Image via Complex Original
After 20 years in the game, NCAA Football has carved out its own niche as the premier college sports title. No longer Madden's little brother, NCAA has its fair share of fans that look forward to the amateur gridiron action every July. This year's iteration is chock full of advances that make it head and shoulders above past versions.
It's Not About A Salary It's All About Reality
EA Sports has switched up the passing game in order to make the title reflect offensive changes in the real world game. The new QB drop back animations make executing certain plays easier as the QB now automatically drops back to the correct position after the snap of the ball (pump fakes are also automatic in trick plays where they are utilized).
The changes are much more noticeable in the throwing animations too. EA Sports added 20 new passes to the QB arsenal, meaning players are no longer relegated to just a bullet or lob pass. The touch is aided by the also new Total Control Passing feature which lets users use the left analog stick to lead receivers and aim passes where they want them to go (within reason).
We think everyone will welcome those changes. However one change to the passing game that we'll see hardcore NCAA Football players bitching about incessantly is the new timing and receiver awareness. Once the ball is snapped, the receiver icon is considerably dimmed until he has run his full route. The QB can throw the ball at anytime but the user must take control of the receiver mid-route if they expect him to make the catch. Granted, the user catch controls are more intuitive but it takes some getting used to and we know how gamers hate changes.
Defense
The changes to defense are directly related to complaints that NCAA players have had for quite sometime (i.e. DB's creeping out of nowhere to snatch picks and LB's swatting down balls without even looking). Now the defensive player must be aware of the ball's location before making a play on it.
AI has also been improved to the point where it is not so easy to burn DB's any longer with a speedy receiver. The developers have added techniques like trailing and playing off-man, making the game way more realistic.
The Dynasty
As we all know, Dynasty is NCAA Football's calling card. Both the presentation and utilization are much improved this year.
There are some players who find recruiting tedious but for those that really rock with creating a program, Scouting is a new feature that nails it. Now, instead of relying on initial numbers, there are set hours allotted (20 in preseason and 3-per-week in regular season) to your team per week to see which players are busts and which ones are about that life. The attribute list for each player is pretty deep as well.
Recruiting is something else that got better. You can more likely sway a recruit who was not previously checking for your program with recruiting them early and keeping the pressure going. Prospects will no longer ask questions about things they are not interested in and triple-threat ballers can now be assigned to different positions.
Pitching the recruits has become more authentic as well. The grades are no longer just tied to your team's BCS ranking, now they factor in a bunch of variables that we've seen in the past plus coaching stability (job jumpers get penalized), stadium atmosphere and playing style. What makes the latter hot is that the game actually takes into play how you run your offense and defense in previous games and how it relates to the kid you're recruiting.
Presentation is enhanced by "live" studio updates courtesy of the four-letter network's Rece Davis and the real time Bottom Line Ticker. These are some cute add-ons that mimic the college game but we wonder why they don't show highlights of the "in-progress" games while Rece is commenting on them? That is something EA Sports should definitely consider.
Drop The Mic And Strike The Hiesman Pose
Taking a page out of NBA 2K's book, NCAA Football 13 features a legends mode titled "Heisman Challenge." Players can compete with several Heisman winners and complete tasks over the course of a season to see if you can win the coveted trophy. In addition to cover athlete Robert "Box Braids" Griffin III, you can play with Tebow, Barry Sanders and more. Let's hope that more legends will be added via DLC.
The feature skews more towards the casual fan by allowing any of the legends to compete on any team. Not to mention the matrix-like Reaction Time feature (also used in Road to Glory) that slows down play allowing you to better see on-field opportunities. Hardcore fans won't like it but it is what it is.
Bottom Line
NCAA Football 13 looks and plays better than its predecessor. True progressive lighting, motion blur effects, added stadium presentations and brand new authentic uniforms are just a few of the things that will keep fans coming back even after big brother drops next month. The developers have done their best job ever of separating NCAA from the Madden shadow yet.
