REVIEW: NCAA Football 12 offers all the fun of college football, minus the scandals

TAMPA - College football fans looking for an early taste of the 2011 season can do so by getting their hands on EA's latest football release, NCAA Football 12.

New for the NCAA series this year is a stunning visual package that includes HDR lighting, or high dynamic range. As the sun sets and stadium lights come on, the field is lit appropriately, showing off the players and stadiums like never before. In addition, a new tackling engine makes big hits more real than ever.

On the field, players will be able to live out their senior season of high school in Road to Glory, in the hopes of catching the eye of the college scouts. Moving up the depth charts will bring rewards with it, such as quarterbacks being allowed to audible their own plays at the line.

Dynasty is more customizable than ever, allowing users to build their own conferences. For example, you could create a 16-team Super SEC by raiding Texas or Miami out of their respective conferences. Set the schedules, bowl tie-ins, conference championship game site and more.

Another new mode is the Coaching Carousel. Working from the also-rans to the big time, players will have a chance to step in to the shoes of offensive or defensive coordinators and work their way up to a dream job. Will you build up a brand new power ala Boise State, or hop from job to job, challenge to challenge?

The pageantry of NCAA football will be on display as authentic team entrances make their way to NCAA 12. FSU's Chief Osceola, Clemson players touching Howard's Rock, and Michigan players hitting the "Go Blue" sign are just some of the entrances you will see in the full game.

Developers didn't just spend time fancy new graphics and gameplay modes. It appears they spent a great deal of time handling gameplay issues from years past, including those pesky blob tackles. By resolving those issues, they made the gameplay much more seamless and organic.

What's our biggest complaint so far? The defensive AI can be too challenging at times, requiring you to rethink your offensive strategy each week. Perhaps the game developers were going for authenticity.

Overall, NCAA Football 12 is a solid addition to a great video game franchise.

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