Another year another set of EA sports games. There are many reasons to hate this company for how they handle the games and many reasons to love them. Every year they come out with the same game as the previous with a few tweaks. Yet the familiarity and simple controls keep us buying it year after year. People are frustrated when companies don’t change-up what they come out with yet get angry with companies who change and don’t stick to “what works” (see Bioware and Dragon Age). It’s a tough situation to be in as a company.
So how did EA do with NCAA Football 13? Surprisingly very well. NCAA Football has been year in and year out a well-presented and interesting video game with all the different game modes like dynasty and road to glory. Yet this year they added to it with the Heisman Challenge mode. In this mode you get to play as one of ten selected previous Heisman winners on any team the player wishes for one season. The mode has its flaws such as the announcers don’t acknowledge their names but overall its pretty fun and interesting. Definitely a welcome addition to the game
The game play also got a little more intriguing with Reaction Time. Reaction Time enables a player to slow the game down during a play to avoid defenders or to make a tackle. The player only has a limited amount depending on how good they are and their experience. It adds a little flavor to the game play which resembles every other football game out there.
There were a lot of issues not fixed in this years game though. You’ll probably here most of everything the announcers will say with in two games, the Road to Glory mode is far too easy, and recruiting in dynasty mode is still an annoying, time-consuming, pain in the ass. Players still put their arms and shoulder through the ball or another persons body and tight-end streaks are nearly unguard-able. One of thing I am very happy with though that they did fix is that you can’t run twenty feet backwards, throw off your back foot and throw a perfect ball to a receiver fifty yards down field. A very welcomed change.
Overall the game is a better improvement than you will get with most sport video games. I don’t advise getting the same sports video game two years in a row but if you’re going to get NCAA Football any year, it’s this one.
If any of you have already played the game, what do you think? If not, will you be buying this? What have your previous experiences with NCAA Football been like?
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