Gaming Tuesday- Handing in My Fanboy Card

I've recently told you guys that I'm probably the biggest fanboy of the NCAA Football series. Well, I think that may be over after many years. This year's edition seems to be sorely lacking following what was, in my opinion, the best Football game ever made in last year's edition. Despite improvements in non-gameplay features, gameplay has not been improved and in fact has been made considerably worse.

The problems are remarkably similar to those that Madden 11 had. If those weren't bad enough, the improvements that were touted by EA prior to release as 'advancements' in gameplay have made it nearly unplayable. There is the same lack of crispness that Madden 11 had. Receivers will often ignore the ball when it is thrown to them(often it bounces off their helmets.) The ridiculous amount of dropped passes is another problem area that this game shares with Madden 11.

Collision based tackling was supposed to be the big improvement to this game. They bragged about ending the 'suction' into tackles. This sounded really nice however, this has quickly turned into a major flaw. The fact is that one cannot be all that precise with a console controller. In first person shooters this is helped by aim assists to add precision that a player simply cannot have with a controller. In the same way, a player needs help making a tackle in a football game on console.

They also made improvements to Zone Coverage and really coverage in generally. Again this sounds really good just as an idea, but in practice it has hurt the game. It is virtually impossible to pass the ball on harder difficulties. It is amazing how often you drop back and cannot find anyone of your receivers open. It crosses than line between challenging and not fun. I don't play NCAA because I'm a masochist, so this makes the game nearly unplayable.

Not surprisingly there are the same problems that this series has had for years and years. The penalties are just ridiculous. They still have failed to take Clipping out of the game. I have watched a ridiculous amount of Football and I've seen clipping call 1 fucking time. There's no need for it in the game. It should've been replaced with the often called Illegal Block in the Back. Also, Pass Interference seems to be lacking. I'm sure it's in there somewhere, but it needs to be call more often. Of course, there are still the super-athletic, teleporting, 5-foot vertical leap having, amazing hands, linebackers. There even harder to bare this year, because passing is already so difficult.

I was frustrated enough with it by that I popped FIFA 11 back in this evening. I may only bother to play the Online Dynasty I agreed to be in. So far I've found that NCAA Football 12 just isn't fun. And what's the bloody point if it isn't fun? I definitely wish I hadn't paid the full price for this game. I really wish there's something that I'm missing that will make this game better.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael