NCAA Basketball 10 (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by Joe Roche on 01.23.2010
EA Sports produced the only college basketball game on the market this year but did the lack of competition lead them to create a sub-par game? Find out inside.
Title: NCAA Basketball 10
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer:
Genre: Sports
Players:
Rated: E for Everyone
Graphics:
If there is one thing that NCAA Basketball 10 excels at it’s the presentation. I know EA Sports tries to tout it’s college football game as capturing the essence of college football but I think they’ve done a better job of translating the college experience in basketball then they ever have on the gridiron. From the moment a game starts you’ll be engulfed in college basketball. EA has provided two different presentation types – ESPN Broadcast complete with three team ESPN booth, and CBS Sports broadcast complete with Gus Johnson (yeah that’s right THE Gus Johnson). The beauty about the two different officially licensed broadcast styles is that it prevents the presentation from feeling repetitive and dull. From the fully developed starting lineups (with position alignment and pictures on CBS) to the keys to the game (which update after the half) you will honestly not see a better presentation then you get with NCAA Basketball 10.
It’s not all perfect on the graphical front though as there is a decent amount of lag as the game slows down to let the graphics catch up – most notably before you begin a came with the ESPN broadcast style. Actually I pinpoint the precise moment – when the basketball gets about three quarters of the way across the screen on the opening graphic the game stops to catch up every time. Also while EA has tried valiantly to make crowds look good it’s a minor point but they still look awkward and never moreso then when the crowd members are seemingly hanging in mid air suspended by magic.
As for the in-game graphics they are what you’d expect – although every once in awhile something will pop up that makes you happy that EA spent so much time on details. I play as the UMass Minutemen as I received my degree from UMass Amherst and am a diehard Minutemen fan, so I could tell you how upsetting it is that the in-game Mullins Center looks nothing like the real Mullins Center (the Mullins Center is not two tiered), but I’d rather focus on the fact that while playing St. Joseph’s I noticed the St. Joseph’s mascot flapping his wings throughout the entire game – a perfect touch of detail that would have gone unnoticed had it not been there but made the game feel and look even better because it was there.
Player models are about what you’d expect from an NCAA basketball game – due to the fact that none of these players can be paid for their likeness you don’t get perfect representations of the player models, and thus many of them look generic and/or bland. However, they’re not that bad – and I still prefer the basketball avatars to the college football ones where everyone looks like identical to one another.
Gameplay:
The graphics wouldn’t matter much if the game was flawed – which brings us to our major problem. It’s not that there is anything per se wrong with NCAA Basketball 10 and how it plays, but after playing through an entire season I was left feeling a bit – blah at the end.
One of the problems with basketball games is that there is a very real chance for the game to feel repetitive after a handful of games. Obviously you can use different strategies each games, call new plays, change your offense and so on and so forth – but the more I played NCAA Basketball 10 the more I felt less inclined to play more, which was strange because I was having an enjoyable time playing the game.
The biggest problem is the AI both on your team and your opponents. Far too many times I found myself passing the ball to an AI teammate who inexplicably was standing out of bounds – seriously that happened roughly one million times. The other problem is that your AI teammates just make bad basketball decisions – they will foul almost religiously when someone drives to the lane, I never once saw a player take a charge or (and this drove me crazy) your AI teammates will always try to save a ball from going out of bounds, even if the other team threw it out. I appreciate that EA sports added the sideline save plays into the game but the AI goes nuts for it and I wound up turning the ball over more times then I should’ve because of it. As for the AI opposition it is wildly erratic – on the one hand it’s nice to never be sure exactly how a game will play out heading into the tip off, but on the other hand my B- overall UMass team shouldn’t get blown out by a D- team who shoots 78% from the field (true story). I actually enjoyed some of the challenge so I mention this last because it was the least of my complaints.
On the good side the game is pretty fun --- every aspect of college coaching is here, including using nefarious means to recruit top talent to your school (I may have sent a booster to talk to a kid once or twice). I can’t be sure if the NCAA suspends you for these actions if you get caught but I imagine they do because there is an NCAA mail inbox in my message center that has yet to go off (and lets hope it doesn’t). In game, the atmosphere is great so you feel like you’re playing college basketball. The remote shakes when a big free throw on the road comes up, the crowd gets super loud when their team is on a run, and there are enough different styles of play that you can change your entire approach if a star player graduates (or leaves for the NBA early).
The recruiting interface is pretty easy to use and is what you should expect from EA at this point. One thing to be care of is that you will want to be careful with your recruiting budget (from experience), and also make sure you vet your incoming class well because there are recruiting goals that you need to reach and even if you sign a McDonald’s All American who is ranked in the Top 4 in the country as a shooting guard your school won’t be pleased if they needed a Center with a B- defensive rating and you missed out on him.
Oh and in case anyone at EA Sports is reading this – I loved, let me repeat that I LOVED all of the in-game statistics and graphics that came up during free throws and time outs. Again one of the best parts of college basketball is the atmosphere and the presentation which draws you into the game and there was a lot of great stuff in this game that I enjoyed immensely.
Sound:
The sound is really good in this game – it stands out as one of the best aspects of the title. I loved one of my players going to the free throw line only to have Gus Johnson talk about him being a “super sophomore” or when Dick Vitale would talk about the importance of being a senior on a team full of younger players.
The sound of the crowd is a key component of a college basketball game because the crowd in college basketball can affect outcomes and luckily EA nails it. The best crowd noise that I heard in the game was at Duke University (as it should have been) where the Dukies were L-O-U-D as the Minutemen tried to come back and were stifled by the Blue Devils. Nothing makes me happier then nailing a dagger three pointer on the road and hearing the crowd shut up, and nothing was cooler then being at home, dunking on a fast break and hearing the Mullins Center ROCKING. To hammer the point home sometimes one of the keys to the game is to take the crowd out of it and during halftime you can see how many decibel levels the crowd noise is and whether or not you’ve accomplished your goal (110-130 seems par for the course).
Lasting Appeal:
How long you play NCAA Basketball 10 will depend on how much you love the Dynasty mode. Luckily for me and EA Sports I very rarely play sports games online, and I honestly don’t care that this game ships with essentially three game modes. I tend to stick to Dynasty and being able to play a 30 year Dynasty with UMass while doing all of the recruiting, building the school and everything under the sun is enough to keep me coming back for more for a good long time. However, there are those of you who want online modes other then a Play Now, or Rivalry Mode and for those of you I’d say you’d be better off skipping this game and picking up an NBA game. There just aren’t that many features in the game – there is no first person Big Man on Campus mode or whatever you want to call it, and there is no online dynasty (two staples from other series). Again I have no problem focusing solely on Dynasty because in NCAA Basketball 10 it’s a very deep and robust dynasty mode but I know there are some who want boat loads of features and those people are going to be let down by this game.
- Is there a reason for this picture? You tell me
Fun Factor:
Much of what makes college basketball great is included in this game, and if you’re a college basketball fan you’re going to have a good time playing it. I love playing video games as UMass and since there is no Division 1 football program at UMass this is my one college sports video game where I can take the reigns of my alma mater and dominate the college sports landscape. I love playing Dynasty mode, I love playing in all of the pre-season and post-season tournaments (all replicated here to the most minute details), I love recruiting, building teams and shaping a sports program for years.
On the other hand – I hate stupid AI teammates and wildly inconsistent play. There were times where I’d be playing NCAA Basketball 10 and be loving every minute of it and there were times where I literally uttered the phrase “I hate this game and will not play it ever again” before starting it back up a half hour later. Your level of enjoyment will come down to how much you love college basketball – so keep that in mind before picking this title up.
The 411:
At the end of the day there is a lot to love about NCAA Basketball 10 and there is a lot to want to avoid. The game is the best option out there if you’re a college basketball fan (read: only option) and it does a very good job of recreating the college basketball atmosphere. If you want a slew of game modes, or online leagues you’re looking in the wrong place – but if you want a robust dynasty mode and every college basketball team in division one then this is the game for you.
Graphics
8.0
Presentation is great but everything else is a bit weak
Gameplay
7.0
The quality of the AI hurt this score
Sound
8.5
Crowds sound great, announcers are unique -- good job EA
Lasting Appeal
7.0
Would've scored higher with some additional game modes
Fun Factor
7.5
College basketball fans will love this game, everyone else should skip it.
