First off let me say thanks to Will Kinsler and the rest of the EA Sports Tiburon staff for having community day once against this year. I can’t say enough about how top notch the event is and how great their support is to the community..
As far as NCAA Football 09 goes, I like the game. Now keep in mind I more of a Madden player than an NCAA guy. The game is much more wide open than it was in 08. If you know how to the read the pass coverages, you shouldn’t have much of a problem moving the ball through the air.
Drags, slants, flats and crossing routes are very effective when throwing underneath, especially when a match up favors the receiver over the defender in pass coverage. The deep pass is back with a vengeance provided that the receiver has the speed to get separation and the quarterback has the arm strength and accuracy.
I have seen plenty of deep bombs while playing and watching the game. If you have good user stick control, you really can take over the game. For those of you that know how to rocket (catch), it is back for another season. I can’t count how many times I needed a big play and was able to get it.
As most you know I am not a big runner when playing Madden, but in NCAA, I will run enough to keep my opponent from playing pass defense. The big reason why I run more in NCAA is there are several Shotgun run plays that I really like. Between the options, QB Wraps, draws, sweeps, off tackle, dives and running with the QB when nothing opens up down the field, you can really keep your opponent off balanced.
On defense, you really have to have some type of stick if you plan on stopping the opposing offense. Whether it be manually making tackles or picking passes off, if you let the CPU AI defenders do the work, you may be in for some trouble.
It’s not to say that CPU AI defense is bad, but with the offensive run and pass animations, a good player with stick can short work of would be tacklers. Enhanced blitz set ups (nanos) can slow the offense down, but with slide protection, most if not all enhanced blitz set ups can be countered.
One improvement I did see on defense that was much needed was defending the option better. The CPU AI defenders actually do a pretty good job. The pitch man almost always has a defender in position to make the tackle if the ball is pitched. The quarterback not being able to pitch the ball while being dragged down is a huge plus as well.
For those of you who love the variety of offensive styles in the college game, you will enjoy this year’s playbooks. There were over 1,000 new plays added to the game. Plus there are at least 20 new formations. The one thing I felt has always separated NCAA from Madden is the amount of offensive styles and schemes that be created. If you get bored of running the spread option, not a problem, try the flexbone or west coast offense.
The play design team went beyond the call of duty once again this year. Teams that run Shotgun primarily will do so in the game. Teams that run the option offense will run it in game.
I remember playing one game against the CPU. The Ohio State offense came out in the Shotgun 5WR while down near my goal. I went ahead and called all coverage. I figured there is no way the CPU will run the ball from this formation. Well, I was dead wrong, the CPU called a QB Draw. The next thing I know, the QB is walking into the end zone untouched. I just sat there with a big grin on my face.
Speaking of the CPU AI Offense, it’s pretty tough when playing on Heisman level. The CPU actually had a few 10 plus play drives, at times I felt like I was playing against a human. The defensive playbooks haven’t changed, but there are new plays sprinkled in there.
Something I think every hardcore player is going to enjoy is the 2 Man Press. I know what you are thinking, what’s the big deal here? Well for those of you who like to practice against bump-n-run man coverage, now you can without having to have two controllers. Call the play on offense that you want to learn and then call any man press defense. The CPU will be put the defenders automatically in bump-n-run. I know this isn’t exactly what we all wanted when practicing against bump-n-run man coverage, but it’s a start and I applaud the EA Sports playbook design team for adding it to the game.
Once last thing I want to mention before I go is the pre-snap defensive movement that has been added to the game. What this does is have CPU defenders show one thing, then switch to the something else. Sometimes the corners will drop back, then move quickly up before the ball is snapped. The safeties may show a Cover 1 look, then show a Cover 2 look before the ball is snapped. This makes you think about what the defense is doing before the snap.
I managed to get to the NCAA Football community tourney finals again, but as always I seem to find away to lose. Madden Wars very own Shopmaster put the lockdown on my receivers. GG Shop.
I will post few more impressions tomorrow, for now thanks for reading the article.
Kobra
NOTE: The Virtual Playbook for NCAA Football 09 can now be pre-ordered at a discount. For more info, go to http://www.ncaa09tips.com