Last week, EA Sports released the NCAA Football 14 demo for PS3 and Xbox. I once again decided to download the demo and write a brief review for the gamers who frequent this site. After playing the demo a few times this past weekend, I'm cautiously optimistic that NCAA Football 14 will provide a better overall gaming experience than its predecessors. That said, I will reserve final judgment until after I've played the full version.
Here's the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of NCAA Football 14:
1. The Good
Better control of the ball carrier
This is one of the areas where the newly added "Infinity Engine 2" really shines. The new in-game physics allows ball carriers to "truck" defenders, make combination juke moves, regain balance after initial contact, accelerate, and make hard cuts. A player's weight and momentum actually matter, and it even appears that the days of having your running back stuck behind an offensive linemen are over. The gameplay simply has a better feel.
Improved run blocking AI
The running game in NCAA Football has been hit or miss the last several years. While I have had some success running from under center, I have struggled to run the ball consistently from shotgun due to poor run blocking AI. Based on my limited sampling of the demo, however, it appears the programmers have improved the blocking to the point where running from shotgun will actually be a viable option. Although some of the blocking assignments were incorrect based on the defensive fronts I faced, it was encouraging to see offensive linemen peel off combination blocks and get to the second level. EA will never capture all of the nuances of real-life blocking schemes, but NCAA Football 14 is a step in the right direction.
No-huddle is more realistic
In NCAA Football 13, players often abused the no-huddle feature by running formations that did not fit the personnel on the field. A player could run five wide one play and run goal line the next play without huddling or substituting. To alleviate this problem, EA has restricted no-huddle play calling so it corresponds with the personnel on the field. For example, if you have 12 personnel (two tight ends and one running back) on the field and run no-huddle, you can only call plays available for that personnel grouping.
Additional hot routes and matchup ratings
Hot routes, i.e., audibles that change an individual receiver's route to exploit a mismatch or a weakness in a defensive scheme, have long been an important part of NCAA Football. EA has increased the number of hot routes in NCAA Football 14 from 8 to 10 by adding Flat and Hitch routes to the previously available options. Both new routes should prove helpful in short-yardage situations.
In addition to new hot routes, players now have the ability to identify potential mismatches at the line of scrimmage based on player ratings. As you can see at the top of the screen, players can evaluate matchups in terms of speed, height, release and route running. If a wide receiver is facing press coverage and has a speed and/or release advantage, a player can hot route the receiver to run a streak. This feature, when coupled with substitution packages, should permit players to exploit inferior defenders like teams do in real life.
Diversified Option Game
EA has significantly upgraded the option game in NCAA Football 14 with better blocking AI and 30 new option plays. Among the new option plays are the increasingly popular Midline Option and Inverted Veer. There is even a serviceable Shovel Triple-Option. Below is a screen grab of the Inverted Veer.
On this play, the running back sweeps to the play side while the quarterback, let's call him Johnny Manziel Patrick Welsh, reads the defensive end. If the defensive end goes wide to stop the running back, the quarterback pulls the ball and cuts upfield; if the defensive end crashes toward the quarterback, he gives ball to the running back on the sweep. Notice how the programmers even provide the read key for the quarterback by placing an "R" above the read defender. Although this feature is helpful when the defense shifts between odd and even fronts, I hope the full version allows players to remove the key.
I had varying success with the new option plays, but I think they will improve the game. My only concern is that players will eventually learn how to exploit the AI and repeatedly abuse these plays.
2. The Bad
Lack of Packaged Plays
Although EA has improved the option game, NCAA Football 14 still lacks any real emphasis on packaged plays. Players can create their own packaged plays by hot routing receivers on the opposite side of a running back screen (there's even a two back formation with a screen to one side and a swing pass to the other), but there are no default run-pass combinations like the popular stick/draw concept shown below.
With the programmers already identifying read and pitch keys in option plays, they could easily incorporate the same concept in run-pass packaged plays. On a stick/draw play, for example, the linebacker would be the read key. If he stays inside, the quarterback could throw to the tight end on the stick; if he widens to cover the tight end, the quarterback could handoff to the running back on the draw. Perhaps EA will introduce run-pass combinations next year.
Default playbooks contain too many worthless plays
Like its predecessors, NCAA Football 14 has literally dozens of worthless plays in every playbook. What's the point of having a couple hundred plays in a playbook if a player can only count on a small percentage of those plays actually working? Often times formations have base plays but lack the proper constraint plays to keep the defense from cheating when they recognize the formation. Even when players customize their playbooks, the limited number of workable plays reduces the diversity of the custom playbooks.
3. The Ugly
Route mirroring
Route mirroring has long been a problem in the NCAA Football series. EA claimed it fixed the problem in NCAA Football 2013 with the introduction of the "Read & React" defense, but defensive backs and linebackers smothered crossing routes and dig routes in last year's game. In my limited sampling of the demo, I didn't notice defensive backs mirroring wide receivers often (or even running the routes one step ahead of the receivers), but this glitch still exists and presumably will be exploited by players who rely primarily on man press defenses every down.
Exploitable zones and alignment issues
Although man defense can be overpowering at times, offenses should have no problem exploiting basic zone coverages. Defenders spot drop into their zones and rarely, if ever, follow receivers or pass them on to other defenders. I'm not suggesting EA should attempt to program a pattern matching zone (it would probably result in some sort of route mirroring issues), but the defenders need to be more active in their zones. Another recurring issue with zone is defenders aligning improperly, particularly when the ball is on the hash. In short, zone may work as a change of pace defense, but any decent player will pick apart the basic Cover 2, 3 and 4 defenses over time. My advice to players on defense is to call aggressive man/blitz defenses (with some hot route modifications) and take your chances.
Four Verticals
If you've played the NCAA Football series in the past, you're probably familiar with how seemingly unstoppable Four Verticals can be. Players may be able to stop this play by hot routing defenders or changing assignments, but it's still money against the computer on third and long, particularly from any trips formation.
Conclusion
Overall, I would grade the demo's gameplay as a B+. Players looking for a true football simulation will be disappointed, but the casual gamer should have fun playing the latest installment of NCAA Football. I personally can't wait for July 9th to get here so I can run an Inverted Veer with Tommy Rees. . . .
