But NCAA 10 also addresses some long overdue gameplay issues, such as quarterback accuracy and defensive back play. The quarterbacks this year are much more likely to flat out miss their intended target, and wide receivers will drop passes, but not to the point of absurdity. There’s a really nice balance here. In one game, for example, I lost on a last second drop to a wide open TE in the end zone. But it was the only dropped pass of the entire game. It just happened at the worst possible moment. It’s the same with QB accuracy. A bad QB might look great for a quarter but then fall apart later. This is what has been sorely lacking in NCAA for years – some dynamic gameplay with its quarterbacks.
The running game is also much improved, thanks in part to the removal of some silly animations that caused a halfback to look like he had been shot in the back like Willem DeFoe in Platoon. Now, if a defender tackles a player from behind he’ll likely be carried an extra yard or two as momentum takes over. Gang tackling is better; shoe-string tackles are in the game and look great.
And then NCAA 10 brings you crashing back to earth due to something as old as the day is long like its abysmal suction blocking. This rears its head in particular when you are playing defense, using the new (and really cool) player lock feature. You can’t switch and take control of another player – you need to let your AI teammates handle things if a play goes to the opposite side of the field, and when you see your linebacker literally sucked out of the way of an opposing running back – pulled in magnetically to an offensive lineman standing five yards away, it’s a complete tension killer. Of all of the niggling things that need addressed my hope is that EA Sports completely removes suction blocking from the franchise once and for all. A little of this is fine, but offensive lineman, unless they play for Florida, do not have the power of telekinesis.
There are other areas that started to wear on me the more I played. Many of which are new features that are simply poorly implemented. The new Chew Clock feature is a long overdue addition – an accelerated clock which works great…when playing with a friend. The AI doesn’t use this. So it’s basically useless when playing solo.
The new Gameplan feature which lets you chose from playing Aggressive, Normal, and Conservative, is a somewhat questionable design choice to begin with but in practice it’s even worse. Playing on “Aggressive” means you’re trying to strip the ball more, etc. If you play a game on this setting you will net, and this is no exaggeration, over 15 facemask calls per game (set to 8 minute quarters). You’ll get called for holding at the drop of a hat. It’s pretty silly.
