Playstation 3 NCAA Football 08

NCAA Football 08!

The critically acclaimed NCAA football franchise returns for another year, this time bringing a brand new Campus Legend mode to the table.

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Dynasty Of Old: Before I get into the Campus Legend mode, I'm going to give you a heads up on the fan favorite Dynasty mode. I think the first thing I should say is that this year's Dynasty mode did not change much from previous Dynasty modes. The process of choosing your favorite team, recruiting a few players, and then jumping on the field has not been altered. With that said, managing a college football franchise is still an enjoyable experience.

Although not much has changed, Dynasty mode still manages to remain pleasing, but I also think that Dynasty mode could learn from its bigger pro brother, Madden. The ability to train your players before a game would have been a welcome addition this year, but as previously mentioned, the tried but still true formula has not had any changes lately that have enhanced it.

Living Legend: Now, lets talk about the brand new Campus Legend mode that is very much like Madden's Superstar mode. The first thing I should tell you about Campus Legend is that this mode is not for glory seekers. You won't always make the big game winning play. You won't always be the star of the show. But, if that's not a problem, anyone will love this mode.

Campus Legend gives you the opportunity to create a football player from scratch, and build him up with time, effort, and practice... lots of practice. You start from the creation screen that has a huge amount of options to create your idea of the perfect player. The amount of options that NCAA gives you is massive. You can choose to have 1 bar, 2 bar, 3 bar, kicker, RB, and QB helmets. You will choose what accessories to place on your player's right and left ankle, elbow, or knee. You can even pick out your player's shoes from Nike, generic, or Adidas. After that, is the choice to pick your player's position from any on the gridiron. You can play on offense, defense, or just special teams if you want.

After you accomplish those surprisingly entertaining tasks you are ready to head out onto the field. First off though, you play through a couple high school games, trying to get your team to the championship game. After you play through those "test" games, you will be scouted and offered a scholarship from a list of different colleges around the country.

After you choose your college, you will then be ready for the balancing act of being a student-athlete. The first order of business when you get "on campus" will be to read your coaches tips and to monitor your GPA. Yes, you have to keep tabs on your grades because if you let it slip below 2.0, say goodbye to football.

The process of managing your schedule is a fairly easy thing to do. You click on a day on your calendar, you go to practice, (which you must do well at or you will drop on the depth chart) and then you choose whether you want to do an evening event. Now, the evening event is a complete wild card.

Depending on your choices, you can gain stats, or lose stats. The choices you face will vary from if you will enter a hot dog eating contest (don't) to whether you will work out upper or lower body, or even what new movie to see. But the choices you make, while they don't seem like they would matter, are very important to improving your player.

Now, you may ask what the ultimate goal of this mode is? Well I will tell you. The goal for you and your player is to become a Campus Legend (hence the name.) The way to become a Campus Legend is to play well in your games, win your games, and become a household name on campus.

But there are ways to quicken the process, such as becoming a five star player or beating a rival team. Nevertheless, the process to becoming a Legend is a long, but very enjoyable trip. I would even go so far as to say that I think the new Campus Legend mode is the best mode in the game and more entertaining than the Dynasty mode.

Rent vs. Buy: NCAA Football 08 is a great game and all aspects of it come together perfectly. The Campus Legend mode is a great new addition to the NCAA games, and I believe is better done than Madden's Superstar.

Not to mention all of the little details that bring the game together, such as the fact that the announcers will say your last name. Amazing features like that are unseen in the gaming world, and act as a new standard for gaming. As for the Dynasty mode, I think that it's still a highly enjoyable experience, but if something doesn't change with it soon, Campus Legend will overshadow it.

In the end, I think this game is a must buy for any sports game fan and is the best NCAA game in the series.