NCAA Football 09 hands-on report two

by pastapadre
Posted May 29th, 2008 at 10:34 pm

A lot of the thoughts on my second run-through with NCAA Football 09 was covered in the live blog from Thursday but here are more detailed thoughts after finishing up.

Overall the game feels slightly more restricted than when I played it last month. You still get the sense of the wide-open gameplay but big plays happen less often and scores in general were coming out lower. I would attribute that to a decrease in acceleration which seemed a little extreme at the time for fast players. There is more balance between the offense and defense, though if someone is patient on offense they could be extremely efficient and make it difficult to stop them. Ultimately I do believe that the hardcore community will be more pleased with how it is playing now than how it played back then.

One thing that seems to be too easy is throwing to the RBs in the flats effectively. Linebackers just can’t keep up with them in man coverage, plus they almost seem to get a speed boost when they catch the ball. This was somewhat frustrating at times as it would result in consistent 7+ yard gains and was tough to prevent.

Lets look at some issues I pointed out last month and see if they have improved. I’ll have a more in-depth comparison to the event builds and how our feedback influenced (or didn’t) the final product down the line.

Balance as an offense can really pay off. At times though it felt like you were picking your poison when playing defense. Stopping the opposition on a consistent basis just didn’t happen.

This continued to be the case at times. There aren’t as many punts as you would expect since it is difficult to stop the opposition. The QBs can be very efficient, even though inaccurate passes seemed to be more apparent now. Short passes, especially against man coverage, are relatively easy to complete.

When it comes to the offensive-defensive balance I’d say the leaning is clearly towards the offense. However in most of the games that were played the scores ended up realistic. It brought about more excitement due to the big plays. Scores will likely depend heavily on the styles of the people playing. With longer quarters (7+ minutes) on All-American the scores would probably be unrealistically high.

Scores were down on All-American. A couple examples were 27-3 and 24-14. A month ago there would’ve been no way in a head-to-head game that a team would be held to 3 points. Big plays can still happen, but weren’t quite as often.

Completion percentage seemed to be on the high side. There were not all that many incomplete passes. It was relatively easy to run an efficient offense and move the chains on a consistent basis.

There certainly seemed to be more inaccurate passes but the completion percentages are still high. Patience tends to result in long, successful drives.

There were a high % of interceptions returned for touchdowns. This seemed to be due to the speed/acceleration and taking bad angles that are impossible to recover from. Off the top of my head I’d say on average 1-2 every game. This got to be a little frustrating that they were occurring so often and there was little recourse to preventing them being taken the distance.

Big difference here. Not only did I see less interceptions, but only a handful returned for TD and all seemed legit. I would look to better recovery by players on the team that got picked off and less extreme acceleration.

We didn’t really see the CPU throw deep which is a concern when considering this has been an issue for a while.

I had only a limited amount of time against the CPU but didn’t get any deep passes thrown on me.

Interception returns and other big plays sometimes would have the ball carrier with a lead blocker but no one out ahead for him to block. In that situation he continued to run ahead instead of turning around to block someone who was trying to catch the ball carrier. It looked awkward but I don’t think it ended up costing any of us because it’s so rare to see a player get caught from behind.

Didn’t see this happen but can’t say for sure it has been addressed. I know I didn’t see any of the “convoy blocking” from the one video (which I thought maybe that issue was leading up to at the time) and to my knowledge no one else did either.

The cheerleader cut scenes are shown a little too often. I would rather see more post play continuation than so many cheerleader scenes.

Not quite as much of the cheerleaders, but more of the mascots, and possibly more post-play continuation. Guess that is an improvement though still not ideal.

Make sure to read through my impressions from last month (part one, part two) for further details on the game. I’ll have more to add this weekend including some video clips and more analysis on the game.

Tags:

AJayJay

Good stuff Pasta. Little worried about how you mentioned the LB’s couldn’t keep up with the RB’s in the flats on pass plays. To me this was somewhat of a problem in Madden 08. Hope that the LB’s can at least contain them a little better. 7+ yards is wayyyy to many. Anyway thanks for the updates. Looking foward to Madden!
AJayJay

Good stuff Pasta. Little worried about how you mentioned the LB’s couldn’t keep up with the RB’s in the flats on pass plays. To me this was somewhat of a problem in Madden 08. Hope that the LB’s can at least contain them a little better. 7+ yards is wayyyy to many. Anyway thanks for the updates. Looking foward to Madden!
hogwild

Sounds to me there has been some improvement Pasta. I’m excited about that. Did you have the opportunity to see if the three man defensive line contain glitch is fixed? That is as close to a game killer as EA has ever had. Also I was wondeing if they will be carrying over the online records and level ranks like they have been doing with madden or will they reset NCAA again?
hogwild

Sounds to me there has been some improvement Pasta. I’m excited about that. Did you have the opportunity to see if the three man defensive line contain glitch is fixed? That is as close to a game killer as EA has ever had. Also I was wondeing if they will be carrying over the online records and level ranks like they have been doing with madden or will they reset NCAA again?
Tengo

Not feeling too good on this write up. The slowness of the game has always been something I didn’t like, and overall the game doesn’t sound all that well. If the defense still hasn’t been shown any love on any/either version for a very long time. Kinda bummed to hear these things. But I have to be honest, its what I expected.
Tengo

Not feeling too good on this write up. The slowness of the game has always been something I didn’t like, and overall the game doesn’t sound all that well. If the defense still hasn’t been shown any love on any/either version for a very long time. Kinda bummed to hear these things. But I have to be honest, its what I expected.
MannyBeltre

*pumps fist over the interception news*

Looks like I finally have a sports game I will be completely addicted to. This hasn’t happened since Madden ’04 and MVP Baseball ’05.
MannyBeltre

*pumps fist over the interception news*

Looks like I finally have a sports game I will be completely addicted to. This hasn’t happened since Madden ’04 and MVP Baseball ’05.
Kmart2180

Hey Pasta if you get a chance can you ask why no one has experienced convoy blocking. I hate when they show us/tell us something and then when you play the game it simply isnt there or happining. Why show it on a video if it isnt happening when you play.

Pasta one last question if you dont mind when playing Madden, Can you sim to the SuperBowl and see if there is any upgrade in the presentation. This one may take some time to do (simming and all) But Im sure everyone would appreciate it a bunch. Thanks Alot Pasta
Kmart2180

Hey Pasta if you get a chance can you ask why no one has experienced convoy blocking. I hate when they show us/tell us something and then when you play the game it simply isnt there or happining. Why show it on a video if it isnt happening when you play.

Pasta one last question if you dont mind when playing Madden, Can you sim to the SuperBowl and see if there is any upgrade in the presentation. This one may take some time to do (simming and all) But Im sure everyone would appreciate it a bunch. Thanks Alot Pasta
Travis

I just think that you are very rarely going to see convoy blocking. I mean when have you ever broken a huge run with your teammates running besides you? I can’t really recall that happening.
Travis

I just think that you are very rarely going to see convoy blocking. I mean when have you ever broken a huge run with your teammates running besides you? I can’t really recall that happening.
icomb1ne

It’s clearly obvious that you have some complaints…
So I’m asking if since you are at this community event if you are able to communicate directly with EA to imform them of the problems you noticed so that they can fix them for when the final product is released.
icomb1ne

It’s clearly obvious that you have some complaints…
So I’m asking if since you are at this community event if you are able to communicate directly with EA to imform them of the problems you noticed so that they can fix them for when the final product is released.
I Peench

[quote comment="22786"]It’s clearly obvious that you have some complaints…
So I’m asking if since you are at this community event if you are able to communicate directly with EA to imform them of the problems you noticed so that they can fix them for when the final product is released.[/quote]
At this point Pasta is probably playing the final version of the game. Unfortunate, I know…
I Peench

[quote comment="22786"]It’s clearly obvious that you have some complaints…
So I’m asking if since you are at this community event if you are able to communicate directly with EA to imform them of the problems you noticed so that they can fix them for when the final product is released.[/quote]
At this point Pasta is probably playing the final version of the game. Unfortunate, I know…
MC

Is the PS3 version still identical to the 360 version? Sorry for the PS3 question but a restless PS3 user here. lol
MC

Is the PS3 version still identical to the 360 version? Sorry for the PS3 question but a restless PS3 user here. lol
Chad Rogers

I really don’t have a problem with LB’s not being able to cover rb’s all that well, frankly very few of them can. If we are talking about a simple flat route being completed over and over then it might be an issue, but we need more info on who the rb and lb was.
Man to man is a risk and I don’t mind if it’s punished in the right way. A speedy back can be a nightmare obviously.
Chad Rogers

I really don’t have a problem with LB’s not being able to cover rb’s all that well, frankly very few of them can. If we are talking about a simple flat route being completed over and over then it might be an issue, but we need more info on who the rb and lb was.
Man to man is a risk and I don’t mind if it’s punished in the right way. A speedy back can be a nightmare obviously.
Michael

Pasta did you look at TExas Tech or Hawiaas play book and if you saw it did you see bubble screens in there playbook?
Michael

Pasta did you look at TExas Tech or Hawiaas play book and if you saw it did you see bubble screens in there playbook?
smokez4Dayz

Your overall tone is your happy to be there previewing the game, BUT you’re not school girl excited about what you’ve seen so far, and you sound a little let down. btw: doesnt a cover 2 stop rb flats? or defensive line audible to flat zone? Your low toned report leads me to believe I was right.

GameFly at best
smokez4Dayz

Your overall tone is your happy to be there previewing the game, BUT you’re not school girl excited about what you’ve seen so far, and you sound a little let down. btw: doesnt a cover 2 stop rb flats? or defensive line audible to flat zone? Your low toned report leads me to believe I was right.

GameFly at best
Jeff

Progressive lighting???
Jeff

Progressive lighting???
icomb1ne

I forgot the most important question. Overall was the game enjoyable? You never mentioned whether you liked it or not.
icomb1ne

I forgot the most important question. Overall was the game enjoyable? You never mentioned whether you liked it or not.
Sean

Pasta,
aSo I take it you cant be a TE in campus legend mode and you cant play special teams right?
Sean

Pasta,
aSo I take it you cant be a TE in campus legend mode and you cant play special teams right?
Afrodamus

Thanks Pasta.

The RB in the flats can be addressed in a number of ways…cov 2 and many other zones or zone blitzes…No worries there because very few LB’s can stay with a RB in the flats…At the same time the play should not be automatic MONEY

Overall…I like what I hear…The game sounds like it will be very good.

Guys keep in mind Pasta and most community Day invitees are not breaking the game down to the enth degree so when Pasta notes something was hard to stop or seemed easy he is referencing that w/o the benefit of truly having enough time to diagnose the issue and lab the game to see if there is a defense or set that will counter what he was seeing.

College football is a must for anyone who loves the game…There is nothing in Pasta’s tone or delivery thats saying this game is not worth a purchase or a MUST Have…he’s simply reporting the information…If you wanna really know and feel the game get it yourself and make your own decision…Don’t let Pasta or anyone else sway you one way or the other….Make your own choice.
Afrodamus

Thanks Pasta.

The RB in the flats can be addressed in a number of ways…cov 2 and many other zones or zone blitzes…No worries there because very few LB’s can stay with a RB in the flats…At the same time the play should not be automatic MONEY

Overall…I like what I hear…The game sounds like it will be very good.

Guys keep in mind Pasta and most community Day invitees are not breaking the game down to the enth degree so when Pasta notes something was hard to stop or seemed easy he is referencing that w/o the benefit of truly having enough time to diagnose the issue and lab the game to see if there is a defense or set that will counter what he was seeing.

College football is a must for anyone who loves the game…There is nothing in Pasta’s tone or delivery thats saying this game is not worth a purchase or a MUST Have…he’s simply reporting the information…If you wanna really know and feel the game get it yourself and make your own decision…Don’t let Pasta or anyone else sway you one way or the other….Make your own choice.
J. Troy

Pasta, would you mind finding out all of the editing options in CAP/edit player mode? Thanks…
J. Troy

Pasta, would you mind finding out all of the editing options in CAP/edit player mode? Thanks…
http://www.pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

[quote comment="22794"]I forgot the most important question. Overall was the game enjoyable? You never mentioned whether you liked it or not.[/quote]

I think its very fun, most of my general impressions of the game carry over from my first play session last month. I just wanted to do some comparison on the areas that we gave feedback and see how much had changed in this write-up.
http://www.pastapadre.com pastapadre

[quote comment="22794"]I forgot the most important question. Overall was the game enjoyable? You never mentioned whether you liked it or not.[/quote]

I think its very fun, most of my general impressions of the game carry over from my first play session last month. I just wanted to do some comparison on the areas that we gave feedback and see how much had changed in this write-up.
Eric

[quote comment="22787"][quote comment="22786"]It’s clearly obvious that you have some complaints…
So I’m asking if since you are at this community event if you are able to communicate directly with EA to imform them of the problems you noticed so that they can fix them for when the final product is released.[/quote]
At this point Pasta is probably playing the final version of the game. Unfortunate, I know…[/quote]

Yes, NCAA is final at this point. Ian (producer of Madden) mentioned it in another thread on OS. Madden is almost final as well, for those wondering.
Eric

[quote comment="22787"][quote comment="22786"]It’s clearly obvious that you have some complaints…
So I’m asking if since you are at this community event if you are able to communicate directly with EA to imform them of the problems you noticed so that they can fix them for when the final product is released.[/quote]
At this point Pasta is probably playing the final version of the game. Unfortunate, I know…[/quote]

Yes, NCAA is final at this point. Ian (producer of Madden) mentioned it in another thread on OS. Madden is almost final as well, for those wondering.
Jeff

Pasta, is it that you just don’t care about progressive lighting, or is just something EA won’t allow you to answer yet?
Jeff

Pasta, is it that you just don’t care about progressive lighting, or is just something EA won’t allow you to answer yet?
Oz

Pasta,

Can you edit your playbook at all or do you still just have to pick a school’s playbook?
Oz

Pasta,

Can you edit your playbook at all or do you still just have to pick a school’s playbook?
Kmart2180

[quote comment="22791"]Pasta did you look at TExas Tech or Hawiaas play book and if you saw it did you see bubble screens in there playbook?[/quote]

Hey someone from Ncaastrategies.com said that teams like T Tech did not have all those screens that they do in real life. Im not sure if that answers your question.
Kmart2180

[quote comment="22791"]Pasta did you look at TExas Tech or Hawiaas play book and if you saw it did you see bubble screens in there playbook?[/quote]

Hey someone from Ncaastrategies.com said that teams like T Tech did not have all those screens that they do in real life. Im not sure if that answers your question.
47

sounds as if NCAA has taken a step to the side instead of forward, really disappointing as I felt NCAA 08 was only a slight step away from being really good. On the bright side, Madden looks like itll be worth playing for the first time in 3 years.
47

sounds as if NCAA has taken a step to the side instead of forward, really disappointing as I felt NCAA 08 was only a slight step away from being really good. On the bright side, Madden looks like itll be worth playing for the first time in 3 years.
Josh

[quote comment="22805"]Pasta, is it that you just don’t care about progressive lighting, or is just something EA won’t allow you to answer yet?[/quote]

Seriously Pasta, I know you’re busy evalutating the game & your feedback is greatly appreciated but with all due respect, can you please make a little more of an effort to answer a few more of our questions? I’ve asked about the progressive lighting in about 4 different posts for both Madden & NCAA & still no answer. Jeff & I just want to know if the lighting is progressive in both NCAA & Madden. Thank you sir.
Josh

[quote comment="22805"]Pasta, is it that you just don’t care about progressive lighting, or is just something EA won’t allow you to answer yet?[/quote]

Seriously Pasta, I know you’re busy evalutating the game & your feedback is greatly appreciated but with all due respect, can you please make a little more of an effort to answer a few more of our questions? I’ve asked about the progressive lighting in about 4 different posts for both Madden & NCAA & still no answer. Jeff & I just want to know if the lighting is progressive in both NCAA & Madden. Thank you sir.
Josh

Did you ban me from the sight Pasta?
Josh

Did you ban me from the sight Pasta?