e’re always looking for progress in our video games – especially when it’s a year-to-year series like NCAA. Weird, huh? Less time between iterations means we expect more? Unfair, perhaps, but if you’re looking for a reason that separates this year from the rest, then NCAA 09 has it – online franchises. Yes, the one feature we’ve been waiting for is finally here. As far as dynasties go, however, Rome wasn’t built in a day – and neither is yours.
The one thing that I enjoyed other than going up against a group of online players was the fact that the game’s Online Dynasty feature kept up the mid-week recruiting. Knowing that everyone else in the group was recruiting from the same pool of players made me more careful and vigilant in my recruiting tasks. Since I find the back-and-forth of recruiting (which is the same phone call format from last year) generally tedious, it was nice to find that all the hard work paid off in stealing some unknown three-star juco athlete from my competition. The Online Dynasty mode also includes all the bowl games, red-shirting, and offseason trappings of your regular Dynasty. You can even get a friend to step in for the CPU for those weeks you’re not playing human opponents. This makes playing in small leagues more interesting.
The hum of EA’s dynasty servers can only keep you so warm, and the game is a mixed bag of new and old outside of this glitzy new feature. My vote for the most important addition goes to the subtle moves ball carriers can access simply by moving the left analog stick. These new moves aren’t as extreme as the right-stick jukes, but they are important for maneuvering though small spaces without losing your stride, such as on kick returns and interior runs. Thankfully the animations for these are relatively compact, so you won’t waste movement by putting your hand on the ground, for instance. I’m also impressed by the increased attention to atmosphere, with the QB composure ratings and loud stadiums that can wreak havoc on your audibles and hot routes.
Such additions are unfortunately overshadowed by the glaring legacy problems that pop out at you worse than the Oregon Ducks’ uniforms. Magnet catches, floating receivers, catch-up AI (and flat-out poor AI in the Campus Legend mode), and outrageous forward momentum for ball carriers drag down the improved gang tackles, overall tackle variation, and smart pre-play options added in NCAA 09. This game is going places its predecessors never went, but it’s also unwilling to ditch a past that is just slowing it down.