EA Sports NCAA Football 2004 - best football video game ever
Written: May 21 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Awesome Dynasty mode, captures atmosphere and traditions, excellent gameplay
Cons: Repetitive commentary, some "money" plays if you play long enough
The Bottom Line: Definitely recommend this game due to the excellent Dynasty mode, true-to-life college football atmosphere, and solid gameplay.
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| labradford22's Full Review: NCAA Football 2004 for GameCube |
All Division I-A teams, and many Division I-AA teams are here. The graphics and effects are stunning. The gameplay is tight. The rosters, player ratings, and playbooks are detailed and realistic. The stadiums are authentic. The uniforms are authentic. The mascots are authentic. The fight songs are authentic. The traditions are authentic.
College football has a unique atmosphere and pageantry that only a red-blooded American sports nut could understand. This sort of atmosphere is very difficult to replicate in a video game. But make no mistake - this game FEELS LIKE COLLEGE FOOTBALL!
Aside from all of the things that EA Sports has done to capture the atmosphere of college football, and aside from the realism of the playbooks and game play, by far and away the best thing about this game is the Dynasty Mode.
In Dynasty Mode, you take a school (probably your alma mater, or your favorite team, whoever that happens to be) and you are the coach of that school for the long-term. You build your own playbook. You create your own game strategies. You are in total control. But the most unique thing is that you recruit your own players. To the extent that you do well and you develop your players, it becomes easier to recruit good talent. Each recruit comes with his own unique set of abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Naturally, recruits close to home are easier and less costly to come by. Recruits from far away are more difficult. Best of all, you can tailor your recruiting to your own coaching style - if you run the option exclusively, you can recruit a fast QB. If you plan on using the FB as a safety-valve in the passing game a lot, then recruit a FB with good hands. If you plan on running between the tackles a lot, then recruit offensive linemen who are big and strong. If you plan on dropping back to pass more often, then recruit offensive linemen who are quicker on their feet and more agile.
You can also manage your program by building your own schedule, redshirting players (or even cutting ineffective players). You decide when your program is ready to take on the big boys (schedule USC, Michigan, Notre Dame, Miami, etc), or you can decide that your team probably needs to build some confidence and momentum with a few easy early season wins (schedule Division I-AA schools or teams like Arkansas State, Eastern Michigan, Idaho, etc).
As the season goes along, you can track where your team stands in the polls, in the BCS rankings, in the statistical rankings, and you can see how your individual players fare in everything from the Heisman race to the race to be an All-American. Track the conference standings, accept bowl bids, and take on your school's biggest rivals during the conference season.
Initially, the commentary of ESPN's crew of Brad Nessler, Lee Corso, and Kirk Herbstreit is amusing and funny, however, they didn't really record enough sound bytes, so they start to get repetitive really quick. That would be my only complaint about this game. That, and if you play it long enough, it's possible to find "money" plays - plays that the computer can't stop. There is built in Artificial Intelligence, and you can increase the computer's AI if you want, but there are still a few plays that are very likely to get you 10 yards on offense, or to get you a sack for a loss on defense (at least, if you have a very good team).
All in all, this is by far the best video football game I've ever seen or played. I'm not sure how EA Sports will top itself again with the 2005 version, but I imagine they will.
Thumbs up all around...
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
labradford22
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Location: Euless, TX, USA
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
29 years old, married, Senior Financial Analyst, one infant child
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