I would have to say that this is probably the most enjoyable football game to come out since the earlier NCAA Football's (i.e. 2005, 2006, 2007). There are many good changes that seem under the surface and are not extremely noticeable at first, but the quality of the game has definitely gone up for the next-gen consoles, although it's a disappointment that the next-gen versions have not caught up to the last-gen versions in terms of gameplay. This seems like it may be changing with the current iteration of NCAA Football.
Now, I'm not saying that this game surpasses the best of the NCAA Football franchise; it's just one of the best of recent times. The running style seems to be changed, which is great; the previous running style seemed extremely fake and unreal, and this one takes a step in the right direction. Jukes still don't factor in player momentum as much, but player acceleration does take a while, meaning that if a player goes from standing still to running or running one way to running the other they are forced to slow down, cut, and accelerate. This does wonders for the game. There are still some gameplay quirks, glitches, and whatnot, but that has to be taken with a grain of salt. Sometimes an option pitch will be caught by the defense when it would've been fought over or actually fumbled by the RB, and fumbles do happen more than occasionally, but the game is an obvious step up from last year's model and the year's before.
Road to Glory was not touched at all. That is a major disappointment to me :(. That was, and still is, my favorite game modes, and the fact that they payed no attention to it is sad. But the dynasty mode, especially recruiting, was taken off the hook to another level. Recruiting can be done on a PC, iPhone, iPad, probably even a Zune HD (HEY! I HAVE ONE OKAY?! AND THEY ARE COOL!), which immerses you even more and makes you feel like a coach. This may be a little over the top for some players, and that's fine; just do what you normally do. The online portion of NCAA Football '11 is really neat-o, and in my opinion it may be my most played game over the summer.
Dynasty is as fun as ever. Make your team the super team, take a terrible team all the way, continue an already established dynasty like Florida, Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, Michigan, or Oregon and improve their dominance, whatever you want, it's still there. At one point my hopes went really high. I saw that there was an option for switching teams for conferences and I went all like "No way! They figured some conference shake-up would happen and made sure that you could put teams in other places! Cool!". But no, it was just a team switcher, you couldn't actually build your own super conference. That gave me a super sad face.
The interface is cool. The main menu looks a lot like the Xbox 360's UI, which was intriguing, but I got over it (I have both, so I know what the 360 interface is). Sometimes it takes a while to load, but that is forgivable. When it is auto-saving you can't do anything at all on the game. The scoreboard (onscreen) is a replica of the ESPN scoreboard and is very nice to look at, even though you probably won't be looking at the scoreboard that much, unless you're really bored. It's still a great feature and makes the presentation of the game more believable and a lot more "gameday-like", if you know what I mean (chips, beer [pop if you're under 21 like me], dip, hot dogs, the whole nine yards).
The graphics are awesome. If you're into just graphics, you won't be disappointed by these. EA games are meant to be played on the PS3, so if you have both consoles, get it on the the PS3. The lighting effects are great and the uniforms look vibrant and more beautiful than ever. The field looks nice, but when it does replays and shows you a long view of the field it is obvious that the grass doesn't pop up. I know that's not a deal breaker, but it would be cool and interesting to have, would it not? Helmets look great.
The commentary is still recycled, and recycled heavily. If you've played these games before -- which I assume you have -- you'll find yourself mouthing or speaking the sentences with Brad Nessler and Kirk Herbstreit (I miss Corso =[ ), or maybe just turning the commentary off altogether. It gets pretty annoying after a while.
I love it. If you love college football and were angry at the previous versions, I would highly recommend picking this copy up, because EA is starting to get the college football experience right.
EDIT: After a couple more days playing the game, there seems to be some more oddities within the actual gameplay, which is expected, but is also extremely annoying. In addition to the defense catching your pitch, sometimes players suddenly stop when they are running towards the ball or going to catch a ball, which is kind of frustrating as you'll be expecting them to continue forward like any self-respecting football player would do and then they suddenly stop. Running backs, at certain points, will cut back into the middle of the field -- towards the rest of the defense -- when there is a massive amount of open yardage on the edge and they most likely would've had a touchdown. These are just a couple of gameplay quirks that i noticed that really don't change how much I enjoyed the game, but for some people they will be deal-breakers.
ANOTHER EDIT: As I said in my previous edit, sometimes the players running will suddenly stop while going towards a ball. This killed me in one of my games. Michigan vs. MSU, I go down 17 to nothing, score 28 straight with the backup QB, MSU scores 17 more to make it 34 to 28, I score another TD to make it 35 to 34. 1 minute and 30 seconds left in the game. MSU is at their 19 yard line. They throw deep on the first play. I say to myself, "Let's let my computer controlled player run towards the ball so I don't accidentally make him run the wrong way". Seems sensible, right? WRONG. He runs...and stops. The receiver catches the ball at my 30 yard line. I stop them for a 3 and out, but they hit the field goal and go up 37 to 35. I can't do anything about it, I go 4 and out and they kneel the ball. GAH!!! (Played on All-American). Really?! NCAA Football 11 - Football - College Football - Video Games - Sports'
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