NCAA ’12 Demo Impressions

The NCAA 12 demo was released on Tuesday the 28th and we have had a few days now to get some extensive playing time getting a glimpse of what is to come with the NCAA 12 retail release.

General Notes

• The feel of the gameplay is a bit different. To me it feels a bit more like Madden 11 on the field than NCAA 11.
• The game difficulty seems a bit easier than 11, but that could also be attributed to being used to more challenging slider sets.
• Interceptions also seemed more common, as I was getting several a game on defense. Again, this is also something that I am used to being adjusted by sliders
• Several new animations, especially tackling, and all the presentation stuff as promised.
• The gameplay also seems a bit faster. The game speed is something I may want to tweak down a little for the retail version.

Likes

• Line interaction - I am really liking how the Oline and Dline interact and battle in the trenches. The blocking and dline moves seem more realistic and the suction blocking very reduced if not gone all together.
• Receiver and DB interaction - Psychic DBs seem toned down. Coverage feels more natural and realistic with less evidence of warping and running the route before the receiver does. I also love some of the new animations with the ball in the air, from the WR-DB interactions to some of the new catching animations.
• Zone coverage - It seems zone has had the improvements promised by EA. Now zone feels on par if not better than man coverage without it feeling broken or too good. I love how the DBs pick up incoming receivers in their zones, and should make pass plays like zone floods more realistic. The safety zone coverage is also very noticeable improved. they will now not automatically get burned deep over the middle in 2 deep, but will step up and go after the ball. So far so good with the zone coverage.
• Running between the tackles - I am also enjoying running up the middle and between the tackles. It feels smoother trying to run between the linemen and hitting smaller holes. I am enjoying not getting suck on my lineman’s foot or bouncing off he back of my full back. This feels much more realistic and natural.
• Playaction is viable again - The playaction is back and seems to be tuned correctly. No longer is this an almost guaranteed sack nor is it a guaranteed blown coverage big play. So far, the playaction feels to execute like it should.
• Presentation - Some nice new touches, though I have never been one that cares much for presentation. However, it does add to the college atmosphere nicely.
• Collision system - The new tackling and collision system is nice. No more suction tackling! Another gameplay feature that just feels more natural and real. Very refreshing.

Dislikes/Concerns

• Glitches - Given that the demo is a an older build, hopefully many of these wont be noticable in the retail release. One big glitch I had was on a pitch play in Texas’ strong I playbook. The QB would miss the pitch to the HB every time resulting in a fumble.
• CPU Offensive AI - Again, the playcalling by the AI is a bit weak. The CPU QB also holds the ball too long resulting in many coverage sacks. When playing against Oregon, the QB made terrible scrambling decisions. At times the QB scrambled when there was no break in the pocket, only to run straight to my DE engaged with the tackle and promptly get sacked.
• User pass rush too easy - I found it at times too easy to get the DEs to beat the CPU tackles resulting in an excessive amount of sacks. This is something that can be tweaked with sliders. By executing a swat and swim move or other such moves right when the tackle was about to engage my DE, my DE would blow past him leaving the tackle ‘rooted’ to the ground with his hands extended resulting in an easy sack.
• Tuck fumble/incompletions - Several times a game on both sides, the QB looks to get hit and fumble only it to be considered an incompletion. The QB doesn’t visibly appear to be throwing the ball at all when this occurs.
• Speed backs are king - The momentum and locomotion appear to have been tuned down a bit, and runners cut and change direction on a dime. I also saw a lack of broken tackles and so it looks like the speedy and agile backs are going to be disproportionately better than the bigger trucking backs again.
• Cut backs are too effective - Going into a hole in the line and then reversing field and cutting back into another hole seems too effective. It was almost better to do this most of the time than to follow the actual design of the run. Part of the issue stems from the LBs commiting to the hole and then getting lost in the line as the HB changed direction. This might also occur do to the ease of changing direction and running with the HB.
• Spread/Shotgun running - Running out of the spread doesn’t feel as effective as it should in the college game. Now, this may be disputed by guys who are more skilled in running in this style of offense. I really fear that in a user game, the user controlled defender will be able to shoot the gap in the Oline and stop most of the Shotgun hand-offs in the backfield.

I am really enjoying the demo so far and am looking forward to the retail release as I am sure most of us are. there are definitely some promising new features beyond just the new gameplay additions and tweaks that have us all excited for July 12th. Hopefully some of my concerns and problems with the demo will be addressed in the release by updates, sliders, and unfounded fears.