NCAA Football 09 (360) Review

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by Rocky

It's all about consistency. When I see this game get (much) higher reviews than games who almost won "The Best Sports Game Ever" Tournament, then it raises some eyebrows.

Different reviews by different people. It's a subjective score.

NFL2k5 won the Best Sports Game ever Tournament, I know a lot of people around here that don't think it's anywhere near the best ever. And would score it lower than a lot of people would like.

It's a subjective score, I don't see how you can criticize someone opinion of a game.

[swaldo]

Let's examine what an 8.5 score really means...

IGN = Impressive
Gamer 2.0 = Great
Gamespy = Great
Gamespot = Great

Peter Moore responds "Excellent job dev team, no need to push the boundaries next year." NCAA and Madden is like a baseball team winning 55% of their games - it keeps the fans buying and hoping.

I don't think this game is great and the majority of the posters seem to feel as I do - good but could be great if a patch fixes the problems. Games are not reviewed after the patch so I'm sorry but a 7 rating appears to be in order here.

By the way, the Gamespot review is up and the scores are as follows:

Gamepsot score - 7.5
Critic Score - 8.5
User Score - 9.6

What's wrong with that picture? You think maybe the EA employees are working some OT?

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by swaldo

By the way, the Gamespot review is up and the scores are as follows: Gamepsot score - 7.5 Critic Score - 8.5 User Score - 9.6 What's wrong with that picture? You think maybe the EA employees are working some OT?

Seems to me user scores are usually higher. It also could just mean average game likes the game. Not everything in the world can be blamed on EA.

[distauma]

Gamer 2.0 86
When all's said and done, NCAA 09 may have some rough spots and bugs, there are ways around it that keep them from hampering the immense amount of enjoyment that the game offers.

XboxAddict 85
I didn't mean to harp on the gimmicks, but while there were some minor flaws in the game, it's a very solid effort for the long running series.

IGN 84
The Online Dynasty is an excellent addition to this series, but the mistakes made with the Campus Legend mode keeps this year's title from being truly extraordinary.

GameSpot 75
Just as the addition of the Online Dynasty mode will satisfy many, the lack of significant improvements to other key modes of NCAA Football 09 will disappoint many others.

[swaldo]

I'm not accusing EA, but it's a proven fact that game companies hire cheap labor from India and abroad to hype games in fan forums. They even had to modify their approach because in some places they were just too obvious.

Seeing users rate this a 9.6 leaves me scratching my head. I could be wrong - perhaps it's just excitement from finally getting the game in hand. However, alot of people are on the fence and will wake up and check the reviews so I certainly hope there is no dirty business going on.

I have always supported all football games but not this year. It's put up or shut up time for EA. I have been playing NCAA 09 at my friends house and am not impressed. If a good patch comes out I will support it again and hope for better next year.

[adfletch71]

So what do u think madden is going to be like? All this hype about the gameplay and the environment is still to bland. Sidelines suck and still no halftime show and refs. People arent stupid EA, there getting tired of this and sales are going to show. Step up the game!!!!! Give the consumer what they are asking for, not what u think is right.

[capp34]

Quote: Originally Posted by adfletch71

Sidelines suck and still no halftime show and refs.

This things do not take fun out of any game...If adding referees to the field makes the game more fun Im all for it but they dont. You cant drop scores because there are no refs of halftime shows.

[BlyGilmore]

scandem - two sides to that coin. I have often seen somebody claim they don't hate EA and then immediately go and claim that those who think a game is OK or good are EA fanboys.

As for reader scores, they do tend to be higher than critic scores. And I don't think its has too much to do with hocus pocus or other company tricks. But instead the people who play the game and care enough to put in a user score tend to be folks who were fans of the game to begin with.

Generally speaking, I also think folks who have already spent the money on the game are more likely to give a game a much bigger benefit of the doubt - and it usually takes a big piece of garbage to turn the tables and get those people into "i'm gonna trash this game mode."

there are exceptions of course. I believe there's a ton of sadists out there who just buy games hoping they hate them so they can bash it on the Internet.