If it’s July, that means one thing to videogame fans everywhere: the release of the latest NCAA Football game. From the zillion forum posts announcing that you can purchase the game prior to the street date in Wazoo, Texas, there are very few games that are as anticipated as this one.

Of course, this is also the first time that the game is on the Xbox 360 so that just added to the anticipation. Is it worth the wait? I can say it’s an unqualified maybe – the game itself is fun, but I know it could be better.

NCAA 07 looks like it uses Madden 06’s football engine. This is what usually happens with NCAA – it uses the prior year’s Madden game with some touch ups. As many of you know the Madden 06 game was a certifiable disaster, so I was already nervous before I picked this game up.

Thankfully Tiburon and EA took the criticisms of that Madden game to heart and delivered a very enjoyable gameplay experience. Watching players react on the field, especially during a Spy defense is exactly how I would expect a real game to be played.

The computer AI isn’t perfect, but it’s not really expected anymore. Coverages are still blown from time to time, but it feels like it’s because the team isn’t very good and not because the computer is an idiot. NCAA 07 really feels like a college football game if that makes sense – when you watch it on TV you do see a lot of blunders by players and this game really feels like it’s trying to recreate some of that.

If there’s anything I really miss from this year’s game when compared to last year’s Xbox version, it’s the crowd noise. I think that was a very realistic effect and made it difficult to call plays and play the game. This year on the 360 we have a momentum system that is cute but really doesn’t seem to do anything to the gameplay itself. Sometimes I think it’s reminiscent of the “on fire” mode from Blitz..the higher the momentum meter the more super-human things you can do, although it’s not as obvious as Blitz it still feels like a performance bonus. This sort of makes sense as teams with momentum seem to do better things…however it sometimes feels as though a player can’t be brought down solely because of momentum. I can’t be sure that’s the reason, but it sure seems like it.

The play book and playcalling interface are much, much better than the old games (a tribute to one of Madden 06’s few positives) and you can see both the layout of the play, the receivers stamina levels and the button they are assigned to before they get out on the field, which is very nice. There’s no accelerated clock, although the :25 play clock seems to be very fast – you don’t have a whole lot of time to get that play in if you prefer searching for just the right play. Thankfully, plays are broken up by type as well as formation, so if you want to do a ‘standard pass’ you can go to all the pass plays or a “pitch” running play. You’ll no longer have to think “hmm, is that pitch right a standard I or an ace formation.”

If you’re making the leap over from the Xbox, you’ll have to relearn the controls a tad – getting used to the pitch button on the left trigger does take some time to get used to. Madden 360 jockeys will have no problem however.

Finally there’s a new kicking model that is straight out of a Tiger Woods game. Now you use the right thumbstick to kick – the model does take some time to get used to in order to get the power right, but field goals are absolutely not a gimme anymore.

NCAA Football 07 shines as a single game or an online game. The dynasty mode is enjoyable too; however if you’re used to the old game, you’ll find some things missing. For me, I don’t miss the lack of anal-retentive depth – I do enough in the off season to make it worth playing – but I’m sure some will moan over the recruiting model. On the bright side, the hideous disciplinary system is long gone. No more worrying about discipline points!!