Yesterday, I picked this years college football title from EA Sports: NCAA 2005 for the Xbox.
When I got home, I decided to fire it up for a quick game. The game looks and plays pretty much like last years, which is a good thing, but there are definitely some graphical, gameplay and sound enhancements.
Graphics wise the players are smoother and seem to move appropriately in given situations. Like an ankle tackle will show a guy tripping or a shoulder smash will show a player getting leveled (very cool effect). Also, runners will plow through guys and you’ll see cool broken tackles and misses that seem real. One of the neat new looks is when a runner is turning a corner and off-balance. You’ll see him put his hand down to maintain his momentum. It’s a great, realistic effect. The game is definitely improving itself each year in this regard.
The sound is pretty much the same except that crowd noise is a little bit louder and more varied. The fight songs are great as usual, although they do cut NC State’s a little short. Oh well.
Gameplay has been tweeked a little bit. As the home team, you can actively pump up the stadium noise to make it hard for the opponent to call the play or an audible. Also, you can quickly add plays to your audible selection on the fly. Another cool tweak is the matchup feature that will show which players are rattled or composed for both teams. This allows you to take advantage of weaknesses in the lineups. For example, if the matchup showed that the opposing defensive line was weak on the right side, you could just call plays to run right over that guy. Very cool with regards to game flow.
In my first game, I played NC State vs Carolina. Based on talent alone, it shouldn’t have been close but that’s why we play the game!
On my first posession, I ran it down their throat with TA but we stalled inside the ten and had to settle for a field goal. NC State 3 – Carolina 0
Carolina then quickly scored on a long pass play. I was reeling and didn’t know what to expect the rest of the way. NC State 3 – Carolina 7
I settled my guys down and scored two straight TDs with TA getting both on short plunges. NC State 17 – Carolina 7
Right before the half, Carolina started marching down the field and was poised to get another Touchdown to bring the score within three when Andre Maddox intercepted a pass and went 79 yards for the score. That was the back breaker. Halftime score: NC State 24 – Carolina 7
The second half didn’t prove much better for our Smurf friends with TA getting two more Touchdowns. With the game in hand and 1:00 minute left on the clock, I had the ball back. Did I show mercy and take a knee? Heck no, I ran up the score on the most hated rival of the Wolfpack. Jay Davis hit a long strike to TJ Williams for a TD in the closing seconds. Nice!
Final Score: NC State 45 – Carolina 7
Player of the game was TA McClendon with 160 yards rushing and 4 TDs. That sounds about right. Woot!
Overall, I’m happy with the new version of the game. It looks and plays great. If I get time, I’ll do a full review later.
