hile professional football holds a special place in millions of fans’ hearts, no sport on Earth can rival the fanatical devotion of college football fans. Each week during the college school year, rivalries play out across the country on both small and large fields alike and the fans are right where the action is, screaming, yelling, and painting their bodies in all manner of design. EA recognizes the huge following of college football and in their soon to be released NCAA Football 2005 they’re bringing all the magic and mayhem of college gridiron action to your living room. But keep in mind this isn’t just a rehash of last year’s college game. EA has gone about not only improving nearly every aspect of the gameplay, but have also added quite a few new features to bring the game to life more than ever.
The most noticeable addition to NCAA Football 2005 is the idea of home field advantage. The game now has a feature that allows you to pump up your home crowd by pressing a button. When the crowd is properly pumped up the screen will shake and the noise of their cheering will reach deafening levels. But the crowd dynamic isn’t just cosmetic. The rabid crowd will ultimately affect the opposing team, sometimes causing them to get confused, line up out of formation, mishear audible calls, and go offsides more often. The manic crowd really comes into play when you’re taking part in a heated rivalry game like Michigan versus Ohio State and can often times be the determining factor in whether you walk away from the game the winner or the loser.
The crowd dynamic also plays into the new feature of match-ups. Pressing the analog stick will zoom the camera in the game away from the field and will display your key players skills and current match-ups on the field. Each player is accompanied by a special meter that dictates how good they are at their current position and how much composure they have. Ultimately, the match-up system allows you to effectively move players around through their formations to better match them up with a rival player so their abilities balance out. If you check out your match-ups and realize that your greenhorn freshman is horribly outmatched by the senior that he’s covering, you can attempt to switch coverage with someone who may be better suited for the situation. This feature really becomes important when you’re taking part in games that feature a rowdy crowd. If you’re playing an away game and the crowd is getting rambunctious your less experienced players may see their match-up skills diminish even more, which will be evident in their composure meter taking a turn for the worse.
The Dynasty Mode has also gotten a few new features, particularly the ability to now take part in a more in-depth recruitment process. While earlier NCAA titles featured the ability to recruit prospects, they were limited by the fact that you couldn’t really check out the player’s stats or abilities before it was time to sign him. Now you can shower attention on a potential star and check out his vital statistics, a move that is incredibly helpful if you’re not quite sure if the player will fit into your overall team philosophy. Teams now have been increased to include 70 players and as a result you’ll be presented with all sorts of new team management features. Players can now see their stats and abilities increase or decrease throughout the season if they play badly and are relegated to the bench. Players who don’t get the playing time they want can also transfer away from your team and players will now do things like miss practice and commit other infractions. It’s up to you as a coach whether or not you lay down penalties for the bad behavior, which can include things like sitting players out for quarters or multiple games. If you decide to turn a blind eye, the NCAA will eventually come swooping down on you and can cut the amount of scholarship money your team receives. As the coach you’ll need to try and straddle the line between being a good coach and a vengeful one. Sitting rebellious players too much can eventually cause them to sour towards the team and transfer. But being too lenient could end up netting you a visit from the NCAA. Going along with the heavier emphasis on team-management, you’ll have a wide variety of tools to create that special team. Being able to create your own team from the ground up, as well as individual players, plays, and signs that you fans will wave during games is a nice touch and really gives you that overall sense that you’re in control of your college football experience.
While the offensive aspect of the game hasn’t really changed much since the last NCAA Football game, 2005 does feature a heavier emphasis on defense. Tackling now features a Big Hit (much like Madden’s new ‘Hit Stick’) button that allows you to lay down extra brutal hits, which can lead to more fumbles but also dampens an opposing player’s composure level. The Big Hit move does have its drawbacks, however. Putting all your strength into a big hit can be a detrimental if you miss the tackle, leaving your player on the ground and unable to get up for another hit. But once you do get the timing down for letting loose the big hits it can prove to be a valuable defensive tool.
Gameplay-wise it’s pretty evident that EA is focusing heavily on the deeper Dynasty Mode. While the game does still contain number of different modes, including the enjoyable Mascot Game and the Pontiac College Classics (that have you recreating key college football games from the past), if you don’t choose to jump into the helm of Dynasty Mode you’ll spend much of your time simply playing exhibition games. While it may be considered a mistake on EA’s part by some, the new move towards Dynasty Mode is a welcome change in my book. Football games are skewing more and more towards the overall football team experience, rather than just the action that goes on during a game and it’s nice to see NCAA Football 2005 also head in this direction.
Visually the game is looking to be impressive. Players are quite detailed and the animations for them are fluid and smooth. The stadiums have also gotten a visual facelift and are rendered quite well. You’ll be able to instantly recognize your favorite fields right off the bat. While the players and stadiums have a nice visual punch to them, I can’t really say the same for the crowds. Granted the scenes that features your cheerleaders, mascots, and fans are nicely animated, the game suffers from having a very static background crowd. While not a fatal flaw, the lack of detail in the crowd really becomes noticeable when stacked up again the otherwise impressive visuals of the rest of the game.
If college football is your passion, NCAA Football 2005 will undoubtedly become your game of choice. The newly revamped Dynasty Mode provides enough spark to keep you in the coaching hot seat for months at a time and the new crowd boosting meter helps to make memorable games that much more realistic. While the game doesn’t offer up that much innovation in new game modes, it does up the ante for college football in pretty much every other area. If you’re currently in the middle of painting your body the colors of your favorite college team, you’ll be doing yourself a favor by picking up the game when it releases on July 15th for the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube.
Take a look at a bunch of new movies from the PS2 version, and make sure you don’t miss the movie entitled, “Stinky Reiner.”