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NCAA Gamebreaker 2004
Score: 70%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: 989 Sports
Developer: 989 Sports
Media: DVD/1
Players: 1 - 8
Genre: Sports

Graphics & Sound:
College football is all about tradition. The LSU Pregame, Texas' 'Hook 'em Horns', the Notre Dame Fight Song, Alabama fans evoking the name of 'The Bear' every 5 minutes (he's dead, people -- get over it)... these are the things that help set the college game apart from the pros. College football video games also have there own tradition -- namely that each year's college game is a slightly retooled version of last year's pro game. This is a tradition that 989 Sports seems to want to uphold since NCAA Gamebreaker 2004 delivers all of the flags and fumbles from last year's Gameday 2003.

For whatever reason, Gamebreaker always seems five yards behind the rest of the team in terms of graphics. Player models are squarish and at times, bend in ways that would make Stretch Armstrong wince in pain. I was also disappointed with the tackle animations. One of the bullet points for the game is the massive number of tackle animations featured. Maybe I'm missing something, but there seemed to be an awful lot of leg tackles in Gamebreaker. The color palette used in the game is also rather bland and unappealing. I also noticed a few moments where it stuttered, especially after the ball changed hands. Every time I handed the ball off to one of my backs or passed it to a receiver, the Gb would pause for a second as the camera shifted to put that guy in the middle. Whatever happened to smooth camera work?

Even though the textures do convey a more 'realistic' look, they also come off as dull and washed out. The crowd also shares this blandness. Gamebreaker 2004 does a few things right, though. Helmets look great and show some nice reflections without overdoing it. Unlike that other college football game, the amount of detail paid to each stadium is excellent. Even the little things that are unique to each stadium -- like the yard markers every 5 yards at LSU's Death Valley -- are included.

Sound is on par with the graphics -- you'll hear what you want, but might not like how you hear them. Once again Tim Brandt joins legendary announcer Keith Jackson in the booth. Overall the commentary is good, if a bit repetitive, although most of the fun comes from Keith Jackson's unique sayings rather than the quality of what is said. This is due in part to the lack of chemistry between the two. The ambient sounds of a day of college football are present, but come with mixed results. The white noise of the crowd is ever-present, yet the crowd rarely gets excited over big moments during the game. Gamebreaker also features a number of authentic college fight songs, but again, the quality is lacking.


Gameplay:
For the most part, NCAA Gamebreaker 2004's gameplay remains the same as last year's Gameday. This is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your feelings towards last year's game. Personally, I was moderately pleased with some aspects of the game, but never blown over.

One of the things 989 consistently gets right is including nearly every play mode known to man in the game. The real heart of the game is the Career mode, which allows players to take the role of a coach of a lack-luster program and work their way up to the big-time. As promising as the game is, there's very little change to the feel of the mode. Nothing has really changed since the debut of this mode, making it just as much of a hassle this year as it was 5 years ago. Aside from the standard Season and Exhibition matches, Gamebreaker also features a very easy (and fun) Online mode. After logging in, players can hook up with friends and play online, check leader boards and talk smack in chat rooms. Gamebreaker also updates rosters for online play. If a player is hurt in real life, the game will automatically update the roster to reflect this. It may not appeal to every fan, but I noticed that it helped to diversify the teams people used online. I wasn't too impressed with its online presentation though. I noticed few safeguards against people cheating online, which sucks all the fun out of the game. Also, the voice chat is pretty bad and garbled. Talking smack isn't as fun when you can't understand it.

Looking past the various play modes, the gameplay in Gamebreaker isn't as good as it could be either. There is a definite lack of balance in both the running and passing games (which carries over to the defensive side of the ball). Although the game wants to be more of a sim, it can't shake the feeling of being an arcade game. Passing isn't effective when going for short yardage, yet there's always one or two guys open during long plays. Not that every pass is actually caught (even All-American Receivers like Michael Clayton have stone hands), but your chances go up significantly with a long pass. Though I admit most gamers will take the long ball over anything else because of the flash involved, this hurts the fun factor.

Running the ball effectively is the only real skill needed in the game. Faced with a third and five? Run the ball! Fourth and fifteen? Run the ball! In Gamebreaker, backs can easily bust out a five to ten yard gain every time. Enjoy these few yards, because you're not likely to see much after that. Once your back is out in the open, massive runs aren't likely. Even if you spin and juke your heart out, escaping from one of a would-be defender's hundreds of leg wrap tackles isn't easy.


Difficulty:
Remember all that stuff I said about short passes not always working and having a hard time getting beyond 10 yards per carry? Well, forget about it when the AI is at the helm in NCAA Gamebreaker 2004. If the AI passes, it's usually caught. AI controlled backs can easily break a tackle and rack up big yardage plays on the ground - even against top ranked defenses. Sending a massive blitz against the AI controlled QB? Forget about it - he'll slip out of it. The AI is way too good and can even make teams like Mississippi State (a perennial bye-week) look like National Championship contenders.

Game Mechanics:
One of the more obvious changes to NCAA Gamebreaker 2004 is the new look for play-calling screens. Having ditched last year's aberration, this year's edition is much easier to read and follows more along the lines of other football games. As much as I applaud the new layout, it's still not easy to use. Instead of being able to quickly flip through the plays with the D-pad, you are instead required to use the shoulder buttons to slowly work your way through page after page of the same boring formations.

The controls have been tightened up, but are still lacking. By far, the coolest aspect of the new control scheme is the option to use the USB headset to call plays. This is a great feature, even if it feels a little silly at times. For the most part, Gamebreaker follows the standard layout found in most football games. While passing, each button corresponds to a receiver and while running, they allow you to speed burst, juke or spin. The layout is easy, but the response really isn't where it needs to be, especially when trying moves when running. A juke isn't as effective if it happens a few seconds after the button is pressed. One control issue did have me scratching my head - calling time outs. Anyone who's ever seen a football game, especially a close scoring one, knows how important time outs are. Most games have this mapped to the Select button for quick use. Yet, the infinite wisdom of someone at 989 has deemed that it would be much easier to require the player to press the R3 and L3 buttons at the same time. Uh - yeah, whatever...

Just as with Gameday 2003, Gamebreaker 2004 isn't recommended.


-Starscream, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ricky Tucker

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