Game's pretty good, then? Like, passable in terms of a college basketball sim?
It's on my Christmas list. Hence my asking.
I enjoy it. CH 2k8 got stale....i cant go back to that. I needed something fresh and NCAA 10 was the choice. Here's my impressions i posted on VSN (just copied and pasted while adding in a few more things.)
1) Presentation is sick! Said this numerous times. Best presentation i have seen in a sports title since NFL 2k5 IMO. Definetly makes you feel you are watching a real college bball game on TV. No halftime or postgame shows...you'll see highlights and some stats though during that time. In-game stats and top 25 updates will pop up in the game during timeouts. Commentary can get quiet at times. Erin Andrews is rarely heard in ESPN broadcasted games. Love Gus Johnson and Bill Rafetery on the CBS broadcast games.
OSU's Gallagher-IBA arena is ranked as the 16th toughest place to play and there were moments where it was rockin! Love when the screen shakes when the opposing team has the ball in crucial situations. Pistol pete was in the game so that is a plus although his head looked wayyy too orange. The atmosphere in big arenas are very much different from that of smaller arenas. There about about 50 authentic arenas in the game as well as MSG, Ford Field, Lucas Oil Stadium, and the Old Spice classic arena.
2) Player models definetly improved from that of NCAA 09! Now you actually have thick build players and not stick figures! I can tell you may have to edit some appearances in this game because when I went to name Dominque Jones of USF, he had an afro! He never had a 'fro so i edited it so that he had a fade/ the style he has now. You cant add tattoos to pre-existing players it seems but the option is there..maybe you can do it on create a player. Haven't tried it. You can add headbands, change shoe and sock colors, skin complextion, hair style, and ratings. If you want the announcers to say a players last name, you have to make sure it's in the last name data base this game has. If the last name isn't in the database, you can still name the player but the announcers wont say that name. For example, USF's augustus gilchrist's last name (gilchrist) isnt in the database so the announcers wont say it.
3)Some teams with new uniforms in the game & real life: Wazzou, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Alabama, Vandy, USC, Oregon, Purdue, Georgetown, Memphis, USF, UAB, Georgia Tech.....
Teams that didnt get uniform upgrades: Michigan State(still have the nike collar horn unis from a few years ago. wtf?), Clemson, Oregon State, UCF, Kansas State, Michigan (no yellow unis. just dark blue).
4) Sliders.....USE/ADJUST EM! In the first few games i played with default sliders, i didnt adjust anything. There were little fouls called, players didnt get tired meaning little subs were made...Default half length is 10 minutes so i increased it to 16 for a more realistic score. I also played on varsity difficulty which is like the 2nd easiest difficulty lol. If you want to make this game as sim type as possible, you have got to find sliders that suit you.
5) Lighting is good
6) Free throw meter is killin me. You hold square until you place this red bar into a little blue area. those who played the demo know what im talking about. I keep anticipating too much so when i do click square im close to the blue area but off by 1 square.
7)Crowd animation is awesome. When the opponent is on the line, they wave their arms side to side and do some other things as well. When you are on the line, they place their hands straight up in the air. Heard some O-S-U chants when i played as the Pokes, which was awesome.
8)No authentic schedules out of the box.....they're up now when you download the dynamic update.
9) Less 5 star recruits in dynasty mode...which is good cause NCAA 09 had tons of em.
10) No online dynasty, no campus legend. There is an EA Locker to download rosters. You can take pictures in a game and upload em to EA Sports World.
11) Love the motion offense feature....lot of plays to chose from and simple to use. Definetly got to run offenses unless you love to run and gun. Also want to play like your team's style suggests. if you are a half court team, dont try running and gunning because you will get burnt. If you are balanced, try to stay that way.
12) Computers dont take enough threes. The average for me they attempt is about 5-6 per game. And we all know these college teams in real-life love the three ball. Tehre are no sliders to adjust COU three point shot frequency.
13) Missing teams:
Atlantic Sun - Kennesaw State, North Florida, USC Upstate*, Florida Gulf Coast*.
Big South - Presbyterian*.
Independents - Savannah State, Seattle*, Cal State Bakersfield*, Longwood, North Carolina Central*, SIU-Edwardsville*, Winston-Salem*
Great West - Chicago State, Houston Baptist*, NJIT, North Dakota*, South Dakota*, Texas-Pan American, Utah Valley.
Northeast - Bryant*.
Southland - Central Arkansas*.
Summit - South Dakota State, North Dakota State, IPFW.
