 EA’s NCAA Football 2008 is the seventh release of the highly regarded football series on the Playstation 2 hardware. That said, we need to get one thing on the table right now: the graphics are definitely last-gen. (lets pause a moment as the graphics-first/Next Gen only people stop reading this review…) Okay, still with me? Good. Now, let me state one other thing from the beginning: NCAA Football 08 for PS2/XBOX is probably the richest, deepest, most on-field feature-centered NCAA offering to-date.. even more so than its next gen cousin in some key areas. That’s refreshing news (at least if you are a PS2/XBOX owner..) Its nice to see that EA didn’t mail this one in as a roster update with one new feature, because I doubt few expected otherwise…given the late age of the current gen hardware and the influx of next gen adopters. But they didn’t. To me, NCAA Football 08 for PS2/XBOX (i.e. “current gen” for the sake of brevity) is the culmination and the evolution of the 6 previous releases that came before it, and us hardcores appreciate that. So what does that mean? Well, all the things we’ve received as incremental features in the game since the Chris Weinke coverboy year are included in NCAA 08 Current Gen. To the hardcore crowd (which I consider myself to be in) that’s what we ask for in every release, no matter what “gen” the product happens to fall under. Overall NCAA 08 Current Gen does a good job at this. It does have its rough edges and its share of issues, but overall I don’t think most PS2/XBOX NCAA fans will be disappointed. Graphics wise, I do notice what looks to be a higher level of detail on the player close-ups. This seems particularly true of the uniforms when zoomed-in. Granted, its not 360/PS3 level by any stretch, but it looks very good in relation to other games using the same hardware. The game still looks “good” after all these years, and that ol’ familiar football engine still can play a more than competent game of football.
Of course, there's no gang-tackling, and the graphics- though improved (especially the uniforms) since last year- are still last-gen. So lets get that out on the table right now. Also, the game needs some slider tweaking for offline play for those who are looking for extreme realism. (Note: The same can be said of its Next Gen version, to be fair… and in both cases, sliders can only fix so much.)
However, I find that no gang tackling and dated graphics are made up for by:
1) offensive AND defensive smart routes. You all know what offensive smart routes do (extend routes beyond the first down marker... but DEFENSIVE smart routes are a hot-command whereby you can tell a zone playing defender to drop his zone to around the first down marker as well. It works BEAUTIFULLY, especially if its third and long. You can allow a short pass and have the defenders drop back to form a zone passing defense "wall" area near the marker...just like in real football.
2) The expansion of last year's re-vamped playbooks.: Yes, last year's deep playbooks (that didn't carry over to next-gen and still haven't) have become more "team specific" and there seems to be many more flavors and auto-motion options off of those new plays. LOTS of things to like about the last-gen playbooks this year. Big time.
3.) In-Dynasty summer drills. There's tons of pre-season drills to improve your players. There are some that are Madden "drills" that we've seen before in our Madden franchises, but there's many (and I do mean many) that are not. The Oaklahoma drill, Pass Skeleton, pass distance drill, the 40 yard dash, PR & KR drills, 1 on 2 QB sack drills for linemen, the option drill, and many, many more. (And your red-shirts can take part in them too.) These are good to build player ratings a bit (if you indeed want to add a few points if you are lucky). I’d like to see these drills carry over to next gen, personally. Glad to see them here.
4.) New QB to WR in-play "commands" during roll-out plays. Think "playmaker", but more refined, and seemingly less exploitive. I've seen competent defenders make me regret it. Keep in mind, the defensive player speeds in NCAA 08 seem a bit juiced on current gen, so you DON’T have the time you’d normally have with Madden 2004 playmaker that you might remember. Not even close.
5.) QB "evade" stick. At first I thought this was the typical "shake R-stick to have QB try to throw off a potential tackler"... and yes, that is part of it. (And thankfully it might only work 1 time out of 6... the other 5 times being hard sacks.. you also seem a bit more prone to the fumble if you attempt this too much like a fool) However- its a bit more than just that. It also allows for QB "footwork" in any direction when you ARENT engaged with a potential sacker. It allows for quick yet subtle, short-range, "Marino-like" steps in the pocket to avoid pressure from various directions, or the quick "step up in the pocket" to evade an outside speed rusher. Good stuff here.
6.) There's also "motivation", but it seems deeper than next gen. It also seems a bit more "effective" than next gen too...which can be a blessing and a course. You are more likely to be able to "motivate" a scrub WR if you feed him the ball, and he gets some confidence and might play better for you. In Next Gen, its more limited to your 3 impact players.
7.) Online play is a thing of glass-smooth beauty. I’ve played many glass-smooth PS2 online games of this product online with zero lag and no disconnects. No complaints. Plus, EA radio is present in the menus too..so you can get your latest sports news while you are on the online portion.
8.) Good defenses play fast & furious. Good defensive PLAYMAKERS are worked masterfully by the AI. - again, this is not to say slider adjustments aren't needed... but that's damn near every football game ever made. All of the above are welcome additions. I’m also happy to report that though “dynasty mode” doesn’t have the ultra-deep recruiting added to NCAA 08 360/PS3, it still has the best dynasty play around and is also as addictive (if not more so) than you remember. The sounds, bands, and stadium noise is probably the best in the business, and Corso & Co. are on par with last year (good, but repettitive). There's simply quite a bit to like if you are a college football fan. However, there are some issues that prevent this game from being all it could have been. The biggest issue in my mind is the speed of the defenders, and how they play the inside run. In short, the defenders in this game are too fast and too “aware” of the run. You’d think even the most pedestrian NCAA defenses in this game are All-Pro NFL players against the run and with the blitz. The inside run usually is stuffed more often than not, and often stuffed violently. Couple this with the fact that the momentum meter correlates to far too many fumbles for the team with the least amount of momentum, and the inside run (the staple of most football) becomes a dicey, dangerous proposition that often yields very little. It also works both ways, because without significant reductions in defensive awareness and block breaking for your team (i.e. pull the sliders down to zero or close to zero) you will probably lead the nation in run defense. Even then, you still will find the AI isn’t that difficult to stop in terms of the run.. and no matter what, they seem to have the ability to read all of your runs. This is an old sticking-point with me in regards to EA’s post Madden 2001 football games. The AI cheats and knows when you call a run. Period. If you call an inside run out of a 3 Wr or 4WR passing formation, there’s no excuse for the AI “knowing” this and knowing to call a 4-3 run-stop. Sure, you can audible out of it, and the AI will also audible to something else too. In short, EA still allows the “Pre-cognitive AI defense” in game where the AI knows if you are going to run or not and calls plays accordingly. This dynamic exists in the next gen version too, sadly. There’s simply no deception in running from any formation. The AI is ready for it with a run defense. Couple that with the juiced defender speed in NCAA 08..and even with schools with strong running programs and star backs, the inside is seldom a wise place to run. Its much more effective to try to bounce a run outside. In short, inside running teams are probably not going to fare as well as you would think in this game, for better or worse, and short yardage plays get stuffed with a bit too much regularity. This surprises me, because Madden 07 for PS2 had a more realistic inside running game than NCAA 08. So by comparison to the run game of Madden 07 PS2, this game has seemingly gone backwards in that regard. It also doesn't help that the AI seems to be perfect on "Jump the Snap" at key points in the game, and fumbles are far too frequent in the game. All these things seem to snowball into frustration for the player. I know after my 3rd or 4th fumble and loss of yards up the middle, I start thinking that establishing the run seems like too costly of an endeavor at times. But that’s not even the biggest problem relating to the fast defender speed…
It’s simply way too easy to block kicks. I’ve blocked 3 extra points in one game. I haven’t had this much success in a football game with blocking kicks since 1990s Tecmo Super Bowl. I also see very little risk involved in calling FG blocks, because I have yet to rough a kicker in trying to block a kick in about 10 games. Also, be advised, they block many of your kicks with miracle dives from the outside too. Its far too frequent to be realistic, and it becomes a real nuisance in-game. It seems like the answer is to never call a FG block, because you’ll probably be stunned with your unrealistic success rate.
Granted, these may all seem like small gripes to the casual fan, but to those who are long-time EA football gamers looking for something closer to reality, it probably wont’ sit well. There are slider adjustments to help “dumb your guys down” about the inside run so the AI can have “some” success, and the same sliders can make the AI’s run defense a little less “2000 Baltimore Ravens-like”… however, I haven’t found any sliders that can do all that while toning down the insane kick-blocks on the part of the AI. Still, the game offers a pretty impressive, complete package with a surprising number of new features and advancements. Unfortunately, some design decisions involving some insane run defense, defender speed, and blocked kicks cause a few headaches in an otherwise extremely solid offering. I do recommend the title, but I also preface that by saying you’ll need to look into some good sliders to avoid frustrations involving the running game and consider yourself warned about the kick-blocking. If you can get past that, there’s plenty of fun to be had in this game. I'd give the title a solid 7.9 out of 10.
Review by
Scott Hemphill
"Quietcool72"
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