NCAA Football 09 Postmortem - Operation Sports

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NCAA Football 09 Postmortem

Submitted on: 01/13/2009 by Christian McLeod

It is the perfect time to revisit EA Sports' NCAA Football 09 and discuss the game in postmortem fashion. NCAA 09 did a lot of things right both on and off the field. I wanted to focus specifically on what 09 brought to the table this season, and how these features held up over the course of the 2008 college season. I know there are many of you out there still playing the game -- and many who will not agree with what I have to say -- but as of this week, I feel it is important to at least "officially" end our NCAA Football 09 discussion, and begin our NCAA Football 10 discussions.

Plus, it is always fun to take a look back at a title nearly seven months after release because, at this point, most people can speak more calmly about a title that is not so fresh in their minds. Is the honeymoon officially over? How did NCAA 09 withstand the test of time?

NCAA performed as good as Florida this year - there was a bump or two, but it was largely rather good.

Graphics/Presentation

Graphically, NCAA Football 09 was beautiful. The game was finally able to nail the look of the college athlete, and subtle details such as flak jackets, the corporate logo on visors, back bars and the different helmet options added a lot visually. The fields also looked great with EA's touted grass-rendering engine showing some unique differences at certain venues (Oregon, Boise State, The Coliseum). The authentic stadiums also looked great, and had enough small details to keep even the most rabid fans happy -- assuming, of course, their stadium made it into the game. Even the sidelines were a visual upgrade over NCAA 08, and had enough detail to create a sideline that was at least passable.

Visually, the only real sore spot would have to be the crowd graphics. It was yet another year of blocky, PS1-style fans and crowd interactions. This really is not that big of a deal considering how much the crowd actually plays into a game of NCAA 09, but after seeing some great looking crowds in games such as NHL 09 and NBA 2K9, this aspect certainly stands out more than ever.

From a presentation standpoint, NCAA 09 turned in yet another weak (or should I say, Notre Dame-like) performance. For the third straight year on next-gen consoles, gamers had to live without any type of pregame Gameday festivities, bowl patches, special bowl presentation, highlight shows of any type, pride stickers that actually equate to on-field performance, and many of the other small nuances that fans of the franchise took for granted during the last generation.

Gamers also did not witness any further integration of the ESPN license in NCAA 09 -- other than the ESPN Radio updates and ESPN Motion capabilities within a separate menu.

Retrospective Review Score for Graphics/Presentation: B

The graphics were certainly a step up in NCAA Football 09.

Gameplay

Here is a category that caused some of the biggest forum uproar of 2008. Before NCAA 09 even released, there was a firestorm of criticism about the game's higher than average CPU completion percentage, broken gameplay sliders, broken special teams coverage, and a lack of CPU/human pass rush.

Eventually, two patches (one and two) were released that helped address some issues on defense, fixed special teams coverage, and fixed the sliders. However, there was never an official confirmation from EA that the patches corrected the high completion percentages and lack of a pass rush. Some gamers reported the problems had been fixed, while others reported never seeing a difference between pre- and post-patch gameplay.

My personal experience with the gameplay was very positive. I did have issues with the CPU completion percentage when I first purchased the game, but I slowly began to learn how to combat this by tricking the programming. Early on, it seemed that if you played a man-to-man defense you were able to magically start shutting down the CPU's pass game, no matter what play the A.I. ran. I also had a difficult time generating any type of pressure on the CPU pre-patch. While both of these issues were frustrating early on, I still did enjoy the wide-open gameplay and college football pacing. Once the second patch was released, however, the gameplay really hit a high for me.

I was one of the gamers who felt the patch did fix zone coverage enough to lower the CPU completion percentage. In other words, the patch made my players engage in better coverage. This in turn, allowed me to generate more pressure on the CPU QB, and I began seeing myself get 3-5 sacks per game with powerhouses like USC and Florida, and 1-2 sacks per game with weaker schools like Purdue and Baylor. To me these were realistic enough numbers, especially when you consider the fact that you really do not see that many sacks in your average NCAA game -- now imagine a real NCAA game where only five minute quarters are played.

NCAA 09 was the first NCAA game since NCAA 04 that really made me pay attention to defense post-patch. I found that I really had to mix my coverages up this season, pay attention to offensive adjustments, and even hot route my defensive players to combat mismatches recognized at the line. Completion percentages could still be high, depending on the strength of your defense as a whole. Nevertheless, when I look at Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, Grahm Herrill and even Nate Davis's completion percentages this season, NCAA did not produce passing percentages that were as unrealistic as a number of gamers have complained about.

The gameplay had some drawbacks but was largely good.

All of the defensive strategies mentioned above are techniques I never had to employ before, because it seemed like the past four iterations in the series have allowed you to play lazy defense (i.e. you pick a play and your CPU teammates do all the work for you). Post-patch defense was really a lot of fun to play, and it was extremely rewarding to sack a QB or make a big play all because of an adjustment you made at the line. There are still times when I will run into an impenetrable CPU-controlled offensive line, but this happens perhaps 1-2 plays per game to me now post-patch, as opposed to all game pre-patch.

On the offensive side of the ball, NCAA played great. New left-stick juke movements made a world of difference, allowing you to effectively hit your holes in the ground game and evade tacklers in the open field. Offense was a lot of fun this year and more wide open than in past years. Some people really liked this, myself included, but some despised this change. Personally, I felt the game conveyed the offensive-style of college football better than it had during the past few years. After observing this year's 2008 college football season, I could not help but think that NCAA 09's offense nailed college offenses spot on.

The NCAA in real life is becoming more of a wide-open league offensively, and I think NCAA 09 did a great job of conveying that sense of explosive offense. Face it people, NCAA 09 allowed you to set your offense up as a Florida/Texas Tech spread attack, a USC pro-style rushing/aerial attack, or even as an Alabama pound-the-rock-on-the-ground attack. You could run the style of offense that best suited your play style in NCAA 09, and there was no better feeling in Dynasty mode than recruiting kids that would fit into your style of offense.

The main downside of NCAA 09's offense was that once your team's offense was rated an A- or higher, you could pick apart pretty much any team not rated an A on defense. However, this is hardly a game-breaker, as it would be like not rooting for Florida or USC because their offenses are too efficient. I know gamers want a challenge, but there just comes a certain time when you build a monster of a program. You cannot be upset if you are dominant at that point; you just have to move on to a weaker school.

The gameplay of NCAA 09 took a ton of heat, and is still being scrutinized by many gamers out there. To me, this criticism is widely unwarranted, especially after the second patch. As I said before, NCAA 09 is the type of game where you need to adjust strategy manually, and cannot just rely on your CPU teammates to make every big play for you. I realize many in the sim and 2K camps are going to have a field day with this statement, but I feel NCAA 09's gameplay was the pinnacle of the series. It is not perfect, but it is the best we have seen so far.

Retrospective Review Score for Gameplay: A

The pinnacle of awesomeness in college football.

Online Options

NCAA 09 gave us one of the greatest online modes in sports-gaming history: Online Dynasty mode. Not only could you compete in a full-fledged dynasty with your buddies online, but the game allowed the CPU to take full control over teams that were not user controlled. This was a first for online leagues on consoles, and drastically extended the replay factor within the mode. Another first for console online leagues was the fact that everything that could be done in an offline dynasty could be done in an online dynasty.

Until NCAA 09, it seemed like an online league feature would always have a set of limitations that differentiated online from offline franchises (no trades, no stat tracking, and so forth).

Online Dynasty is incredibly addictive, and it is one of the best online features we have ever seen.

Outside of the Online Dynasty mode, NCAA 09 offered us the first mostly lag-free online versus mode I have ever experienced in the series. Gaming with a buddy across the country was no different than if he/she was sitting in the same room as you -- this was a huge plus in my eyes as recent years have been a test of patience due to lag. The addition of the "Online Game of the Week" lobby was also a huge winner in my book, as it kept the weekly matchups fresh, and kept me coming back weekly to create my own history.

Retrospective Review Score for Online Options: A+

There is something to be said about the Online Options in NCAA - some of the best out there.

Feature Set

The final aspect of NCAA 09 I wanted to touch on was the feature set. NCAA 09 included one of the more robust feature sets that we have seen in the series. We were given a nice set of mini-games, a full-featured four year Campus Legend mode, a silly Mascot Game option and your run of the mill Practice modes.

The mini-games and mascot challenge are time wasters. They are not revolutionary, but I am not going to complain that they were added. Now, if you told me that the reason NCAA 09 was missing bowl patches was because of these modes being included, I would have a beef with the game. Assuming that is not the case, I am cool with the modes being in the game, and give Tiburon some credit for giving us more game, vs less game as has been the norm the past few years.

Campus Legend mode is not necessarily the strongest feature in the game, but it was solid enough to keep you busy for at least a little bit. The A.I. of your teammates was awful, and the mode got repetitive quick, but at least the mode was included for those who are big fans of the "Be a Pro" formula. I will not complain too much about a feature that works relatively well and provides entertainment for some.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with the feature set in NCAA 09. It added to the overall package of the game, and extended replay value for more casual players.

Retrospective Review Score for Feature Set: B+

Next year, hopefully NCAA Football 10 performs better than the Big 12 South in Bowls.

NCAA 09 has provided me with hours upon hours of gameplay over the last seven months. As a big fan of the series who had been letdown by NCAA 07 and NCAA 08, this year's game made me believe that the franchise is once again headed back towards its last-generation greatness. NCAA 09 was not perfect and needs some work -- many would say more work than I think it needs -- but at the very least, NCAA Football 09 was finally a reinvention of the franchise for the current-gen consoles.

The Christian McLeod Postmortem Review Score for NCAA Football 09: A-

NCAA Football 09 Videos

Member Comments

# 61 rudyjuly2 @ 01/15/09 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pared


	I hate being negative but this series has always shown a "harder" difficulty usually results in MORE unrealistic play by the CPU.

True but I think some of those guys would have accepted more cheapness to provide a greater challenge. We'd all like the cpu to play smarter and more like humans but that appears to be a long way away. EA is taking some good steps with the DNA in NBA Live and 2K had a great idea with the VIP system. In NCAA, the EA team doesn't even seem to get the run/pass ratios correct with some teams.

I think a lot of problems would be fixed with better playbooks. Too many plays don't work well so as humans we avoid them. The cpu uses everything. If the cpu just called the bread and butter plays we used they would be a lot better. Heck, maybe the NCAA team should have DNA playbooks where they track the success rate of each play and stop using them over time if they suck. They could just monitor plays used online to see which plays people like. Every week they could release an update where the cpu would recognize what plays work well and what doesn't and incorporate that into their gameplan. They could also update team tendencies of run vs. pass.

Bangpow, I would still give the gameplay a B on this game even though I know you hate it. I had a lot of fun despite some problems and still logged around 100 dynasty games if not more. I'll probably still play some down the road but with NBA Live and the Show coming out, it probably won't get much play time anymore.

# 62 fistofrage @ 01/15/09 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pared


	I hate being negative but this series has always shown a "harder" difficulty usually results in MORE unrealistic play by the CPU.

Unrealistic in what regards? Breaking tackles? Robo QB? I can deal with some of these problems as long as the aggregate of the stats fall in line. I don't mind seeing Judo moves and broken tackles against a B- defense, but when ratings don't matter and they do crazy studff all day long to good defenses, its a problem.

In our league we had a guy leave after coaching Notre Dame for multiple seasons. Consequently he had his team stacked with elite talent. Well I had to play that team last night but now it was controlled by the AI. My HB has a 99 speed and my receivers average 96.

To make a long story short, My receivers couldn't get behind the secondary, and the AI was bottling up my run game. I finally did eventually bust an 80 yard run off in the 4th quarter with him, but they contained him for the most part 179 yards on 27 carries. I was on the edge of my seat the entire game and won on a 35 yard FG that was iced as time expired. Final score 44-41. Game was 17-10 at the half.

The AI played awesome in that game mostly because the recruiting was done properly and an elite school had elite players at all positions. ND didn't attempt a pass on the 1st drive of the game and rand a 10 play 70 yard drive right down my throat. It was incredible.

Granted our sliders are geared very heavily toward the AI but hey under the right conditions and if speed is taken out of the equation, I can deal with the game. Still won't give it anywhere near an A in gameplay because there are glaring holes, but with some tweaks, even as bad as this engine is, I think it could be respectable.

# 63 RaychelSnr @ 01/15/09 01:39 PM

Personally, I think the game is/was B material still (if we are assigning letter grades). A lot of people are way too harsh on NCAA and Madden because they want an absolutely perfect football sim. There's nothing wrong with that feeling at all.

Either way, Sliz answered most everything the same way I would have. I know you guys are passionate about seeing the games improve, and I actually knew this article would get the response it has (you guys are mostly predictable

).

The big thing is, there are some people who love this game and some who absolutely hate it and I think someone here said it best...it probably depends on if you played Online Dynasty or not. Either way, I hope the NCAA guys read this thread and see a lot of the main complaints about the game, because I feel the same way.

I'll say it again (like I have several times over), if you were/are willing to look over some obvious flaws with the gameplay, you are/were going to have fun with the game. If you couldn't, then you probably would have discounted the game rather quickly.

# 64 bangpow @ 01/15/09 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMChrisS


	Personally, I think the game is/was B material still (if we are assigning letter grades). A lot of people are way too harsh on NCAA and Madden because they want an absolutely perfect football sim. There's nothing wrong with that feeling at all. Either way, Sliz answered most everything the same way I would have. I know you guys are passionate about seeing the games improve, and I actually knew this article would get the response it has (you guys are mostly predictable ). The big thing is, there are some people who love this game and some who absolutely hate it and I think someone here said it best...it probably depends on if you played Online Dynasty or not. Either way, I hope the NCAA guys read this thread and see a lot of the main complaints about the game, because I feel the same way. I'll say it again (like I have several times over), if you were/are willing to look over some obvious flaws with the gameplay, you are/were going to have fun with the game. If you couldn't, then you probably would have discounted the game rather quickly.

Again, it's one thing to overlook some issues to make the game an enjoyable experience, it's another to overlook gaping holes in the AI.

I'm also not the type that wants a perfect football sim, either. I actually really enjoy Madden's gameplay this year. Granted, it could use some sliders, but I like the game overall. It does need more depth, though, and some bells and whistles because I think the gameplay is good and could probably use a little tweaking.

But NCAA 09 is another animal. It just does not feel like football at all. It's pretty brain dead in the AI department and not an enjoyable experience.

And to add another point to where I don't need a game to be completely sim.....

I actually enjoyed NCAA 08 a whole bunch. I have gone farther in a dynasty than I did in any other version of the game. I had good time with the game, so I bought it again last night and continued my Kentucky dynasty.

I need to find some new sliders, though, as I did just beat a #2 Florida team with my unranked Kentucky squad that includes 3 Freshman on the O-line.....in the Swamp.

I'm just saying that I can overlook things, but 09 was too much of a debacle to enjoy.

# 65 StormJH1 @ 01/15/09 02:05 PM

MMChris had a pretty good analysis of this as a "B" game. The things that are wrong with the gameplay have been so conistently wrong with EA titles for years, that to try to explain it to someone who hasn't tried an alterative approach like 2k5 or APF 2k8 is almost impossible. I'm talking about suction blocks, robo QB, and pre-canned animations during the running game.

If you were able to suspend disbelief with this game, online dynasty and roster sharing were two MAJOR improvements to this franchise, and the reason that this was the first next-gen football title I bought on release date. I've had fun with it almost in spite of the gameplay b/c of those features.

But to me, this franchise will not improve this generation unless they return to some of the core gameplay flaws that remain. #1 among those is the fact that you really don't control a great deal of what goes on. NCAA even lags behind Madden in the fact that you CANNOT reliably control the arc or velocity of your passes, and there's no true throw the ball 10 yards past a streaking receiver and have him run it down. Balls are thrown directly to receivers, and it's pretty much determined the moment the ball is in the air if it's going to be an INT (which becomes a pick-6 probably 80% of the time). That's a problem. So is the fact that there is no real ability to pick running lanes, or fight through contact. Fix those, and I could justify another $60 for 2010.

# 66 bangpow @ 01/15/09 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StormJH1


	MMChris had a pretty good analysis of this as a "B" game. The things that are wrong with the gameplay have been so conistently wrong with EA titles for years, that to try to explain it to someone who hasn't tried an alterative approach like 2k5 or APF 2k8 is almost impossible. I'm talking about suction blocks, robo QB, and pre-canned animations during the running game. If you were able to suspend disbelief with this game, online dynasty and roster sharing were two MAJOR improvements to this franchise, and the reason that this was the first next-gen football title I bought on release date. I've had fun with it almost in spite of the gameplay b/c of those features. But to me, this franchise will not improve this generation unless they return to some of the core gameplay flaws that remain. #1 among those is the fact that you really don't control a great deal of what goes on. NCAA even lags behind Madden in the fact that you CANNOT reliably control the arc or velocity of your passes, and there's no true throw the ball 10 yards past a streaking receiver and have him run it down. Balls are thrown directly to receivers, and it's pretty much determined the moment the ball is in the air if it's going to be an INT (which becomes a pick-6 probably 80% of the time). That's a problem. So is the fact that there is no real ability to pick running lanes, or fight through contact. Fix those, and I could justify another $60 for 2010.

I actually thought they did a great job with the ball trajectory in NCAA 08 after they released a patch for it. It was great because I could actually throw a ball behind a LB and in front of a Safety.

In fact, here's a prefect example of it.

http://www.easportsworld.com/en_US/video/165167

# 67 bangpow @ 01/15/09 02:40 PM

Going back on NCAA 08 for a second, they were actually a few key tweaks away from making that game awesome. I saw no need for "wide open gameplay".

I'll tell what buzz word I'm sick of hearing and that's whether or not a game is "accessible". While Nintendo sells a lot of units because of how they dumb down their games, I'm tired of all these studios using that as a reference point to make their games more "accessible".

That "accessibility" kind of gets in the way from what the community wants, I think. At least in the way that they tried to make NCAA more accessible by dumbing down the AI so we can wing the ball all over the field.

They do a better job of adding football teaching tools in Madden with the backtrack feature and what not. And it helps immerse us in the game even though Madden still needs a lot of work in that regard.

But speaking more on "accessiblity", I feel that EA hasn't taken the hardcore community seriously. Like, the "hardcore" community wants things so hardcore that it will turn off the "casual" fans. I think that also goes back to the not know how to find that balance.

Case in point, I was reading an interview with Ken Levin, who made Bioshock. He embraced the hardcore community, but found a nice balance for more of the fringe fans. Check out this quote...

""You know how there are kids who listen to music, like it, dance it and get into it, but then there's that weird kid in the back of the classroom who'll be writing all the Nirvana lyrics on his notebook," Levine asked. "That's the level of the people who get into the game that you have to support."

That's the crowd for whom the developers threw in a host of wrinkles, obscure clues, and little touches to help flesh out the story. The key, according to Levine, is that all the extra depth for the hardcore fan cannot be allowed to get in the way of the experience for the more casual player who just wants something along the lines of Madden or Halo. "

I guess that sums up what I was trying to say. They need to do a better job of finding that balance.

# 68 rudyjuly2 @ 01/15/09 03:09 PM

Bangpow, the cpu INT problems in NCAA '08 were just too much to bear. I personally felt NCAA '09 was a lot better. The wide open gameplay still didn't feature any deep passes so I don't even think the gameplay was that wide open. For my skill level, the sliders made the game very good and not wide open. My biggest problem was the terrible cpu running game.

# 69 fistofrage @ 01/15/09 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudyjuly2


	Bangpow, the cpu INT problems in NCAA '08 were just too much to bear. I personally felt NCAA '09 was a lot better. The wide open gameplay still didn't feature any deep passes so I don't even think the gameplay was that wide open. For my skill level, the sliders made the game very good and not wide open. My biggest problem was the terrible cpu running game.

Rudy, what were your sliders again begin I am not seeing problems(at least stat wise) with the AI running game, except when they elect to use the Cement Shoe Shuffle QB choice play with a slow QB.

# 70 bangpow @ 01/15/09 03:19 PM

Again, it wasn't perfect, but I feel that I actually have to work for my yards more in NCAA 08. Oh, and it's nice being able to get some sacks and force the opposing QB's into bad throws.

NCAA 08 does have a bit of fumblitis, I will say that as well. I still like it better overall.

# 71 bangpow @ 01/15/09 03:20 PM

And Wide Open Gameplay is definitely wide open. I threw nothing but deep balls one game to test the AI and it was ridiculous on how many I completed while using North Carolina.

# 72 rudyjuly2 @ 01/15/09 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fistofrage


	Rudy, what were your sliders again begin I am not seeing problems(at least stat wise) with the AI running game, except when they elect to use the Cement Shoe Shuffle QB choice play with a slow QB.

On anything less than Heisman I would put human defensive awareness at 0, human break block at 0, cpu run block at 100 and cpu RBA at 70. It was rare to see a 100 yard rusher against me in even matchups or where the cpu was the better team. On Heisman I would use the same settings except I had human def. awareness around 70. I know that probably hurt the running game but I did it to help stop the cpu QB from completing a ton of passes.

If I drop human break block to 0 and increase cpu run block to 100, their OL should be man handling me and they never did on any level. The fact I never saw it on Heisman was dumbfounding this year. The only real way to boost the cpu running attack was boosting the cpu RBA which would allow them to break a long run every once in awhile but I just never saw the methodical rushing attack stuff it down my throat. I've always been able to fix this in the past as the default cpu rushing attack is usually horrible but the weak sliders this year made that virtually impossible. I do play as a LB against the cpu.

# 73 fistofrage @ 01/15/09 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudyjuly2


	On anything less than Heisman I would put human defensive awareness at 0, human break block at 0, cpu run block at 100 and cpu RBA at 70. It was rare to see a 100 yard rusher against me in even matchups or where the cpu was the better team. On Heisman I would use the same settings except I had human def. awareness around 70. I know that probably hurt the running game but I did it to help stop the cpu QB from completing a ton of passes. If I drop human break block to 0 and increase cpu run block to 100, their OL should be man handling me and they never did on any level. The fact I never saw it on Heisman was dumbfounding this year. The only real way to boost the cpu running attack was boosting the cpu RBA which would allow them to break a long run every once in awhile but I just never saw the methodical rushing attack stuff it down my throat. I've always been able to fix this in the past as the default cpu rushing attack is usually horrible but the weak sliders this year made that virtually impossible. I do play as a LB against the cpu.

Yeah, you have to lower that Human awareness. I see the AI with teams like Wisconsin, Colorado State, VT and others put together some solid drives running the ball.

# 74 rhombic21 @ 01/15/09 04:19 PM

People don't realize that NCAA '08 had many of the same underlying problems with gameplay that NCAA '09 did. In particular, the front 4 never got pressure. The only reason people remember that game as a sack-fest is because the blitzes worked a lot better (and there was no slide protect to adjust to them), and because Man coverage flat out cheated to take away certain quick short routes. And that silly 3 man DL crash issue. Essentially, EA fixed those things, but didn't fix the pass rush issues, which led to the offensive explosion this year.

This was NCAA '08 once people figured out how to beat the blitz:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB2HkY5FQMQ

If you look, you see the same things that plague this year. QBs can still scramble around all game. If you don't blitz, the guy has all day to throw, etc...

# 75 Rocky @ 01/15/09 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhombic21


	People don't realize that NCAA '08 had many of the same underlying problems with gameplay that NCAA '09 did. In particular, the front 4 never got pressure. The only reason people remember that game as a sack-fest is because the blitzes worked a lot better (and there was no slide protect to adjust to them), and because Man coverage flat out cheated to take away certain quick short routes. And that silly 3 man DL crash issue. Essentially, EA fixed those things, but didn't fix the pass rush issues, which led to the offensive explosion this year. This was NCAA '08 once people figured out how to beat the blitz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB2HkY5FQMQ If you look, you see the same things that plague this year. QBs can still scramble around all game. If you don't blitz, the guy has all day to throw, etc...

Yes, I remembered being 'Nano-d' to hell last year, but at least if gave you something to think about offensively and gave most people a formidable defense.

A realistic pocket hasn't been delivered to the EA series in 20 years, but I still find it astonishing that the CG folks can do this so much better than the Next Gen. It's just a better engine and a better game.

# 76 bangpow @ 01/15/09 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhombic21


	People don't realize that NCAA '08 had many of the same underlying problems with gameplay that NCAA '09 did. In particular, the front 4 never got pressure. The only reason people remember that game as a sack-fest is because the blitzes worked a lot better (and there was no slide protect to adjust to them), and because Man coverage flat out cheated to take away certain quick short routes. And that silly 3 man DL crash issue. Essentially, EA fixed those things, but didn't fix the pass rush issues, which led to the offensive explosion this year. This was NCAA '08 once people figured out how to beat the blitz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB2HkY5FQMQ If you look, you see the same things that plague this year. QBs can still scramble around all game. If you don't blitz, the guy has all day to throw, etc...

I only play the dynasty, so nano's don't matter and I don't use them. I also tried running around with my slow *** QB without much luck.

# 77 rhombic21 @ 01/15/09 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocky


	Yes, I remembered being 'Nano-d' to hell last year, but at least if gave you something to think about offensively and gave most people a formidable defense.

Towards the middle to end of the year, almost everybody online had figured out how to beat the nanos from shotgun, and you basically saw the same style of play dominate then as dominates now. Everybody went shotgun and threw the ball 60 times a game, with final scores in the 50s and 60s.

My point is simply that this isn't some new set of issues. The pass rush issue with the front 4 has been a problem on next-gen forever. It was a problem on '07, it was a problem on '08, and it's a problem again this year. The only difference is that this year, they dumbed a bunch of the blitzes down, made the OL ridiculously aware about picking up the blitz, added slide protection, and "fixed" the man coverage issues, where the defense would essentially cheat and run certain short routes (hitches and slants in particular) for the offense.

That's why I cringe when I hear people say "'08 with tweaks would have been really good." '09 IS '08 with a couple tweaks, as far as gameplay is concerned.

# 78 bangpow @ 01/15/09 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhombic21


	Towards the middle to end of the year, almost everybody online had figured out how to beat the nanos from shotgun, and you basically saw the same style of play dominate then as dominates now. Everybody went shotgun and threw the ball 60 times a game, with final scores in the 50s and 60s. My point is simply that this isn't some new set of issues. The pass rush issue with the front 4 has been a problem on next-gen forever. It was a problem on '07, it was a problem on '08, and it's a problem again this year. The only difference is that this year, they dumbed a bunch of the blitzes down, made the OL ridiculously aware about picking up the blitz, added slide protection, and "fixed" the man coverage issues, where the defense would essentially cheat and run certain short routes (hitches and slants in particular) for the offense. That's why I cringe when I hear people say "'08 with tweaks would have been really good." '09 IS '08 with a couple tweaks, as far as gameplay is concerned.

Yeah, but not good tweaks and not the type of tweaks i was thinking of.

# 79 rhombic21 @ 01/15/09 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangpow


	Yeah, but not good tweaks and not the type of tweaks i was thinking of.

NCAA '08 (and NCAA '09) needed MASSIVE changes to core areas of gameplay. From offensive/defensive line interactions, to QB accuracy, to receiver/DB interactions, to special teams, to basic AI playcalling and strategy. I just don't think tweaking at the margins, no matter what you do, is going to get it done. I mean, if they didn't make the tweaks that they had, everybody would still be complaining about the nanos, the blitzes, and the CPU INT fest (the only reason it doesn't happen as much this year is because the QB isn't under pressure as much, if you could generate pressure on this game like you could last year, you'd have the same INT problems).

NCAA '08 basically had all the AI problems that '09 does, PLUS the ridiculous option issues, the 3 man line issues, and the inability to pick up blitzes effectively from under center.

# 80 dkrause1971 @ 01/15/09 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhombic21


	That's why I cringe when I hear people say "'08 with tweaks would have been really good." '09 IS '08 with a couple tweaks, as far as gameplay is concerned.

What scare me is how many posts focus on just presentation type items for 2010. How many times do you read people wanting FCS teams, end zone art, etc, etc instead of a consensus of people complaining about the pocket, QB Acc,etc. Seriously, if your a dev reading those threads you could easily think- we'll add junk like end zone art is easier than reprogramming the gameplay, lets do that this year. I am amazed how many list that stuff as their #1 desire.

I am with you that the game needs more than tweaks

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