PlayStation 3
Released in 2008 by EA Sports
Grade: C+
There’s some sophisticated basketball logic here, but it’s burdened by slippery controls and spastic animations.
Where it falls in the series
The NCAA series had only three installments on PS3. Luckily, EA seriously fixed this game for its last go of it, NCAA Basketball 10, one of my favorite games ever.
Praises and gripes
The risk of trying to make a true-to-life sports simulation is that little mistakes stand out like a sore thumb. This game gets a lot of basketball’s nuances right, but it’s too often jumpy and disjointed. Players awkwardly morph from animation to animation. Some seem too slow, some seem too fast, and some defy physics altogether.
The control is sensitive, like the players are all light as a feather. Those mish-mashed animations make you feel out of control. You’ll slowly go into razzle-dazzle dribble move, then get sucked into an animation with your defender, only to pop free unexpectedly and launch a shot in fast-forward. Defense is a struggle. You’ve got a controller full of stuff to do, but simply moving your guy doesn’t feel quite right, and you’ll get sucked into animations against your will.
These problems spoil what’s a pretty impressive engine. The game manages to depict wide-open action that isn’t restrained. I like how the team’s styles are so different. Some teams push the pace, others are tactical and slow. The zone and press defenses can really shake things up. You’ve got a bunch of plays to run, and they really get your guys moving like a basketball team. The game rewards high-percentage shots and stout defense.
This game gets my common complaint of “It can be fun, but if you start to care too much, it’s frustrating.”