REVIEW: NCAA Football 08

Sporting amidst a jam-packed stadium indeed offers a great deal of fun; comparable excitement does EA's football simulation NCAA Football 08 deliver - one of its latest sports genre that comes to Xbox360, PS3, and both their predecessors i.e. Xbox and PS2. The NCAA Football series has been facing a tough competition from its own kin i.e. Madden NFL series (a series from EA) for more than six years, but this time, holding the football crown, EA has finally provided a viable alternative to Madden's monopoly.

ncaa football 08

ncaa football 08 1

Delivering top performance, each player in NCAA Football 08 will be a leader and becomes a legend on the field. With all-new control scheme designed from next-gen point of view, gamers can control the players' action on the field more perfectly helping in increasing their sphere of influence by improving players' personal ratings in each match.

Gameplay:

Honestly, the gameplay is where NCAA Football 08 outshines all its ancestors. However, I won't say that fresh iteration is entirely different from last year's game, but as you'll get your hands on it you will come to know what did you miss in prequel.

As the game starts, you step into the shoes of a senior year fresher in a high school. Your goal: attract the hottest schools and score a scholarship, once you do that, it's up to you to become the star player of your chosen school or not. One of the exciting things about the game is having coordination and speed to switch between characters to make gameplay both successful and organized. When you are only playing as one character, you really lose that experience. When your only task is to decide who to pass to, or whom to give fake, it's not really that much difficult or thrilling.

ncaa football 08 2

NFL football is an open-end game in which defenders make mistakes, strikers mess up with each other; these are few things that make the game unpredictable and fun. When you are on attack, you'll pass in just about the same manner as you used to do previously. Although, some of the ball-carrier's moves have been modified, still, you'll be able to use the right analog stick to juke left and right, and when you're on defense, the biggest change is an ability to hit the carrier that offers some fun moments.

Having very intuitive controls, the buttons of controller will be used for many different actions while manipulating a player on the field, depending on where you are and the playing mode i.e. offender or defender.

ncaa football 08 3

Playing with friends in multiplayer modes also makes the time fly by. It also allows you to unlock some stuff by scoring points. However, online modes are a bit gloomy, but the experience isn't too bad.

ncaa football 08 4

Price:

$59.99 - Xbox360 & PS3

$49.99 - PS2

$39.99 - Xbox

ESRB Rating: E

Pros:

Decent graphics and sound

Solid gameplay

Plenty of modes

Super sim mode

Unproblematic Controls

Cons:

Slow career modes

Big game college atmosphere is missing

Bugs

Bottom-line:

Although, the game doesn't break any new ground, still, fully featured and polished, bug-free gameplay makes the game shine. If you have any experience with football games, you will pick up this one right away.

Overall, this is definitely a game for college football enthusiasts and traditionalists. If you still find last year's game imbibing, it might not be necessary for you to get hold on new one, as the new version does not offer any major changes.