The NCAA Football franchise has suffered some lean years of late, especially last year’s entry; when the “Infinity Engine” was announced for Madden NFL 13 to introduce physics to its gameplay—a feature NCAA Football 13 would be lacking—fans of college football were left waiting anxiously for this year’s release. With only months remaining before the start of a new console generation, NCAA Football 14 has sounded a triumphant cry to unofficially close the current console generation, delivering arguably the best iteration of the franchise since the launch of the PS3 and Xbox 360.
It all begins with gameplay, which benefits from the implementation of “Infinity Engine 2,” helping to create more unpredictable play results. The game has also seen improvements in the Option run game—including the addition of new schemes and plays—and basic running controls where the left analog stick controls hard cuts and the right analog stick controls special moves. The “Infinity Engine 2” also brings the Hit Stick and the Truck Stick back to prominence, while making the Stiff Arm a viable tool in the offensive arsenal again.
Blocking has been improved as well, with new assignments and interactions between offensive and defensive linemen to freshen up the running experience. There are still instances of missed assignments and frustration, but the frequency of their occurrence is significantly less than previous games.
Dynasty and Online Dynasty modes have seen new additions through the introduction of XP and Coach Skills. Players in the mode earn XP by achieving goals in gameplay and recruiting, allowing them the ability to level up their coaches and unlock new Coach Skills. Coach Skills are broken up into skills which affect the game on the field as well as skills which assist in recruiting.
The tried-and-true (and tired) system of recruiting from previous versions of NCAA Football has been overhauled this year with Power Recruiting. The system simplifies recruiting, eliminating the time-consuming “phone call” mechanic and streamlining menus to allow the same amount of depth in while allowing you to more quickly complete your recruiting responsibilities and get back to the game.
Presentation has seen some upgrades as well, though not all will be fully embraced. The unique “tradition” introductions to the games were judged to be over-long, and have been replaced by “music videos” which use highlights to lead into each game; people who liked seeing what makes each of the 126 schools on-disc unique might be disappointed with the loss of these pre-game sequences. Less polarizing are the additions of new statistical overlays and a better-functioning “Living Clock” from the ESPN scorebug, which helps the NCAA Football 14 experience look and feel more like a broadcast. The addition of a halftime show with highlights and commentary from Rece Davis and David Pollack also helps to spruce up presentation, though the in-game commentary from Brad Nessler and Kirk Herbstreit continues to feel old.
The game introduces the popular EA SPORTS staple, Ultimate Team, through NCAA Football Ultimate Team. It functions similarly to Ultimate Team from other EA SPORTS titles, though it uses cards for current and former NFL players representing their college years. There’s not much here to convince non-fans of Ultimate Team as a mode to commit to NFUT, but Ultimate Team fans will have something to keep them busier than in past years.
There is also a “Play a Season” mode in NCAA Football 14 which strips away much of the newly-introduced XP, Coach Skills, and Power Recruiting and allows players to simply play through the 2013 season. While it will surely have its target audience, it feels strange to introduce new features to the Dynasty experience and then offer a way to avoid using those new features.
Fans of Road to Glory mode and last year’s Heisman Challenge mode will be disappointed to find that not much has changed, though the gameplay experience benefits from the addition of the Infinity Engine 2. The lack of improvement for the “single player” career modes is a weak point in the overall package, and fans will be desperate for news about these modes in NCAA Football 15.
NCAA Football 14 is a vast improvement over what the franchise has offered in the past few years. From a personal standpoint, it has given me significantly more enjoyment than any other version of the series released for current consoles. Usually I have to work to stay committed to a Dynasty through a season, leaving me to spend my time in Play Now one-off games; I’ve already played an entire season in my Dynasty, and the gameplay revisions combined with XP and Coach Skills have me looking forward to many more seasons. If NCAA Football 14 is the last version of the game that will be relevant on current consoles with the series making the jump to PS4 and Xbox One next summer, then at least the series will be going out with a BCS Bowl-worthy effort.
2019 saw the return of a college football game for the Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Could 2023 be the official return of the NCAA Football franchise?
Checks in the mail for NCAA student-athletes for likeness rights video game lawsuit settlement, firm seeking W-9 information from class members
Replies(1)
I loved the way they did the high school to the NFL Draft between NCAA Football and Madden.
Plaintiffs' attorney, Steve Berman, of Seattle-based Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro issued a statement in regards to the approved $60 million settlement for student-athletes in a class-action lawsuit filed against the NCAA and Electronic Arts, Inc.
And make TENS OF MILLIONS for their respective schools in jersey and ticket sales and receive none of that. Explain to me logically how that is OK.
Well what part of free ride do you Not understand??? They get free rides n your kid have to pay!!! That sounds very fair yeah?? If they get money no more free ride.... That ok pay all the sports in school n your cable bill will be $300 plus a month...think bout what it cost school before you back it
Don't downplay the risk involved in that sport and ignore that these schools and corporations are making millions on the backs of these children. If that is the case, then pay them the millions to play the sport and let them pay for their own education.
I will support some of the profits going to the school to help other less lucrative programs, but these players should also be able to market their talents and popularity to help their families and give them a foot up as most of them will not make it to the pros.
https://www.youtube.com/wat...
I'd suggest watch this and some recent sports documentaries that dive into this topic to get a clearer perspective as to why this is such a big deal for the players.
The whole point of those laws is to prevent student-athletes from profiting from their athletic activities in the first place. This may be a "win" for their rights as athletes, but it's a blow to the whole concept of college athletics.
When corporations and greedy school deans make billions, not millions, billions off of the old concept of college athletics, then the concept must change. Nothing personal. Just business.
I don't think you realize how many student athletes go hungry and have to sell drugs to make a living (because it's quick and profitable, so it can still fit into their busy schedules). A free education isn't enough for some of the poor students that get scholarships. Schools don't need to pay them like pro-athletes, but they should be giving them some pocket money if they're going to keep them from making money off of endorsements.
Perhaps the whole concept of college athletics we've established is a fundamentally flawed one that only benefits the people that already have the most financial benefits in modern society.
How is it flawed. Some kid that never threw a pass in the pros can get signed for nearly 100 million based on what he did in college. The student athletes are benefiting too, don't pretend that they're playing for peanuts because they're not.
Hmmm...It's good to see the gameplay improving and the infinity engine cleaned up. I may cave and get this somewhere down the line once the price drops because I love Dynasty mode. I really want EA to get it right with these games, I don't know how madden 25 will turn out for current gen but from what ive seen looks like a smaller jump from 13, than NCAA 13 to 14. Hopefully next-gen madden and NCAA brings better games than this gen which has been extremely mediocre.
good review!
New player models have been needed since 2006.