NCAA Football 12 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

[ehh]

Finally got a chance to DL the demo after playing '11 for the last week or so. Played only two games, both Texas vs Oregon.

To me the differences are subtle yet very noticeable. No improvement has blown me away but I think all of them are going to go a long way when it comes to the longevity of '12.

The fact that the CPU doesn't cut every run back towards the middle, line play is better, super LB/DBs seem to finally be gone and improved zone defense are enough to get me real excited for '12. Hell, to get any long-term burn in an offline dynasty with '11 I had to always be controlling the team with the ball (yes, constantly switching sides mid-game) to have a fun challenge. The CPU's offense in '11 was painful because of the running-back-to-middle and/or 'lower the shoulder' glitch.

The graphics are a slight step up and the presentation is a bigger step up. Default Heisman is pretty darn good, as long as we can limit the amount of turnovers and pick-6's I think '12 is going to be a great game and sizable improvement over '11. And if custom playbooks can limit the amount of blitzing/big plays the CPU gives up then lookout, this game might turn out to be something real special.

This feels like an extremely refined '11 which is a great thing IMO. '11 got a lot of things right finally, there's no need to change a ton of the gameplay.

[mva5580]

Quote: Originally Posted by huskerwr38

Does anyone feel like the grass looks like an oil painting? It's so muddled, spotted, and just ugly looking. However, when they zoom in the grass looks VERY nice and more realistic. I just don't get why it actually gets worse as you zoom out.

Exactly what I thought.

Anyway I finally got around to playing it tonight, and after about 5 minutes I pretty much just re-affirmed that this game just doesn't have the "hook" on me that it used to. It just isn't any fun anymore, and that's a shame. I have so many memories of playing NCAA Football for ENDLESS hours with my friends, at night in those great late teens/early 20's years.....but that's really all it is at this point. A memory. The game just isn't fun to me anymore, and I guess that's probably hugely because I've rarely found sports games to be fun playing individually.

Oh well. I still have NCAA 06 for my original Xbox, and oddly enough I STILL have more fun with that than I have any of the NCAA games the past ~5 years. This series just, unfortunately, doesn't do anything for me anymore.

[Matt10]

Wow, CPU got called for a delay of game, first time I have seen that in a long time from Madden or NCAA - and this is only the demo.

[pmurray20]

Quote: Originally Posted by Matt10

Wow, CPU got called for a delay of game, first time I have seen that in a long time from Madden or NCAA - and this is only the demo.

yep had that happen once so far, and i have played with texas tons on times and this is the first time the cannon was shot once out of the 20plus games with them lol

[pmurray20]

WTH 2 games in a row, everytime alabama does a run play no matter how many people blitz all my players fall at the same time like an earthquake. that is stupid and needs fixed

[NDFan1029]

The good and the bad:

Good
- Tackling animations are a lot better, and gang tackling looks good.
- Crowd looks much improved, including better reactions to big plays. Lighting and coloring seems better.
- Heisman difficulty is actually a challenge this year. Neither team seems to be able to run up the score and a lot more punts occur.
- Many more false starts called than encroachment/offsides. This is much more true to life compared to how the game used to be, which was almost the opposite.
- User and CPU defenders will actively come back to the ball and swat down passes instead of watching the receiver make the catch.

Bad
- CPU defenders will occasionally make a great INT on a ball that bounces off another player, yet will still drop an easy INT thrown right to them.
- QB occasionally throws the ball wild even when there is no pressure around him, missing open receivers.
- People say the zone defense is improved, but I still notice the CPU converting a ton of long 3rd downs. Pressure on a lot of 3rd down plays is still non-existent, with the CPU QB getting 15 minutes in the pocket to throw the ball.
- CPU QB doesn't seem to move around a whole lot to avoid the sack, and seems to be standing there waiting to get tackled.
- Play action passes are fairly tough unless you release the ball very quickly.

That's about all I've got for now from what I can remember. Only played a few games so far and will update when I've played a few more if I come up with anything new.

[Boris Le Tigre]

73 yard TD run - out of the shot gun no less - with Oregon HB 21 - the very first time I touched the ball.

So right away, I was like this is rigged... ha ha

I don't have much to say since there isn't much to do with the demo version. I did miss a few tackles but I really liked the responsiveness whne running with the ball... felt real sharp.

I think the O-line was a little too dominant... that 70+yard run included pancakes of both DT's and there was no LB's home on the second level for the UofT.

Twas fun though ...

[Mtneer08]

Quote: Originally Posted by NDFan1029

The good and the bad: Good - Tackling animations are a lot better, and gang tackling looks good. - Crowd looks much improved, including better reactions to big plays. Lighting and coloring seems better. - Heisman difficulty is actually a challenge this year. Neither team seems to be able to run up the score and a lot more punts occur. - Many more false starts called than encroachment/offsides. This is much more true to life compared to how the game used to be, which was almost the opposite. - User and CPU defenders will actively come back to the ball and swat down passes instead of watching the receiver make the catch. Bad - CPU defenders will occasionally make a great INT on a ball that bounces off another player, yet will still drop an easy INT thrown right to them. - QB occasionally throws the ball wild even when there is no pressure around him, missing open receivers.

This is a good thing IMO...sounds realistic as college QB's do this all the time.