Thanks to a new locomotion engine, greatly improved visuals and presentation, and revamped playbooks that showcase the variety of offenses you see on Saturdays, "NCAA Football 11" looks and feels like real college football.
The "NCAA Football" franchise has spent this console generation playing catch-up to its big brother, the "Madden NFL" series. Since its debut on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, EA Sports' college football sim has been hampered by hand-me-down technology, missing features and a number of bugs and glitches.
With the launch of "NCAA Football 11," however, developer Tiburon has significantly closed that gap. There's still room for improvement, but "NCAA 11" is a major step forward for the franchise.
Thanks to a new locomotion engine, greatly improved visuals and presentation, and revamped playbooks that showcase the variety of offenses you see on Saturdays, "NCAA Football 11" looks and feels like real college football. If you've played past editions of "NCAA Football," you know that hasn't always been the case. "NCAA 11" is different, though.
It's hard to explain, but "NCAA 11" feels like the most "honest" college football game I've played. With the new locomotion running mechanics and Dual Stick controls that maps jukes and spins to the right analog stick, I feel in total control of my player at all times - on both sides of the ball. So when I fail to hit a hole as a running back or whiff on a tackle as a DB, I feel like it's my fault as a player and not the byproduct of getting caught up in an animation.
The AI has also received a major overhaul. In years past, I found the running game in "NCAA Football" to be hit-or-miss for me and non-existent for my CPU opponents. That's not the case in "NCAA 11" thanks to what EA has dubbed Real Assignment AI. Linemen now actively seek out opposing players to block and receivers hold their blocks down field, leading to some big gains on the ground. This new logic opens up the running game for both human and AI offenses, and even makes the draw play a viable option again. If you've grown accustomed to shutting down the AI running attack on a regular basis, you'll likely be in for a surprise.
Play-calling AI has received an upgrade, too. One of the big bullet points for "NCAA 11" is each team having its own distinct offensive play style and authentic sets, and in my experience I can say that EA has delivered. Wisconsin pounded the ball down my throat with its pro-style attack. Ohio State's quarterback burned my defense both through the air and on the ground. And yes, West Virginia ran the spread option extremely well, even mixing in a deep pass or two to keep my defense honest. Speaking of deep passes, the CPU wasn't shy about testing my secondary, sometimes attempting big pass plays on consecutive downs. I don't remember ever seeing that in past editions of "NCAA Football."
While casual gamers will likely notice the gameplay changes mentioned earlier, the hardcore crowd will no doubt make use of new features like formation subs, multiple game-speed settings, a player minimum speed threshold slider and expanded game-plan options, including one that activates an accelerated game clock when your team is on offense to help you chew up those precious minutes when you're clinging to a lead.
The changes on the field are unquestionably the most significant, but the improvements to "NCAA 11" begin even before the opening kickoff with the inclusion of team-specific introductions. Whether it's Notre Dame's players slapping the "Play like a champion today" sign or Ohio State's players walking up the tunnel arm-in-arm, the intros add to the authenticity of the game by spotlighting some of college football's grandest traditions. ESPN-style graphics and overlays help add to the presentation, but I still was left wanting more. If EA can give gamers multiple commentary teams and different presentation packages for its college basketball game, why can't they do it for "NCAA Football"?
Visually, "NCAA 11" is head-and-shoulders above its predecessors. Players look more natural thanks to self-shadowing and a new linear lighting system, eliminating the plastic-looking player models from last year's game. The combination of better-looking players and the new locomotion system, plus small touches like gang tackling and adding referees on the field, make "NCAA 11" the most realistic looking football game I've seen.
"NCAA 11" offers familiar gameplay modes like exhibition games (both online and off) and the Road to Glory story mode hosted by Erin Andrews, which returns basically untouched from last year. But it's the Dynasty mode that keeps gamers coming back to the "NCAA Football" franchise, and Tiburon has delivered the the deepest Dynasty experience to date whether you're playing offline or online with your friends.
The "NCAA Football" franchise has spent this console generation playing catch-up to its big brother, the "Madden NFL" series. Since its debut on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, EA Sports' college football sim has been hampered by hand-me-down technology, missing features and a number of bugs and glitches.
With the launch of "NCAA Football 11," however, developer Tiburon has significantly closed that gap. There's still room for improvement, but "NCAA 11" is a major step forward for the franchise.
Thanks to a new locomotion engine, greatly improved visuals and presentation, and revamped playbooks that showcase the variety of offenses you see on Saturdays, "NCAA Football 11" looks and feels like real college football. If you've played past editions of "NCAA Football," you know that hasn't always been the case. "NCAA 11" is different, though.
It's hard to explain, but "NCAA 11" feels like the most "honest" college football game I've played. With the new locomotion running mechanics and Dual Stick controls that maps jukes and spins to the right analog stick, I feel in total control of my player at all times - on both sides of the ball. So when I fail to hit a hole as a running back or whiff on a tackle as a DB, I feel like it's my fault as a player and not the byproduct of getting caught up in an animation.
The AI has also received a major overhaul. In years past, I found the running game in "NCAA Football" to be hit-or-miss for me and non-existent for my CPU opponents. That's not the case in "NCAA 11" thanks to what EA has dubbed Real Assignment AI. Linemen now actively seek out opposing players to block and receivers hold their blocks down field, leading to some big gains on the ground. This new logic opens up the running game for both human and AI offenses, and even makes the draw play a viable option again. If you've grown accustomed to shutting down the AI running attack on a regular basis, you'll likely be in for a surprise.
Play-calling AI has received an upgrade, too. One of the big bullet points for "NCAA 11" is each team having its own distinct offensive play style and authentic sets, and in my experience I can say that EA has delivered. Wisconsin pounded the ball down my throat with its pro-style attack. Ohio State's quarterback burned my defense both through the air and on the ground. And yes, West Virginia ran the spread option extremely well, even mixing in a deep pass or two to keep my defense honest. Speaking of deep passes, the CPU wasn't shy about testing my secondary, sometimes attempting big pass plays on consecutive downs. I don't remember ever seeing that in past editions of "NCAA Football."
While casual gamers will likely notice the gameplay changes mentioned earlier, the hardcore crowd will no doubt make use of new features like formation subs, multiple game-speed settings, a player minimum speed threshold slider and expanded game-plan options, including one that activates an accelerated game clock when your team is on offense to help you chew up those precious minutes when you're clinging to a lead.
The changes on the field are unquestionably the most significant, but the improvements to "NCAA 11" begin even before the opening kickoff with the inclusion of team-specific introductions. Whether it's Notre Dame's players slapping the "Play like a champion today" sign or Ohio State's players walking up the tunnel arm-in-arm, the intros add to the authenticity of the game by spotlighting some of college football's grandest traditions. ESPN-style graphics and overlays help add to the presentation, but I still was left wanting more. If EA can give gamers multiple commentary teams and different presentation packages for its college basketball game, why can't they do it for "NCAA Football"?
Visually, "NCAA 11" is head-and-shoulders above its predecessors. Players look more natural thanks to self-shadowing and a new linear lighting system, eliminating the plastic-looking player models from last year's game. The combination of better-looking players and the new locomotion system, plus small touches like gang tackling and adding referees on the field, make "NCAA 11" the most realistic looking football game I've seen.
"NCAA 11" offers familiar gameplay modes like exhibition games (both online and off) and the Road to Glory story mode hosted by Erin Andrews, which returns basically untouched from last year. But it's the Dynasty mode that keeps gamers coming back to the "NCAA Football" franchise, and Tiburon has delivered the the deepest Dynasty experience to date whether you're playing offline or online with your friends.
The key to building a successful college football dynasty is recruiting, and that's where Tiburon focused its attention in "NCAA 11." Recruiting is still handled by the phone call system, but the format has been changed to make the process more realistic and enjoyable. Each school is rated on a letter scale in more than a dozen categories like coach prestige, fan base, TV exposure and athletic facilities. Likewise, those topics are of varying levels of importance to potential recruits. When a phone call begins, you pick how many topics you want to discuss, but not the topics themselves. Instead, the conversation topic is selected randomly (though you do occasionally get a "coach's choice" that let's you pick the category) and you have to adjust your response depending on your school's rank and the recruit's interest in that particular subject, both of which are displayed onscreen.
During my Dynasty using West Virginia, I was always tickled when a recruit would ask about my fan base because it's rated so highly. But when a question about my coach prestige came up, I was quick to change the subject. You have the option to change the conversation topic two times during a phone call, as well as disparage other schools that are pursuing a given prospect. For instance, while on the phone with a tight end who was considering the Mountaineers and Central Florida, the topic of being a championship contender came up. Not surprisingly, WVU held a decided edge over UCF in that regard, so I jumped at the chance to promote my school's high rating in that category and point out their shortcomings. The result saw the recruit gain interest in WVU while losing interest in Central Florida. Unlike past years, a recruit's interest level is now shown by a number instead of just a graphic. It's a small change, but it gave me a better feel for how close I was to landing a recruit and helped me decide when to throw in the towel and stop chasing a recruit.
Offline, recruiting is much more difficult this year (and can be made more challenging thanks to a slider) but online is where real recruiting wars are likely to break out as users target the same prospects. Recruiting never stops in real college football and now it doesn't have to stop in "NCAA 11" thanks to the ability to access your online dynasty from your computer or iPhone. Logging on to your online dynasty away from your console allows you to recruit, check stats and game reports, and read game recaps written by other users created with the new StoryBuilder feature. You can even search for and join online dynasties from your PC.
Reviewing a sports game can be tough, as it's easy to fall in love with a new title at the beginning only to discover its flaws a month or two later. Hey, I'll admit that this "honeymoon phase" has led me rate past "NCAA Football" games higher than I should have, including last year's effort. But I really think that "NCAA 11" is different. It's flat-out fun to play. I'm looking forward to playing this game all summer and fall. I'm looking forward to getting tested by the CPU in my offline dynasty for the first time in ages, and I'm looking forward to stealing high-profile recruits from my friends in my online dynasty. Shoot, as I'm writing this I'm watching a CPU-vs.-CPU game between Pittsburgh and Notre Dame, not because it has anything to do with this review but because I love college football and "NCAA 11" is a fantastic representation of the sport. Maybe I'll look back on this review in six months and kick myself for saying this, but "NCAA 11" deserves a spot alongside "MLB: The Show," "Madden NFL 10" and "NHL 10" as the cream of the sports-gaming crop. I love this game.
"NCAA Football 11"
Developer: EA Tiburon
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Available for: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 ($59.99)
Rating: E for everyone
Score: 9.3/10
