Continuing my previous posts of; “NCAA Football 13: Innovation or Needed Renovation?” and “NCAA Football 2013: An Insider’s Look” I’ve decided to do a review after 5 months. NCAAF13 was one of the most anticipated releases of the year and in my opinion one of the largest changes users have seen since the gaming industry released their first High-Definition game. Some of the positives about the game include the new commentating featured by Kirk Herbstreit and Brad Nessler, live recorded in-game sounds for more realistic gaming, exact stadium layouts, and more. One of the widely used features I’ve noticed in game are the new jerseys being released is EA Sport’s Uniform Store. This new feature allows gamers to download newly debuted uniforms by Arkansas, Maryland, Notre Dame, Oregon, Arkansas and more. Many of these new uniforms [including the infinity possibilities with Oregon] are available to be downloads for free. These upgrades [for Oregon] include many of the new alternates and the Chrome [reflective-like] helment. Another one of the high-point features of the latest NCAAF is the more realistic game features like placing the ball and corresponding throwing techniques. 

Though just like any other game, there are down points. One of the things I still notice [but realize it may be difficult to correct] is that as soon as the ball is released from the QB all CB’s, SS’s & FS’s go straight towards it. In real life, the only defenders going towards the ball as soon as it’s released would be the one’s looking straight at it or in a cover formation. Another downside is a stopped clock feature for offsides penalties. [Example:] Say your opponent has 4th & 15 from their own 35 yard line with 35 seconds to go till halftime and you’re out of timeouts. If you were to jump offsides it would cause a flag but the clock would not start again until the ball is snapped.

EA Sports has done an exceptional job of improving the NCAA Football from “Bill Walsh College Football” to “NCAA Football 13”.

As a moderate player, my favorite playing mode is Dynasty Mode. Whether its online or offline I value being able to have 4 seasons with each player and creating what sometimes feels like a real life situation. One of the things I would like to see out of EA Sports is an improvement to the online playing. As many online gamers know, online gaming slows down your internet connection significantly and if there is any other activity on your internet you’re most likely to experience some major lag. Though it’s difficult to decrease internet activity when you’re taking part in live gaming it would be a huge burden off gamer’s shoulders to upgrade the lag. Another issue one of my friends pointed out to me was a device that allows the opposite gamer to cause significant lag and its called a “lag switch”. Though not an EA Sports problem, it could cost you a ballgame or a national championship.

Ever wanted to play Jump Around to start the 4th QTR at Camp Randall? Well now with Custom Sounds that’s a possibility. The new custom sounds feature allows you to set certain sounds to be played at specific times in the game like start of the 4th QTR, kickoffs, 3rd downs, etc. All of these are selected by when you want them played and for which team(s) the sound will be played for.

Overall I believe the entire $64.00 spent on this game is worth the money in almost every aspect. Out of 10 this game deserves a 9.5 for all of the new updates and detail in each aspect. As always, there are improvements to be made and bugs to get fixed but overall EA Sports has done an excellent job in improvements along the way.