• Play as one of 36 new 1-AA teams or one of the 100+ New Classic Teams - 1930 Notre Dame, 1956 Oklahoma, 1972 USC, 1985 Auburn, and more

• College-style gameplay and new animations for popular new trick plays like the Halfback Throwback and Wide Receiver Double Reverse Pass

• The new QB rollout camera and Play-Action Pass camera gives you a better view of the action, for better planning

• The new College Classics mode lets you replay 20 of the greatest college football games from the last two decades

• Take the school rivalries online as you play against other players and settle it in head-to-head Exhibition games

See how incredibly detailed it can be? There so much more to this game than playing football, but even that has amazing depth. I play "Dynasty" mode in which I guide my team through several years. Some years, on top of all the "general manager" and "head coach" duties, I'll actually play each game hands-on. Other years, I simply play Head Coach. I'll select the plays on offense and defense and let the computer take control. If you don't want to sit through each and every game, you can simply let the computer simulate your game completely!

The football game itself is outstanding. The crowd goes nuts when a big play happens. Cheerleaders and team mascots dance around. And hit a big play for a TD, you get to hear your team's fight song. It's really adds a lot of pagentry to the game that Madden simply can't do.

The controls are simple, yet brilliant. The learning curve can be a little steep for new folks, but give it a week and the controls will be like 2nd nature. In fact, if you've played Madden, the controls are practicaly identical.

If there is a down side, it's that the difficulty levels are too spread out. I can dominate the game (which means no fun) on "All-American" level, but I get crushed by everyone (including Navy for goodness sakes) if I play on the "Heisman" level.

Bottom line, you can put all the NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, Golf and Tennis games together and they don't add up to NCAA Football 2004. I simply can't give this game the props it deserves. Go out, buy it for yourself or your hubby (or kids), and then come back and thank me!

8 of 8 found the following review helpful:


NCAA Football 2004  Jul 25, 2003 By bayshawn holmes
NCAA Football 2004 is the greatest football game out. This year they added the online mode. If u have an online adapter you can play againist other gamers online. Dynasty mode is so much better than last (that has to be good). The new sports illustrated feature is great. I has so many different covers. In 8 years of me playing dynasty on the game I have never seen the same cover twice. The best part of the new dynasty is u can get invited to another more prestigous conference and u can also get job offers from more prestigous universities. Recruiting is more improved. U can get recruits to come to ur program by promises of playing time and other ways. Another mode is The College Classic mode. U can play in the 20 greastest plays from the past 20 years. The plays include Fluties miracle Hail Mary verus Miami, Flordia State's wide right field goal, "the play" when Califoria returned the kick for the win verus Stanford, and the fiesta bowl double overtime thriller from last year. Improvements in game play are better zone coverage, TD celebrations that can get u an unsportsmen like conduct penalty, and alot of great trick plays. There are more trophies, more teams, more school spirit, more records (including school), and more fun. If u have a spare 50 bucks u must buy this game it a great game for the casual and die-hard football fan. It would make a great gift for a friend family member or yourself. Once u put this game in the video game console u cant take it out or cut it off. U will enjoy this game 4 a long time.

10 of 11 found the following review helpful:


A great upgrade over 2003, but worth another $...  Jul 18, 2003 By James M Wilson
Last Year NCAA 2003, consumed my life for well over 300+ hrs. I even played it more then Madden 2003(gasp!). But could EA sports top themselves yet again?
The answer is a resounding YES!
Nearly every aspect of last years effort has been improved, from the play-books (a huge improvement) and the # of playable teams. The biggest improvements come in the Dynasty mode, a great feature that allows you control every aspect of your team season after season. The main improvement is the addition of the sports illustrated covers, the recap the week's previous action. I swear half the fun is seeing if your team made any print.
Graphically the game make a few minor leaps in quality, more animations, and improved stadiums, but no earth-shaking changes are found.
Sound, always top notch in the series, receives a few tweaks that compliment and already stellar package. The voice over commentary is still good, but not great. I would like to hear more situational commentary then the general banter that comes from the announcers on a regular basis, but it still stands above the rest of the pack.
Gameplay is as tight as ever with a minor adjustments, on both offense and defense.
When it comes to the presentation, what was great last year, borders on just good this year. Sure a few touches where added here and there (locker room exits, cheerleaders with flags, canons etc.), but I was hoping that more improvements would have been added to heighten the atmosphere.
So are there enough upgrades to warrant another $...?????
Yes, I have to say so. This game is still light years ahead of the competition, but I hope EA doesn't get comfortable.
This game is a five star game, but in the end more upgrades should have been added so I have to pull one star from this great title.
FINAL VERDICT: 4 STARS ****, but if you purchase this game (and I do recommend it!), say good-bye to your life for awhile

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:


College Football at its best!  Sep 02, 2003 By Bill Garrison
I love college football and this game does a great job of capturing the excitement of the real thing. The dynasty mode is great with the new sports illustrated covers that highlight the star games and players.

Gameplay is fun but it takes forever (and I still haven't figured out) to find the optimum settings for a competitive game. One disadvantage is the fact it takes so long to play a game. If you don't have tons of free time then this can be a problem. It takes me about 45 minutes to play a 6 min. quarter game.

Recruiting is a lot of fun as you fight to draft the stars of the future. I recommend creating your own school and just trying all the options this game offers. That's what makes this game fun. Enjoy!

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:


If it's in the game, it's in THIS game.  Aug 06, 2003 By Linnster "linnster"
Lets start with the what matters most - Dynasty Mode. Big improvment over last years. I thought last year was great, this blew my mind. The addition of the Sports Illustrated feature is great, being able to read the headlines and seeing the pictures every week, although having college football grace the cover every week is not realistic, only in a perfect world. The playcalling is much improved with esier to read defensive schemes. On offense there are more trick plays including the reciever throwback to the quarterback. The screen plays this year actually work. Play action has been reinvented in this game, on play action calls the camera follows the running back for a brief second, which will fool anybody in two player mode. After finishing a year, recruiting begins. It's the same as last year with a couple of nice additions like putting emphasis on bringing a player in. You can pick between playing time, school tradition, etc. After a week of recruiting, you may want to put emphasis on playing time and that recruit may not care about that, he may want to come to your school because of the coaching style. You can go in and rethink your stategy and put emphasis on coaching style.
There is also another new feature which is if you have a great game you get awarded points in the Great Games section. This keeps the stats from the game and ranks all your greates games in order and you can reflect on them. I've already had 4 great games in 1+ seasons.
In the stat department, it goes really in depth and there are school records now that you can try to break along with the NCAA records, single game, season and career.
Overall it may be the best football game ever, or at least until Madden 2004 comes out.

See all 107 customer reviews on Amazon.com