For three years, EA Tiburon’s NCAA Football franchise has shown some signs of greatness. Around the same time last year, I was praising EA for delivering one of the most faithful and interesting college football experiences in a while and this year’s version is no different. How can a developer have both a great professional football franchise like Madden and an uprising collegiate football franchise at the same time? EA Tiburon’s willingness to push the envelope even further year after year in both franchises has always been there and this is exactly what EA Tiburon has done with NCAA Football 10.


Gameplay

Before we get into the new additions this year’s game features, let me start by saying that NCAA Football 10 was not shipped with a myriad of technical bugs like last year’s version. Yes the problems were patched since then but to actually ship a bug-free game was critical to EA. With that being said, let’s get into the good stuff.

What you need to know about NCAA Football 10 is that it presents a few notable improvements and changes but also welcomes new features whose purposes are to attract new collegiate pigskin adepts. Among the fixes, my biggest complaint I had with the past two NCAA versions regarding the defensive line and linebackers seem to have been fixed.  While the A.I still acts up or responds differently during certain game decisive situations, piercing the opponent’s defense isn’t as easy as it once was. The opponent’s offence containment is also less frustrating as you AI controlled defensive players seem to work in more cohesive way.  Offensive line blocking is so much more responsive and effective than last year’s game that it actually makes the rushing game more fluid but most of all, enjoyable to use. However, the same can’t be said of the number of dropped passes and interceptions that are still present. Luckily, they are less frequent compared to last year’s game.


In terms of novelty, NCAA Football 10 does offer a mix of interesting new gameplay additions and modes. Gameplay wise, “Game Plan” lets you access a menu comprised of specific or global strategies to both your offensive and defensive needs. If your team needs to increase its aggressiveness or cool down to a more prudent state of mind, this is where you need to go. “Set-Up Play” gives you the opportunity to find a weakness into your opponent’s defense and exploit it to your advantage. Certain plays on your playbook are linked to another play. If you succeed running the first play, you will be increasing your chances to succeed the subsequent play. The number of yards and the number of times you run the first play will also have an impact on your chances of fooling the defense. If these two features are interesting and brings a touch of realism to the whole the new “Defensive Assist” option might be more questionable. By holding the A button on the Xbox 360 controller or X on the PS3 controller, a player will be dynamically brought back to his correct (and way more effective) position. This also works even after the ball gets snapped, giving you a true advantage towards your opponent. I have no problems with EA Tiburon finding ways to make the game easier but  this assist makes it so easy to register a win that it sucks out all the challenge of the game. NCAA Football 10 already features an easy mode destined to newcomers known as “Family Mode” in which the game’s whole control scheme can be brought down to only one button. “Defensive Assist” actually makes the game look dumb than actually enjoyable. I don’t think that newcomers will have more fun by using this option.

“Season Showdown” is a four-month long competition that will occur during the real college football season. The goal will be to accumulate as much credits as possible to help your favorite school rank up among the best schools in the country. Credits will be awarded to your school by playing the game either offline or online but also by answering trivia questions or participating in web based games through the Season Showdown official website. While it’s intriguing, it will be interesting to see how it will evolve once the college season starts. As you read this review, numerous fans have taken SeasonShowdown.EASports.com  by assault, registering thousands of points. It can already be considered as a success.


The same can’t be said about the so-called new “Road to Glory “mode is only a repackaged version of last year’s “Campus Legend” featuring the very popular ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews in a fake television broadcast relating your collegiate trials and tribulations. I’m still not a big fan of the Campus Legend mode and the incorporation of Erin Andrews does not make me change my mind at all. However, there are fans of the Campus Legend so this new snazzy presentation will appeal to them. Too bad there are no actual breakthrough additions to the Campus Legend mode. Kudos to EA for trying to find interesting ways to sell the Campus Legend better but unfortunately, it may take something more enticing (and I don’t mean sexier…) than an ESPN reality show-esque presentation and a hot TV personality. Campus Legend (or Road to Glory) may also be destined to play a secondary role forever. Only time will tell…

Lastly but not least, NCAA Football 10’s newest feature TeamBuilder is without any doubt the most impressive addition  to the NCAA Football franchise. I can go as far saying that is the most significant addition to be ever given to a sports game since the Create a Player feature was first introduced in the nineties. Clearly targeting the hardcore fans of the franchise, TeamBuilder lets you create your own team, uniforms and players, customize existing stadiums to your own tastes, use your own logos and even choose your mascot through the web. Once your team is created, you can save it on the EASPORTSWORLD servers and import it to the game in a matter of seconds. Your created team can now be used in quickplay matches and both the offline and online Dynasty mode. If you don’t have the patience to create your own team, the online community has already created hundreds of teams ready for download.


Graphics & Sounds

Visually, NCAA Football 10 does feature new player animations but its far from being superior to NCAA Football 09. The most notable improvements can be seen during loading times and menu surfing, which are actually faster and painless. Crowds and sideline animations still look a bit off but I can only assume (and hope) that both will eventually get better. Overall, NCAA Football 10 remains a nice looking game but don’t expect to be blown away.

The same can be said about the audio. Kirk Herbstreet, Lee Corso and Brad Nessler are back for game commentary and analysis. I came to the realization that they were maybe trying to be too much funny to my own taste. After a few games, they became more annoying than actually informative. With most of the recorded lines from last year’s game making a return, it’s a shame they haven’t decided to record new lines or even removing some of Lee Corso’s boring jokes. Environmental sounds still impressive and make you feel like you’re in the stadium.


Value

Since EA publishes a NCAA Football game (as well as the other sports games) every year, the value will become harder to justify, especially during this economic turmoil affecting both Canada and the United States. While hardcore fans are always willing to shed the 60 dollars every year to get their new game, there are still some people that will only upgrade if they feel like the investment is really present, even skipping a year or two. Personally, I think that both crowds will get enough bangs for his buck with this year’s version mostly because of the addition of the TeamBuilder and Season Showdown modes, which will now force EA to implement these new features into other EA Sports games. TeamBuilder alone really makes this year’s version of NCAA Football worth purchasing. So if you were looking to upgrade after skipping last year’s version, I think the time has come.


Conclusion

Year after year, the NCAA Football franchise has been improving to a point where it can no longer be seen as “Madden’s Little Brother” or a simple NFL Football appetizer game. NCAA Football 09 was certainly one of the most interesting titles in the franchise but NCAA Football 10 has now surpassed it. It still has a few minor annoyances but overall, this year’s game is worth checking out.