NCAA March Madness 2004 Hands-On Impressions

We were able to try out NCAA March Madness 2004 at the recent Camp EA press event, and from what we've seen, the game's developers are clearly attempting to beef up the defensive game. This year, you can block dunks, layups, and just about anything else as long as you time it correctly, which was a difficult skill to master in last year's game. Additionally, executing low-post screens and even getting a hand on careless passes seems a bit easier this year.

As with NBA Live 2004, the developers of March Madness are using EA's new "10-man freestyle process" to provide player animations for the game. The process lets them realistically reproduce the actions of all 10 players on the court in just about any situation, since it involves motion-capturing of 10 different actors on a court at the same time, rather than motion-capturing a single actor all alone on a set.

The game has a number of other new features, like the ability to take control of one of players on the court during an inbounds pass. The game also features a quick-play option, which lets you get the ball to your best three-point shooter or best foul shooter when it counts, such as in a clutch with only a few seconds left on the clock.

NCAA March Madness will also feature video footage of 15 actual college ball coaches, as well as a number of additional modes, including a mascot mode, a rivalry mode, and an in-depth dynasty mode that EA Sports will reveal more information about at a later date. And of course, the PS2 version will include an online mode for head-to-head play over the EA Sports Online service.

Even at its current stage of development, it seems like NCAA March Madness 2004 has raised the bar for college basketball games, which may be a result of the fact that the new game is the first March Madness game to be developed in-house at EA. While we were impressed, we'll have to wait and see how the rest of the game comes together before it ships this November. Until then, be on the lookout for a GameSpot Live developer interview featuring new gameplay footage.