NCAA Football 09 hands-on: Part two
May 1, 2008 by pastapadre
Earlier I posted my general experience and thoughts on things more related directly to the gameplay. Now in part two of my hands-on with NCAA Football 09 I’ll detail some of the new features that have been added. There are some big ones that should be really well received and others that will greatly enhance the overall gameplay experience.
I had the opportunity to sit down with producer Ben Haumiller and talk about the online dynasty mode. Essentially it offers absolutely everything there is in an offline dynasty. We already knew about being able to play with up to 12 teams for up to 60 seasons. Every team is included and all the features (even down things such as the Heisman watch) operate in the same way. When it comes to recruiting you compete against all the CPU and user controlled teams.
The whole thing is really well thought out. There is a commish that controls everything. First of all it is invite only there won’t be any online franchises comprised of a completely random group of people. Still if someone is flaking out they can sim that person’s activities and games. Also everything is completely auto-updated. As soon as a task is completed the game uploads the new info. For anyone concerned about people attempting to cheat the commish will receive “restart alerts”. Since everything is auto-updated there is no way to hide if you restart a game that isn’t going your way. The commish will see that a game has been restarted X amount of times.
There were a couple other things that worth noting. Any time you’re in the menus you’ll be in an open voice chat with the others who are as well. You can also have multiple people taking part from the same console which would make it a mix of the more traditional multi-user offline franchise with additional online users.
It really sounds as if they are going to deliver with online dynasty. The only worry has to be around the online lag problems and whether they have been rectified. They stated they are aware of those issues and have been working hard to make sure that online play runs smoothly.
Home Field Advantage returns but not in the same way as was previously implemented. This is a feature I had really hoped for in both football titles and I really like the way they instituted it and the effect it has on the games. The first thing to point out is that it isn’t over-powered like many believed it used to be. Road teams were playing effectively even in hostile environments when prepared.
The main way you see it is in the loss of the receiver icons and controller rumble. This makes for some anxious feeling if you have to wait for the snap to recognize the icons. This is especially the case for someone who uses a lot of audibles or hot routes. You also get the erratic play routes but those are at least somewhat distinguishable on their own. Despite all that if you are prepared and don’t lose concentration (by knowing what player is designated to what icon from the play selected) it can be overcome. I did notice a few times while on the road that hot routes seemed to be missed by the receivers. I don’t know if those instances were HFA related or not.
Another thing that has been added which somewhat ties in with HFA is the QB composure (being referred to as the QB challenge). After throwing an INT a screen comes up asking for you to choose out of three plays which one the defense ran. If you guess correctly your QB will sustain his composure (I suppose think of it as “learning from the mistake”) but select the wrong one and your QB will lose composure. The less composure the more icons that are missing pre-snap and it also seemed the more inaccurate the QB will be. It was my perception that the composure hit was more significant for the QB playing on the road but I don’t know if that is the case for sure. The screen took a little long to load (possibly a build issue) but other than that I liked this new element.
After timeouts you have the opportunity to select an area of focus. This should give a boost in this area for (assuming) the next play. While on offense the options are “ignore crowd”, “get open”, “block better”, “break tackles”, and “protect ball”. While on defense they are “shed blocks”, “lockup coverage”, “tackle better”, “get ball back”, and “no penalties”. It makes the use of timeouts more strategic which is an improvement over them only being useful at the end of the half or game.
“Coaches cam” now has two options for “bluff plays”. Pull up the coaches cam with the right trigger, press up to view your play, press down to view the individual player confidence levels, and pressing left or right will show incorrect plays. This is great to have for head-to-head games.
Post play continuation is more of a subtle improvement but it meshes nicely. I just would’ve liked to see more of it than all the shots of cheerleaders. Basically after a play is over sometimes there will be a scene played that fits with how it ended. The first one I saw I had made a reception near the sideline and was trying to stay in bounds. Once I stepped on the sideline and the play was over it cut to him continuing to run down the sideline.
After scoring a TD if your player hasn’t made a dive into the end zone you remain in control of him and can run around for a few seconds. This leads into a short celebration. If you run up to your mascot or the opposing team’s mascot it’ll be a celebration involving them. Some of which were pretty amusing and team specific (although will likely get repetitive).
“Icing the kicker” is now a feature (optional so it can be turned off). The meter is literally covered in ice which makes it more difficult to see for timing the power. It also gives the lower camera perspective and heart beat vibration and after the kick is in the air it continues in slow motion. It was a pretty cool effect and at least made kicking a little more challenging in a pressure situation.
Because we weren’t able to upload music to the game we weren’t able to test out the custom sounds. Chris Jacobs at NCAA Strategies copied down the all 23 situations in which they can be set
We were unable to reach the online area of the game to look at the procedures behind the roster sharing or online dynasty.
There are two new mini-games, both of which really aren’t worth noting. “Horse” offers a chance to play by kicking field goals from various places on the field (including outside the hashes) and “Special Teams Challenge” is just like the “Tug of War” but with punting. I can’t imagine anyone playing these after they get the achievement as they were just dreadfully boring. I suppose they could be used to improve skill in kicking, punt coverage, and punt returns.
The mascot games don’t play exactly like the regular games. They are more arcade style and include over-the-top jukes and flips.
In something that became a running joke there appeared to be a bug that on a couple occasions selected the play automatically and then wouldn’t display the audible options. All that was visible was the Coke Zero logo. This naturally led into discussion about advertisers choosing your plays as a feature.
I have the top 25 teams, top 25 toughest places to play, and top rated players at each position taken down (there are five players total who have a 99 rating). Those will be coming in the near future unless I’m informed that I need to withhold posting them (quite possible). Georgia is already known as #1, Oklahoma is #2.
I wanted to reiterate that everything I mentioned in my hands-on reports have been communicated and will at least be heard by the NCAA team. Whether they can, or choose, to make changes based on that falls on them. Granted it is too late in the process to make major changes, but the game really doesn’t need major changes. It could however benefit from some adjustments and tuning. Overall though the addition of all the new features and the shift to wide-open gameplay looks to make this one of the best received sports titles of this generation.
sounds good from the feature side of things
I like how you can ice the kicker now and it actually has an effect
is it o.k. if you tell me what Texas is Ranked??? (^-^)
hay pasta, is “My Shrine” back in the game? That was the only thing i liked from 08.
Good report, Pasta.
“My Shrine” is back, sean. However, it is not the backdrop in the main menu, but can be found in the ‘My NCAA’ menu.
kdz wrote:
Probably not. But they are in the upper half of the top 25.
sean wrote:
It wasn’t as the main menu but you can find it in “My NCAA”
nice write up pasta!
So now that you can answer specifics here are my questions…
-What is the max roster size?
-Are custom playbooks/plays in the game?
-Can you edit a player’s year in school for the default rosters?
-Is it possible to have 2 players with the same number ( 1 Off/1 Def )?
-What did the EA people give for reasons why no CAS?
Thanks for all the info!
hey nice work is the slide protection in the game for next gen ? and also is it possible to give me Florida state’s overall rating ?
Gators are #5 and UT is #19.
If tebow is not one of the 99 rated players, i’m not gonna be a happy camper.
Thank you pasta and cdj, you guys wrote up great, detailed reports.
great write up pasta and cdj, been following this all for a while and its good to have some third-party reviews that aren’t PR tainted for this title. i’ve posted this question a few times, but i really wanna know (if you all know):
do they have the new UCF helmets, stadium (last year was generic), and mascot in the game?
helmet: http://images.footballfanatics…..3324_s.jpg
stadium: http://farm2.static.flickr.com…..5b2d_b.jpg
mascot: http://farm2.static.flickr.com…..24ef_m.jpg
thanks and keep up the good work.
Pasta,
can you please check into K-State’s uniforms..
from IGN’s video interview posted today I took this picture of their uniform:
http://img260.imageshack.us/im.....uredi0.jpg
that is from two years ago.. last year they updated their uniforms to these:
http://img337.imageshack.us/my.....re1tc5.jpg
hopefully they can get this fixed by release..
i’d appreciate it if you could check and/or bring it to their attention if you have the connections
jonsan wrote:
Your links are broken. But I’m pretty sure the answer is yes to all those considering how much I saw that team played with. They also have the custom U-C-F player celebration which can be activated at home by pressing Y after a TD.
*Online dynasty is the feature I am looking most forward to. With a small group of friends all in the same conference, it should be a blast.
*Home field advantage sounds very “gamey” to me. I’d rather it affect the game by having the away team miss more tackles, drop more catches, throw more erratic passes, run wrong routes, etc.
*QB composure is again very “gamey”. I hope you are able to disable this, because I have zero interest in it. QB composure should be built in and affect your QBs throwing ability if they are going to have it all.
*Area of focus is a nice touch. A similar feature exists in College Hoops 2K8 and works well in that title.
*Bluff plays is a nice feature for head-to-head, but not something I’ll probably use.
*Post play continuation, I agree with you Pasta. From the footage we’ve seen so far, I’d want more post-play and FAR LESS cheerleaders.
*TD dances I could honestly care less about. I’m sure all 4/6/8/however-many-there-are animations will get stale awful fast.
*Icing the kicker is very “gamey”. Has the strategy even been proven to work in real life? For the few successfull icings I’ve seen a ton of guys make the second kick, or miss the first and make the iced kick. The usefullness of this feature hinges on how much more difficult it makes the kick.
*Custom sounds, pass.
*Mini games, pass.
*Mascot games, I doubt very much I’ll ever play one.
Online dynasty isn’t something I was interested in. Until I read about it. If EA really is putting this much effort into it, and making sure its lag free, then heck ya I am pumped! This could be great. Hopefully it isn’t a feature that takes 2-3yrs to get right, hopefully its 100% out of the gate.
Quick questions… The play calling system has reverted back to the last gen style correct? Pick the play by the button assigned to it.
During mini games, can you play a friend in option attack. Where the friend plays defense, you play offense, then switch. Or is it still a sit and watch while you take turns against the CPU type scenario?
Thanks
Pasta, did you get to see the intros? Are we getting team specific intros this yr? Or any kind of pre-game presentation, or is it just a shot of the stadium cutting to the coin toss(if so thatd be real lame…again)
i didnt realize they were broken, dont know why they are. heres some new links to them:
mascot: http://i3.photobucket.com/albu.....ightro.jpg
helmet: http://i3.photobucket.com/albu.....helmet.jpg
stadium: http://i3.photobucket.com/albu.....O87569.jpg
5 players with overall ratings of 99? Hmm…
I think I can guess three of them.
Michael Crabtree, James Laurenitis, and Tebow. Anybody have any other ideas?
owen scmitt is psp guy
chase daniel better be the best QB in the country…because, well, he is…(Florida fans…don’t try to claim Tebow is the best QB…he is the best ATHLETE at QB…but, he is not a great QB, which is why if he gets drafted by the NFL that he will be a WR at best…)
jonsan - I’m sure the stadium and uniforms are correct, but I thought they still had the old mascot. I may be wrong on that.
Hi Pasta,
Thanks for the review.
Were you able to play any bowl games? Did the teams have the patches and did the endzones have the team letterings?
Thanks,
After reading both write up’s, all I can say is the game sounds incredible. I loved last year’s, can’t wait for this year’s.
Thanks Pasta. Any news regarding Campus Legend?
cdj wrote:
I thought Knightro was in but I guess I don’t remember for sure.
Mj wrote:
I don’t believe either were there in bowl games.
Sean wrote:
Just what I mentioned in part one. They fixed the camera so it doesn’t swing around anymore and they let you do a full week’s practice all at once so you dont have to spend half your time on loading screens.
michael sims wrote:
How do you know that is the case? They said they were taking a player each from their own region. That would eliminate him since Matt Ryan came from the east. Jake Long makes a lot of sense since west, south, and east are gone leaving the north and he was at the cover event too.
nice writeup thanks for the info
pasta,
what about offline dynasty? were there any discussions about that?
Pasta-
Great work.
Now, please tell me there are bowl patches/bowl presentation/non generic bowl endzones…pleeeeeease tell me these are in the game.
This game looks outstanding..and I am very hard on the NCAA games.
Thanks for the previews.
shaun wrote:
CDJ would probably be better able to answer questions on that. I haven’t played dynasty mode in years so some of the discussion on what they did there went over my head.
WOW!
PASTA U ROCK!
I cant wait till july 15
Anyway i have 2 questions?
What are the oregon State Beavers Alternate jerseys?
and Are there dreads or hairstyles in this game?
Thanks Pasta
Pasta,
Huge question here….can you have created players in an online dynasty? My friends and I like to create one freshman each for our teams and watch them progress (and maybe battle for a Heisman).
Any chance you played with or saw anyone play with Oklahoma? If so, did they have their names on the back of the jerseys??
Thanks!
Doobie wrote:
Didn’t check on Oregon State’s alternate/s
I’m not sure on the hair. Considering that area of the game didn’t seem to be fully implemented anyway I’m not sure I could have given an accurate answer for the final version of the game.
JB wrote:
I can’t state for certain since I haven’t seen the procedures behind it in action. But they were stating pretty clearly that anything that could be done in a normal dynasty could be done with the online ones.
Again-
Pasta- Bowl patches?
Hey Pasta…tight site!! did texas tech have any alternates? did you get to play any with them?
Bumble14 wrote:
Pasta answered the question earlier. It looks like we have to wait yet another year for bowl patches to appear. This is quite disappointing since this is the 3rd year it is on next gen.
I sure hope ALL the stadiums are in though.
myron wrote:
I think they may have been a CPU team that CDJ chose to play against. Didn’t check their uniforms, the concentration was on seeing if they would run a pass heavy oriented offense (which they did)
can u create a school? its been missing from the 360 version for 2 years now and i really want it back
Steve wrote:
I’ll give a small hint. Two of the five players come from a position that most people would not be throwing names out from.
I don’t have a link to the resolution but I know changing the play-clock to 40 seconds was proposed and I’m pretty sure it was passed.
Does anyone have any info on if this is final? I know it probably won’t make the final build of the game, it would take a whole one line of code.
This is being discussed at OS.
http://www.operationsports.com.....ign-4.html
Do you know anything about this Pasta?
The online dynasty sounds GREAT…especially if they can work out some of the issues with lag. I do have one question about it though….can you create an online dynasty with a shared/custom roster, or do you have to start with the default roster?
great review pasta.so we dont get no entrances this year? how was the the blocking? can u slide the line this year?
yo pasta, i saw some video on ign, and it was LSU and they were making short dump passes for 10-15 yards 2 plays in a row(i thought hey would fix that). I hatted this when i was online because my defence would never react to it no matter what i called. Do you know if they have improved the defence to recognize this (also the same wit QB scrambles).
is texas tech ranked in the top 15 at least???
BravesBoy wrote:
you need to see the video again…both of those drop-offs were the fault of the HUMAN USER (USC) playing on defense. if you notice, on both those plays, he is a linebacker and he blows both of those coverages. he’s highlighted with a blue circle, so you know its not the CPU A.I…he stumbles around, living the running back open…
Being that it is human error and not AI, you cant use those examples to show that EA has not worked on defense.
pasta, honistly is 360 or ps3 better far as graphics
kwizzy wrote:
Any chance you can answer any of these pasta?
Thanks again!
pasta…
are they adding new equipment (specifically new helmets/face masks)?
thank you.
BIGTURBOWEENIE wrote:
Yeah there were some things but I didn’t note them all. I did list out the visor, gloves, and shoes options in part one.
kwizzy wrote:
Sorry, I don’t really have an anything to add on those.
sam hall wrote:
Pretty much identical as far as graphics. We played the 360 and PS3 versions on different TV’s so it would’ve been difficult to judge them too closely. But at a glance there really were no noticeable differences visually.
Nice writeup, yet you fail to mention the lack of FCS schools (which has been leaked by other outlets after the playtest). I seriously hope it isn’t up to the congregation of FCS fans to pressure EA for the third consecutive year for inclusion. More major media outlets need to trumpet the horn here on that. It’s ridiculous especially after what App State did last year to keep them out. 10% of players drafted in the NFL Draft were from FCS schools. It’s not a joke subdivision.
Any of those 99 rated players have a # 15 on their jersey? lol are you allowed to tell us that?
Beau wrote:
Pasta..
do you have connections with any of EA’s people who could/can make uniform adjustments?
georgia #1? thats sickning
can you tell me what knowshon morenos overall rating was?
Do the Oklahoma Sooners have names on their uni’s??
when will u be able to give top 25, top 25 toughest places to play, and tops by position thanks.
I can see Turbo is already at work whining about Facemasks.
MJ wrote:
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!! Is this confirmed for sure.
So let me get this straight…they added online dynasty, polished the graphics up, and added alternate jerseys. So I guess 08 was just a beta?
Pasta- is there a reason why content like bowl patches and FCS schools that were in the last console generation of this series, is eing left out? Start asking some tough questions to these guys please instead of being enamored by everything they say. I
I thought this year was all about bringing the atmosphere of college football into the game–yet they don’t give us bowl patches? NCAA 2002 had them for ps2, and that was the 1st ps2 NCAA, so why are we 3 years in w/ no patches?
This game really needs to have team specific entrances. Like someone said before, a couple years ago they had ND coming out touching the “Play like a champion” sign, and they had Miami w/ the smoke one year, but they need to be specific for each team when they are at home. I really dont think it would be that hard to do. I’m still pumped for this game no matter what.
I hate to keep harping on this stuff, but when I bought my PS3 and 360 I was expecting this to be the greatest sports generation of video games EVER…especially NCAA. I was expecting amazing details, all the team, playoff’s, tons of options and features, amazing graphics, etc. Anyone else as disappointed as I am? Guess this is just the FPS generation and not the sports generation- maybe the next batch of consoles?
Honestly, is EA ever going to realize that NCAA 04 and 06 are STILL better than ANY of the next gen editions they have released? No reall, do they realize that?
Boiler Up wrote:
Why would they include it? It was already included in last gen- apparently the ps2 and xbox were far more powerful machines than the ps3/360…what you are asking for would tax the machines too much and probably make EA cut out half the teams to make it work..
rolling my eyes.
I just videos on IGN with the Noles in their black uniforms….Downright sick…
Also, when Florida State scored a TD the cheerleaders ran through the end zone with flags that spelled out NOLES…
Awesome…
Bumble14 wrote:
Cry some more, god. You whine more than my 5-year old sister. I don’t care for patches because I’m into gameplay.
pasta, have they said anything on create a school?? thank you
Pasta, What color were the pants for Oregon’s yellow top? Did they have they yellow helmets by any chance? Thanks
GMSFootballa54 wrote:
This mentality is so moronic- go spend your $60 on a game with less content and attention to detail then it’s 5 year old counterpart. People like you are the reason EA makes minimal upgrades on a yearly basis because you all eat it up.
Ohh, and I wouldn’t say this generations gameplay is leaps and bounds above last gen either. So let me get this straight, you honestly think that EA is pushing the evelope on this series this genration? By year 3 on PS2 we had twice the content, and twice the features that we have today….but I guess that’s ok because we have a game that has taken 3 years to simply play well.
On the final cover of the wii version of ncaa 09, what does all-play mean?
Bumble14 wrote: