The Finest Option.
Given my status in the GR hierarchy (I do whatever the code-monkeys tell me to,
and review games like
Outlaw Golf), NCAA Football
time is like a second Christmas for me. Well ho-ho-holy 3D0, because EA's new
NCAA 2003 for the Xbox may be the best college football game yet.
This
shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Last year's
NCAA
Football 2002 for the PS2 really put college football gaming on the map, and
this year's iteration secures the series' hold on the genre. In the case of the
Xbox version, it also secures a somewhat permanent place in my collection.
The modes are substantial to say the least. EA's yearly offering of an awesome
Dynasty mode is one of the coolest traditions since Christmas. As if control
of nearly every aspect of your team weren't enough (red-shirting players, selecting
blue-chips, hiring, firing, scheduling, trading, drafting, and building), now
players can create their own school. Logos, fight songs, playbooks and,
of course, players are all at your disposal in what is the most comprehensively
immersive college football game mode I've ever seen.
Also included is a Mascot Mode in which you can play as one of fifty teams'
mascots. At first I was shocked that Oskie (the Cal bear) was excluded from
the game, but on second thought, I'm more surprised that the Cal football team
was included in the regular game, given the fact that they belong on
a football field about as much as a bunch of paraplegics belong in a step-class.
Tack on the ubiquitous Practice mode (which is handled very counter-intuitively),
Regular Season and a Trophy room with authentic trophies to round out the experience.
Given my horrible penchant for irony, I can hardly reconcile that NCAA
Football 2003 is also a lot of fun to play. I actually prefer NCAA ball
to NFL thanks to the Option plays, which are handled better this season than
ever before. The same goes for draw plays and play-actions, both of which run
more smoothly than ever.
However,
it's about as difficult to finish plays in NCAA Football 2003 as it is
to start them thanks to some great defensive computer AI. This game demands
more from the player in terms of play-calling than previous offerings; if the
computer can guess your plays, it'll beat the crap out of you - even with Cal,
which is about as embarrassing as a mortal wound from a water balloon.
Aside from the improved difficulty, the game plays a lot like every other
recent EA football game thanks to its use of the Madden engine. So yes,
tackling is still impossible. Also, the fact that the X button boosts on offense
and changes players on defense needs to be changed, as you'll find yourself
switching players far too unexpectedly and far too often. The running game could
also stand a better scheme, as the same juke, hurdle, turbo thing is probably
older than most GR readers.
Graphically NCAA Football 2003 looks good on the Xbox, with minimal
jaggies, some cool textures and lighting effects, and a characteristically decent
crowd. The animations are also really good and the players themselves look fine.
Compared to the PS2 version,
it's no contest.
The sounds in NCAA Football 2003 could have been taken from NCAA
Football 2002, which is in many ways a good thing. Supposedly there are
over 8,000 lines of new dialogue, but if that's the case, those 8,000 lines
were poorly spent, as I recognized nearly everything I heard Lee Corso say from
the last NCAA game. Maybe the guy in my copy of the game had a stroke
or something.
Despite its niggling flaws, NCAA Football 2003 for the Xbox takes the
managerial aspects of college football to new, unexpected heights and solves
the PS2 versions graphical dilemmas. There's just a ton of stuff to fiddle with.
A great game, all around.
RSS FEEDS
