One thing about the last couple NCAA Football offerings is that, while they don’t seem to have quite as much mainstream market appeal as their Madden brother, they have a sense of style all their own. Instead of over-produced, out-of-touch players and huge stadiums with 70,000 fans, you get a much more intimate and realistic experience with schools and players grounded by life’s hardships. Thankfully, NCAA Football 11 stays the course in regards to this axiom and brings a lot of fun to the table.
For starters, the game’s visuals have been taken to a new level over last year’s respectable offerings. A new lighting system as well as animation engine has brought a new level of realism to the game’s overall look and feel. As mentioned previously, NCAA Football has always have a more intimate and player/school-driven focus. In keeping with this theme, NCAA Football 11 has a greater emphasis on individual players, even adding more expression to their faces, depending on what is happening at the time. Even the in-game cuts to a team’s cheer-leading squad adds to this intimate vibe. Game audio is very well done, with cheering crowds and the crackling of shoulder pads – save for two areas: The announcers and the player chatter.
Simply put: There is no player chatter in NCAA Football 11. Your QB will call out plays, sure, but there is no dialog amongst the players themselves. A small addition like this would have added a lot to the game’s presentation. The announcers in this edition of the game are ESPN’s Brad Nessler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Erin Andrews. Lee Corso is not in the announcer stable this time around. They just come off a bit dull in this edition of the game. Sure, they do the job of announcing plays and keeping things general to fit with any team they are talking about, but they seem to be lacking that little something extra brought to the table by Corso.
In terms of game presentation, what will become fairly obvious early on is the integration with an ESPN college football broadcast style. Unfortunately, while the developers were obviously trying for a ‘watching the game on Saturday’ vibe, it just never feels quite 100% in that department. Game introductions follow basically the same pattern, unless your team one that has a special opening ritual, and the process just gets repetitive after a while. However, because it has some of this feel, it shoot’s itself in the proverbial foot by not being able to have the presentation of seeing the game live, at the stadium – so it ends up being a sort of hybrid in this area. This is not to say the presentation is not often times enjoyable, but it would have been nice to some clearer direction in this area.
Actually playing the game has been streamlined quite a bit by allowing players to call plays at the line of scrimmage, instead of in a huddle. This makes for a much more tactical game of maneuvering, as if one side sees the other in a specific formation, they can alter their tactics to compensate, and vice versa. Another area where the gameplay has been enhanced is in the upper-body twisting system. When running the ball towards a TD, you can control the swing of your upper-body with the controller’s right stick. Pressing forward will cause your player to charge forward, while moving it side to side allows for help in throwing off would-be interceptors. Gameplay moves along at a quick pace, with interspersed team animations and replays which come up at just the right moment. Another interesting addition to this year’s NCAA Football offering is its ‘One Button Gameplay’ mode, where you can play just about the whole darn thing with one button (more or less). This helps make the multiple control schemes a non-issue for inexperienced players, but keeps the rest of the gameplay experience for them to enjoy.
While the single-player Dynasty mode is somewhat lackluster, as it is basically the same mode offered last year, the Online Dynasty Mode has been getting a lot of attention from reviewers and players alike, as it is not just an incredible way of playing against others from around the country, but also features a multi-platform implementation that is second to none. Not only can you perform a ton of activities through the web interface, but you can also use the game’s mobile apps for your iPhone or Android devices. All of these tools at your disposal are very important, as the Online Dynasty really gives you a lot of managerial duties to perform. You even have to put together packages of incentives for prospective recruits and hope they go for yours rather than ‘the other guys’! One aspect of this game mode which really ups its social aspects is the story generator and blog elements, which help trash-talk or praise your own team or an opponent’s. This social element is all compatible with Facebook and Twitter, so you can keep your friends up-to-date on your progress.
Despite a few flaws, NCAA Football 11 is the most-fun college football title to date, with enough new offerings to keep players excited and enough of the standard stuff not to confuse everyone. If you are looking for a more raw football experience than you get in Madden, be sure to try this one out.
*DISCLOSURE: EA Sports sent us a copy of this title for review.
