Game Reviews

To many, self included, NCAA Football served as a summer tune-up and tide-me-over for Madden; that is, until this year. NCAA Football 11 pays off on the cumulative effort EA Sports put into refining the game on and off the field. It won't be mistaken for Madden junior any more than Texas/OU, Auburn/Georgia, or any other college game broadcast would be for an NFL game.

At the top level, it captures the nervous, up-tempo pace of play. That's not just the no-huddle offence, though the much-improved flexibility to make adjustments at the line allows drives that flow up and down the field with hardly a break. It also comes from how the players move. Quarterbacks tuck and lean as they try to get around the end on an option; halfbacks stumble and slither through tacklers, and sometimes guys just plain get beat; they're not pros.

If the game looks like the real college deal, it's because the game plays that way. This year the team specific playbooks go deep, creating a strong sense of character for each squad. My Texas Tech Raiders, for instance, have literally one set in one standard formation that's not a shotgun, but they've got more variations on it than need to be counted. And within them, the plays reflect their style to a T. There's every crossing pattern imaginable, a myriad of screens both to the backs and receivers, and the odd running play. With all that going on at the line, one of my favorite features is the dynamic blocking diagramming that shows who is taking which assignment as players shift around pre-snap. Granted, they might still miss the block, but at least I have an idea who to try and play off of after the snap.