NCAA Football 14 Demo is Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

[rockytop52]

No crowd reaction after an overturned called.
Loved the tipped interceptions
The crowed was PUMPED at the start of the 3rd quarter. I was at A&M. I loved it
Commentary is still lame...

[AuburnAlumni]

One area that I definitely hope to see improve once the actual game hits is the amount of true "underthrow/overthrow" passes.

I've played 30+ demo games and the stat line for the CPU QB usually runs something like 8-11 with 1 tip and 2 interceptions. I might get one truly off target pass by the CPU QB on default settings (AA/Heisman).

I moved the CPU QB Acc slider to 0 and played against Oregon. Mariota went 7-11 for 59 yards and 2 INTs...with one of the other incompletions a near INT that my DB didn't have both feet inbounds. The other incompletion was an almost sack where he got hit and the ball was considered to already be thrown.

So even at 0...there wasn't an actual instance of Mariota just overthrowing his target.

I know we are dealing with some of the best QBs in the game in this demo, but I'd like to see more QB completion percentages in the 60-65% range once the actual game drops..and not because the other 30%-40% of their attempts were deflected or picked off.


I'm still amazed at the CPU Running AI though. Oregon is truly a handful with their option game. Even the pitches look great by the CPU and perfectly timed.

[jeremym480]

Just finished another game, my fourth total and first outside of the Bama/VT matchup. I have to say that the atmosphere was a little bit better in the Michigan/Ohio State game. Especially with the crowd jacked up to 100 and everything else on 50. It still doesn't sound as good as NBA 2k, however there definitely is some improvement over last year.

On Heisman I'm not seeing the crazy numbers on read option plays like other people. Out of 5-6 read option plays I only managed to gain more than 5 yards twice and those were 6 and 7 yard gains.

One new weapon I that I tried for the first time in my last game was the Smoke Screen. When you see the CB playing off this hot route could be deadly. I'm just hoping it isn't too cheesy.

Lastly, I'm still seeing a lot of new animations and I'm very happy with how the running game as well as IE 2.0 has turned out. The running received the kind of attention that the passing game got last year and boy has it made a difference. Honestly, the CPU ball carriers run like HUM ball carriers and are now huge threats. Ohio State's RB straight up flattened my Michigan CB (who I tried to hit stick) and it Damn near brought a tear to my eye.

I've been vocal in the past about my dislike of Madden 13's gameplay due to all the crazy stuff that would happen (RB's falling down after running into their lineman, the post play shenanigans, etc.), but all of that seems cleaned up for the most part. I do still see some small things post play, but nothing crazy like in M13.



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[Bmore]

I've played 15 games on Heisman. Here are my impressions:

Positives:

- Menus look and feel much better.

- Atmosphere is better. The crowd chants are awesome.

- Player celebrations after big plays are cool.

- The gameplay feels smoother.

- New animations are nice.

Negatives:

- CPU QB's run way too early. It's like they make 1 read and take off running if it's not open.

- Read option seems too easy. It's going to be an issue online IMO.

- Defenders not reacting to the play. Often my CB or S will just stand there while a HB or QB runs right past him.

- Passes over the middle are ridiculously easy to complete.

- Assisted tackles not working(I'm sure this is an easy fix)

- CPU QB completion % is too high even with adjusted sliders.

Overall the demo is pretty much what I expected. It feels like a more polished version of NCAA 13. The atmosphere adds a lot, but we're still dealing with the same tired gameplay. It's not a great game, but it's also not terrible.

[TurboTitan]

I am definitely liking the fluidness of the game play and the interaction between players on the field. One thing that still perplexes me is the "flatness" of the overall crowd sound...... I am hoping that the audio is lacking because of some of it being left out of the demo to save space, but I am not convincing myself! The biggest difference in the college football experience is without a doubt the CROWD! I hope the final version brings this out.

Overall though the gameplay of this demo, for the first time in this ENTIRE generation of NCAA football games, actually has increased the chances I will pick it up Day 1.

[BallinVol]

I've played several demo games and was holding off to give my impressions until I got a better feel at how the demo gameplay had changed.

Right off the bat, I noticed how players felt as if they had weight. Big kudos to EA for this. Players no longer feel like a ping pong ball, just bouncing all over the field with no slow down at all. Is it perfect? no. But it is a definite upgrade to what we've seen in the past several years.

The CPU running game is the best it has been since ps2. I love seeing the CPU RB run with a purpose. Hopefully, gone are the days of the CPU not being aware of defenders and running into them or just running out of bounds in the open field for no apparent reason. The option is ran beautifully by the CPU and while not perfect, it gets the job done.

The defense has stepped up its game this year also. I was getting gashed by the pass and run, but was able to adjust accordingly and start to slow the offense down. I just had to slow down and plan around the CPU's tendencies. It took a drive or two to pick up on what they wanted to do. With this said, I didn't totally shut them down, so this is a great thing.

I did see a couple instances of the DB glitch show up in the demo, but it has been said that this is fixed in retail. I for one hope so, because this was a game breaker for me last year.

All in all, this game is very much polished and has provided an enjoyable experience in my time with it. Perfect? Far from it. I'm not expecting perfection. I'm just expecting an enjoyable experience with a high replay value. So far EA has provided this.

[tinfire]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bmore

I've played 15 games on Heisman. Here are my impressions: Positives: - Menus look and feel much better. - Atmosphere is better. The crowd chants are awesome. - Player celebrations after big plays are cool. - The gameplay feels smoother. - New animations are nice. Negatives: - CPU QB's run way too early. It's like they make 1 read and take off running if it's not open. - Read option seems too easy. It's going to be an issue online IMO. - Defenders not reacting to the play. Often my CB or S will just stand there while a HB or QB runs right past him. - Passes over the middle are ridiculously easy to complete. - Assisted tackles not working(I'm sure this is an easy fix) - CPU QB completion % is too high even with adjusted sliders. Overall the demo is pretty much what I expected. It feels like a more polished version of NCAA 13. The atmosphere adds a lot, but we're still dealing with the same tired gameplay. It's not a great game, but it's also not terrible.

yealp seems my defenders are stupid as well.. they just stand there watch guys run or watch the ball go right by them.. they make no effort to go for the ball.. quite annoying.. hopefully its addressed in the final copy.. not sure what the deal is..

[jeremym480]

Just out of curiosity I just played Michigan (me) vs Ohio State with QB ACC at 0 and INTs at 35. Everything else at default.

Here are the stats:

Mich QB - 5-12, 52 yards, 1 INT, 41%, LNG of 36 yards, 1 drop and 2 deflections

Ohio State QB - 8-14, 75 yards, 57%, LNG of 26 yrds, no drops or deflections.

Pretty much all of the CPU's incomplete passes and about half of my completions were overthrown

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