In my experience, team sports games have never really been that good on portable systems. As long as the Game Boy line dominated the portable realm, each hardware release in the series was always a step or two below current consoles both in power and the number of buttons. While the PSP has the same problem (one analog stick, slightly sub-PS2 power, one set of shoulder buttons, etc.), technology has advanced to the point that a reasonable facsimile of a sports game’s console counterpart is now possible.
Madden NFL 06 for PSP was EA’s first stab at portable PSP football, and while it was a decent effort it was also plagued with loading problems and game-stopping bugs. NCAA Football 07 again shows promise, but it too is plagued by some truly baffling bugs that ruin an otherwise worthy effort.
By far, the worst bug affects nearly every part of the game on both sides of the ball. In short, when running the ball the game doesn’t mark the player down where his knee actually hits the ground. Instead, it marks the player down at the point of initial contact. In essence the game treats tackling as it would in touch football. So if your running back drags a defender for three or four yards, it doesn’t matter…he’s still marked down at the point the defender wrapped his arms around him.
The ramifications of this one bug are tremendous. The effect on the running game should be obvious. Bruising running backs can no longer be relied on to pick up even short gains, since they’ll incorrectly be marked down well before they’re actually tackled. While it is possible to establish a decent running attack, it requires a top-notch back and offensive line and can’t be relied upon in 3rd and 4th down situations. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve really picked up respectable 3 or 4-yard gains, only to have it counted for no gain or a loss. So to establish any kind of running game, the player is almost forced to rely on tosses and options (unless their offensive line is excellent). Since these are also the most dangerous running plays, you’re left with a running game that breaks big gains or suffers big losses on most attempts.
Unfortunately, since everything is related in football this also impacts the passing game. A broken running game forces you to rely more on the passing game, giving the game much more of an arcade-type feel. It’s virtually impossible to build up long-running drives that eat up the clock when you’re forced to pass on most downs, and schools without good receivers suffer even more. Even when you complete a pass though, the same tackling rules still apply. So passes near the first down marker and short screens and slants can still be counted as losses or missed first downs when in reality they weren’t.
This bug also makes playing defense much too easy. Since computer opponents play realistic football, they try to establish balanced offenses. However, since the running game rarely works, the player can play the pass by using nickel and dime defenses almost exclusively with little fear of big gains on the ground by all but the best running backs. This also results in unrealistic interception rates, as I frequently had 5 or 6 interceptions in a game with a fairly average secondary.
Oddly enough, on the whole things somewhat balance out. While it makes playing offense much harder and turns games into shootouts, it also makes playing defense much easier. So the game is still playable, and even enjoyable if you don’t mind the severe arcade slant, although it’s obviously not what EA intended and nowhere near a solid simulation of real football. It’s frustrating, and mind-boggling that it ever made it in the final retail version in the first place.
I know I’ve spent a lot of words talking about this one fatal flaw, but it really does kill the entire game. EA has promised a patch, but no date has been set for that yet and if history is any indication we may never get it. Madden 06 owners ended up having to send their UMDs in for a replacement disc due to bugs (including one that shut the entire system down). Regardless, it’s simply inexcusable that a bug of this magnitude made it through quality testing in the first place, particularly a big release like this from the #1 third-party publisher in the world. This makes two straight pigskin releases on PSP that have suffered from horrible problems.
In fact, I have to wonder if the game even saw any quality testing at all before release, as it has a number of other smaller bugs as well. Several times a team was called for offsides when the opponent ran a no-huddle offense, simply because a defensive player touched an offensive player while running down the field to get set for the next play. The penalty would occur long before the offense was set mind you, resulting in cheap yards for both the computer and myself.
Also, in virtually every game I played, the in-game commentary frequently botched calling the game properly. Towards the end of each game, the announcers would begin talking about one team as if it were the other. For example, if I received the ball leading by two touchdowns in the 4th Quarter, the announcers would discuss how I had to score on that possession to keep the game close. I’m not just talking about the vague lines that could go either way (such as subbing in a backup QB); the announce team was clearly calling the game as if the other team was on offense.
I said near the beginning of this review that this game shows promise, and indeed there are things to praise that would shine in an otherwise competently programmed game. The game plays almost identically to the console versions (crippling bugs aside), and barely suffers at all from only having one analog stick on the system. This is accomplished primarily by having the L button work as a shift key of sorts, which is easy to learn and intuitive. The kicking game has also been improved, as you now pull back on the analog stick to start the kick meter, and then push forward to stop it. How straight you push it forward though also determines kick accuracy, adding an extra dimension to another otherwise boring part of the game.
The game also has most of the features found in its console counterparts. While lacking the all-new Campus Legend mode introduced to the series this year (also not included in the Xbox 360 version for some reason), it makes up for it with the deepest Dynasty mode ever in a portable football game, custom Rivalry and Mascot games, online multiplayer, and infractions where you decide what kind of penalty to assess to each player. Don’t punish your players enough for their bad behavior, and the NCAA may penalize your team.
Graphically the game is a step below the console versions, but still looks really sharp. While you won’t get custom stadiums, landmarks, or sideline activity that you’ll find in the console versions, it still looks really good for a PSP game and the player models are nice. Sound wise there’s a ton of audio, including almost as much commentary as you’d find in a console version, plenty of band music and sound effects. The only thing really missing is the stadium announcer, but honestly I’ve never really liked that guy competing with the announcers for airtime anyway.
Bottom Line:
All of the features and polish in the world don’t mean a thing when the game’s fundamentally broken. When EA finally releases the patch that fixes this, feel free to add 4 or 5 points to the score below if you have the means to download and apply it. I plan on holding onto my copy in the hopes that a patch will one day surface, because otherwise all of the pieces are here for an excellent portable game of football.
Until then, NCAA Football 07 is an embarrassment that’s only playable because its glitches influence gameplay on both sides of the ball, and its presentation is so well done.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
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| 4.0 |
Posted: 2006-08-11 17:15:56 PST