Easily the best football game to date. Everything seems smoother and more fluid. Tackling has greatly improved.
Presentation: EA really did great on NCAA 12's presentation. Each teams traditions are shown in this game. Purdue has thier "World's Largest Drum", Chief Osceola makes an appearance for Florida State fans, LSU has thier Tiger in the cage. The commentary is pretty much the same as last year. The atmosphere once again is captured. Rivalry games feel like rivalries. You can notice your freshman quarterback is shaken up when he plays at Ohio State. The presentation is great in this game all around and will most likley be similar in Madden 12.
Gameplay: The gameplay feels much smoother than previous versions. Tackles now engage when players actually make contact. So, sliding and shifting has been greatly decreased. Slding may happen but it's rare and mostly un-noticeable. The running game feels very fluid and much more responsive. The acceleration and momentum means more in this game. If you have a bruising back at full speed in the open field with a corner closing in on him, chances are the runningback will ball him over. Now, you wont truck players all the time in this game, but if the situation is right there is a chance. As for tackling, the tackles look better than ever. Each tackle you see will make sense. What this means is that tackles look more realistic by only triggering a tackle that fits where the offensive and deffensive player are. The tackles are no longer "randomized". In previous games the tackle would be random regardless of the two players positioning, they would warp or slide into position to make that tackle happen. Now, if you hit a player from his side, a side tackle will happen. Hit him from the back, a back tackle will happen etc.
Dynasty: The big change here is that you have to be a head coach or an offensive or deffensive coordinator for the team you chose. There are certain goals, such as finish in the BCS top 15, make a bowl game or win a certain amount of games each season. The more goals you achieve, the higher your job security. lose too many game ans you can be looking for a job. As a coordinator, you could eventually be offered a head coaching job. You can also leave your current school to got to a new school because of a better job opportunity. The main problem I have is that you cant start a 2 team dynasty with a friend unless its an online dynasty.
Campus legend: This mode has been virtually untouched in the last 5 yearsm but it has seen a major overhaul this season. There is more of an RPG feel to it. During practice or games your player will earn experience points. These points can be saved up to permanently improved your attributes, or you can buy cheaper "one game" boosts for your attributes that last only one game.
You now play your entire senior season in high school. Throughout that season you will have an opportunity to win over colleges. The higher prospect rank you aquire the better schools will show interest and offer scholarships. As for high school, you can now play an offensive and defensive position. You can play as a runningback and a linebacker and be recruited seperatley based on how well you play at each position. If you are a 3 star wide receiver but a 5 star safety a team like Alabama might offer you a scholarship at safety but not wide reciever. Once you chose where to go to play college ball you will have to earn your coach's trust. The more trust you earn the more you can do as your player. At QB, you might not throw the ball 20 times a game until you prove you can. My freshman QB's stats were very emager and each year they increased as I earned more trust, allowing me to audible, flip runs, call hot routes or even chose a new play.
One problem is that it is too easy to max out your players attributes. I had a 97 overall by my sophmore season.
Online: I dont play this online because of cheesers and cheaters.
Overall: This is in my opinion the best football game to date, its much smoother and has cleaned up some of the bugs. Finally EA seems to be making the proper adjustments to make great football games again. this game gives me hope that maybe, just maybe Madden 12 might actually be a good game. If you love football this game is a must have.