NCAA Football 09

This game could be better, but what game can you not say that for. I cant seem to figure out if the crowd noise actually does anything. Game plays well no real issues with the gameplay. Interceptions run rapid with a lot of swatted balls. Great new tip drill in game and surprisingly realistic.

Last year, NCAA Football 08 was a step in the right direction for making an incredible football franchise this generation. Many were expecting NCAA 09 to be incredible, with its new break away animation system, and other new features. Unfortunately, I could have had a V8, but luckily, NCAA football 09 is that great experience football fans have been waiting for.

The biggest step up for the franchise is in its visuals. Now, I know I always praise EA Sports games for being pretty, but this game is assertively beautiful. Player models all look sharp and crisp, they move smoothly changing animations, the field has the best looking grass of any game, lighting is stellar. Mascots are detailed, as are cheerleaders and stadiums. The game runs smooth at 60 frames (even on the Ps3 version). Although there is still a lot of clipping going on, none of it affects gameplay in the slightest bit. The game doesn't look perfect, but this is the best looking football game so far.

A big new gameplay feature is the animation system. Players, running backs in particular, aren't stuck in a set animation for each move, they are free to move as they wish. Controlling a ball carrier has never been better, and it's never looked better. It can be a little difficult to pull off moves at times, but like most games, there is a learning curve. Quarterbacks move authenically, as do the men in the trenches. The tackling animations are incredible, as certain tackles actually look painful. The amount of mocap done is amazing, and mostly everyone moves realistically. My only complaint is the lack of running animations. Everyone still runs the same, and it looks a little awkward, but overall this is a huge step up from last year.

Momentum has been taken to the next level. Quarterbacks have a "QB Quiz" after an interception. They are shown a series of plays, and if they select the right one, they shake off the pick, and move on. If they choose wrong, their momentum moves down, making their accuracy erratic, and their cadence subtle. When offensive linemen allow a sack, their momentum moves down, making them more vulnerable. Running backs fumbling or receivers dropping passes effects their momentum. Vice versa, if they perform well, they are on a hotstreak, and their ratings go up, and they play better with more confidence.

The same can be said for defensive players. Allowing a big play makes them play worse, but getting a big hit or a pick makes them better. It's a very dynamic approach to confidence and momentum, that works extremely well, and you will come to rely on.

What I've always loved about College football are crazy plays. Those are here in full effect. You have a ton of option plays, and you can return field goals. NCAA Football 09 captures the essence of playing on Saturday. The crowd has booming cheers that effect the way the other team plays. If the crowd is crazy, nobody is certain about where they are supposed to be, or even what the play is. The toughest stadiums to play in are not friendly. After touchdowns, you can perform certain school specific celebrations. Florida will do the gator, Boston College will pretend to fly around like an eagle. This is the most authentic sports game on the market, and it's something Tiburon should be proud of.

Campus legend mode returns, with zero changes. You can pick a player and continue their careers, or you can create a player from scratch, take him through high school, find a team that wants you and play your career. It's a good game mode, but it could use a face lift after this long while. You still cant' become a kicker or punter, unfortunately.

What is cool, is how momentum effects you on the field. It works just like it does in an actual game, but it's more immersing when you are controlling just one player.

Dynasty has seen the most polish. Scouting is deeper than ever, as you schedule visits and phone calls with prospects, you can redshirt players, offer scholarships, the like. There are top 25 polls, and ESPNews from around the nation. Do your job, and the fans will praise you, don't do your job, and you could see yourself out the door. You have the ability to take any dynasty online and compete with others, and you can finish any online dynasty offline. It will take up most of your time, and it's shows tons of polish. It's the next best thing to being a real coach.

NCAA Football 09 is a great game. It has tons of improvements over last year, and is a great step in an even better direction. It's football season, and you need to get into it.

NCAA 2009: There is some improved gameplay and the game looks a litte bit better this year but overall the gameplay feels mostly the same. You can also kind of choose your celebration in the endzone you can run up to the mascot or run to a team mate or press y and celebrate by yourself it really doesnt add that much to the game but you can't celebrate in college football anyways

Game Modes: The  Mascot games are back and are not that great all mascot teams are 99 overall and the jukes turn into crazy front flips but its really not that fun. NCAA 09 has a couple of mini games that you probably wont waste alot of your time on. Campus Legend mode is more of the same go through high school playoffs be a 5 star recruit be 5th string at pretty much every school you go to work your way up to first string in about 1-2 weeks via practices then you blow every team out and win the hiesman every year then export your guy to madden, overall the campus legend mode gets very dull very fast. The games biggest improvment is probably the online dynasty which is very great and should last awhile if you get it started with the right people.

Overall: This game is very fun and a good game for college football fans it is also a great game to play with friends online dynasty its about the only real improvment in the game but it should last untill madden comes out i recomend this game to any football fan

NCAA 09 is the game college football fans have been waiting for. Electronic Arts has finally delivered a next gen college game worth 60$. It also brings one of the most realistic stadium simulations ever in a football game. This combined with a new animation system and a fully realized online franchise mode make this a must own for every college football fan.

The first aspect of NCAA that grabs your attention is the variety of new animations in the game. These animations seem to procedurally generate as one plays the game. For example I noticed that a player can now escape a tacklers animation. This may not seem like much. But not being stuck in some phony animation after clearly making the tackler miss is game changing.  Also the graphics have seen some minor improvements the crowds look less like a blob and the lighting now more dynamic. However there are still some noticeable freezes and frame rate issues that need to be ironed out.

The biggest new feature advertised by the game is the ability  to have online league. Through Xbox live you are now able to join or host a college football league. This is just as fun as it sounds. The ability to have a persistent football world where you can challenge your friends is fantastic.  The best way to describe it is fanasty football taken to the next level.

In conculsion, NCAA is well worth 60$ to anyone who loves college football.

EA definitely did not disappoint me this year,like the past few years with Ncaa 08 and 07 both falling short of expectations.Ncaa football 09 brought back the Home Field Advantage system where the camera shakes and your Quarterback starts to get rattled,Plus if you throw an interception,they quiz you on the defense that was called.There's also this new feature called "Ice The Kicker" so when you call a time out as the kicker comes out to make the game tying or winning kick,the camera zooms in behind him in a third person view and the kicking meter ices over.While these new features are great,the biggest addition is the "Breakaway Engine" giving you better control over the ball carrier,to try to balance this out they made run defense a lot better,in an effort to make it difficult for guys like me who want to run the ball for the majority of the game.The passing game is still very easy though they tried to eliminate some of the previous problems (I.E. the strafe catch) but they're still here.Campus Legend is basically the same,there's a new camera angle when your blocking on a kick return or field goal attempt,you still can't play Tight End,Fullback or Offensive Line,I don't see why you would want to play offensive line but it would still be cool to see in there.They added some new mini games,like H.O.R.S.E. and Special Teams Challenge.Also with some blatant in game advertising the Coke Zero Mascot Mash Up is back,I personally enjoy the Mascot Games with their over the top juke moves and whatnot.Although my favorite new addition is Online Dynasty,as soon as me and my friends heard about that we we're like overjoyed fanboys,good thing I'm writing this after the hype died down.Online Dynasty is great though,you can have up to 12 people in your dynasty and you can even use custom rosters.Speaking of,you can now download rosters from other peoples gamertags,people like EAROSTERS COM have fully named and updated rosters,but there are some issues,some people have been reporting teams completely disappearing,and other glitches,EA did announce that they are releasing a patch soon to fix some of the bugs that are occurring.Some of the glitches from the past still exist as I stated earlier(As in people running through each other,"The Phantom Juke" and superman dive tackles).But overall I love the game despite some of its glitches and I think this is a pretty solid game I would recommend it to any football fan looking for a good time (not that kind of good time,I know your out there.) I give it a 4/5 as you can see up there.

I used to be quite the fan of the Madden games, but I decided that because I am going to college this year, I should try my hand at playing as some of the people that I will be watching next year.  I think that personally, this game trumps what Madden 08 was (for some reason I just couldn't get into that game). Anyways, I really enjoyed this game and hope you try it out and enjoy it too

Well NCAA is back for another installment in the usally great NCAA Football franchise,and this one add's to that.This is NOT the best NCAA Football game but its up there....although it's exactly like '08.The only new thing I've fount that acually done something was the Online Dynasty,which I had no problem's with but that is to talk about in a little bit,right now it's time for some single player.Well the gameplay is still solid but I want them to realize that you can't just keep poping the same gameplay out each year and us enjoy it,after a while we will be bored of the same slow running and tough passing.The gameplay is the exact same thing as '08 so it'll be tough to review this but guess what,I didn't reveiw '08 so I can act like it never existed!But I'm not going to because I just want to warn you,again,it's the same as '08.But here we go and I'll try to not mention '08 at all.The gameplay is solid and is pretty fun to play with other's but after a while you notice your doing the same thing over and over unlike in Madden where you can get cinematic moment's and great tackles,but this has some sometimes sad animation tackles and it will glitch you back when your running which is incredibly frusterating on part's where it is like 4th & 1 and you need that extra yard to stay in the game.The Superstar mode and Franchise mode are just the same as...the last installment(Does that count as saying '08?)

Multiplayer:Well so far I've had quite a bit of online fun with NCAA,suprisingly more than I did with Madden '09.The online dynasty has been fun with me and I have had no real bug's and crashes like many other online players that has played the Online Dynasty.

Re-play Value:If your a football fan or just a college football fan then you'll have fun with this game for a good couple of weeks,but when your not a football fan,it's just hard to enjoy a football game these days.

End It!Well all-in-all this game is solid and by no means should be missed by any college football fan but if your not I think this should just be a pass or if your interested in starting to like football,then you should rent it maybe you'll get into it.

    NCAA 2009 will provide solid, college football for the saturday fan. With a solid Dynasty mode (Online as well) as well as a Campus Legend mode that allows the player to play as one superstar. The game has a few flaws. Bugs in the game leave a player clueless. I once missed a field goal and got three points for it. As well as the fact that during Campus Legend mode, there are no night games. Atmosphere is what makes College Football what it is, and the absence of Saturday Night Showdowns during Campus Legend is irritating.