Staff Roundtable: NCAA Football 12 Demo Impressions

[Broncos86]

Edit: Probably a month or two old.

[dannyr326]

I really love the fluidity and how much smoother the game plays, but I'm not sure If anyone knows what I'm talking about, but I feel that the CB/WR interaction in man coverage is still broken. It feels as if the Cornerbacks already know what route the receivers are running. If EA can fix that aspect Madden and NCAA would be so much better. That part of the game still doesn't feel right to me.

Does anyone else agree?

[TheTodd84]

danny... did you read my post... it is exactly the same as yours regarding the psychic defensive backs, lol.

[Bigsheen]

i like the othes agree with jayson.

[khaliib]

I don't know how to do it, but could someone do a Poll to see which staff writers agreement the OS community seems to agree with the most.

This way, the Dev's can see/read how this Forums Community really feel after playing their Demo.

I agree with Jayson multiplied by 1,0000000.

This is not the best Sports Game out, period.
Interesting how the ESPN presentation was done good in their College Basketball, but is just simply absent in their Football version.

I've come to the conclusion that EA bought the ESPN rights only to prevent any other Developer from using, because they surely have not purchased it to enhance the "ONLY" College Sports game out, which of course is only produced by them.

This is the 2nd year that leaves you to question, why own it, if your not going to use it?
In it's current form, it's simply an "Imbarassment" to the ESPN Product!

Compared to NBA 2k 11, The Show, EA NHL/Fifa, NCAA Football is well behind were these products are at.
We've been saying they're getting there since '09 with every little "Baby Step" injection or Old-Reintroduced Feature they've been doing in every release since.

The Truth is that the Business side of this series has just "Milked" the gaming community for profits as the "Only" College Football Developer on the market going into it's 5th year.

It's not coincedence that features that should have been in the series back in '08, are slowly being introduced as "New Feature" today.
This because nothing 'Innovative" has been done through/with the NCAA Football Series. Not one thing!

If you break down each phase of this game and analyse it's progress since being on Next-Gen, I believe we would have a clearer picture of what we've been paying for.

Since being introduced on these Next-Gen consoles, how has these phases of the game faired?

Visuals: C
When I look at the Visuals in many of the Shooters, NBA 2k and the Show, their behind, plain and simple.

Presentation: D
Being that they purchased the Exclusive contract to be the sole user of the ESPN Package, it's an "Insult" with how they are using the package.

What they are finally doing on the Madden side (camara, cut-scenes etc...) should've been infroduce in NCAA as soon as they signed as Exclusive ESPN users.

Gameplay: C-
It's amazing, we are still hoping/asking for Gameplay issues that were done incorrectly and/or missing in prior year's releases.

For some reason, they have been running into a brick wall in trying to get Spread/Option teams to perform as they should.
The question becomes, how much more can they tweak/tune this area of programming/coding for this area of gameplay to perform correctly when the gamer is playing?

The limitations of this Engine seems to show more and more with each release.
As one gameplay aspect is tweaked/tuned, another area seems to always takes a hit.

Replay ability: C
For those that simply download Slider Sets and Edited Rosters from the long hours of others, this will probably be higher for them.

For me and probably others like myself, I found myself spending more time Editing Players Ratings, Tweaking Sliders and Testing, and testing to try and eliminate/minimize many of the Gameplay issues vs actually playing the game.

I have yet to get in a Full Dynasty season from any release since '08, because the process above has been required year after year to come close to the playing perspective I so desired.

I just decided to break down Jayson's statement a little more to make sure I'm not just agreeing with him or just sounding like I'm EA bashing.

After really looking at the areas above, I can honestly say he is 100% correct!!!

[Pokes404]

Quote: Originally Posted by khaliib

It's not coincedence that features that should have been in the series back in '08, are slowly being introduced as "New Feature" today. This because nothing 'Innovative" has been done through/with the NCAA Football Series. Not one thing!

As disappointed as I've become with the series, I feel I have to correct you a bit on this statement.

EA deserves credit for Online Dynasties. That was a revolutionary feature, and in my opinion, is one of the big reasons this series has remained afloat. While I agree that the game is stale, and is largely just recycled features, EA really hit a home run with ODs.

Of course, it does me no good because I simply can't stand the gameplay anymore. I've grown tired of waiting for them to change basic problems that have not only been pointed out by the community, but have actually been done much better by EA in the past.

[Tecmo Bowl]

Quote: Originally Posted by khaliib

I don't know how to do it, but could someone do a Poll to see which staff writers agreement the OS community seems to agree with the most. This way, the Dev's can see/read how this Forums Community really feel after playing their Demo. I agree with Jayson multiplied by 1,0000000. This is not the best Sports Game out, period. Interesting how the ESPN presentation was done good in their College Basketball, but is just simply absent in their Football version. I've come to the conclusion that EA bought the ESPN rights only to prevent any other Developer from using, because they surely have not purchased it to enhance the "ONLY" College Sports game out, which of course is only produced by them. This is the 2nd year that leaves you to question, why own it, if your not going to use it? In it's current form, it's simply an "Imbarassment" to the ESPN Product! Compared to NBA 2k 11, The Show, EA NHL/Fifa, NCAA Football is well behind were these products are at. We've been saying they're getting there since '09 with every little "Baby Step" injection or Old-Reintroduced Feature they've been doing in every release since. The Truth is that the Business side of this series has just "Milked" the gaming community for profits as the "Only" College Football Developer on the market going into it's 5th year. It's not coincedence that features that should have been in the series back in '08, are slowly being introduced as "New Feature" today. This because nothing 'Innovative" has been done through/with the NCAA Football Series. Not one thing! If you break down each phase of this game and analyse it's progress since being on Next-Gen, I believe we would have a clearer picture of what we've been paying for. Since being introduced on these Next-Gen consoles, how has these phases of the game faired? Visuals: C When I look at the Visuals in many of the Shooters, NBA 2k and the Show, their behind, plain and simple. Presentation: D Being that they purchased the Exclusive contract to be the sole user of the ESPN Package, it's an "Insult" with how they are using the package. What they are finally doing on the Madden side (camara, cut-scenes etc...) should've been infroduce in NCAA as soon as they signed as Exclusive ESPN users. Gameplay: C- It's amazing, we are still hoping/asking for Gameplay issues that were done incorrectly and/or missing in prior year's releases. For some reason, they have been running into a brick wall in trying to get Spread/Option teams to perform as they should. The question becomes, how much more can they tweak/tune this area of programming/coding for this area of gameplay to perform correctly when the gamer is playing? The limitations of this Engine seems to show more and more with each release. As one gameplay aspect is tweaked/tuned, another area seems to always takes a hit. Replay ability: C For those that simply download Slider Sets and Edited Rosters from the long hours of others, this will probably be higher for them. For me and probably others like myself, I found myself spending more time Editing Players Ratings, Tweaking Sliders and Testing, and testing to try and eliminate/minimize many of the Gameplay issues vs actually playing the game. I have yet to get in a Full Dynasty season from any release since '08, because the process above has been required year after year to come close to the playing perspective I so desired. I just decided to break down Jayson's statement a little more to make sure I'm not just agreeing with him or just sounding like I'm EA bashing. After really looking at the areas above, I can honestly say he is 100% correct!!!

Couldn't agree more with jayson and this post.

[teamnolesfanfsu]

I was really disappointed by the demo it doesnt seem to be anything more than a big ESPN ad. Even stuff like dreads looks weird (N64 Carnage hair from spiderman) commentary is flat, presentation seems boring and scripted, gameplay is way to fast and the speed differences between players are way to big. Tackling seems shoddy and the zone stuff is nothing new. In the meantime QB ai is horrible. anyway this seems to be worse than NCAA 11 so Im just sticking with that