The All-State halfback and the cornerstone of his high school football program steps on to the field and into the Friday night lights for the last time of his high school career.
He is the most recognizable player in the state and a future college superstar, who has provided much of his team's offensive yards this season. He is ready for the spotlight.
He takes the opening handoff from the quarterback and makes an ankle-breaking cut left and up the field, jukes the first defender, stiff arms the second and then speeds down the field for a 60-yard touchdown.
This scenario plays out beautifully in EA Sports NCAA '13's Road to Glory mode, which once again allows gamers to take a player through his senior year of high school to his final collegiate game. The mode gives former junior varsity backup offensive linemen a chance to live out their greatest sports dreams.
The Road to Glory mode along with Dynasty mode return and are joined this season by the new Heisman Challenge. This challenge allows players to play and unlock Heisman campaign seasons for historic winners of the trophy in a player-focused layout to the aforementioned Road to Glory mode.
During the Heisman and Glory mode there is a weird awareness effect, called Reaction Time that happens when your player gets into the zone. Think of it as bullet-time on the gridiron. The Dynasty mode returns with a few slightly enhance scouting and recruiting features, but Dynasty has always been pretty solid. I would like a better variety in the way I recruit my prospects.
NCAA '13 certainly glistens with polish on the field, where the passing game shows significant improvement over previous seasons. Dropping your digital quarterback and letting the ball rip is more enjoyable than in previous versions of the game. The quarterback animations are better too. However, it can still be a little frustrating when you have a wide receiver open deep down the field and the ball whizzes past him by a good 8-10 yards. Sometimes the opposition's CPU-controlled linebacker exhibit superhuman jumping abilities and can intercept a pass that is a good 15 feet in the air, but this happens far less than in previous editions. One of the biggest differences on the defensive side of the ball is the play of the defensive back field. Cornerbacks and Safeties try to read quarterbacks and jump routes for interceptions.
The passing game also features improved play-action, and new quarterback moves to escape tackles. Another small gripe is that receivers never challenging the defender for the ball. I also noticed that my receivers tended to drop passes more often.
The stunning game day presentation from last year's game is back-including all the mascots and school traditions. The ESPN ticker, and highlights from other big games really enhance the illusion that you are tuning into a Saturday college football game. The presentation for the most part is great but the frame rate occasionally got a little jumpy. There are also small hiccups here and there with the camera, but not enough to hamper the overall experience.
Overall this is the best college football game EA has released in this home console generation. I would give the game an 8.5/10 and recommend the game for casual college football fans and hardcore fanatics alike.
