NCAA Football 11 Review

Since I’m a nerdy blogger who lives in my mother’s basement, it figures I’d be playing the new NCAA Football game. I buy it every year, and I feel this is the best version yet on the new systems. Anyway, here’s my review:


Presentation:

Recently, NCAA Football has received heat for their awful presentation of their game. The commentating was awful, there was no atmosphere, a Sun Belt game felt the same as a National Title game, and the overlays were awful. Some of those flaws were fixed in this edition. ESPN presentation was added, and several unique entrances were added for different teams. There’s a sense of importance when a big rivalry game is going, like Cal-Stanford. The commentating is still a bit stale, there’s only a few entrances, the crowd is nearly quiet during games, and there aren’t very many stat overlays, but overall the presentation is improved. It’s good, but room for improvement.

Offense:

Offense has to be viewed in twofold: passing and rushing. The rushing game is pure awesome; the passing game is okay. The rushing game is executed well in three ways: the autoturbo added to the game, the camera angle, and the new locomotion addition. With those additions, you’re more concerned about hitting the hole (and you can actually see them) then mashing a turbo button . The new locomotion makes the running styles more realistic looking, as well as making the tackles look far better. The new gang tackling system also contributes to that. I’m not a big fan of the passing this year though. There’s far too many deflections by the defensive line and linebackers that aren’t very realistic, and the man coverage by the CPU is a little too high-powered. However, the pocket system is great and the days of scrambling around like Mike Vick are over. Overall, offense is much improved this year in realism and I love the new rushing game.

Defense:

I’ve always hated defense in NCAAs. It was always impossible, and CPU QB’s would make impossible throws normal. This year, that changes. Gone are the days of a 42-35 shootout every game. While it still might happen, defense is much improve. Playing on default All-American, I frequently hold the CPU to the 10-21 range. This, combined with the offense being toned down, leads to more 13-10 and 17-7 games that are more realistic. Like real life, you need to make adjustments in order to stop the other time. Looking at the formation the opposition is running and switching from zone to man or vice versa can be the difference between stopping an offense or getting crushed. Man defense is now an option, unlike last year’s where man D would lead to you getting burned time and time again. The rush defense is a little overpowered on the user’s side, but you still see some realistic numbers. Tackling can be shoddy though. Defense this year is much improved, compared to last year’s struggles.

Overview:

This year’s NCAA is the best football game I’ve played in a long time. Realism is in nearly every facet of the game, and the new rushing game system is a great feature. While I’m always hyped for a new game, I believe this is the real deal. I suggest buying this game if you’re a college football fan looking for your video game fix.