College football has never before felt more wide open than in NCAA Football 09. Gamers can experience the excitement of making big plays on the field, as they have the ability to directly control and influence the game through the all-new break away animation engine. With huge cut-back lanes, new tackling animations and wider blocking holes, NCAA Football 09 offers a host of offensive opportunities. NCAA Football 09 also brings the atmosphere, pageantry and tradition of college football to life. Through the redesigned stadiums, which reflect even more detail of each school’s individual playing field, to the dynamic sidelines filled with school colors, cheerleaders and mascots, players feel the excitement of college gameday. Players can gain Home Field Advantage as the intensity of the home crowd rises and rattles the composure of opposing teams. All 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools are represented in the game and players can even customize the in-game atmosphere with their own personal music collection. Off the field, NCAA Football 09 features its most robust Dynasty Mode yet, inviting fans to create and manage a perennial powerhouse program from landing blue-chip recruits to winning championships on the field. For the first time ever, Dynasty goes online with up to 12 competitors to recruit head-to-head, customize schedules and play for up to 60 seasons.
Will this be another breakout season for the college pigskin franchise? Find out in this NCAA Football 09 video review.
NCAA Football 09 key features are:
* THE NEW HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE — The home crowd can make all the difference. Help your QB regain his composure by taking the Quarterback Quiz, call a timeout to Ice the Kicker or adjust your team’s strategies, or pump up the home crowd to make your stadium one of the nation’s toughest venues.
* AUTHENTIC COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMEPLAY — With huge cut-back lanes, exclusive tackle animations, over-pursuing defenders, and downfield pump fakes, the college game has never felt more wide-open.
* ALL-NEW MASCOT PLAY — Experience the pageantry of college football Saturdays by showing off your favorite mascot’s exclusive special moves during a friendly game or by celebrating touchdowns with your school mascots after a big score.
* ALL-NEW BREAKAWAY ENGINE — Break in and out of jukes, stiff arms, spins, and more in a swift, fluid motion, or use the left stick to steer a player in any direction mid-move.
* ALL-NEW ONLINE DYNASTY MODE — Develop your program as you schedule your opponents and recruit head-to-head online with up to 11 players for 60 seasons with the same ease and flexibility of managing a fantasy football league.
* THE ULTIMATE COLLEGE FOOTBALL EXPERIENCE — With all-new Formation Audibles, Smart Routes, online roster-file sharing, in-game custom music, and new mini-games like HORSE and Special Teams Challenge, this is the college game fans have been waiting for.
To quote the video review: “In the quest for improvements, the team behind NCAA Football 09 has overlooked some bugs and other issues. Even with these issues, it’s still predominantly a solid-playing game of college football with enough modes and options to keep players busy well into next season. It’s disappointing that some of the sticking points from last year’s game haven’t been addressed. Yet, if only for the option to download updated rosters and take their dynasty online, we recommend upgrading to this year’s game for the hardcore college pigskin fan. Everyone else will be more than happy to return to replay last season.”
Design — 8.3
Gameplay — 7.2
Presentation — 8.0
Overall — 7.7