|
09 May 2010
News has been trickling in from EA about NCAA 11 and Madden 11 over the past month. I have to say that from what I'm reading, I really like the direction things are taking. It really seems like "features" are the "big deal", moreso than any other year. That pleases me, because as a 37 year old football gaming die-hard, I remember far too many years where one new gimmick and a promise of greater game-speed was likely to be THE feature, and an underwhelming feature at that.
Not this year. This year sounds big already.
I also have to say that I liked last year's Madden game. I thought it was the most incremental jump, in both features and gameplay, that the series has taken since going from Madden 2000 (PS) to Madden 2001 (PS2). It looks like Ian Cummings and Co. are hitting a nice stride, and it really seems that the guys are taking alot of pride with the product. It is early yet, but this year's "big deal" Madden 11 feature sets are starting to be released, and I like what I see. I can't fault the idea of game planning, the concept of dual analog stick control, a completely new locomotion engine, and the always asked for improved catch tuning. The best thing about all that news is just how early it is before release, and it sounds like Ian and the gang are just warming up as it pertains to big news.
NCAA 11 seems to be getting much love too, and in my opinion, the NCAA series needs it. I wasn't particularly fond of NCAA 10 last year. To me, the product has always verged on one of two extremes. It was either a rehash of the previous years' Madden engine (like NCAA 08), or a deliberately gimped attempt at no-brain football to attract casuals (like NCAA 09). I know I take some heat for admittedly being a bigger pro football fan than college fan, but I've always felt that a really well-done NCAA football game would probably hold my attention longer than even Madden could, simply because of recruiting, the number of teams, and how many different and varied offensive attacks there are in the college game. Frankly, no NCAA product has really "excited me" since NCAA 2004. (I rolled with Hawaii and ND alot that year, FYI).
But this year, NCAA news is keeping pace with Madden, and the news sounds extremely good. As stated above, NCAA's engine usually lags behind Madden's by a whole release year. That doesn't seem to be the case this year, since it has already been announced that NCAA 11 will share EA's new locomotion engine. EA also seems to be acknowledging that NCAA's once proud presentation was lagging behind after last year's Madden 10, so EA is now stepping up the ESPN integration in a big way, as well as school specific team entrances. Also with the big news is that NCAA is promising real assignment AI for the o-lines. And, again, it is still pretty early, and it seems there's much more to reveal, but I know those features alone promise way more than the "small-increment" or "last years' rehashed Madden" improvements to NCAA that we've seen in the past.
Then we have Backbreaker football coming out within the next 20 days. Frankly, I don't know how big it will be, but it will be interesting to see how many folks are willing to try something completely new. I've read an equal amount of good and bad in the previews so far. The question will probably become "is Backbreaker good enough to make an improvable, repeat series out of, or is it just a well done tech-demo of the Euphoria engine?" Only time will tell. My excitement about the product is already being tempered by reports of real player names being "locked out" online, as well as real franchise names, should anyone edit them to be so. Funny how so many non-licensed football games tout a "fully customizable experience" only to find out that the developers change their tune about that in varying degrees at the last minute. Tecmo Bowl Throwback promised all of that as well, but then released a game that wouldn't let you alter player ratings, team colors, or uniforms...and the "locked in" roster ratings are based off of the 1993 NFL season. In my opinion, devs making non-licensed sports game need to be very cautious with the use of the words "fully customizable". As it is now, it is a term thrown around very freely during development, but near release time, that turns out to be quite false. Lowering expectations as a release approaches is not a good sign for unlicensed sports games that need every edge they can get.
Those issues about the non-licensed games aside, I'm quite pleased how EA's football games look to be shaping up. Could be a good year for both NCAA and Madden fans, that's for sure. And if Backbreaker delivers some level of good fun, I'll call that a win too.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
