NCAA Football 09

NCAA Football 09

Product Description

Brings college pigskin action back with a new break away animation mechanic that will allow increased maneuverability on the field / ESRB E for Everyone

Features

• Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay
• College Atmosphere & Pageantry
• Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components
• All-new Mascot Mode
• Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode

Customer Reviews

NCAA Football 09
I really like the NCAA Football series so this game was a must have for me. With all new animations added to this year's version it definitely tops last years version.

Online Dynasties ROCK!
I am taking a break from my busy online NCAA 09 dynasty schedule to write a review of this awesome game. This version of NCAA is leaps and bounds better then previous versions due to the addition of online dynasties. Yes, they have also upgraded the graphics, added the cheerleaders and put nice little touches in like tight rope runs down the sidelines and kickoff teams stretching and prepping.

But the big news here is the online dynasties *you can still do offline dynasties too and even convert an online dynasty into an offline one. You choose a team and build that team through recruiting and winning games. You make promises to incoming recruits and redshirt players and you make sure you are under the 70 player limit. This was only available offline before. Taking dynasties online has propelled this game to a new level. You are now playing someone, season after season and chasing not only the National Championship but Conference Championships and Rivalry wins.

I have the new Madden too and while Madden has online leagues they are nothing like online dynasties. In Madden you choose a team, and if you want, do a draft for your entire team. Then in Madden you play whatever other player you want to in your league. Not so in NCAA 09. You start with the current players your team has in real life and while you can drop and add non conference games you are locked into your team's conference schedule. Of the 2, I currently play NCAA 90% of the time.

Here is my breakdown of the game:

PROs

-Graphics
-Gameplay and commentators are realistic
-ONLINE DYNASTIES with up to 12 players!!!
-You can voice chat with everyone in your dynasty while you are logged into the main area.
-A few more penalties then last year making it a little more realistic
-Controls are the same as last year and same as Madden
-Many more audible options then before-Specific plays plus Play Types (run,quick pass, cover 2 etc) as well as O Line slide to counter D Line
shfits
-A tremedous amount of detail that does a great job of emulating real college football atmosphere
-All the Bowl games and Tons of Rivalry Game hardware to win and store in your "shrine"
-Ability to upload your favorite play movies to your profile at EA
Sports World

Cons
-Not all team mascots are in the game
-Team rankings for some teams are arguably wrong.
-Sometimes defensive players just stand there and don't go after the
ball carrier.
-There is a weird new "bobble" run that I am not sure if its a bug or not
but sometimes your ball carrier runs like he has a wedgie
-99 speed receivers can't outrun 91 speed CBs and safeties
-You can sim games that are blowouts so you don't sit there through a boring game. However when you sim you are much more likely to have injuries that can have serious effects on your team.
-AI games are pretty much wins. Being beat by the CPU is a rarety

There are some bugs that were supposed to be addressed in a second and final patch that was released on August 29. Unfortunately it did not address some of the more serious problems and even created a new one. A major bug in the online dynasty is that in the offseason your best couple of undergraduate players will want to go to the NFL draft or even transfer to another school if they are reserves and have a good rating because they want to start. You can talk them out of it. Well there is a bug that even though you talk them out of leaving, when you complete the offseason they leave anyway. Well this can be devastating to your team when your key players leave. Patch 2 was supposed to fix it and it didn't. Since Patch 2 there is a new bug. In shotgun plays TEs and CBs will line up in slot positions. Hopefully EA Sports will release another patch soon to fix these bugs.

Huge upgrade
This is a significant upgrade for the PS3 from NCAA 08, so if you are debating whether to buy the new version my answer is "Most definitely, buy this version". The player control is smoother, greater attention to detail with the stadiums, crowds, etc, and the mascot challenge is an enjoyable break from the action. From the moment I broke it out of the plastic I haven't been able to put it down. Once you have configured the game for your team, there are even unique pictures for that particular team that you will recognize if you went to that particular school.

One minor glitch I have noticed is that occasionally when reviewing your play call on the field, the receiver routes will get all wavy (best way I know how to describe it) and the receiver designation will appear as a question mark, rather than circle or square. I'm thinking this is a memory writing issue with the game as it goes away with the next play called.