From Friday’s The Oklahoman
THE NEXT LEVEL
Get back on the college football gridiron with “NCAA Football 09,” from EA Sports.
Always one of the year’s best-selling games, “NCAA Football 09” for the Xbox 360 nonetheless hasn’t rested on its laurels.
The major improvement is the addition of an online Dynasty mode. This allows gamers playing through multiple years on the game to face off against friends playing as other teams. Recruiting, coaching and more now comes into play as gamers face others online. Changes have been made to the offline dynasty mode, as well. Additionally, gamers can convert their online dynasties to offline, and vice versa.
Improvements have been made to the way players juke and spin, allowing for the gamer to attempt more cutbacks and evasive maneuvers. These aren’t without fault — sometimes, the player will spin out of bounds, or backwards. But when executed correctly, these combinations of moves can be very fun, and impressive to watch.
The right analog stick now allows the quarterback to pump fake, buying himself more time in the pocket. Another new feature for quarterbacks is a mini-game played after interceptions. If the gamer can correctly identify the defense that caused an interception, the quarterback’s composure and ratings won’t go down. Choose the wrong defense, and your quarterback remains rattled from his INT.
Just like the real coaches do, gamers can now call time outs to “ice the kicker” in tight situations. Calling a time out before a game-changing kick will cause the kicking meter to show an “iced over” look. Additionally, the controller will rumble, and the camera angle will change. This can make burning a time out to freeze the kicker worth considering.
There are also visual improvements throughout the game, making “NCAA 09” for the Xbox 360 a great-looking affair.
Overall, the upgrades to the game keep “NCAA Football 09” ranked among the top contenders in sports games.