I know I already posted the answers to the questions you guys sent me to EA with, but due the fact that we weren’t in our hotel room very much and didn’t have access to the internet, I didn’t really get a chance to really talk about what I saw with the game. I personally feel that for the first time since the 360 came out, we have our football game back. From what I could tell by playing all day yesterday, there has been a lot of work done with the game and it seems pretty polished as far as the gameplay goes. I definitely think it’s a step up from NCAA 07.

The first thing you will notice when you starting playing is just how responsive and tight the controls are.  You no longer feel like your stuck in an animation and you really feel like you’re in control with your player.  For example, I recovered a fumble near the sideline and I wasn’t stuck in an animation that took me out of bounds, like NCAA 07 would have you do.  What I did do was recover the fumble, turn it up field and actually negotiate my way up the sideline with a couple jukes to gain some yardage.  I didn’t score, but the mere fact that you can work your way through some tight spots without having an animation totally screw the whole action up was really nice.  The sticks are really responsive and the controls are tight, so much so that I think it’s a nice blend between what we were used to in the current gen versions and what we saw in the next gen versions.   I think people really notice how much easer it is to control WR’s and actually get a few user catches because the timing is a lot tighter.  If you’re a screen pass fan, like I am, you can actually throw one without the back or WR taking three steps towards the sidelines or running out of bounce. I’m a big fan of that one, that’s for sure.

The next thing that was reworked was the OL play.  As I mentioned in the Q&A, VJ Leblanc was the producer responsible for the OL/blocking changes and he came down and basically broke the whole blocking engine down.  Basically, the blockers block like they have a purpose and not just blocking a spot because that’s what the assignment calls for, and it has shown to be rather dynamic.  So, if you have a guard pulling outside on a sweep play and the defense is in a 5-2, that guard isn’t going to pull because he actually adjusts to what the defense gives him.  Last year, a guard was pulling whether there was nobody lined up in front of him or the entire defense lined up in front of him.  So what happens with that dynamic element is that you actually have to read your running lanes and blocks.  From the time I had with it, gone are the days where you can start a run inside and then bounce it outside for yards.  That being said, on stretch plays and plays that utilize the zone blocking scheme, you really have to read the blocks and sometimes, you can bounce outside, but others you might have the OL provide a nice cutback line for your RB to run through.  It’s really nice.  Another neat thing about the blocking engine is that after an OL finishes his first block, he looks to the second level of the defense and runs out and picks up guys out there as well.  And as I mentioned earlier in the Q&A, the OL actually double teams defenders if need be, but if the defender is good enough, he will be able to split that double team at times.  I also saw a decent amount of cut blocks and the FB’s seem to do a decent job of picking up guys in the backfield as well.  I also noticed some little things in the blocking that I really liked.  Like, sometimes a pulling guard is a little slow and gets in the backfield a little late, but is able to shove the defender that breaks through just enough to alter his course towards your RB. Same goes for punt coverage, I saw my gunners running down the field only to get chipped just enough by the coverage men to alter my course to the returner like they do in real life. I thought that was kind of a nice little touch this year. Needless to say, blocking and line play is definitely upgraded.