Football Sports News

EA Sports has released its 2008 update to the NCAA Football series. Odds are you’ve played a previous version before. But Crosby West, our videogame expert has his take. Is it better than Madden? Is it worth the extra money for the 360 version? Read on!

While the Xbox 360 version doesn’t pack the same amount of features or overall depth that the Xbox version does it’s still a truly next-gen football offering that is definitely worth your time and money. The visuals alone, as long as you’re playing on a solid HD set, are worth the sixty bucks at times. The gameplay is fun and addictive and the online mode, while not as deep as a 2K Sports offering would have been, is still fun nonetheless. There’s still room for improvement, but in the end NCAA 08 is as fun and entertaining an offering as we can expect for the series’ first time out on the Xbox 360.

GamePlay -9/10:

There are a few instances of oddities, like players running crossing routes right into one another, but for the most part NCAA 08 is as addictive and heart-pumping as the series has ever been.

Graphics - 8/10:

Wonderfully detailed close-ups are only hampered by a framerate that has a small tendency to start chugging if there’s too much going on. The animation set has been nicely expanded too, now if they could only get rid of those jaggies.

Overall - 8.5/10:

NCAA 08 doesn’t quite have the legs of its past-gen counterpart but there’s still enough to warrant a purchase. The lack of the small things like alternate jerseys and classic teams will sting just a bit. The visuals are the main innovator here. The gameplay has stayed largely unchanged less the new kicking mechanic and a few additions on either side of the ball. The third-person camera perspectives of the Xbox version would have really helped.