NCAA Football 13 Reviews: Comparing Most Respected Opinions Around the Web

EA Sports' NCAA Football 13 officially released today, but many reviewers, like myself, have had the full game for four days or more.

It's always good to have multiple opinions on a game. You can find out whose priorities most match your own, and allocate your trust accordingly.

I reviewed the game and I scored it an 8.5, which turns out to be just a tad higher than most of the reviews I read.

That said, let's look at what four respected sites had to say about NCAA 13:

Greg Miller of IGN gave the game an eight-out-of-10 overall, but a 7.5 in graphics. I scored the game a 9.25 in graphics. Here is what he said about the visuals:

"

The game looks smooth in motion and the animations are nice, but the grass has no definition in replays, the crowd wigs out, and cameramen are still getting caught in field goal nets.

"

When I review or play a sports game, the first thing I'm looking at is the graphics. It's not the final word for me, but it's hard to get past an ugly game. After that, I'm looking for realistic gameplay. I understand that its a video game, so there will always have to be some allowance of cyber-moments, but nothing crazy.

For example, while playing and older NBA video game, over 10 years ago, I remember driving to the basket and dunking viciously with John Stockton. Yeah—that's the type of unrealistic I can't get by.

There are lesser degrees of the concept that will also draw my ire, but you get my drift.

Ryan Fleming of Digital Trends scored it an eight-out-of-10. He said this of the gameplay:

"

Where NCAA 13 succeeds is in the gameplay mechanics. They are subtle, but for those that have been playing the game for years the tweaks are significant. They won’t make someone run out to buy the game, but they will be appreciated by people that intimately know the franchise.

"

I completely agree with that statement from Fleming. The gameplay mechanics are solid and that drives the game in my opinion. Next up for me is presentation.

Chris Sanner of Operation Sports scored the game a seven out-of-10. OS is one of the most visited and respected sports gaming communities around. Sanner said this of NCAA's presentation:

"

First, the ESPN Ticker is a great addition. Seriously, I actually look at it and the score updates are great touches. I absolutely love it. The studio updates can be a bit meddlesome at times, but they are a great addition. I did find the studio updates were a bit repetitive when Reece Davis began to repeat lines -- but I appreciated the attempt to really engross me into a Saturday.

"

The OS community is hard on developers, but they have been instrumental in getting new features added and overall improvements in several sports gaming franchises.

Personally, I want my sports games to feel like I'm watching and experiencing a real live event—only I'm participating. I want stat overlays, good commentating, crowd noise, injuries, fan-fare, the whole nine.

The closer it comes to a real-life TV-style broadcast, the better.

Lastly, I want a lot of options. I'd like to be able to customize rosters, teams, stadiums as well as a nice set of online and offline options.

Overall, I'm looking for a game that continues the series positively. Every year doesn't have to represent a humongous leap forward, but it should never be a move backwards, or the exact same game.

Mike Suszek of Joystiq.com gave the game the lowest score of all the reviews I saw. He scored it three stars out of five, which is a six on a 10-point scale.

Suszek wrapped his review this way:

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Make no mistake, Matt Leinart is a Heisman Trophy winner, and USC retired his number for a reason. He was excellent in his college years. But he's not my first pick as an all-time great, and neither is NCAA Football 13.

"

At the end of the day, we have to make our own decisions. Every gamer has different priorities. There are few universally bad or good games. Your challenge is finding who values the same thing you do.

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