NCAA 2008 for PS2

I recently played NCAA Football 08 by EA Sports for the PlayStation2. As far as the gameplay it is extremely similar to the other NCAA Football games that came before it in the franchise with no change in controls. It honestly seems to be the same game as 07 with a couple different features. The Campus Legend feature so far is my favorite.

In this feature you create a player and go through a series of drills to gain points to add to your player's attributes to make him more desirable to major colleges. After that, you choose the school to attend based on what schools are offering you a scholarship (the better you perform in the drills and the wiser you use your attribute points, the more prestigious a program you can attend).

OK, so you have made your college choice. Now, you have to decide on your major. The easy level majors add bonuses to one attribute, the medium difficulty ones add to two attributes and the hard add to three. Make sure you choose a major that adds bonus points that will help your player the most (don't pick an attribute to help with your catching ability if you are a quarterback). Now, you are ready to embark on your four year collegiate career (three if you decide to go pro after your junior season).

Your non-game days are the same. You have class in the morning (you don't have to sit through this thank goodness), then comes practice where you have a chance to earn more attribute points. After that you have a decision to make. You can study (you will get one question and answer pertaining to your major), meet with a tutor (you take a five question quiz and it affects your GPA), go through one of your position drills (the same drills from before school selection) or attend a social activity (which helps you gain popularity on campus). If you select the tutor or position drills, two of your nights will be taken so choose wisely!

On gameday, you only get to play your team's scheduled game and then you get Sunday off (got to rest after the grind of a football game). Then you repeat the process. You will have two exams during the semester, a midterm and a final. They are just the same as the quizzes only twice as long.

The dynasty mode is the same as other years with the following additions. You can hold summer workouts for your team and have them get better through drills. You also get to make player promises this year. Let's say you are trying to land the top quarterback in the country. You can promise him a starting position right away or even his favorite number. Make sure you keep these, or you may lose your player to a transfer after landing him. So, you are a couple games into your season and your star running back got hurt....and he's a senior? Try applying for a medical redshirt for him to get an extra year of eligibility!

Before the season, hold a spring scrimmage game to get a good look at those incoming freshmen and decide who your best players will be. During the season, you may run into troublemakers (hey, they're just kids). You have to decide whether or not to punish them yourself. If you decide not to punish them be careful, just like in real life, the NCAA might come knocking and slap some disciplinary moves on your school. Once your season is over, you can negotiate with players leaving early to try to keep them around, go through the recruiting process, hold that spring game, cut players, organize your depth chart and get ready for a brand new season!

Brand new to this year's game are the "points pursuit" mode and the "my shrine". The points pursuit mode is arcade football at its finest. Get points for gaining yards, intercepting passes, sacking the other quarterback and such. Occasionally, the points on a play will be doubled, tripled or quadrupled. Rack up some big big numbers in this mode! In the "my shrine" this is where you get to see all of your accomplishments. If you've had some real close games, check them out in the "ESPN Instant Classics". Check out your trophy case to see those rivalry trophies and awards you have earned (like the Heisman or the Little Brown Jug). The report card tells you how you are doing in five football categories (passing, catching, running, tackling and covering). During games if there is a great play....run a replay and take a picture of the moment! It will last forever in your photo album in my shrine. The pennant collection is back again and you view them in the shrine room as well. Your points pursuit stats are also found here, as are your "victory patches" (these show all the teams you have beaten at least once). In the middle of the room is the record book. Here you can find all the records from dynasty and campus legend modes.

NCAA Football 08 is another nice addition to the college football franchise EA has going on. If I could change anything about it, it would be to where you can only control your created player (much like in Madden 07). I would also try to add the rest of the Division I-AA (Football Championship Division) teams and give players an option to start their coaching career at that level and earn their spot with the big time schools. Overall, it is a very solid game and I enjoy playing it very much and can't wait to see their next edition!