NCAA 07 review thread

Eh, its better than last years, but not by much

I got it for Xbox and have been playing it since Thursday night.

PROS:
Receivers catch the ball

You can actually complete short to medium range passes.

Overall the passing game feels better. You can make any throw on the field. You dont have to baby the passes anymore.

Added a couple more animations

Audibling is done easier now. When you call for an audible or hot route or defensive adjustment, a mini menu comes up on the side telling you your options. For example, on an offensive audible, it'll tell you what plays are assigned to each button, so no more memorizing your audibles.

Tackling feels more responsive. Last year you could run right into a ball carrier and bounce right off. This year they'll make the tackle.



CONS:
Alot of dropped passes. They'll catch the ball this year, but they wont maintain the catch if a defender so much as sneezes on them. Almost any contact leads to a drop. Therefore you'll still get alot of dropped passes. Last year, i averaged about 4-7 dropped passes a game, this year, about 4-8 dropped passes a game. And its not like im leading my receiver into a hit. With the precision passing, i protect my receivers, but they still drop the ball if they get tackled. No matter how much you try to the lead receivers away from the defenders, the defenders still magically come out of nowhere to make the tackle. forcing the dropped pass. Even with a hook route, arguably the safest route in football, the receiver has a high chance of dropping the ball. Its not like hes making the catch in traffic, or theres a big hit looming in the distance, he'll just drop the ball. I'd say the receivers likely to drop the ball with any sorta contact about 60% of the time. Get use to throwing it to the Tight End.

Fumbling is ridiculous. Theres about 6 fumbles a game total, and they mainly happen when you try to run the ball. It gets to the point that your scared to run the ball because you fear your gonna fumble out of nowhere. Im 5-4 in my conference due to fumbling and dropped passes. Nothing like marching the ball 90 yds down the field during the final minute only to fumble away the ball or drop numerous catches on that drive. Its heartbreaking.

Kicking controls are stupid. EA has some fetish for the right analog stick(Fight Night, Godfather, MVP baseball,etc). It doesnt add anything.

Punt returns and kick returns are stupid also. On PR and KR, the camera angle changes to third person and you pretty much cant see a damn thing.

Choppy graphics. Players faces, helmets and facemasks change during the game for a brief moment, then revert back. Its noticeable.

Same crappy create a player and create a school.

Same annoying amazing pass blocking by the computer while your line spins around like morons letting people through.

Receivers momentarily freeze on routes. Its weird. Your guy will be running a regular slant and halfway through it just stop, then start running again and its not like its a stop and go route. It just randomly happens.



Overall Score: 7
All in all, the game is way more playable than last year but it doesnt feel like any vast improvement. The things theyve added are either non important or borrowed from madden. Nothing intuitive here. At least they catch the ball now... sorta... thats if theyre not fumbling the ball away... making you want to smash your tv.



Now i await the random responses by those who dont have the game who are going to try and defend it like "well the receiver shouldnt make the catch if hes getting hit afterwards," and to that I say, well the defender shouldnt be able to make a monster hit 5 yards away with no momentum. You know how these games cheat. Even when theyre caught out of position, theyre not out of position.

 

I've accepted that NCAA will never again get to the level that NCAA 2004 was at, but I'm just looking for decent improvement. I'll see at about 10 this morning.

 

Graphics- 9
Gameplay- 10
Commentary- 9 (overall crowd and Fx sound- 10)
Controls- 9
Fun Factor- 10

Total - 9.5


My ratings for 360 version
______________________

They're saving the better looking grass for Madden, however the grass does look better in games without weather, snow is disappointing- no footprints, heavy, heavy rain is cool- lotsa fumbles, jerseys, pants and helmets get filthy, I actually blocked an extra point, punt returns you actually have some time to maneuver and a blocker in front of you, huge playbooks, great new running animations, edit player names and they announce their names...ex. Morelli Penn State's QB, go buy this game....

 

Yeah i know. It peaked in 2004 and it was all down hill from there.

The excessive random fumbling and dropped passes are killing me. I just lost to Miami for the second year in a row in super heart breaking fashion. Last season I fumbled the ball after completing a 3rd and 15 and getting in field goal range to tie. This season my WR dropped a slant route pass which I got to him super early because I knew he was gonna drop the ball if someone so much as looked at him. 8 dropped passes in the game, in which 3 of them came in the final 4 plays of me trying to get a first down to keep the drive alive. My star Tight End had 3 drops in that game, and hes an impact player and he had no drops going into that game. I shall get my revenge on Miami next season.

 

change the sliders, duh

 

there arent any sliders for fumbling, duh

 

I find it amusing that you were able to precisely rank it down to the tenth of a point yet none of your individual rankings were above 9. So how did you get 9.2 overall? :up:

 

PRPitbull was right, it's basically NCAA 06 repackaged with some trivial new features. Really disappointing.

 

I'm new to XBox live, but can I download rosters from that with people's names on it, or do I have to manually put them all in like I did last year?

 

you cant download them off of xbox live, but go to this site: FKrosters.com

My guess is, in a day or two he will have the rosters up for you to get. Read the site and it will explain it