NCAA Football 14 Impressions Thread

[Dogslax41]

PS3 playing on Heisman.

Looks fantastic in motion. Plays awful (from a sim standpoint).

Gameplay is very fluid and looks very good, but unfortunatly for me there are still too many issue with the football side of things for this to warrant a purchase.

Secondary AI is about as bad as I have ever seen it. Zone coverage is miserable.

Linebackers unless they are involved with a read and react play(read option design and AI is fantastic if not a bit too deliberate (a player's decision on the play is very glaring and easy to read)) will often stand and just watch a scrambling QB run right by them when they could have reached out with an arm and made the tackle.

On offense the game felt great in the running game as in the past heisman has frustrated me to no end because I would rush for 250+ a game on AA and then couldnt get out of the backfield on heisman playing a patient style and waiting for the hole to open. This year the running game is great and I had an accurate reflection of about 3.5 YPC. Passing...9 out of 10 plays I had at least one receiver wide open (ND(me) v Michigan). I was never at any point in any threat of being stopped by the cpu because even if I tried to run the first two downs and didnt pick up the first I knew even third and long I could complete the pass with ease.

On defense the only thing that really stood out is that any time I called zone it was almost as if it took oneof my DBs a couple seconds after the snap to decipher what was going on thus creating what I saw when I was on offense of one receiver running free with a huge buffer. By that time any crossing or slant route was wide open. CPU rushing was my biggest let down. CPU gained 5 yards on running plays for the entire game. After the demo I was very hopeful this wouldnt be the case again this year and its only one game but it was very dissapointing to see it in the first one I played.

Overall the game looks great and if you were watching someone else play without really paying attention to the reactions of the players on the field in relation to one another it would look like a very polished and smooth game that looks like alot of fun to play. In the end though anyone looking for any kind of true football xs and os sim is still going to be dissapointed.

I'm sure I will have fun playing it for the rest of the season pass time since as an "action/arcade" type football game it is very entertaining to play but if I were to buy it I can see it being a coaster by week three due to frustrations in the technical game.

[noplace]

Quote: Originally Posted by mbergh22

So far very impressed. One bummer is they did not update Husky Stadium. I hope they do an update via patch. Anyone know if they have done stadium updates via patch in the past?

Want happen... Stadiums are scanned prior so it’s obvious they didn’t scan every school for stadium updates…They want patch a single facemask and other equipment so I doubt if they can do stadiums...

[DGuinta1]

Sideline passes still stink, immediately goes out of bounds.

[Lzydd]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dogslax41

PS3 playing on Heisman. Looks fantastic in motion. Plays awful (from a sim standpoint). Gameplay is very fluid and looks very good, but unfortunatly for me there are still too many issue with the football side of things for this to warrant a purchase. Secondary AI is about as bad as I have ever seen it. Zone coverage is miserable. Linebackers unless they are involved with a read and react play(read option design and AI is fantastic if not a bit too deliberate (a player's decision on the play is very glaring and easy to read)) will often stand and just watch a scrambling QB run right by them when they could have reached out with an arm and made the tackle. On offense the game felt great in the running game as in the past heisman has frustrated me to no end because I would rush for 250+ a game on AA and then couldnt get out of the backfield on heisman playing a patient style and waiting for the hole to open. This year the running game is great and I had an accurate reflection of about 3.5 YPC. Passing...9 out of 10 plays I had at least one receiver wide open (ND(me) v Michigan). I was never at any point in any threat of being stopped by the cpu because even if I tried to run the first two downs and didnt pick up the first I knew even third and long I could complete the pass with ease. On defense the only thing that really stood out is that any time I called zone it was almost as if it took oneof my DBs a couple seconds after the snap to decipher what was going on thus creating what I saw when I was on offense of one receiver running free with a huge buffer. By that time any crossing or slant route was wide open. CPU rushing was my biggest let down. CPU gained 5 yards on running plays for the entire game. After the demo I was very hopeful this wouldnt be the case again this year and its only one game but it was very dissapointing to see it in the first one I played. Overall the game looks great and if you were watching someone else play without really paying attention to the reactions of the players on the field in relation to one another it would look like a very polished and smooth game that looks like alot of fun to play. In the end though anyone looking for any kind of true football xs and os sim is still going to be dissapointed. I'm sure I will have fun playing it for the rest of the season pass time since as an "action/arcade" type football game it is very entertaining to play but if I were to buy it I can see it being a coaster by week three due to frustrations in the technical game.

Thank you for an honest review. Hard to fathom that "professional" reviewers (Kotaku and OS were ok, but a lot of other reviews were pure propaganda) managed to avoid the fact that zone defense is broken (even just to say "it's broken, but whatever, I don't care).

[TeriyAkin]

Just had a game on where the cpu would start breaking away and as soon as I switched into a defender they would just fall down... it led to 4 tds effing bs

[Dogslax41]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lzydd

Thank you for an honest review. Hard to fathom that "professional" reviewers (Kotaku and OS were ok, but a lot of other reviews were pure propaganda) managed to avoid the fact that zone defense is broken (even just to say "it's broken, but whatever, I don't care).

It really stinks because this game does a great job of creating those moments that make you say wow out loud when a really smooth play happens, the juking animations are incredibly well done. Its just a shame that to enjoy those moments you have to put up with the issues that it has in fundamental areas.

[Hornguy105]

Uniforms and equipment are starting to show age of the consoles, gameplay is very fluid. Hopefully a roster is out soon, I'm ready to start a dynasty.

[BenGerman]

Just lost to FSU with Florida (at home, mind you) 25-3. I cannot remember ever being dominated like that in a game of NCAA Football.

A couple of notes:

- I liked the halftime show, and was really happy with the stat wipes.
- The CPU really knows how and when to run with their QB. I thought I had him sacked a few times only for him to escape the pocket and pick up some yards.
- The CPU had 362 yards of offense on me, compared to my 188.
- The CPU was regularly switching out their halfbacks, something I remember being kind of a problem in Madden last year.
- I only saw one DB glitch, but I'm going to keep my eye on it. Doesn't seem as bad as last year, but definitely still there.
- I had three sacks, two of which were user. It was really gratifying getting a push and then wrapping up the sack.
- There were three total INT's, and all looked really natural.

This game is easily the best NCAA experience I've had since '06, but there are some legacy issues still lurking around.