College football fans can finally get their much needed fix before the upcoming season thanks in large part to the release of NCAA Football 11! Developed by EA Tiburon, NCAA Football 11 is the latest installment of the NCAA Football series, which released on July 13th, 2010 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 2 gaming consoles.

 

As NCAA Football 11 makes its yearly appearance, it brings a re-worked game engine to the table. The new engine allows for more realistic animations in the game. For example, the Pro-Tak gang tackling system, which was first introduced in Madden 10, allows for gang tackles and overall improved tackling animations. There is also a new locomotion engine, which makes the players’ movements look more realistic than they have in the past. This really sets NCAA Football 11 above the previous games in the gameplay department.

 

 

 

The Road to Glory game mode makes its return in NCAA Football 11, and not really much as changed since it was introduced in NCAA Football 10. It lacks the depth it needs to be truly great. The weekly breakdowns from Erin Andrews and Kirk Herbstreit of your player’s performance, which occur after each week, are really cool at first, but lose their luster after the fourth or fifth time of seeing it. I wish EA Tiburon would have put more effort in trying to immerse you into the college lifestyle. You go to practice for your daytime event, but when it is time for your evening event you have one of four choices. You can go to the library, hit the gym, visit the trainer, or study up on your playbook. Basically you choose one and you gain a temporary attribute improvement, or you lose some points; that is pretty much it. The lack of effort in trying to create a true college atmosphere really hampers the Road to Glory experience. Despite these complaints it is still a fun game mode, but it could be so much better.

 

In the NCAA Football series, Dynasty Mode has always been the centerpiece of the franchise, and that is no exception with NCAA Football 11. The Dynasty Mode has been re-vamped with a more in depth recruiting process, which is almost as fun as playing the dynasty games themselves. Another thing that makes the Dynasty Mode so fun is the goals that you have to accomplish at whichever school you choose to coach. These goals affect your approval rating and your schools prestige, as well as your own prestige as a coach. The Dynasty Mode in NCAA Football 11 is probably the most fun I have had in a Dynasty Mode in any NCAA Football game that has been released.

 

 

 

 

The presentation is much improved in this latest installment of the series. Some of the improvements include a smarter AI, much improved team entrances, and improved crowd models. The crowd as a whole does not look much different than what has been seen in previous games, but when the game focuses on a smaller group of fans they actually have pretty solid character models. As mentioned before the AI has been improved. This is most noticeable in the pass rush department. With this improvement you have to make decisions in the pocket faster than you have had to in the past. Improvements such as these really help the overall presentation in NCAA Football 11.