ncaa 14 is a bad game but there's hope

I have no idea what year this is from but it doesn't matter at all.

Like the Florida State inexplicable loss, a DUI arrest, or Mack Brown being on the hot-seat, EA's release of NCAA football is an annual football tradition and something every college football fan looks forward to.

Every year I tell myself I won't be buying this. I realize it's little more than a $60 roster update but at the same time I fall into the same trap every time. I rationalize it by saying, "Oh, well this year I have to buy it because it has a new animation engine!" "I have to get it this year because of the new conference realignments!" Believe me I've rationalized it every single way possible. I am the first to admit I have no willpower and, really, that's what it all comes down to. 

To start with the good the new physics engine is pretty nice. You no longer see the same 5 tackle animations over and over. But really it's not like earth-shattering or anything. It's more just a nice little addition than anything else. 

A lot of stuff has been streamlined as well. It's especially noticeable in dynasty mode where recruitment has taken a lot of the busy work out. I never play this mode (lol) so I can't say anything else about it.

I spend most of time in Road to Gory mode which is probably why I hate my life so much. This has been virtually untouched. You still create a guy, pick his position, and guide him through all the trials and tribulations of being a college football player. A nice new addition is the ability to go on wild drunken police chases as well as being treated to a debauchery filled night on a booster's yacht. The threesome mini-game is both challenging and rewarding.

Anyway, on the field it's the same old shit. Depending on how you do in highschool and what school you go to you will most likely start as a third-stringer and have to work your way up to starter. This is accomplished by a series of practice drills where you earn points that spend on improving your skills as well as gaining "coach trust" which, once you earn enough, you can challenge the person on the depth chart in front of you for their position.

This whole part of the game is nothing but busy work. For starters I've never played football but I don't think they let the defense tackle the quarterback in practice but regularly your quarterback will be laid the fuck out by over ambitious lineman. It's also incredibly frustrating to have whole minutes of time wasted because of a few unfortunate interceptions. Seriously. You get 50 points of coach trust or something for a touchdown in practice but it costs you 75 points to throw an interception. You can easily spend 5 WHOLE MINUTES in practice getting your coach to trust you only to have all that time rendered moot by 2 bad interceptions.

This is a game that's perpetually torn between reality and fantasy. They make you spend so much time going through the drudgery of practice and shit and earning your way to the top, yet it's not uncommon to have a true freshmen quarterback have his stats maxed out to 99 and become the started by the 6th week of the season. (I usually rationalize this to myself by saying that the starter and his backup were nearly killed in a car wreck or something and that's why I have to start).

You will also be happy to know the same problems that have been there for years are still present. Retarded receivers which thanks to the new physics engine, the ball literally bouncing off their hands or helmets is now more realistic than ever. Blockers who don't know how to block and defenders getting away with blatant pass interference, etc. All the shit you've come to know and love. Am I bad at this game? Yes. Is a lot of this because of my badness? Probably. But that still doesn't excuse the myriad number of problems that have been documented and bitched about in this game by people much better than me or you for years.

So the tl;dr is this is the same shit you've been playing for nearly a decade. In other words don't buy it. 

However, there is hope yet for college football on video games as  this is the last college football game that will be made by EA and licensed with the NCAA.

It's interesting that EA is saying they will still make college football games and individual conferences are allowed to partner with EA to make their own CFB games. So, look forward to, "The Big 10 College Football Fun Fiesta brought to you by EA". (It wouldn't surprise me if the Big 10 was the one to partner with EA, they seem like a match made in heaven.) 

I'm hopeful 2K will pick up the license as the NBA games they make are fantastic. I don't really follow the NBA that much but they're such good games just from a pure sports viewpoint. 

OK that's enough words about Bad Games.