"If you were expecting big things and vast improvements in NCAA 08, you will be disappointed..."
March Madness is back baby! The excitement of college basketball returns to the video game world with EA Sports' NCAA 08 March Madness for multiple platforms. If you live for the passion, tradition, and insanity that is college hoops, then this is the game for you. But if you appreciate a quality, masterful gameplay experience, you won't find it here. As with previous installments in this franchise, EA brings the entire college basketball experience straight to your living room with crazed fans, nutty mascots, harmonic school bands and energetic cheerleaders. Yet despite all the positive features that make this game fun, the gameplay is very mediocre. But that's just the beginning.
The players are very slow-moving, the plays take too long to develop, and far too often all the players get cluttered into one spot on the court. It seems to me that EA was simply banking on the fact that college basketball and the NCAA tournament are so hugely popular that fans will purchase the game no matter what. The major new feature that EA is presenting with this version of the game is the new post control. This feature gives the player a variety of options offensively and defensively when inside the paint. With this comes new player animations, but this is about the only area where you will find new animations.
The graphics and appearance of characters is unimpressive overall. The players very rarely show facial expressions, and there is no sign of a head coach during games. I guess bringing you the State Farm Drive of the Game, which is sometimes the dumbest looking maneuver ever, is more important. It just doesn't feel realistic when you play. The most entertaining and valuable part of the game for me is the dynasty mode. Running your favorite school's basketball program never gets old, even if EA decides not to add anything new to it. They did improve the recruiting system a bit to make it easier to search and interact with your recruits. Guiding your team through the season and to the NCAA Tournament is rewarding and fun. But it is pretty much the same as last year's game.
If you were expecting big things and vast improvements in NCAA 08, you will be disappointed; the game just doesn't impress. The bottom line is this; the school mascots along with Dick Vitale's announcing make this game. But hey, at least they changed the menu music which had been the same six GSU Tiger marching band songs for the past two years.
