Four out of Five stars

NCAA Football ’08 is probably the most realistic college football game to date. That means one thing: don’t play with Syracuse.

Enough said.

But it’s that true-to-life mentality that raised NCAA to new heights this year, combined with the detailed new features. The ‘Campus Legend’ game mode allows gamers to truly immerse themselves into the life of a student athlete.

In the more advanced systems – Xbox360 and PS3 – gamers go back to high school as the big man on campus, trying to win a state championship and gain attention from the big-time schools.

The way this is developing, the 2009 version will include Pop Warner games and the 2010 game will discuss potty training.

In the PS2 version, there’s no high school glory, but gamers can still try to impress the scouts in a workout before selecting from a list of colleges.

Now that the legend has made his way onto campus, it’s time to select a major. Sure, it’s more realistic to pick something like math or history, but considering this isn’t actually school, it makes more sense to pick a fun option like ‘NCAA Greatest Games.’ At least it’s something you will enjoy studying.

Gamers will have to make time to study if they want to stay in school. Part of the life of a student-athlete is managing that busy schedule. You will have to make time for practice every day, but in the evenings you can decide what you want to do. That’s where the game finds out who the real dedicated players are. Gamers can work on position drills to increase attributes, or they can choose to study to keep those grades up or go out for a social activity to increase campus popularity.

Word to the wise: even the simplest majors can require some studying because there is a midterm exam right in the middle of the season. The game likes to throw some curveballs in the test, and don’t be surprised to struggle on that first college exam.

There’s more to NCAA Football ’08 than just the Campus Legend mode. The Dynasty mode has improved incredibly. Like in Madden, there are several preseason drills to improve attributes. But in NCAA, there are three times the amount of drills, giving gamers the chance to develop players of all skill levels.

The recruiting in this year’s edition is spot on. Before the season, coaches can identify the prospects they want to target over the course of the year. They can hit the recruiting trail throughout the season, not just at the end like in previous versions.

In terms of gameplay, NCAA does not disappoint. EA Sports added several features that have been successful in Madden, like the ‘hit stick’ and ‘highlight stick.’ Still no playmaker feature, though, which has been the biggest problem with the college game in the last few years.

If you’re a die-hard gamer who wants to put in the long hours – or maybe you’re just a masochist – then you can try to save the virtual Syracuse program. With all these new features at your disposal, there are definitely ways to build a program back from the ashes, which is always the most fun part of these games.

Published on September 5, 2007 at 12:00 pm