NCAA Football 13 Gameplay Video - Oregon vs. USC - Part 2

[jp7588]

When I watch that video I get the impression that '13 will be an improvement over '12. A marginal improvement, but an improvement nonetheless. That's nice and all... But when I think back and try to assess '12, I think of it as a decent-to-good VIDEOGAME and a below average FOOTBALL SIM that I kinda enjoyed for a (very) short while. Basically, my ability to enjoy the game lasted as long as the realization of what this series has(n't) accomplished on this gen remained suppressed. Once the memories of all the times I told my self that '11 or '10 weren't "THAT bad", or how I felt the night '09, the year I really thought was going to bring the series back to last-gen levels of enjoyment, came out and I mistook the new "WIDE-OPEN OFFENSE" for someone taking a rather sizable dump in my house with a "WIDE-OPEN BATHROOM DOOR", I just can't enjoy the "new" iterations of the series anymore. To put it eloquently, when I think of NCAA '09, I think of ca-ca doo-doo elephant pharts. I don't see '13 doing much of anything to keep those horrible memories at bay.

The series just hasn't done anything special this gen. The hardware and, I assume the potential for specialness, has improved but the game itself is just.... Bleh... The first three years of this gen, in my opinion, were headed in a terrible direction. Then they took a hard turn towards a better place, and have been coasting along at 20-below the speed limit ever since.

Commentary? Probably the worst of any sim-style sports game this gen. Perhaps only marginally better than their commentary from last-gen. I don't know if it's a lack of something on the part of the guys at EA, or a lack of give-a-damn from the hired talent, but it just isn't working.

Gameplay? Super bleh. Ultra-mega bleh. I can't think of anything they've done or added to the gameplay thus gen that could be described using an adjective that belongs in the same dictionary as "revolutionary". Issues remain in year after year. Line play has went from laughably bad in NCAA '07, to just plain ole bad today. The gameplay has been buried so deep in mediocrity for so long that I actually get excited when I hear about tweaked pass trajectories or 3-5-7 step drop backs (which look awful to me) until I realize that these are fundamental aspects of the game of football that should be refined each device cycle, without the need to sound the trumpets and act as if they're some sort of triumph. I should notice these improvements when I pop the game in, not when you're hyping it up months before release.

Graphics and player models are adequate, for the most part. Although I feel like they're freaking taunting us with the "Dreadator". You know, the monstrous beast that crawls up under the helmets of a few players and (I can only assume, given its frightening appearance) sucks their innards out through a hole it bores into the unfortunate student-athlete's skull. Seriously, who the hell looked at and said "yep, that's a thing that exists. That'll surely please our fans who requested we add dreadlocks"?! And the beast has remained, his quest for blood unimpeded, for years despite our numerous cries for help/mercy.

The animations? Robotic. It's like watching a physical manifestation of a T-Pain song. It tries to act like it's football, but we know it's not football. Not even close.

The series, to me, is reminiscent of a fat guy at the gym who just hopped on a treadmill, set it to "elderly turtle" and just went to town. "At least I'm in the gym!" he says to which someone responds "Yeah, I guess. But you're still fat and nothing I'm seeing is going to change that anytime soon. Also, the exclusive rights to that treadmill you currently have are preventing someone from getting on it and doing something worthwhile. So, please, start running or get the hell off."

The studio update thing seems like a relatively big addition (in the dev's eyes, at least). When I heard about it got an idea of how it'd be implemented in my head, and I made sure to keep my expectations in check. But then I saw it... And it was literally about as plain/white bread/generic as I could have possibly imagined. I mean, it's nice that it exists and all... But that's about the only positive thing I can say about. It's there. It exists. And that's pretty much it. It sort of epitomizes the overwhelming "ehhhh..." feeling I get from NCAA now. And I'm tired of saying "ehhhh..."

/ridiculous rant

[lwendt33]

I was excited about this game but after seeing the video, not so much. NCAA 12.5, I'll pass on it and the Madden hype this year. At least with NCAA the players don't slide like the are doing in Madden 13 from what i have seen.

[I3RIS3H]

The other day I made the decision that I wouldn't mind things like ankle socks and limited number of face masks as long as the gameplay looked improved from last year. Unfortunately to me this looks exactly like 12, but at least it looks like super lb's and db's cutting before the receiver are gone.

[seasprite]

Pretty disappointed myself

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2

[FreAk47]

Quote: Originally Posted by bad_philanthropy

Very true. Seemed like that happened more frequently in Madden. I thought the overall visual of pro-tak really added to the authenticity of the game though. There were some other animations outside the giant "group hug" that were pretty nice too. Where did pro-tak go and why are there no gang tackles in the game anymore!?

I agree that Pro-tak cosmetically looked good and such, but it was just as pre-determined as any other canned animation in the game. There was really no surprise to it, other than the aforementioned hercules runs. More or less it didn't seem like each additional guy joining in on the tackle had any real effect on the play...it was just a cosmetic thing to make it look as if there were gang tackles.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Look at the colors and grass in NCAA 11.........then look at them in NCAA 12 and 13. What the heck happened ? Did the art guy quit after NCAA 11 or something ?

[PVarck31]

I have to play the game before I can judge it. The most touted features this year are gameplay related. You can't really see that in the 4 min vid.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I wouldn't completely give up on the game after a 4 min video.

[huntt26]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gotmadskillzson

Look at the colors and grass in NCAA 11.........then look at them in NCAA 12 and 13. What the heck happened ? Did the art guy quit after NCAA 11 or something ?

The HDR lighting came, that's what happened lol