NCAA Football 2004 is the third installment of the PS2/next gen consoles version of the NCAA series. It arguably became the best of the group up to that point. The games depth, the game being deeper and the fun of the game all come out in this series. Is there anything that NCAA doesn't do well with 2004? Sure! But it's outweighed by the things it does well. Let's dive in below!
Positives:
1. Deeper recruiting- Now you can have more say in who you want to recruit, what positions and how to get an athlete more to your favor earlier and by unlocking their major reason for wanting to play there. You can Also decide to rescind an offer to go for someone else. You also get a better depth chart for where you can get better overall as a team.
2. Sports Illustrated- This probably was a sign of the times but having SI cover your game was a big deal at the time, and it deserved a lot of credit overall. I was Glad they got in the game, I am also glad they provided just an extra layer of depth to the dynasty mode of the game. It was cool to see the All-Americans, conference lookouts and predictions overall.
3. FCS Expansion- This was cool, as they added more teams from several conferences. It's really neat to see that you can play as many other teams. This was a good move by EA.
4. Additional Trophies- This was also a good thing that they did. They expanded the rivalry trophies and added some more bowl trophies, adding to your trophy case over time as well. Just another neat touch to make a deeper game.
5. Greatest Moments- Another sponsor (Pontiac, o7's for that company) sponsored the Greatest Moments part to this game. It showcased great moments (Choke at Doak, The Play, UVA ending FSU's conference game win streak, the Miracle in Michigan, etc.) that you can sort of replay and sort of make like the video game counterpart to real life moments.
Negatives:
1. Still feels too Easy- The competition does get harder in a lot of ways, like unless there is a great team or one that is far and away leagues better you will lose, but it still felt easy to win. We beat Iowa year one with Buffalo, and went 13-1 that year. We only had 2 losses through three years, and while yes the skill got better for the team, it still felt like it was too easy.
2. Generic FCS Stadiums- This isn't an issue with FBS teams but the FCS teams stadiums were just thrown together with two basic models. Which I would have loved if it was mostly the same stadium with these teams, but it isn't. Montana's stadium is different from the model for instance, and it would have been cool not just to see the teams, but their stadiums in the game.
3. Limited spots for offers- This might have been to rules, but it feels odd that we couldn't get a setting that gives you a lot more room to give players an offer but then rescind it if you are over the scholarship offers and the amount sign with you (AKA: Essentially unlimited abilities to offer and you pick and choose kind of.)
Rating:
Overall, this game deserves probably a 8.5 out of 10. I think the recruiting while improved still had flaws, the game play was better but also had flaws in ways of difficulty. The FCS expansion was a positive but still had flaws, but overall everything was a step up from NCAA Football 2003. Highly recommend for a retro football fan! Worthy of playing on all consoles!
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