NCAA Football 2002

EA has already set the football standard for Playstation 2 with Madden 2001. Now Madden 2002 is out, but for the love of god give this game some heavy play before you hit up EA's professional football masterpiece.

This game is basically Madden 2001 with college football teams, but you know what they say if it's not broke don't fix it. Everyone knows how football games work, so instead of rambling on about nothing, I'm just going to break down the game in some topics and give you the info you need to know about each.

Running Game: This is probably the best part of the actual in game playing. If you have a good running back, you're going to probably rush for 1000 yards in a season, but in real life doesn't nearly every other team have a 1000 yd. rusher these days? You have to earn those big gains though, with crazy jukes and stiff arms. After a long run in this game, you'll feel like you actually deserve it.

Passing Game: This is by far the weakest part of the game. If you try and play this game straight up (like NFL2K1) and control the receivers yourself, you're going to have a hell of a time (30% completion). But if you let the computer control them, you're going to complete around 70% of your passes. Perhaps with months of gameplay you'll actually be able to run the routes and time the catches perfectly, but even after weeks I still can't do it very well. The best way to play is throw to your receivers and switch to them as soon as the ball is almost in their hands. That way you feel that you sort of earned the catch, but it's nothing like NFL2K1 in the way it feels. This is the only bad part of an otherwise amazing game.

Defense: Utter perfection. I've never seen a game where the defense was as realistic as this one. If you try and cheat and go for the interception and you miss, they're going to burn you for a long one. Or if you bring the blitz, they're going to attempt to throw right over it. It actually feels that the formation you chose has an impact on the actual outcome of the play. You have to earn every sack and interception, don't expect to lead the nation in either...I know I probably never will. But that's exactly how it should be.

Rankings: This game has every sort of ranking you could ever want. There are conference standings, NCAA standings, the Coach's poll, the Media poll, and even the new BCS ranking system. There's no room for complaints on this part of the game, it has every ranking aspect you could ever imagine. My only question, is why does the Coach's Poll never give the University of Iowa any love? For the love of god people :).

Awards: Yet again this game provides tons of replay value with awards in nearly every category you could want. Each position (QB, HB, WR, K....) has a top 5 in the nation, and of course the Heisman trophy is up for grabs each season. Also there is a first team and second team All-American named each year. And don't expect to dominate the list unless of course you're a school from the state of Florida. The only thing I wish this game had was All-Conference teams for each conference. I only get about one All-American each year, but it'd be nice to see how my players rank in the Big Ten.

Dynasty Mode: As expected this game has an amazingly deep dynasty mode. I don't even know if there is a limit to the amount of years you can play. I've already worked over 3 season in mine and the fun is just continuing. I still have yet to win the national title. Your preseason ranking keeps increasing thanks to your previous season and your recruiting class and perhaps one day, I will stand at #1 with the U of Iowa....and we all know the only way that's going to happen is on a videogame.

Coach contracts: I don't know if the previous PSOne incarnation of this game had these coach contracts, but they're new to me. At the beginning of the season you sign a 3 year contract and you have to meet expectations based on the prestige of your school to keep that contract. If you don't fulfill the requirements, you'll be looking for work in the off-season. How cool is that?

Off-Season: After the bowl games and the season is over, the fun is just starting. Based on your wins and prestige, you get so many points allocated to your program at the end of the year. You use these points to attempt to swoon recruits to sign with your school. You can choose if you'd like to send the head coach, the assistant coach, or just make a phone call with one of them to the recruits. Each option takes a different amount of points and you have to make sure you don't spend them all on recruits that you will never get. You have to make sure you show respect to the high school players in your area, as they're most likely to sign with you. After you've used up all your points and all the recruits are signed, it rates each teams recruiting class. Very sweet.

-Well, I think I've given you insight on every aspect of this game. If you have any questions, hit up the message board and the GYEAH.com staff will give you any more info you need.

The Good!		The Last Word(s): This game has more replay value than any other game, I've EVER played! The only game that even comes close in my eyes is Baseball Stars for the NES. The Dynasty mode is the best I've ever seen in a sports game, and the countless awards will keep you playing season after season. Trying to recruit the next big thing, yet having to worry about your young stars leaping to the pros is something that can't be related in words. If the passing gameplay was a little better, this game would be perfection. Final Rating: 96% Iconish
Off-Season Recruiting Countless Statistics Rankings, Awards, All-American Teams, Bowl Games. Awesome Create-A-Player Mode.
The Bad...
Passing game is flawed. Not difficult enough. Lee Corso commentary. No All-Conference Teams.
The UGLY.
Nothing to speak of.