NCAA Football 2010: Save Your Money, Stick With 2009

Electronic Arts has released a new batch of College Football excitement with their annual release of NCAA Football. The 2010 edition was one that I was truly looking forward to, possibly creating a bridge to carry me into the real football season. Alas, NCAA fails to deliver on an improved football game, truly making an inferior product for NCAA gamers.

My first beef is a universal one, the camera angles. To start off, the camera has decided to focus in on the quarterback and offensive line. The obvious problem is that most people throw the ball in these games, almost religiously.

With this camera angle, you cannot see your receivers near the sidelines. Don't even think about throwing the ball deep since you can never judge the distance your receiver if from your quarterback.

Let's say you choose to run and you want to counter these camera angles. NOPE! The camera simply zooms in, taking away your running back's ability to cut it outside and use their speed.

So don't use teams that throw the ball a lot, or run the ball a lot. So what do you do?

The next beef is the incredible amounts of injuries. I play four-minute quarters and have around eight injuries between the two teams. I know 2009 didn't have many injuries, but how many injuries can happen in 16 minutes of game play?

Apparently kick-off blocking has been forgotten about altogether in this version. I have had returns where four guys are 20 yards in front of me forgetting to block, choosing to celebrate my return ability. Turn around and block a guy!

The "aggressive" or "conservative" choices for offense and defense mean nothing except penalties. You will not intercept more passes, or force more fumbles. Instead, you'll simply accumulate more penalty yards, all the time!

The speed in this game has also slowed down incredibly. Guys who have a speed rating of 95 are the same as guys who have a speeding rating of 87. I have running backs being chased down by linebackers, FROM BEHIND! Can you say impossible?

The quarterback play in this game is truly hit or miss. Some days you have a John Elway type of game. Other times, it's a Ryan Leaf type of game. No rhyme or reason why, but games in the snow equal more scoring than games in great weather.

The defense in this game is truly impossible. Because of the depth issue that the receivers face, your ability to play a DB position or LB cannot be done. If you make a user pick, it's all luck, as half the time your player won't even jump for the ball.

Finally, the "moves" (emphasis on the quotation marks). Dives are delayed and all juke moves never materialize before you're tackled. Also, on the funny side of things, kickers are able to make huge tackles, and QB sneaks at the goal line only go one yard, Tecmo Bowl Style!

Overall: Save your money and stick with 2009. That game has it right.