NCAA Football 2005

Written by Phillip Ellis on 10/1/2004 for

Never had the opportunity to attend your favorite college’s football games during the season? Look no further than this years installment of NCAA Football 2005 from EA Sports. While some of us may never get the opportunity to experience the real atmosphere of a big time college football team, let me tell you first hand that it is all recaptured perfectly in this years game. The folks at EA Sports have completely revamped the atmosphere to actually mean something for once. In previous games you could just pump the crowd up to get them loud, just to enjoy the sound. This year you can affect the road team by pumping the crowd up, rattling the youngsters, and making audibles… well, inaudible. Imagine taking the University of Buffalo Bulls into Death Valley in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The only chance you stand at a win is to take the crowd out early. The entire game the Death Valley fans would be going crazy against you, screen shaking, controller shaking. Your own nervousness, mixed with your players nervousness, from the missed routes, to the missed blocks, it’s all here in NCAA Football 2005.

The well-loved dynasty mode has been revamped as well. This year you have to focus on academics, and discipline. Do you go after that blue chip quarterback, even though he’s a trouble maker that could never see action on the field? Or do you go after the less talented, but better person off the field to lead your team to the promise land? These are all decisions you will be forced to make, and be careful with what you decide. Waste your scholarship on the trouble maker, and you could be looking at a road of suspensions for him, and no time ever on the football field. You will get popup notifications of players getting into altercations, cheating on exams, skipping workouts, and paying other people to take their exams. You must decide how long you wish to suspend them for using your discipline points. Be careful not to be too harsh, because it could drive your players to transfer, and it will also deplete your discipline points early in the season, when you have to make them last the entire year. Let a few problems slide, and the NCAA finds out, and you’ll be looking at a few years of probation.

The recruiting aspect of the game has also been improved. New to this years game is the ability to scout your recruit before actually decide to recruit him. Through scouting him you are able to check all of his numbers, and get his discipline rating, which again, is a very important thing to know. The biggest change in the recruiting is the fact that it’s tougher. In the past getting twenty blue chips was the norm. This season there only appears to be around 30 blue chip recruits available from the get go. Getting these top-notch players is even more special, while last year you could bring in as many as you wanted, this year you’re lucky to bring in four.

Gameplay is largely the same this year. With a few tweaks here and there EA Sports has managed to keep a good thing good. The game has added the agile running system. No more cutting on a dime for that huge gain, now you will be able to see your player’s body leaning as he makes that all important cut up field. Finally the agility ratings come into play on cuts, because in the past the ability to turn on the dime without losing speed could kill defenses, now you have to have a special player to make those great cuts that break the plays wide open.
The announcing crew remains largely the same, with what seems like just a few new lines recorded. Hopefully the NCAA Football crew does not take the same road as the Madden development team and refuse to record new sayings. I think we can all agree on how stale the Madden commentary has become in recent years. However the NCAA announcing crew still sounds fresh, despite the use of previous years recordings. Where the announcing team has not advanced much, crowd interaction has. The crowd gets as intense as ever this year. Turn on your surround sound, and feel like you’re at the stadium watching the team play. The sound of a roaring crowd ‘Between the Hedges’ is deafening.

The graphics have been improved somewhat, although they seem to still be behind the Madden department. However, where NCAA lacks in graphics, it more than makes up in gameplay and depth. This is the deepest football game to ever be released on the planet. From players transferring because of a lack of playing time, from your star quarterback cheating on his exams, if you want the most true to life, exciting football game available, NCAA Football 2005 is definitely your choice.
Finally for Xbox players, EA Sports has gone Live. They have implemented it great for their first year on the system. Gameplay is stellar, and lag is minimal. The new quick tournaments which were added to this years addition certainly add more fun to the online game. Also, the addition of mini games, such as seen in previous Madden PC editions, makes online for a quick and enjoyable fun game, if that’s what you’re looking for.

Pick up your copy now at any local retailer, on any platform, and lead your team to the National Championship, even if it is not the University of Georgia (Although it should be).