster file sharing online. Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode highlighting ease and accessibility. New post game presentation and play by play commentary. 1-4 player offline co-op. Return missed field goals. Bluff your play art to confuse opponents. Formation audibles. Smart routes. Bobble catches. Better passing control. Post play continuation. All-New Mini Games. Random play selection in practice mode. Quick replay. CPU vs. CPU (watch mode). Smooth 60 FPS on PS3. Even teams option in play now.
Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay It's Wide Open - Bigger holes, cutback lanes, and open receivers, making the game feel more wide open than ever before. Directional pump fake on the R stick. New college specific tackling engine Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components - Pre-play confusion and difficulty making adjustments when on the road against tough teams. All new toughest places to play with dynamic rankings. All-new Mascot Mode with User Controlled Celebrations College Atmosphere & Pageantry - All-new Dynamic Crowd System. College sidelines are packed with additional players, mascots, cheerleaders, and more. All-new authentic fields with new textures, lighting, and field degradation. New college player models, including more than 50 alternate uniforms. User Customizable Stadium Sounds & Music. Breakaway crowd reactions Depth & Innovation - Online Dynasty. Roster file sharing online. Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode highlighting ease and accessibility. New post game presentation and play by play commentary. 1-4 player offline co-op. Return missed field goals. Bluff your play art to confuse opponents. Formation audibles. Smart routes. Bobble catches. Better passing control. Post play continuation. All-New Mini Games. Random play selection in practice mode. Quick replay. CPU vs. CPU (watch mode). Smooth 60 FPS on PS3. Even teams option in play now.
Dynasty Mode also makes a return, and this mode receives the most significant revamping. As previously mentioned, you can now go online with your customized team, creating a dominant legacy in the process as you trounce fellow players through Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. You can assign roles, rules and positioning in the campus set-up, or join someone else's league in an attempt to dominate it. This mode is excellent, letting you match up with fellow players to see where your pigskin skills really lie. Hardcore fans may find it more to their liking than casual ones, though.
There is one minor drawback involving the customized downloadable rosters. For the first time in the series, you can download these rosters and use them in Dynasty Mode, along with other modes. Unfortunately, going through these rosters is frustrating. The menus constantly disappear and reappear while moving through them. It's nothing that can't be fixed with a patch update, but the fact that the game shipped this way is embarrassing.
One last improved feature worth noting is the more concentrated crowd interaction. When you play home games, you actually put your fans to work for you. For instance, pressure on a visiting team's kicker is quite noticeable, forcing them to "ice" up and get jittery putting the ball between the uprights. You can even customize your celebration animation, alone or with a mascot, to pump them up. However, this crowd interaction also works against you. If you're down three touchdowns or more, they'll empty the stands in favor of a kegger.
Aside from those additions (and slight issues), NCAA Football 09 is mostly the same as it was last year. The gameplay is still rather solid, although EA didn't really fix the problem with the defensive line and linebackers. On offense, your team can put on a showcase, giving you wide-open routes to run into the end zone. Play on defense, however, and you'll occasionally find yourself cursing at the screen after letting a receiver slip right through your fingers when you swear you had him in your sights. It's a minor issue, but one that was hard to ignore last year and is even harder this time around. Other than that, the passing game is adequate, with several highlighted receivers on the field, and you can customize your playbook any way you see fit. Newcomers can lower the difficulty and score a hundred points against the likes of USC as well, if that's what you prefer. (Take that, USC!)
Visually, only the most eagle-eyed gamers will really see any difference between the two versions (the new version supposedly offers better player animations). The on-field action remains very solid, with only slight lags in animation and route runs. The stadiums are authentic and some of the mascots (such as the manic Jayhawk) are fun to watch. As for audio, you've got traditional marching band music, complete with school themes, the same bone-crunching sound effects you've heard in other EA Sports football efforts, and the commentary team of Lee Corso, Brad Nessler and Kirk Herbstreit. They all get the job done, but, again, it's nothing new.
In conclusion, NCAA Football 09 is a comfortable college football experience, but not quite the current-gen legacy that EA Sports should've made it to be. It's got some terrific features (including the online Dynasty Mode), but the familiar items and questionable bugs stun its performance. Rent it first. Otherwise, there's always next year.
Related Links
NCAA Football 09 Xbox 360 Game Guide
NCAA Football 09 PlayStation 3 Game Guide
Previous Page
Next Page Latest Article Comments (1)
NCAA Football 09
- GenreSports
- Release Date07/15/2008
- PublisherElectronic Arts
- DeveloperEA Tiburon
- ESRBE - Everyone
