IGN Review - NCAA 10

[Boucher]

LINK

8.3 Overall

Much more reasonable score

[Aso]

IGN's ratings always seem pretty high.

[Poundtherock]

Lol, I think Erin Andrews bumped his score to............

8.3
Impressive OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)

[Derrville]

Surprised IGN gave it that low of a score

[Proof21]

Yea I am too..I am guessing the game is probably a ....... 6.5

Well at MM it would be.

[Ca$ino]

like other have said, ign is always too high. that 8.3 is probably more like a 7.5

[βїģĐмợ]

Seriously, what is everyone's boner about with season showdown?

[SHOGUN]

So they gushed about the features and glanced over gameplay. Meh.

[Tengo Juego]

Just stopped the video...his highlight feature is Season Showdown...

Where the fuck do they factor in .3?! I hate reviews man I swear.

[βїģĐмợ]

Good to see a drop, still too high IMO

[chazmaniandevil]

IGN Review - NCAA '10 (8.3/10)

July 13, 2009 - Many sports fans eagerly anticipate the release of NCAA Football each year rather than Madden. That's because the fast-paced, loose style of college football can often be riskier and more rewarding than its NFL counterpart. While I have often found the NCAA Football series more enjoyable than Madden, I've yet to be truly wowed by EA's efforts for the current generation of consoles. In the past few years, NCAA Football hasn't been able to stand toe-to-toe with Madden. This year brings a solid offering with NCAA Football 10, but I'm still not blown away. Though it may be good, NCAA Football 10 isn't the ultimate gridiron game.

For me, gameplay is the most crucial part of any sports game. A good chunk of what's changed this year is the fact that everything's more accessible (a good thing) and in many ways a lot easier. One of the best additions, the setup play, also makes it more likely you'll win. Or at least improves your ability to easily strategize your play calling. Setup plays are nothing new to football games. You run a bunch, get the corners and linebackers to creep in, then call play action and burn their asses. The new setup play function in NCAA Football 10 makes it all transparent. You'll see from the play select menu which plays are linked (so you know which running play is executed to look identical to which play action passes). And as you successfully perform a play, a percentage appears on its linked counterparts. This is how "setup" the defense has become due to your previous plays. It's the likelihood they'll bite on play action (or think a draw play is going to be a pass, etc). It's a nice little feature many might ignore, but it's this kind of transparency that helps make play calling more entertaining.

One thing I wonder, though, is why there isn't a setup play for defense. As defenses surely try to confuse quarterbacks so they can't tell when the linebackers will blitz or if they're using man or zone coverage. Perhaps that's coming next year.

There are some other improvements to the gameplay. In particular, there's a whole new set of animations, which help give a better feel to the game. There's more gridiron realism this time around, even if the overall visuals haven't changed much since last year. A lot of the gameplay changes are subtle -- the AI adapts to your play style, pursuit angles are better, you can actually see the pocket now. It's certainly a more refined game than NCAA Football 09 and one of EA's better football offerings on this generation of consoles. At this point you're probably looking at the score for this year and last year and scratching your head. Well, keep in mind that it's two different reviewers and I didn't hold last year's NCAA Football in such high regard.

Unfortunately, something that hasn't changed is the presence of a few bugs. I've seen middle linebackers stuck jittering back and forth like epileptics, for example. When I had the game randomize names for every player, I ended up with a cornerback named 1090 (his parents' fave radio station?) and a tackle named XXXXX. I should mention that my entire NCAA Football 10 experience was on a retail version of the game, so barring a title update at launch, these types of issues still exist. Game bugs are like Russian Roulette. I may have been the unlucky sap to pull the trigger when the chamber was loaded. You might be luckier.

There is one other major gameplay change this year, which can't be ignored. This year, EA has included a "win" button on defense. Hold it down and your defender takes proper position (even sticks to his receiver like peanut butter to a bear's ass). And if the man he's covering blocks instead of running a route, the win button knows to attack the running back. Another option is Family Play, which simplifies offense and defense removing the complicated buttons and boiling it all down to as single button to do just about everything. Yes, this happens to also be the win button from defense. If you still can't win (which I feel should be virtually impossible at this point), there are plenty of micro-transactions for all facets of the game that can quickly give you the edge needed to destroy your computer opponent.

I'm actually fine with opening things up for casual fans -- EA has to expand its audience somehow -- but these gameplay alterations have no nuance or subtlety to them. Use them and you win -- I dare you to find a way to fail. Ignore them and you have the same level of complexity from previous years. There's no middle ground, which is a shame. I'm quite certain a lot of casual gamers want something that's easier to get into, but doesn't make them feel like children. Even children don't like being treated like children.

Online play hasn't changed much at all. It works well and there's still the option for an Online Dynasty (which can be imported to an offline mode). There's otherwise not much to say since the experience is basically the same.

The real focus of NCAA Football 10 is a robust new feature set. The gameplay is still good, a lot like last year, but the features are definitely a step up. The one that seemed to make the biggest splash was the announcement of Road to Glory featuring Erin Andrews. Don't be fooled, this is actually just Campus Legend mode from last year with new packaging. But that packaging is Erin Andrews. She's your host, so thumbs up!

The other two major feature additions are actually new to the series and should be added in some way to every future EA Sports product. They are just that good. Teambuilder lets you create your own team. This is nothing new to sports games, but you have a level of customization (and ease of use) that far exceeds what EA has offered in the past. That's because EA took the bold move of removing the teambuilding function from the console and put it on a PC. You have to access a free website in order to make your team, but doing so is much easier than if you were stuck using a controller.

You can create your own custom logos for use in every aspects of NCAA Football 10 -- in the menus, on the playing field, on uniforms. Full uniform customization is also there, along with the ability to create any player you like. Create-a-player is also built into the disc and doesn't require the use of a PC, but it's a lot faster to type in names with a keyboard and navigate a PC menu than it is slowly building a player with a controller. Importing your team is easy enough (though after 12 teams you have to pay) and others can download your teams as well. Feel free to download IGN's custom-made TRL University so you can enjoy playing as The Red Lights in 360 Graveyard Arena.

The only thing curiously absent from this is the ability to create your own plays. College football is known for its trickery. Who wouldn't want to create their own twist on the Statue of Liberty play? Unfortunately, you're stuck with what's already in the playbook.

The other new feature is, for me at least, more exciting. Season Showdown mode captures the fanaticism of college football. You get to pick one team to be your Season Showdown horse. Pick wisely, because there is no going back. Once selected, you are part of a season-long tournament to see which NCAA Football 10 team can garner the most points. Whatever mode you play (even Family Play), you are earning points that go into a collective pool.

Say you're a Penn State alum. You play as the Nittany Lions in your Online Dynasty Mode and even make sure your created player in Road to Glory goes to State. You're just plain nuts about Happy Valley. When you play, all your skill points (for tackles, big plays, TD throws, etc.), your sportsmanship (for kicking on fourth down) are tallied at the end of every game and sent through Cyberspace to EA's servers. And your old college roommate who does the same has his score added to Penn State's total as well, as does anyone who choose Penn State as their Season Showdown team.

How this will play out over the course of a real college season remains to be seen, but it's a great idea. It's already begun to change how I play games. Sportsmanship is the only category where you can lose points. So where I would normally toss a bomb on fourth down for the hell of it, I'm more likely to punt. And when the score is 45-0 in the fourth quarter, I eat up clock instead of trying to double the score. You might not like that kind of alteration to your game, but give EA credit -- they finally found a way to get people to try and play true college football.

Closing Comments
NCAA Football 10 isn't a revolutionary step forward for the franchise. I'm still waiting on the game for this generation of console that makes me want to play it more than Madden. That's still yet to happen. That said, this is a more polished version of last year's game with some solid feature additions. While I'm not gaga over NCAA Football 10, it's definitely a great game and one I'll be playing for at least another month.

Presentation
Mascot celebrations, fight songs, crazy fans cheering -- it certainly has the feel of a college game.
8.0

Graphics
New animations are the highlight of visual improvements. The rest looks a lot like last year, which still ain't bad.
8.0

Sound
Everything sounds like it was said last year. Some good crowd sounds and authentic fight songs are a plus.
7.5

Gameplay
Solid all around, though there are some quirky bugs here and there. If you want to take it easy, EA added a "win" button. Enjoy.
8.5

Lasting Appeal
There's a healthy feature set this year. Teambuilder is a great addition and should be used in all EA Sports games. And Season Showdown will keep true fans playing through the entire college season.
8.5

8.3 Overall

[chazmaniandevil]

my bad only saw the operation sports one, a mod can delete this

[Vinsane]

I usually go 2 points lower than the major reviewing companies so IGN looks to be about 2 points higher than I would give NCAA 10.

NCAA Football 10 at IGN.com

LMAO this guy likes Season Showdown. That ought to be enough to ruin credibility in and of itself.

CLW you've been ripping season showdown since it's inception. While I agree there are more pressing matters to tend to rather than new "fluffy" gimmicks. However, after seeing what the Season Showdown is. It's not enough in my mind to get worked up over. Yes it's pointless, and it's a mode that's barely there. That's the beauty of it. If you don't turn it on, your not missing anything and if you do? Your not missing anything other than stat tracker on how to play the game.

One thing that I do like about the Season Showdown tracker is the sportsmanship level. If this could be expanded on more and resemble NBA2k's V.I.P. tracker. Then it could be useful when picking online guys for Dynasties, Friendlies, Ranked etc. As you will know the "rating" of the player when it pertains to Sportsmanship.