rudyjuly2's Blog
Why you may like it and others may not
I think this game plays a lot better out of the box than ’09. So if you never liked playing with sliders you will like ’10 better right away. Non-slider guys probably will feel much better about ’09 than guys who adjusted ’09 a lot (I tweaked ’09 to extremes). This could also be a big plus for online guys forced to play on default settings. But I’m only an offline gamer so this isn’t the big plus to me as it is to some others. I’ll talk more about sliders later which are greatly improved after the patch.
I do think your enjoyment of this game will also be tied to your view on the camera angle. I don’t like it and it hurts my enjoyment. The NCAA team really screwed over a good portion of us by not leaving the old camera in as an option. I think the new camera is perfectly fine on running plays. But on passing plays I can’t see as well downfield as I like. My biggest problem with the new camera occurs when I’m attempting to play pass defence. I feel completely disconnected when trying to defend the pass in coverage. I usually suck in pass coverage anyways but I REALLY suck now. If you are someone who only plays as a DL this is a moot point. But I like to play as a LB and I really don’t like it. I just feel helpless and useless out there when trying to defend the pass. The player lock camera moves around way too much for me too and I won’t use this feature. Again – something some people will love but it’s not for me.
Feel of the game, Graphics, Sound
The game does feel a little different. The players look a bit smaller than ’09 and the camera is different. I think the game might even be faster than ’09. Players have slightly more weight but the momentum is still far from where I’d like it to be and where Madden ’10 will be. You still have overly twitchy players and the running animation is still poor in the open field. There are new animations to the game that do make it feel different than ’09 and these are a nice upgrades that you really see in the running game.
The graphics aren’t quite as sharp as ’09. I played a game as Miami @ LSU and then popped in ’09 and played a quarter just to confirm what I was seeing. Not a big deal to me but the players do seem smaller and not quite as crisp. What I found took a bigger step back was the sound in this game. It’s not good. The crowd chants are lousy – especially the “defence” chant, which almost pauses before it comes on to remind you that this is a video game with terrible audio. The surround sound took a step back too. The bands and crowd played through all my speakers well in ’09 but in ’10 they don’t come out very loud in the rear mounted speakers on my wall. Most of the sound tends to come from the front speakers. For those with a decent surround sound setup, I think ’09 was better.
Sliders
The patch made the sliders work a LOT better. I played my games with some tweaks based on early OS impressions (boost pass rush, I dropped my run defence to 0 to see if the cpu can run on AA, and dropped my FG accuracy to 0) and I notice a huge improvement over ’09. Honestly, if ’09 had sliders that worked this well, I wouldn’t think twice about buying ’10 – I’d stick with ’09.
I missed two FGs in my Miami game including a game tying 49 yarder with 10 seconds left against LSU. I thought I hit the last one good and it still went wide left. Setting FG accuracy to 0 does make a bigger difference. I had the cpu FG accuracy at 25 and I saw them hit the post on a 32 yarder. I still don’t like the analog stick kicking since kicks from the middle tend to be easy (dare I say perfect) compared to kicks from the hash but it’s better. I’m boosting human FG accuracy up a bit for my future games since I was bad with it at 0.
Running Game
I now see why everyone likes the running game this year. OL get much more movement on their blocks and it’s more fun to read the OL as you hit the hole. The game still plays on the fast side so you have to be quick but I think this area is the biggest improvement in ’10. Not only do you get good OL movement but the break tackle mechanic (from Madden ’09 but my first experience) is a lot of fun. Reminds me of the PS2 days. It also makes power backs more effective. I played against LSU and Charles Scott ran all over my Miami defence. He had 26 carries for 174 yards and 0 TDs. This was on AA with human run defence at 0, cpu run block at 50, cpu RBA at 60 and human tackling at 40. Only one run was a longer one. He just pounded the rock at me, broke tackles and got consistent yards. It was beautiful. Never saw this happen with ’09 as the cpu OL never got a push. They get a push with the good sliders in this game. I saw one OL drive blocking a guy 5 yards down the field. I still see some guys getting sucked into tackles and suction blocking among the OL/DL but the running game was easily my favourite part of the game. I see the biggest improvement in the game in this area.
Passing Game
I don’t see a big improvement here. Offensive playbooks are largely the same (defensive ones appear untouched) and I found myself calling similar plays and doing similar things. I did see some nice over the shoulder catches, which I like. The cpu went deep only once but I know from the demo this is improved over ’09. But for all those that are saying, “Yes, no more super leaping LBs!” this was really fixed in ’09 with slider adjustments. As someone that only plays on tweaked settings, this wasn’t an improvement for me. A couple times a game you will see a QB just rocket a ball out of his hand off his back foot at crazy speeds. Not sure why they did that.
There are more overthrows and under throws which are nice. You don’t see them too often but seem good. I do see some WRs getting bumped around and some jams can be really effective. I didn’t see a ton of this but it was an improvement over ’09. I never sacked the cpu once as the pass blocking is way too good on default and I have to boost the pass rush slider some more. Some of the zone coverages seem to get busted really bad. The cover 2 can be bad and I think more guys will run with man to man this year. The cpu QBs seemed better and only threw one pick in the 1.5 games I played (a bad one near the goalline) so this may be another nice improvement. Overall though, I just didn’t find a big upgrade in the passing game when I combine my dislike for attempting to defend passes with the new camera angle. I might like this more over time but I certainly wasn’t blown away by it last night.
Odds and Ends
I do like the halftime highlights and the EASW videos load much faster (is it because the quality is downgraded?). I lost two fumbles inside my opponents 5 last night. I never tried any of the strategy settings but did the cpu switch to aggressive to cause this? I have some concern over how effective defenders can strip the ball on aggressive. I’ve read about too many fumbles or facemask penalties on this setting but I can’t really comment first hand.
I had 3 injuries half way through the second quarter of my first game. While not big injuries I do get the feeling that the starting RB is going to miss time every single game with something. I had my starting RB, WR and TE all get hurt in my first game. Game #1 was a 31-28 loss @ LSU and great game score over 600. Too bad I blew the tying field goal. Game #2 I was down 17-13 after one half to Oregon with Cal. Best (Cal RB – me) was great as I had 17 carries for 168 yards. But I did have a 67-yard TD run where a defender completely whiffed on me – the new greased pig animation?
The menus do suffer from lag. I don't like this but what can you do?
Overall
I think the presentation took a step backward rather than forward with the lousy crowd chants and downgraded sounds. I saw my first stat overlay in the fourth quarter of a 7-minute game – not nearly enough. I don’t like the new camera as it really gives me a complete disconnect in terms of defending the pass. Makes me feel like I’m not even a part of the play, which isn’t good. I shouldn’t have to be a DL all game to feel like I’m doing something when the cpu is passing. I like the new camera in the running game but I really wish they had left the old camera in as an option. For those that love it then I’m happy for you. But there are going to be a lot of people where this change significantly hurts the fun factor.
Again, I’m not comparing default ’09 to default ’10. From what the settings I used last year, the biggest improvement is in the sliders and running game. I don’t see a big difference in the defence. The pursuit angles may be better but I’m still getting similar end results when looking at stats. That’s not a bad thing but I definitely don’t have the “Wow! This game is awesome feeling!” others have. Just a difference of opinion here. The game does have a different feel and look so I think there is certainly a new car smell going on for some. The running game is very nice and I love that we can finally get a consistent cpu running game. That is huge and a big upgrade imo. That alone is the real selling point for me on this game.
It’s early (1.5 game is far too little play time) and I will play all week but I don’t see this game being worth a $60 upgrade. I liked ’09 and will stick with that until Madden comes out. I will then decide on what game to get as I’m only going to get one football game this year.
# 2
rudyjuly2 @ Jul 17
I'm definitely looking forward to Madden this year for the first time in a long time. It's too bad they had to force that new camera on everyone. I can't believe everyone in the NCAA studios loved that new camera. It sucks for those that don't like it.
# 3
rspencer86 @ Jul 17
EA needs to break the habit of taking away options when they introduce new things (Fight Night getting rid of the button punching option is another good example). More options = more people happy, simple as that.
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It's still a good game, but I already have a good game in NCAA 09. No reason for me to upgrade... I think it's going to be hard to play either 09 or 10 anyway when Madden comes out.