As the summer drags along and you start to dread that football is still months away, we can still look forward to the summer games that are sports.  NCAA football brings about a balance to the universe while we wait for that time honored sport to begin again for the season.

While NCAA football continues to be a dominant franchise for EA sports it still chases the success of other sports titles like Madden.  This might be the year that it changes my friends!  NCAA 2011 brings about many changes to an already stellar game title. 

One of the biggest changes is the online dynasty.  While single users will continue to find the same old dynasty when playing alone and offline, online gaming changes everything.  You can have 12 man dynasty seasons, you can create and customize your team and new this year, you can receive emails when a game is complete AND follow your recruits using your iPhone or PC.  How cool is that?  To that hardcore sports dynasty, it could mean winning it all or losing to your friend and listening to them talk smack!  Speaking of talking smack, with the Dynasty Hub Online, you can use the StoryBuilder and Dynasty Wire to create your own articles and smack talk about the team you just played.  It allows you to customize and create an article so that you can tell everyone how bad the team you just beat was.  Oh, and one more cool thing, you can now post it to your social networks.  Want everyone to know that you just won the National Championship over your buddy?  Post in on Facebook or YouTube!

There are some snags in this year’s edition.  It’s not all going to be fantastical.  Lee Corso is removed from the booth and replaced by Erin Andrews down on the field.  However, Erin didn’t shoot any new footage in her “Road to Glory” section.  They continue to use the same pieces from last year.  How disappointing is that?  Also, there are far too many cut scenes to the crowds, some of which you cannot skip over.  The game also has some defects that a software upgrade might address.  Missed passes, random fumbles and AI that is far superior on certain plays.  It’s like the computer needs to cheat in order to even up the game.  Most of these occur on All-American or Heisman levels. 

Overall, the game continues to be a very bright spot for EA sports.  They dumped a lot of trivial items and added new things.  The AI is very advanced.  The blocking schemes in this game actually work.  Tight ends and Linemen actually block other levels, not just the person in front of them.  Your fullback and pulling guards also pick up defenders better.  the receivers still get jammed up but are better at running their routes, and they don’t step out of bounds immediately upon catching the ball near the sidelines.  So, if you are looking for a great game to play online or individually, check this one out and get off the sidelines and into the game!!

Touchdowns:

            Advanced AI

            Real graphics that show details in great depth

            Online dyansty and ability to recruit from iPhone or PC, and post to social networks

Turnovers:

            Commentators cannot maintain whitty banter on current plays, have difficult time keeping up

            Cut scenes of crowds-too many and too long

            Road to Glory is the same as previous year-little to no updates

Overall score 8.2 out of 10