So I've come up with a formula to grade each NCAA Football or Madden title that arrives at my doorstep, until EA Sports is able to prove me otherwise. I hate reviewing games by talking about the specifics of their gameplay, but with these sorts of titles, it is impossible to stray far from that. I will subtract last year's title from this year's title and see if the pieces I am left with are enough to warrant a solid score, or a $60 price tag. I gave NCAA Football 2011 a very, very high score. Let's see about this latest iteration, shall we?
ncaa football 2012
ncaa football 2012
ncaa football 2012
ncaa football 2012
ncaa football 2012
There's a beauty in the NCAA Football games that is partially a factor of their design, and partially an intangible beauty in the subject matter. The exhibition games mimic the game-day atmosphere of their real-life counterparts brilliantly, and have done so for many years. That is how they succeed, and how they separate themselves as "must-haves" from some of the other annual-release sports titles. But because EA Sports has managed to manipulate graphics and physics to capture the essence for so long, I'm almost, almost over the feel. I can't grade on how well the game works because it peaked last year and is now plateauing, and will continue to plateau until the dev teams can make it feel like new. Which I think means building the franchise from scratch. Which will probably never happen.