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| NCAA Football 09 | 
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| From: Electronic Arts
Category: Video Games
List Price: $49.99
Buy New: $42.00
You Save: $7.99 (16%)
New (27) Used (9) from $34.16
Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 463
Platform: Playstation 3
ESRB: Everyone
Media: Video Game
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 5 - 20 years
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0.1 x 0
MPN: 15461
Model: 15461
UPC: 014633154610
EAN: 0014633154610
ASIN: B00160JSGK
Release Date: July 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, FACTORY SEALED, NEVER USED OR OPENED, SHIP WITHIN 24 HRS FR CA
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| Features:
| • | Wide Open and Authentic College Style Gameplay | | • | College Atmosphere & Pageantry | | • | Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components | | • | All-new Mascot Mode | | • | Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Brings college pigskin action back with a new break away animation mechanic that will allow increased maneuverability on the field / ESRB E for Everyone
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
 Tredding water November 21, 2008
NCAA 09 is still a lot of fun, but I agree with many other reviewers on this site that this years' version is no major improvement over the last few years.
Having played through a full college season schedule with my alma mater TCU (on the All-American level- and now playing another at the highest Heisman level), I'd offer the following criticisms, largely of gameplay features:
1- Agree the running animations look much worse than previous versions: players look like they are on ice-skates most of the time. Odd, because there are many other new and excellent animations for collisions, jukes, etc- but the basic running animation looks silly. Not a gameplay issue, to be sure, just annoying.
2- Biggest gameplay issue is the high percentage of pass completions, by either the human user or the AI. Consistently runs about 75%, and so far I haven't seen much effect of turning the slider bar for QB accuracy (or WR catching ability) down, either. Even on the Heisman level, this stays the same- and doesn't even change much depending on the team you are playing, either. There should be a lot more simple incomplete passes.
3- Defensive AI (even with the slider for this turned up to 90%) is still poor, for either the human player or the CPU- one of the reasons the pass completions % are so high, I guess. This plus #2 above lead to generally high scoring affairs in every game (same as in most previous years, only maybe worse). As an example, I averaged 64 points per game in 13 games in my TCU season, (and averaged giving up about 32 ppg, too). Lots of scoring is fun every now and then, but when it happens EVERY game, it gets annoying pretty fast.
4- The new menus for calling plays (several selections possible)are less user-friendly than before, and when you only have 24 ticks on the clock to work with between plays, navigating through too many screens to find the play you want is annoying. As a result, I usually run only a few plays every game, that I can find easily and quickly- I would guess I use about 10% of the available playbook for any game.
5- Thankfully, and unlike this years' Madden game, its not inevitable that the CPU will suddenly turn unbeatable and make every game close. I was able to blow out teams I should have blown out, and was in close games when they should have been close. However, should I really have been able to beat the one Division II team on my schedule 131-9?
6- Doesn't seem like the CPU has much in-game AI adaptation to your playcalling (much better in Madden). I kept running my star HB all year long, with just a few basic running plays, and even the best teams (ie: OU) never seemed to "catch on". As a result, my HB had a ridiculous season: averaged 194 rushing yards and 4 TD's per game, usually playing only 2-3 quarters, too.
7- On the plus side, the college stadium graphics and sounds (atmosphere) are great, and the player graphics and animations(except the running) are first rate. One thing still lacking, however, is the total inability of the CPU to anticipate and/or stop a QB sneak. One animation I've never seen in any football video game, that would be both realistic and nice to see, would be pile-ups of lineman in short yardage situations, with a controller button you have to hit to make your RB/QB either burrow down or try to leap over the pile. As it is, its too easy to get 3-5 yards just by sneaking your QB between the defensive tackles.About the only way the CPU seems to compensate for this is to have your QB tend to fumble a lot on sneak plays.
8- Penalties are rare, even with the sliders set way high for the same.
Hardly ever more than 2 penalties for either side per game. Didn't see a single defensive pass interference call in 13 games, for instance, though I have the slider for this set at 85%. I guess penalties and incomplete passes are felt to be boring by the game developers, but for those of us who enjoy a realistic game experience, they are important enough to tolerate.
9- Probably too much to ask for, but harkening all the way back to the old Front Page Sports pc football game series, I'd like to see a play editor, so you have the option of designing at least a few offensive plays and defensive sets for your playbook. That was always a fun feature of the FPS series: it also allowed you to "plan" a few new plays to deal with a particular opponent, too.
10- Overall, this is still a very enjoyable game, but like many others who have commented on this site, it seems like EA Sports is getting lazier every year, without improving the game in the many ways that it could be improved. This may be the last year I reflexly buy the next years' version, unless there is some clear sign that the game developers are listening to their customers.
 No improvement here... October 16, 2008
I'll be short and sweet. I'm a big fan of EA's NCAA football franchise but this lastest issue basically sucks. Game enjoyment I gave a 2 because they got rid of the sideline camera view and the motion capture doesn't seem as life like anymore. Players seem to glide along as they run instead of running along the ground. I don't like the way the play calling system is set up either, they should have stuck with the old one. The game gets a 3 overall because the stadium graphics are better. But man, you sacrifice game play for better stadium graphics? Hmmm...I think I'm done with this series.
 Line up the quarters for an arcade-style experience October 7, 2008
Relative to previous versions of NCAA Football, this game is a non-challenging, dumbed-down shell of a football simulator that looks really pretty.
EA Sports' long-time slogan "If it's in the game, it's in the game" used to mean something when it came to it's college football franchise. I'm not talking about mascots, cheerleaders & marching bands either.
After having played the last 5 or 6 annual versions of NCAA Football on the PlayStation 2, this was the first year I moved "up" to the PlayStation 3 version. I was expecting to get the same challenging, addictive game-play that I've grown to love and look forward to every season. I counted on getting a high-tech, mechanically correct football simulator with the motor of this next-generation console powering eye-popping graphics and speeding up the lag sometimes experienced when things got really busy on the field. Basically, I expected everything good about the PS2 version from last year but better, brighter, sharper & faster.
I could not have been more disappointed.
EA has taken it's PS3 version and ran in the wrong direction like Jim Marshall's wrong-way run, tossing the ball into the air thinking they've scored a touchdown when all they've done is taken a huge step backwards in an apparent attempt to either attract or appease the average video game player.
Their idea of "wide-open" game-play is basically to simplify everything so that even if you're an 8-year-old or a drunken college kid at a Saturday night couch burn...err...party, you can still put up a decent fight against a more experienced player.
A perfect example of what I'm talking about is the way the quarterback is controlled. In NCAA Football 08 for the PS2, the quarterback would drop back and you had multiple choices of what to do from that point. If you had a linebacker barreling down on you, you could flick the right stick left or right and side-step the guy making him grab at dead air while you continued on looking to make a play. You could pull the ball down and run like Vince Young or fake that run and wing a pass back across the field to an open running back. Or, you could pump fake and then call a receiver back to you and thread the needle between two defenders but being careful because if you didn't guide the ball in with the required aim, it might get picked off.
There was a challenge. It was something you had to practice to get good at. Just like real football. In this PlayStation 3 version of NCAA Football 09, you drop back as the QB, and....that's basically it. You find a receiver and throw. No skill needed. Press one of the receiver buttons. You do have the option of pressing the R2 button which makes the QB speed up a bit to elude defenders but he's always got the ball in a ready to pass pose or you can pump fake with the right stick but, trust me, it isn't the same at all. It's easy. It was designed to be easy. That's what I totally hate about this game. It's no longer a simulation of a great American sport. They've turned it into (at least in this version) an arcade-style, WWE-type free-for-all with guys flying and flipping with the program focusing more on "celebrate with the mascot" or showing cheerleaders on the sidelines instead of actually being a challenge that requires skill, knowledge & practice. For some of us, that's the entertainment. If I wanted a video game that looked like a professional wrestling arcade game, guess what? I'd go to an arcade or buy the latest Sonic the Hedgehog or this year's NFL Blitz or NFL Street.
NCAA Football from EA Sports used to be THE game. It's sad to see the direction they are taking it. Perhaps when no one buys next year's version, they'll start to listen and understand just exactly who it was that made this game the hit it is every year. It's not your "casual" game-player. It's the hardcore football fan who likes to be challenged instead of "entertained" by the glitz & glamour of computer-generated cheerleaders and mascots.
Great Graphics-Mediocre Gameplay October 1, 2008
I had been playing the PS2 version of this game since 2004. I was disappointed with the PS2's 09 game. So, I went out and bought a PS3 and this game.
I was not overly impressed. The graphics are excellent, the stadiums and background are very good. I have been to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin dozens of times. It was like sitting in the upper deck again, looking out across the city.
I didn't find the gameplay to be much better than the PS2. The Dynasty mode is decent. The recruiting is a little more involved than the PS2, but not that complicated that it makes you go nuts. The ESPN crew is there, along with the cheerleaders. But there is no campus challenge, no 'cheat' bonus pennants to use if your QB is getting sacked to much, or your team has fumbleitis. Movement seems to be in slow motion, and like they are running on ice, or suspended a few inches off the ground.
The Campus Legend mode leaves a lot to be desired. No ESPN crew or cheerleaders (just the team mascot). You only control your player. If you aren't the QB the CPU calls the plays, and rather stupidly. The CPU will frequently call pass plays on second and one, and third and one. With a small lead, with a few minutes left in a game it calls pass plays. I was playing WR, and the CPU called six straight HB screen passes. That's basically watching the game play it'self, no interaction. In fact it can be very BORING. Give play calling back to the user, you EA Sports morons!!!
Forget being a defensive player in Campus Legend. No matter how high you raise the AI in your favor over the CPU, your defender seems to be very slow and can't free themselves from a blocker no matter what you do.
Passing is a little messed up game wide. The QB's will complete 75% to 80% of thier passes. But they can't seem to throw long, or ever overthrow a receiver.
Hopefully future versions of the PS3 game will improve. At $60 it better, or I will be hanging onto my old PS2 games.
 NCAA Football 09 September 7, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really like the NCAA Football series so this game was a must have for me. With all new animations added to this year's version it definitely tops last years version.
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