NCAA Football 10 (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by Adam Larck on 08.10.2009

Does the newest NCAA Football game score a touchdown or fumble at the goal line? Found out inside.




Title: NCAA Football 10
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Tiburon, EA Canada
Genre: Sports
Players: 1-4
Rated: E (Everyone)

(Note: Most games were played with the University of Illinois, although various other top 10 schools were tried as well. Quarterback, Wide Receiver and Defensive Line positions were tried in the Road to Glory mode.)

I will be honest, when it comes to football games, I do not rush out to buy the newest iteration year after year. I still like to play them, and normally pick them up later on in the year, but I cannot justify spending $60 for updated rosters and graphics. However, with NCAA Football 10 promising new modes and features, how would the newest entry into the college football franchise hold my interest? Read on to find out.

Gameplay

I’m not going to focus much on the things that stay constant year after year. Instead, I am going to talk a bit about the new gameplay features and modes, and what I noticed about them.

First, though, I want to start with a few general overview remarks. It seems that micro-transactions are starting to rule NCAA. At the time of this writing, there are 16 various upgrades you can purchase for NCAA to boost recruit rankings or to help in Dynasty mode. The question is why does NCAA need this? I know that it is to try and help make this game easy to pick up for anyone, but if someone has paid the full price for this game, they are probably sports fans and do not want the easy way out.

Speaking of the easy way out the Family Play mode is here to try and help anyone in the family play this game. This mode takes out all the various buttons used in the regular game, and makes A the only button that is really needed. A passes, evades tackles, kicks the ball and other things. Using only one button for passing is actually more challenging I thought, because it locks on to whoever it wants, and normally that person is covered by multiple defenders. Also, plays are automatically shown on the field in this mode as well.

Also, editing rosters is able to be done again, along with downloading them from other people. While choosing a team, the various aspects of the jerseys can be mixed and match to make a pairing that you like.

As far as gameplay in games goes, players can now set up plays by running similar plays that are linked together in the playbook. The set up players become easier to run due to the fact that the defense starts expecting the original play. Also, players can now chew the clock up during the game by just turning the option on. Super Sim now shows a field overview and what type of plays is being run, along with how many yards have been gained. While on the field, players can lock into one player and control him during a play, and players can also try to key into what play the offense is going to run while on defense to have more coverage for the play. The final new feature is being able to change the type of play calls your team will typically run. This can be balanced, aggressive or conservative. These settings can be changed at the start of each half, and during timeouts. These settings change a variety of things, such as the defense blitzing more often or the offense trying for a big gain over short, consistent gains.

The first new mode that I want to talk about is something that is always activated as long as you are connected online. The Season Showdown mode allows players to pick their favorite team from Division 1-A (the University of Illinois here) and earn points for them. The points help to see who the most popular team online is by seeing which team can earn the most points. Points can be earned in a variety of ways. Overall, players can get points by facing the computer, playing online against people, playing against your team’s real like opponent that week, voting for schools to win, and playing trivia online. In game, points can be earned in skills (tackles, picks, etc.), strategy (setting up plays), sportsmanship (kicking on 4th down, etc.) loyalty (playing as your school), underdog and having your game be an ESPN classic. You can only lose points in sportsmanship by doing such things as onside kicking, going for it on 4th down on your own 10 and other things of the nature.

At the end of the regular season, the top 32 teams will compete in a tournament to decide who the Season Showdown champion is. While there does not seem to be any major benefit to doing this, it is a good reason to play as your favorite team and support them to show that they are the best when compared to other teams in the conference.

Road to Glory is the new mode where you control only one player. It is hosted by Erin Andrews, which is a nice touch for a college football fan. After making your character, you play through the state high school playoffs to increase your recruiting ranking and see what college you can go to and what string you will start at. After choosing the school you want, you are then transported to your dorm room, where you can view various stats and trophies, and also do daily events on your calendar. The events range from practices, to night activities that raise some stats and lower others, to the weekly games. This is a great mode for fans who like to play one particular position, like myself. It allows players to focus on that position and try to learn more techniques to be better at it.

Dynasty is back, both online and offline. Not much has really changed here from last year. Recruiting has changed a bit, as you can now recruit against other teams and see how effective phone calls were. Also, Team Builder teams can be imported into various conferences here, and you can change the conference of any team in the game.

I also want to talk about the Team Builder for a bit. By going to the Team Builder Web site, fans can create any type of team they want. From a different division school to a classic team to something completely made up, a full roster of teams can be made with custom stadiums and jerseys. After making and tuning everything the way you want them. The teams can be saved to your Gamertag and then downloaded on your system by searching for them. The only way to get slots for teams is with a new retail copy of the game, the preorder code from GameStop or by buying slots with Microsoft Points.

Overall, the gameplay still feels great and is easy to pick up. Fans of the game can still find a lot of depth here in strategies against teams, yet casual fans can find a game that offers a simple enough scheme to play a decent game.

Graphics

The graphics are just as good as last year’s NCAA. A bit more detail has been added to the stadiums, though. Bands do formations at the start of the game and at halftime, field goal nets rise up during kicks and camera flashes and waving flags can be seen in the stands. The stadiums also look great, reminding me of their real life counterparts.

Also, you can save screenshots and video from games or great plays you had and post them to the EA Web site to show off to people around the nation. It is a nice little extra to see if a play was truly amazing, or just run of the mill when compared to other games.

Other than this, there really is not much else to say about the graphics here. No major changes have taken place between 10 and 09. The characters still have nice detail, and the gameplay still flows nicely during the action.

Sound

The sounds in the game are good. The various schools have their team song played, along with various other songs played by a band. These are not the actual bands playing the songs, however. The team songs sometimes seem slower or different in various places. The songs are not bad, but a bit more exactness in the song would have been better.

In game, the sounds are also great. The players on the field and the stadium sounds are good to hear, and the crowd cheers and gets quite at appropriate times. The announcers are also good in the game, although they still like to state the obvious. An interesting side note with the announcers is that the can pronounce the actual names of the players and quite a few other names as well if you enter the names in the roster editor.

However, you can add custom sounds to all of the teams or to certain teams under the My Custom Stadium Sounds menu under the My NCAA 10. This does allow for more realism, as you can add the actual school songs to the game if you have the songs on your hard drive.

Erin Andrews also does a good job in the game. During a game, she will report on injuries and if a player is expected to make a return. She also does a good job in the Road to Glory mode, where she reports on you throughout your career. It is nice to have this extra touch of realism to help bring you into the game.

Lasting Appeal

Dynasty and Online Dynasty modes offer the most replay value here. Both include a full 60 year dynasty, complete with recruiting, practices and games. Putting Dynasty modes aside, though, there is still a lot to come back here for. Getting all the rivalry trophies, winning the National Championship with a no name team, experiencing every position in the Road to Glory mode; all of these offer various challenges to try and complete in NCAA, and gives football fans quite a bit to accomplish.

Another mode extending the gameplay is the Season Showdown. As long as the regular season is going, players can continue to rack up points for their schools both in game and online. There’s no word yet of any plans for the mode after the season, but, as of right now, any game you play gets points, so fans can keep earning points for quite a few months.

Fun Factor

The various modes in the game were fun to play. I especially had a great time with the Road to Glory mode. For me, I always like being one position in particular, and the mode lets you do that, allowing you to hone in on the position and figure out new techniques to use in an actual game there.

The Season Showdown mode also brought a lot of fun for me. After all, what else can be better in a football game than earning your favorite team accolades and competing against other teams in the nation?

Also back for fans are mini-games and the Mascot Mash-Up games, where certain team mascots can face off against each other. These modes are fun little changes from the actual game. Of course, the most fun from games like this come from multiplayer play. Busting out a huge play or a big stop makes this game fun and gives bragging rights between friends.

The 411:

NCAA Football 10 picks up right where 09 left off. The game adds some new play mechanics, and makes it a lot easier for casual fans to pick up with micro-transactions and the Family Play mode. However, the Season Showdown mode gives college fans a chance to give their favorite team bragging rights, and the Road to Glory mode has been updated nicely from previous iterations. NCAA Football 10 is a good start to the video game football season, and should hold fans over until Madden 10 comes out later this month.

Graphics	8.5	The graphics are a bit more polished than last year, and offer some new features for fans of detail in the stadium, such as marching band formations.
Gameplay	8.0	The Stadium Showdown mode is nice to show pride for your college favorite, and the Road to Glory mode is fun to focus only on your player. Other than that, there are small gameplay changes that help this game differ from last year.
Sound	8.0	The school music sounds good, but still leaves a bit to be desired by college football fans. Thankfully, you can import songs into the game. Other that this, the game sounds and the announcer commentary is great.
Lasting Appeal	8.5	With a full 60 year dynasty able to be played, fans of college football will have quite a bit to do. Add in Season Showdown and the ability to make custom teams and fans have a lot to come back for.
Fun Factor	8.5	Whether it’s by yourself or with friends, NCAA Football was a blast to play. It’s always a great feeling busting out a huge run or a game changing sack.
Overall	8.3   [ Very Good ]