It is the perfect time to revisit EA Sports' NCAA Football 09 and discuss the game in postmortem fashion. NCAA 09 did a lot of things right both on and off the field. I wanted to focus specifically on what 09 brought to the table this season, and how these features held up over the course of the 2008 college season. I know there are many of you out there still playing the game -- and many who will not agree with what I have to say -- but as of this week, I feel it is important to at least "officially" end our NCAA Football 09 discussion, and begin our NCAA Football 10 discussions.

Plus, it is always fun to take a look back at a title nearly seven months after release because, at this point, most people can speak more calmly about a title that is not so fresh in their minds. Is the honeymoon officially over? How did NCAA 09 withstand the test of time?

NCAA performed as good as Florida this year - there was a bump or two, but it was largely rather good.

Graphics/Presentation

Graphically, NCAA Football 09 was beautiful. The game was finally able to nail the look of the college athlete, and subtle details such as flak jackets, the corporate logo on visors, back bars and the different helmet options added a lot visually. The fields also looked great with EA's touted grass-rendering engine showing some unique differences at certain venues (Oregon, Boise State, The Coliseum). The authentic stadiums also looked great, and had enough small details to keep even the most rabid fans happy -- assuming, of course, their stadium made it into the game. Even the sidelines were a visual upgrade over NCAA 08, and had enough detail to create a sideline that was at least passable.

Visually, the only real sore spot would have to be the crowd graphics. It was yet another year of blocky, PS1-style fans and crowd interactions. This really is not that big of a deal considering how much the crowd actually plays into a game of NCAA 09, but after seeing some great looking crowds in games such as NHL 09 and NBA 2K9, this aspect certainly stands out more than ever.

From a presentation standpoint, NCAA 09 turned in yet another weak (or should I say, Notre Dame-like) performance. For the third straight year on next-gen consoles, gamers had to live without any type of pregame Gameday festivities, bowl patches, special bowl presentation, highlight shows of any type, pride stickers that actually equate to on-field performance, and many of the other small nuances that fans of the franchise took for granted during the last generation.

Gamers also did not witness any further integration of the ESPN license in NCAA 09 -- other than the ESPN Radio updates and ESPN Motion capabilities within a separate menu.

Retrospective Review Score for Graphics/Presentation: B

The graphics were certainly a step up in NCAA Football 09.

Gameplay

Here is a category that caused some of the biggest forum uproar of 2008. Before NCAA 09 even released, there was a firestorm of criticism about the game's higher than average CPU completion percentage, broken gameplay sliders, broken special teams coverage, and a lack of CPU/human pass rush.

Eventually, two patches (one and two) were released that helped address some issues on defense, fixed special teams coverage, and fixed the sliders. However, there was never an official confirmation from EA that the patches corrected the high completion percentages and lack of a pass rush. Some gamers reported the problems had been fixed, while others reported never seeing a difference between pre- and post-patch gameplay.

My personal experience with the gameplay was very positive. I did have issues with the CPU completion percentage when I first purchased the game, but I slowly began to learn how to combat this by tricking the programming. Early on, it seemed that if you played a man-to-man defense you were able to magically start shutting down the CPU's pass game, no matter what play the A.I. ran. I also had a difficult time generating any type of pressure on the CPU pre-patch. While both of these issues were frustrating early on, I still did enjoy the wide-open gameplay and college football pacing. Once the second patch was released, however, the gameplay really hit a high for me.

I was one of the gamers who felt the patch did fix zone coverage enough to lower the CPU completion percentage. In other words, the patch made my players engage in better coverage. This in turn, allowed me to generate more pressure on the CPU QB, and I began seeing myself get 3-5 sacks per game with powerhouses like USC and Florida, and 1-2 sacks per game with weaker schools like Purdue and Baylor. To me these were realistic enough numbers, especially when you consider the fact that you really do not see that many sacks in your average NCAA game -- now imagine a real NCAA game where only five minute quarters are played.

NCAA 09 was the first NCAA game since NCAA 04 that really made me pay attention to defense post-patch. I found that I really had to mix my coverages up this season, pay attention to offensive adjustments, and even hot route my defensive players to combat mismatches recognized at the line. Completion percentages could still be high, depending on the strength of your defense as a whole. Nevertheless, when I look at Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, Grahm Herrill and even Nate Davis's completion percentages this season, NCAA did not produce passing percentages that were as unrealistic as a number of gamers have complained about.

The gameplay had some drawbacks but was largely good.

All of the defensive strategies mentioned above are techniques I never had to employ before, because it seemed like the past four iterations in the series have allowed you to play lazy defense (i.e. you pick a play and your CPU teammates do all the work for you). Post-patch defense was really a lot of fun to play, and it was extremely rewarding to sack a QB or make a big play all because of an adjustment you made at the line. There are still times when I will run into an impenetrable CPU-controlled offensive line, but this happens perhaps 1-2 plays per game to me now post-patch, as opposed to all game pre-patch.

On the offensive side of the ball, NCAA played great. New left-stick juke movements made a world of difference, allowing you to effectively hit your holes in the ground game and evade tacklers in the open field. Offense was a lot of fun this year and more wide open than in past years. Some people really liked this, myself included, but some despised this change. Personally, I felt the game conveyed the offensive-style of college football better than it had during the past few years. After observing this year's 2008 college football season, I could not help but think that NCAA 09's offense nailed college offenses spot on.

The NCAA in real life is becoming more of a wide-open league offensively, and I think NCAA 09 did a great job of conveying that sense of explosive offense. Face it people, NCAA 09 allowed you to set your offense up as a Florida/Texas Tech spread attack, a USC pro-style rushing/aerial attack, or even as an Alabama pound-the-rock-on-the-ground attack. You could run the style of offense that best suited your play style in NCAA 09, and there was no better feeling in Dynasty mode than recruiting kids that would fit into your style of offense.

The main downside of NCAA 09's offense was that once your team's offense was rated an A- or higher, you could pick apart pretty much any team not rated an A on defense. However, this is hardly a game-breaker, as it would be like not rooting for Florida or USC because their offenses are too efficient. I know gamers want a challenge, but there just comes a certain time when you build a monster of a program. You cannot be upset if you are dominant at that point; you just have to move on to a weaker school.

The gameplay of NCAA 09 took a ton of heat, and is still being scrutinized by many gamers out there. To me, this criticism is widely unwarranted, especially after the second patch. As I said before, NCAA 09 is the type of game where you need to adjust strategy manually, and cannot just rely on your CPU teammates to make every big play for you. I realize many in the sim and 2K camps are going to have a field day with this statement, but I feel NCAA 09's gameplay was the pinnacle of the series. It is not perfect, but it is the best we have seen so far.

Retrospective Review Score for Gameplay: A

 

The pinnacle of awesomeness in college football.

Online Options

NCAA 09 gave us one of the greatest online modes in sports-gaming history: Online Dynasty mode. Not only could you compete in a full-fledged dynasty with your buddies online, but the game allowed the CPU to take full control over teams that were not user controlled. This was a first for online leagues on consoles, and drastically extended the replay factor within the mode. Another first for console online leagues was the fact that everything that could be done in an offline dynasty could be done in an online dynasty.

Until NCAA 09, it seemed like an online league feature would always have a set of limitations that differentiated online from offline franchises (no trades, no stat tracking, and so forth).

Online Dynasty is incredibly addictive, and it is one of the best online features we have ever seen.

Outside of the Online Dynasty mode, NCAA 09 offered us the first mostly lag-free online versus mode I have ever experienced in the series. Gaming with a buddy across the country was no different than if he/she was sitting in the same room as you -- this was a huge plus in my eyes as recent years have been a test of patience due to lag. The addition of the "Online Game of the Week" lobby was also a huge winner in my book, as it kept the weekly matchups fresh, and kept me coming back weekly to create my own history.

Retrospective Review Score for Online Options: A+

 

There is something to be said about the Online Options in NCAA - some of the best out there.

Feature Set

The final aspect of NCAA 09 I wanted to touch on was the feature set. NCAA 09 included one of the more robust feature sets that we have seen in the series. We were given a nice set of mini-games, a full-featured four year Campus Legend mode, a silly Mascot Game option and your run of the mill Practice modes.

The mini-games and mascot challenge are time wasters. They are not revolutionary, but I am not going to complain that they were added. Now, if you told me that the reason NCAA 09 was missing bowl patches was because of these modes being included, I would have a beef with the game. Assuming that is not the case, I am cool with the modes being in the game, and give Tiburon some credit for giving us more game, vs less game as has been the norm the past few years.

Campus Legend mode is not necessarily the strongest feature in the game, but it was solid enough to keep you busy for at least a little bit. The A.I. of your teammates was awful, and the mode got repetitive quick, but at least the mode was included for those who are big fans of the "Be a Pro" formula. I will not complain too much about a feature that works relatively well and provides entertainment for some.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with the feature set in NCAA 09. It added to the overall package of the game, and extended replay value for more casual players.

Retrospective Review Score for Feature Set: B+

 

Next year, hopefully NCAA Football 10 performs better than the Big 12 South in Bowls.

NCAA 09 has provided me with hours upon hours of gameplay over the last seven months. As a big fan of the series who had been letdown by NCAA 07 and NCAA 08, this year's game made me believe that the franchise is once again headed back towards its last-generation greatness. NCAA 09 was not perfect and needs some work -- many would say more work than I think it needs -- but at the very least, NCAA Football 09 was finally a reinvention of the franchise for the current-gen consoles.

The Christian McLeod Postmortem Review Score for NCAA Football 09: A-