Demo Impressions

[Andrew]

The NCAA Basketball 10 demo is now available for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. Post your impressions here!

As I understand it, Silver subscribers will be able to download the game November 12th and Playstation 3 users will be able to download it on November 19th.

[Arcane]

I just got confirmation on those dates from Yaw
360 Gold Users: out now
Silver: November 12th
PS3: November 19th

[The X]

November 19th PS3 really gets the short end of the stick. Unfortunately that's the only option for us Aussies who want to play it.

Guess you guys won't be getting any early impressions from me. Was hoping to download it this weekend

I think game is released on November 18th so I now will have to take a wait & see approach on whether to buy. Definitely not buying before I get a run with the demo. I guess at least it will give me time to see people's impressions on Dynasty Mode.

[JaoSming]

it plays a lot like Live 10 (duh)

I turned it off though when I was able to beat UNC's press by just running straight by all the defenders, no right stick moves, no one stopped me.

And yea, that was on "superstar" difficulty.

same outdoor court to start with, the demo is UNC vs Duke (btw, thanks EA for that, now I dont need to buy the game )

I dunno, it just felt like Live 10 to me with 2 more pass buttons and different plays.

[Patr1ck]

2 more pass buttons? Does it feel like Live 10 before or after the patch? Going to download it shortly.

[JaoSming]

yea, Y and B. Y is for the first option in a Motion offence, B is the 2nd option

I never played pre-patch Live 10.

[The X]

PS3 demo is now out on November 12th so I'll get a chance to look at it this weekend and provide some feedback

http://ncaa-basketball.easports.com/news.action?id=demo

[Andrew]

Makes a bit more sense for it to come out before the game is released.

[Playmakers]

I was very dissapointed in the game play to be honest

[Andrew]

Is it radically different from NBA Live 10?

[The X]

Is it radically different from NBA Live 10?

It is similar yet different. Take NBA Live '10 & take out a lot of the good things that worked & you've got NCAA Basketball 10.

Frankly I'm with Playmakers on this, it's actually very disappointing. After firing up the NBA Live 10 demo, I forgot how solid a game that was. Then I loaded up the NCAA Basketball 10 demo & it just didn't feel like college basketball at all.

Firstly, game speed is far too quick. I would naturally expect a college game to be slower than an NBA game, yet it's at least 150% the speed of Live.

Secondly, it seems like either the court is too small or players too big. This might be a perception thing.

The gameplay, which I thought would be the bread & butter of this game just isn't as good as it should be. It feels very arcadey & not very sim at all. There is not much discrepancy between how it feels to control a PG compared to controlling a C.

Strangely enough my most enjoyable gameplay experience came on the Varsity difficulty level (Pro is the Live equivalent). Seemed a bit closer to what I'd expect. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of sim players play this game on Pro level, reduce gameplay speed sliders, decrease some human sliders & increase CPU sliders to make this game play better.

Andrew, the skipping basket celebration is there Block animations look terrible. It is very hard to inbound the ball from deadball situations on the baseline. Controls are not as good as Live, nor is playmaking.

Commentary is pretty good, as is presentation, but these were never in doubt. Only slight on it is that screen overlays sometimes disappear far too quickly.

I really wanted to like the demo but I just couldn't. I figured college basketball would be a must buy for me, but it sadly isn't. In the end the gameplay just isn't as advertised. Perhaps this game will play much better in the retail version with a patch & some major slider adjustments, but frankly I don't want to pay US$60 for the pleasure. If I need a basketball fix then College Hoops 2k8 still can hold my attention.

Presentation: NCAA 10 > NBA 2k10 > NBA Live 2010 (dual ESPN/CBS licenses & true-to-life presentation)
Commentary: NBA 2k10 > NCAA 10 > NBA Live 2010 (no contest, 2k10 & it's not even close)
Gameplay: NBA 2k10/NBA Live 10 > NCAA 10 (I haven't played enough of each NBA game to state which has better gameplay, but I can say that both are better than NCAA 10)
Game Feel: NBA 2k10 > NBA Live 10 > NCAA 10 (which game feels most by me)
Best Controls: NBA Live 10 > NCAA 10 > NBA 2k10 (not as fluid & responsive as Live)

I would definitely also put College Hoops 2k8 still ahead of NCAA 10 in both gameplay & game feel.

I'll wait patiently & hold off a purchase decision until I head feedback on the final retail version, although not looking a purchase for me.

[cavs4872]

I just got a chance to play the demo. It was decent, but proved that the game is definitely not worth a purchase. I was more disappointed than satisfied with the game overall. The CBS and EPSN broadcast integration is a very nice addition though.

[The X]

Yep, am hoping for a better game next year. As I said to Ben last night, all they needed to do was take the Live '10 game engine & incorporate to college game with presentation & game would've been a lot better.