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NCAA Football 07 Review (Xbox)

About.com Rating 4.5 Star Rating
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By , About.com Guide

NCAA Football 07 Review (Xbox)
Nothing can compare to the atmosphere of a college football game. The deafening crowd noise, the fight songs, the electricity in the air that comes from the fact that any and every play could turn the tide in your team’s favor. Simply put, college football is amazing and EA’s NCAA Football 07 recreates it almost perfectly. Xbox sports fans, you need this game.
Quick Hits

  • Title: NCAA Football 07
  • Platform: Xbox
  • Publisher: EA Sports
  • Developer: EA Sports
  • ESRB: “E” for Everyone
  • Genre: College football
  • Pros: Amazing atmosphere, tons of modes, great gameplay
  • Cons: Not as pretty as the 360 version

Features and modes

NCAA Football 07 offers a ton of modes. You can play a standard game, explore rivalries, use mascots, spring drill minigames, dynasty mode, practice, and the new Campus Legend mode. Campus Legend isn’t really new, since it is pretty much the same as last year’s Race for the Heisman mode, but taking your freshman player and turning him into a campus legend is undeniably fun. A big difference this year is you have to choose your major and actually take tests. These are supposed to be students, after all. Online multiplayer is once again a big draw and it runs silky smooth. Your only real problem is finding good people to play against because some people like to spam big money plays and blitz every down so if your skills aren’t up to par it won’t be too enjoyable. Overall, the features list isn’t radically different over last year, but there are tweaks and improvements everywhere, which make this year’s NCAA football a vast improvement.

Gameplay

EA
One of the things that makes college football so exciting is the unpredictability of it all. You never know when your star halfback is going to fumble or your defense is going to crumble in the last six minutes of the game (yes I’m talking about the 06 National Championship Game), and this unpredictability is captured perfectly here. All you can do is call the right plays (the playbook is huge this year) and hope your players do what they are supposed to. This creates for amazingly exciting football games that keep you hungry for more.

The core gameplay in NCAA 07 is spot on and everything just feels right. Precision passing, jukes and special moves with the right analog stick, and other enhanced controls are present and accounted for but there are some new tricks here as well. Blocking punts and kicks is now easier thanks to an over the shoulder camera you can switch to. The kicking game has also been changed to use the right analog stick. You can also jump the snap by pressing the A button at just the right time and you can alter defensive hot routes on the fly. All of these changes combine with the solid gameplay core to create something college football fans will feel right at home with.

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, NCAA Football 07 is very well put together. The player models actually look like college students rather than hulking behemoths, and the animation is very well done. This game just plain looks good. The 360 version obviously looks quite a bit better, but the Xbox version plays just as good and that is what is important.

The sound is what really makes NCAA Football 07 stand out. The crowd reacts to what is happening on the field and in some stadiums it can be absolutely deafening. It is also very cool to hear all of the different chants from the crowds and all of the school fight songs. The commentary team of Brad Nessler, Lee Corso, and Kirk Herbstreit once again do a good job but Corso’s lines repeat a lot.

Bottom Line

EA
If you are a college football fan, the Xbox version of NCAA Football 07 is the one to own. It looks good, plays great, and has a ton of features that will keep you busy for a long time to come. No other game can really match the electric atmosphere and intensity of NCAA 07. If you are debating between getting the Xbox or Xbox 360 version of the game, the Xbox version is superior in pretty much every way. It doesn’t look as good, but it plays just as good and has more features and it is $10 less to boot. NCAA Football 07 is a great game and I highly recommend it.

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