(continued from previous page) ...larger player models made the field of play seem a tad smaller than it truly was, this is no longer an issue. Not only did they improve on the look and feel of the players, but they also recreated the college football atmosphere to near perfection.

When entering the game, you’ll notice through the presentation that you truly feel like you’re about to play a game of college ball. The sound from the fans is loud, the student sections are evident and the sea of your opposing team’s colors can be seen in a small corner of the stadium. On top of the great atmosphere, the weather is phenomenal. During rainstorms and snowstorms you actually get the feeling that you’re playing in the appropriate weather. While these are all improved, the lighting effects of the game are absolutely outstanding and may be the best improvement of all. Continuing on the theme of presentation, the continuing play and sideline emotion has finally been implemented very well. After a nice tackle that causes the ball to pop loose after the player is down, you may see a player pick up the ball as if it were a fumble and try to take it to the house. These little additions add to the excitement level of play and truly immerse you inside the atmosphere provided.

By now, I’m sure you’re saying, “Well that’s great and all but how the heck does the game play? Did EA just make everything look nice and then drop the ball or does it play as great as it looks?” The answer to that is simple; yes. The gameplay is definitely fresh and revitalized from the stale output EA released last year with the disappointing NCAA 2008. Players no longer move like they’re stuck in quicksand; the speed of the gameplay has been greatly increased to simulate a real-life game. This is one of the things you may pick-up on right out of the gate. The next biggest improvement is the agility and elusiveness of players.

Players that you expect to be able to break a LB’s ankles can now do so without even attempting a juke. The stick control of NCAA 2009 is off the charts. If you want to give your RB a little shimmy to completely fake out an awaiting safety, that option is provided so long as you have the thumb reflexes to pull it off. Now, this does not mean you can turn on dimes in an unrealistic fashion, not by any means. The direction you’re moving and the momentum your body carries are all taken into account. If you’re running to the sideline and try to cut up field, it’s going to take that brief second to turn; you will not just shoot up the sideline like in past versions. This brings me to the new juke system that was created specifically for this title.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the NCAA 2009 trailer that displays the branched animations that connect your juke options together and have wondered how effective it would be. Well, it works decently, but not always how you plan for it to work out. If you’re wanting to fake a spin in one direction and then rotate in the other, it’ll work flawlessly nine times out of ten. However, if you’re trying to side-step the defender and then spin, it won’t always branch perfectly and you may get squared up and laid out completely by an overbearing linebacker awaiting your move. The juke does not prevent you from being tackled like previous installments either. Your player can still be engaged mid-juke if the defender is in the position to make the tackle.

I think we can all agree that one of the weaker points in EA’s football franchise has always been the blocking schemes. It seemed like they were always close to getting it right, but then something would come along and turn it into a subpar fundamental. This seems to be a thing of the past as pass protection and run blocking have been tuned incredibly well. You’ll notice as you drop back in protection that if the defense isn’t blitzing, your linemen will give you a decent pocket to work with, and when the defense is blitzing it may collapse. Fortunately it ... (continued on next page)