NCAA Football 09 hands-on report two
May 29, 2008 by pastapadre
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.
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!
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?
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.
*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.
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
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.
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 wrote:
At this point Pasta is probably playing the final version of the game. Unfortunate, I know…
Is the PS3 version still identical to the 360 version? Sorry for the PS3 question but a restless PS3 user here. lol
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.
Pasta did you look at TExas Tech or Hawiaas play book and if you saw it did you see bubble screens in there playbook?
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
Progressive lighting???
I forgot the most important question. Overall was the game enjoyable? You never mentioned whether you liked it or not.
Pasta,
aSo I take it you cant be a TE in campus legend mode and you cant play special teams right?
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.
Pasta, would you mind finding out all of the editing options in CAP/edit player mode? Thanks…
icomb1ne wrote:
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.
I Peench wrote:
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.
Pasta, is it that you just don’t care about progressive lighting, or is just something EA won’t allow you to answer yet?
Pasta,
Can you edit your playbook at all or do you still just have to pick a school’s playbook?
Michael wrote:
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.
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.
Jeff wrote:
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.
Did you ban me from the sight Pasta?
Any new videos of the latest gameplay for NCAA 09? And what’s up with easports.com not posting any new pics of alternate uni’s since May 23rd???
But Pasta, if you could post a new video of NCAA, that would be awesome! (Preferably of the OREGON DUCKS!!!)
Josh wrote:
His silence is probably his way of letting you know that it’s not in NCAA’09.
As’Samad wrote:
I know but a simple yes or no would be nice. Otherwise what’s the point of asking questions if they’re not going to be answered? What kind of statement is that? A lot of people are asking the same questions that have already been answered but this is yet to be answered. I’m really more concerned about Madden having it because I know NCAA had it last year.
I don’t believe the lighting is progressive in NCAA or Madden from what I’ve seen and who I’ve asked. They built the new lighting system this year and probably weren’t able to get that far.
pasta is ps3 identical and btw what is wvus alternate unis
pastapadre wrote:
That sucks to hear that they took a step back with progressive lighting this year. I know the lighting is better than last year but this is why people get so frustrated with EA. They always take one step forward and two steps backwards. I’m not trying to bash or nitpick but you would think that would’ve been the 1st thing they implemented to go along with the “improved lighting”. This is a real buzzkill for me.
thanks for all the info pasta :), god i cant wait for this to come out. One question, does NC State have alt. uni’s and if they do what are they? red on red and white on white? if you could answer that it would be much appreciated!
pastapadre wrote:
Does this mean that an evening game will always be played in dusk in the 4th quarter OR is it not as smooth as before?
Thanks
pasta…i read a year or two ago that you would be able to see the tomahawk chop or the gator chomp…is that visible in this game this year..or is the crowd always look like its going bananas like last years game???
i hope they can still make a screen shake for the home field advantage but i doubt itll happen. From what ive seen the home field advantage feel doesn’t seem right. But, my question to you pasta is… does the home field advantage actually FEEL different then other games or is it only because you cannot see what routes your players will run and the qb’s composure is down? Is there a sense of home field advantage?
thank you for your time
Yo Pasta,
Thanks for all of your hard work, Just thinking of how much work you’ve put into this year’s reports is flat out overwhelming! Could I ask for some screen-shots or video of OREGON’S ALTERNATE JERSEYS. I saw one video where J-Will (#4) caught a TD pass in the endzone wearing the yellow tops and green pants. I’m just curious if Oregon has anymore alternates in the game, because as you may know they have a lot more in real life. I’m hoping they have their black tops/ black pants along with the all yellow’s. Those are my two favorites!
Thanks for your help man!
In NCAA Football 07 the on field shadows moved in real time, in NCAA Football 08 they did not. However, lighting always progressed throughout the game in both 07 and 08. (ex. dusk games turned into night as time went on) I know that lighting is something that most people don’t really care about, but hopefully the shadows will move in real time like they did in NCAA 07.
The NCAA Football series has always had more realistic lighting then the Madden series in my opinion. In Madden, a 4:15 game always seems dark, even during September games, which is not realistic at all.
Question: Outside of dynasty mode, can you change what year players are in of their eligibility? You could on 07, but they scrapped that on 08. Since Notre Dame doesn’t officially give out redshirts, they screwed up how much eligibility was left on a lot of players.
A couple weeks back I kept hearing about all the media sites that were going to be running an online dynasty, but I haven’t heard a thing since then.
Pasta, can you give us an update or tell us where we can follow the online dynasty? Alot of us are very interested in this so we can get an idea on how well it works and, most importantly, if the lag has been fixed.
Thanks for all your hard work!
Pasta,
Do you feel like 09 has more long term playability than NCAA 08? I’ve played the NCAA Football series since 99, and NCAA 08(XBOX 360) was the only time I’ve traded-in or stopped playing one of the games. Although, 08 was my first next-gen experience with the series. Has 09 taken steps to becoming an enjoyable game on the next-gen consoles?
One BIG question that hasn’t been answered in any previews I’ve seen.
Have the #%(!@*U$!@# Fumbles been fixed?
It was absolutely ridiculous both online and in the actual gameplay how often one fumbled. I fumbled my first 4 possessions online once, with my running bakc with a 92 carry rating and covering up most of the time.
The average of 2-3 fumbles a game on 5 minutes quarters is the equivalent of 809 fumbles on a full game. Ridiculous. That’s only fumbles you LOSE. On AA difficulty Dynasty, you fumble 4-5 times a game seemingly on 5 minute quarters.
It makes the game unplayable at times.
Has it been fixed?
8 to 9 fumbles, not 809, I mean.