NCAA Football 09 (ps3: 2008): Reviews

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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

NCAA Football 09


7.4

based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 21 votes
Read user comments
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GAMES:

NCAA Football 08

Official Website

College football has never before felt more wide open than in NCAA Football 09. Gamers can experience the excitement of making big plays on the field, as they have the ability to directly control and influence the game through the all-new break away animation engine. With huge cut-back lanes, new tackling animations and wider blocking holes, NCAA Football 09 offers a host of offensive opportunities. NCAA Football 09 also brings the atmosphere, pageantry and tradition of college football to life. Through the redesigned stadiums, which reflect even more detail of each school’s individual playing field, to the dynamic sidelines filled with school colors, cheerleaders and mascots, players feel the excitement of college gameday. Players can gain Home Field Advantage as the intensity of the home crowd rises and rattles the composure of opposing teams. All 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools are represented in the game and players can even customize the in-game atmosphere with their own personal music collection. Off the field, NCAA Football 09 features its most robust Dynasty Mode yet, inviting fans to create and manage a perennial powerhouse program from landing blue-chip recruits to winning championships on the field. For the first time ever, Dynasty goes online with up to 12 competitors to recruit head-to-head, customize schedules and play for up to 60 seasons. [Electronic Arts]

PUBLISHER:	Electronic Arts
DEVELOPER:	EA Tiburon
GENRE(S):	Sports, Football
PLAYERS:	12
ESRB RATING:	E (Everyone)
RELEASE DATE:	July 15, 2008

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Worth Playing

The series' best effort in years.

1UP

After years of online fumbles by developer EA Tiburon, our annual war cry for an online dynasty mode has been answered. Not only is NCAA Football 09's most impressive innovation brilliantly seamless, but it's full-featured as well (from recruiting and scheduling to talking sure-fire pros into staying on an extra season).

GameFocus

Great presentation.

Gamer 2.0

When all's said and done, NCAA 09 may have some rough spots and bugs, there are ways around it that keep them from hampering the immense amount of enjoyment that the game offers.

MEGamers

A very good effort and is only a few problems away from becoming one of the best sport games on the market.

IGN

The improvement of jukes and ballcarrier moves adds depth to your offense, while the inclusion of features like the Quarterback Quiz and Icing the Kicker makes the overall gameplay stronger. The Online Dynasty is an excellent addition to this series, but the mistakes made with the Campus Legend mode keeps this year's title from being truly extraordinary.

Cheat Code Central

Just the next game in a long line of great games. If you are content with the version you already have, then there isn't enough staggering new content to warrant an upgrade. However, this is the best game in the franchise to date, and I'm glad I made the switch.

Game Over Online

Difficulties on defense and an overpowering “icing” technique aside, NCAA Football 09 has put itself in contention for a championship season. With the addition of the online dynasty and the always-outstanding college football atmosphere, all the talent is here to make this a memorable year.

Game Informer

This game is going places its predecessors never went, but it's also unwilling to ditch a past that is just slowing it down. [Aug 2008, p.80]

Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)

In all, NCAA 09's sharp visuals, immediate sense of control, and its robust, fleshed-out modes make this year's version a winner. [Sept 2008, p.77]

Kombo

This year, more than any other, it feels like NCAA won't be a stop gap until Madden hits the store shelves and can stand on its own by offering a different experience that the NFL can't match.

GamerNode

NCAA Football fans will love this, and if casual football fans can get past a few of the graphic issues then we may just have another wave of NCAA Football fans charging the field.

GameZone

This year’s iteration feels a little more streamlined and designed to get you into the gaming experience faster.

Gaming Age

In the end you can't go wrong if you are a fan of the game. Just don't expect to be wowed by any aspect except the online and offline dynasty modes as they have shown the most attention to features in the game. The rest is just window dressing.

GameSpot

The addition of the Online Dynasty mode will please many, but the lack of significant improvements to other key modes of NCAA Football 09 will disappoint many others.

Playstation Universe

An amazing improvement over NCAA 2008. As a sports gamer, that’s all I can truly ask for in a yearly edition.

Destructoid

It's a fun game. Just don’t be surprised when a Quarterback Quiz pops up, or some assh.le keeps hitting pause every five minutes while you’re playing online.

GameDaily

It just about looks, sounds and plays as it did before, solidly but without anything "wow"-worthy to justify your $60 purchase.

Thunderbolt

Significantly flawed.

The average user rating for this game is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Bob the Builder gave it a10:
A huge step from last year and a very brilliant game, just a couple things that bothered me 1. Campus Legend - I don't like that over the shoulder view it should be just normal play now view or the choice between them and the worst part is there is no commentary so don't buy the game for this feature - create a player in dynasty and play it like that its fun 2. could be more animations for tackling and spinning and juking they seem to be somewhat the same, but overall a must have for any fan of sports.

Dizzy D gave it a6:
Another turnover-fest with poor collision detection produced by EA. Since the exclusivity contracts, EA has put out a series of lackluster football (NFL and NCAA) games on the current generation of consoles. This one is no different. You can polish a turd, but it's still a turd.

Matt M. gave it a9:
Ever since i was a kid and became a sports nut i have been playing the video games. An ever since then I've felt like the developers have never really tried(except for espn 2k5 AMAZING GAME!!!). There simpliy trying to make money of hardcore fans. But EA has changed my mind. I used to just by a new football game every 2 years and i had bought 07. But my cousin convinced me to get this one. My gaw dropped and the beauty(Both visually and technically). It runs so smooth. I strongly suggest this game even if you haven't ever played a football game before it is amazing 9 out of 10.

Elton P. gave it an8:
Overall not a bad game. Much better than last year's effort. One thing everyone has to keep in mind, this is only the second (or third, can't remember.) incarnation of NCAA on the next Gen systems. And programmers always take a little while to squeeze the best results out of new technology. It was like this for the PS2 also.

Cory H. gave it a9:
I don't understand why everyone is giving this game low rankings. It is the most solid and satisfying college football game to date. The new 60fps action (for PS3) is awesome and I can't put it down !! Don't let the negative feedback fool you. If you live and breath college football..go purchase this game !

[Anonymous] gave it a1:
Same old, same old with tweeks here and there... this 2005... I mean (cough) 2009 game needs to be re-done from the ground up, not impressive for a next gen game.

Greg H. gave it a5:
This game has just been getting minor improvements for years now, and 09 is no exception. Its not that good of a game anymore, its time for a serious overhaul. Plus you throw in the fact that the game is loaded with bugs this year and you have a game that can be passed on. Very underwhelming overall. The gameplay is better with some new animations, but there are so many annoying quirks that ruin it, players will run out of bounds even when they are wide open and running for a TD, linebackers will turn and run in the opposite direction of the ball carrier, cornerbacks will hesitate and stand straight up to allow an offensive player to make a play, D-linemen are useless and will be wiped out by the worst o-lines in football. All of these are due to EA's attempt to make the gameplay more wide-open. Essentially all they did was make the AI defense absolutely retarded. Plus there is a roster bug where entire teams will literally disappear. Seriously. Again this game is so dated now, and the bugs/glitches this year just ruin it.