NCAA Football 10 - 360 - Review

by jkdmedia, July 13, 2009

Coming from Boise, Idaho, a town with some serious love for college football, I look to EA Sports’ annual college football titles very closely. While there have definitely been some highs and lows for the franchise, NCAA Football has largely been the go-to series for college pigskin fanatics. The latest entry to the long-running franchise, NCAA Football 10, adds in some new modes, but largely plays out as an incremental update over its predecessor. However, the new modes that have been added are great additions, and there should be enough content here for long-time fans to enjoy for a while.

On the field, NCAA Football 10 features very modest changes over 09. The game feels mostly the same, with the overall feel and pace reflecting its predecessor. There have been some new additions, including the ability to call conservative or aggressive plays by switching your balance at any point in the game and a new Family Play option that simplifies the game for more casual users. The Family Play option is a pretty compelling way for fans to get involved even if they aren’t the best gamers, as it simplifies passing to one receiver and makes the AI very lenient. In fact, it is very difficult to lose when Family Play is enabled. Additionally, the tried-and-true Dynasty mode has returned.

The Campus Legend mode returns, albeit in somewhat different form under the Road to Glory moniker. This mode is mostly the same as it was last year, allowing you to take one player through the ropes from High School playoffs up to college glory. The one main change is the addition of Erin Andrews, who serves as your host and sideline reporter, offering some insight into your burgeoning career.

One of the game’s main new features is the Teambuilder feature. Going online to the EA Sports website, players can create and customize their very own teams, editing every detail they see fit, from the logos to the team colors and even your home stadium. You can then download your custom team from EA’s servers onto your Xbox 360, and then have access to the team. You’ll also be able to check out and download teams created by other players, adding to the game’s community element. Even though the Teambuilder mode requires you to use a PC to create your team, the experience would’ve likely proven unwieldy on the console, and feels much more deep and intuitive on a PC.

The biggest new addition to the online mix is the Season Showdown mode. In Season Showdown, players choose one team, and through their own personal skill in the game, will add to the overall rankings of their favorite team come the college football season. This isn’t simply an online mode per se, as every single-player game you play as your chosen team will contribute to their overall rankings online. There are key areas that will help determine your team’s overall rating, including skill and sportsmanship. While skill can be established by making big plays, including User Sacks, big passes, and big runs, sportsmanship requires a different brand of tact.

Should you decide to partake in the game’s Season Showdown mode and play as your favorite team, then you may find yourself playing a game with a pretty different strategy than you’re used to, due largely to the Sportsmanship element. Earning good sportsmanship points requires you to do things like punt the ball during a 4th down and not run up the point margin between you and your outmatched opponent. Failing to do these things will net you (and your team of choice) a bad sportsmanship rating. Therefore, you’ll have to work extra hard, running the ball and running down the clock in the 4th quarter in order to keep from scoring too high over your opponent, which is quite the shift for players used to simply scoring as high as they can in games.

Graphically, the game has added a whole new host of animations, but the stadiums and character models look mostly the same as last year, which isn’t at all a bad thing. The overall look is very solid and moves at a solid framerate.

The sound is pretty good. The game has a fair number of college fight songs and plenty of commentary, including newcomer Erin Andrews in the mix. While some of Corso’s comments in particular can get a little redundant, it’s still a pretty decent sound effort.

NCAA Football 10 isn’t really a huge improvement over 09, but manages to play as a more polished and complete experience, thanks to great new features like Teambuilder and Season Showdown. It may not be the revolution that series fans would hope for, but they shouldn’t be disappointed in this latest entry.

Review Scoring Details for NCAA Football 10

Gameplay: 8.5
While it doesn’t change the formula too much over its predecessors, NCAA Football 10 has plenty of great new features added into the mix.

Graphics: 8.5
Not a huge improvement over last year’s aesthetic, NCAA Football 10 does introduce several great new animations and still looks pretty solid.

Sound: 8.0
The game makes great use of authentic school fight songs, and the roar of the crowd is dynamic and sounds great. The commentary can get a little repetitive and much of it is recycled from last year, but the addition of Erin Andrews to the mix is a nice touch.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.0
Not much has changed, but the incremental new features are a solid step-up.

Multiplayer: 8.5
The Online Dynasty mode returns from last year’s model, which is a great touch for those looking for some online depth aside from head to head matches. The Season Showdown adds a great element for those looking to capitalize on their school spirit.

Overall: 8.3
NCAA Football 10 doesn’t change the overall formula from last year’s game, but adds a solid new feature set that will be worth a look from college football fans.