NCAA March Madness 2007
Jan 25, 2007
Over the past year, 2K Sports has scooped up the award for best console basketball series like a loose ball. A pair of weak NBA Live offerings left EA struggling to compete on the court, so NCAA March Madness is the company's new hope. And while the game features some of the same performance, camera, and control issues that made the two Xbox 360 versions of Live less than must-haves, NCAA is a relatively strong showing. It's juiced with enough college flavor and intensity to rival 2K's massive College Hoops, though not enough to go all the way.
We're still waiting to see a hoops game from EA that matches up to the promises made before the 360 arrived, but NCAA is certainly the publisher's best looking effort yet. While not free of aliasing and some unfortunate camera movement, the player models are solid and realistic, and the animations are more often smooth and well linked than not.
The mode anemia that dogged early 360 releases is past, and you'll find a robust and involving Dynasty Mode, with options to fully build a program from recruitment to winning the NCCA tournament, with television deals, facility improvements and a full suite of player management tools. There's even a way to earn larger fan seating sections, which plays into the increased importance of momentum on and off the court.
The most notable aspect of the new momentum feature set is Team Intensity Control, which seeks to turn performance into emotion. Nail a couple of big shots and you can fill the intensity meter, which can be deployed, not in a gamebreaking move as in so many other games, but in a display of team bravado that can pump up players and crowd alike. That can make for a real home court advantage since the other team's momentum can be shaken by the crowd's enthusiasm. Making the effect even better, EA has come up with noticeably better crowds than in Live.
Granted, the wow factor induced by a crowd rocking to your own school's fight song is diminished by a broadcast camera that isn't always friendly to the play and a sense of physical momentum that sends these college kids sailing out of bounds. We appreciate what EA is trying to do - essentially remove the instant stop from basketball gaming - but the momentum has been tuned too far towards the realistic this time. We quickly got sick of missing shots because players wouldn't slow or stop when we wanted them to.
Unlike Live, there are no real players in NCAA; we're not as much of a stickler for this as some people, but there's no question that the commentary suffers from a generic feel because there are no real names to call out. When the track leans towards the repetitive to begin with, the lack of personality steals flavor from the game.
Those are the big points, but plenty of small issues contribute to NCAA's tug of war with quality. On the plus side is improved passing, a dynamic d-pad play calling set that keeps your defense moving and the Lockdown Stick, which further deepens your man defense and adds a visual system for indicating how you should be facing.
On the downside is a continuing set of arbitrary AI weaknesses that will see opposing teams attempting impossible and out of bounds shots and will have some of your own passes aimed unpredictably, even with the improved aiming system.
Having taken into account the momentum benefits and drawbacks on the court and in the audience, perhaps the most vital difference between NCAA and 2K's game is speed. College Hoops simply moves faster, and often with greater fluidity. That doesn't necessarily make it better or more realistic, but when stepping down to the speed of NCAA, you could very well feel like something is missing.
Even with the speed difference, the Team Intensity Control and outstanding crowd modeling make NCAA worth a look for hardcore and casual fans. Most of the massive problems that have plagued next-gen versions of Live have receeded, leaving a game that's fun, accessible, and while flawed, full of enough personality