NCAA Football '13 Review

    College football is back with this year’s EA Sports installment of NCAA Football.  While much of the game will look familiar to NCAA franchise players, there are some major differences.  We will explore the new features as well as some of the more familiar ones for those who may be new to the franchise.

    PRESENTATION:  The presentation in this year’s NCAA Football ’13 is similar to previous installments.  In all fairness, this is one department that did not need much improvement.  The visualization looks nearly identical to the real deal in that at first glance, the game could be mistaken for a Saturday afternoon game during the fall.  One minor addition this year is the ESPN bottom line that was absent from in-game play in previous editions.  Complete with “Priority Score Alerts,” this is a nice touch to an already astounding presentation.  Rece Davis joins Kirk Herbstreit, Brad Nessler, & Erin Andrews on the commentating team.  Herbstreit & Nessler return as the color man & play-by-play announcer, respectively, & Andrews is once again on the sidelines for injury & halftime reports.  Davis is in studio for in-game updates on action going on around the nation in career modes such as Dynasty & the all-new Heisman Challenge.  Overall, the presentation is a high quality aspect of the game.

    GAMEPLAY:  There are several new gameplay tweaks in NCAA Football ’13.  There are some small changes such as new quarterback animations, as well as bigger additions such as Reaction Time.  While the rushing game has been the subject of gameplay changes in the past, the passing aspect received several changes this year.  Now the wide receivers’ icons are greyed out at the start of the play & light up when the receiver becomes open.  Another improvement in the passing department is the emphasis on setting before throwing.  In the past if you were in trouble, you could always just scramble & throw & the receiver would bail you out with a nice catch.  This year, if your feet are not set first, there is a strong likelihood that the pass will be picked off, allowing for a more authentic feel.  The newest gameplay addition is Reaction Time.  This is exclusive to Road To Glory & Heisman Challenge modes.  By holding down a button time slows down, allowing you to choose a better path if you are a running back or wide receiver or a better target if you are a quarterback.  This can only be done a limited time, but you can earn time back by making good plays.  It is a very snazzy feature that adds a new bit of excitement to a Road To Glory mode that was getting somewhat stale.

    GAME MODES:  Road To Glory, NCAA Football’s career mode, returns unchanged except for the addition of Reaction Time.  You still play your senior year of high school before deciding on a school to spend the next four years trying to win the BCS National Championship as well as the Heisman Trophy.  Dynasty Mode is also relatively unchanged with you still becoming a Head Coach, Offensive, or Defensive Coordinator & trying to recruit high school prospects while playing out your season to win the BCS National Championship.  Exporting draft classes to the Madden franchise has been removed this year.  However, there is a new tool in recruiting, which is Scouting.  Now to go along with your 10 hours of phone calls to recruits per week, you also get to scout them for 3 hours.  This gives a more accurate projection as to what you are getting the following year.  It replaces a letter grade with an actual rating number.  This is a nice touch & another way EA Sports adds realism to their college football franchise.  There are also three new teams to embark on Dynasty Mode with in Texas State, UTSA, & UMass, all new to FBS Division I football this year.
    Heisman Challenge Mode is new this year & allows you to take control of one of a handful of former Heisman Trophy winners for a season & put him on any current roster to try to outdo his Heisman campaign & bring home the hardware.  Say you want to put Barry Sanders alongside his son at Stanford for a season, go for it.  Desmond Howard at The Ohio State University?  No problem.  Heck, you could even put Tim Tebow on a MAC team such as Bowling Green State University.  I first used Barry Sanders at his alma mater, Oklahoma State University, & personally I found this mode, while cool & entertaining, to be a bit too easy.  My first game I rushed for 547 yards & 9 touchdowns.  Those are truly video game numbers.  Every game I played, I topped Sanders’ stats from that week (which are shown at the loading screen along with other interesting information).  This mode is good in theory & is very fun, but it is very easy to have monstrous games.
  
 OVERALL:  NCAA Football is a fun game with lasting appeal.  Heisman Challenge Mode gives numerous seasons of play time, as does Dynasty Mode & Road To Glory.  While many things make this game a fine product, with the exception of a few additions, it is essentially last year’s installment.  I give this game an 8 out of 10. See you online.