NCAA Football 09 Sliders - Defense Boost

August 29, 3:56 PMGames ExaminerDaniel Nations

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While EA might brag that NCAA Football 09 brings wide open gameplay to the offense, the truth likes more in the direction that NCAA 09 brings really stupid gameplay to the defense. Defenders are often found just standing around waiting for the play to happen.

This means that NCAA Football 09 can create a love-hate relationship. While the improved offense can present a challenge and the breakaway engine gives us unprecedented control over the players, it can be very annoying knowing that the defense is pretty much putty in the offense's hands.

While the AI slider's can't completely correct this, they can tone down the offense a little and make defense slightly more important to the game. The following are some NCAA 09 slider settings for both all american and heisman that should create a little bit more balanced game play.

NCAA Football 09 Sliders - Penalties

Many players feel that adjusting the penalties actually effects gameplay. For example, moving the defensive pass interference down makes cornerbacks more aggressive and moving the roughing the passer slider down makes the blitzing defenders more aggressive. Personally, I agree with the players who feel this has a placebo effect -- the sliders really aren't changing the gameplay.

However, after playing with the slider settings, I did notice that modifying them really didn't result in any more or any fewer actual penalties. So, I've kept them at their modified settings.

The settings I use:

False Start - 50
Holding - 90
Offensive Pass Interference - 90
Clipping - 90

Everything Else - 10

NCAA Football 09 Sliders - All American

The following sliders are designed to tone down the passing game and allow the defense to get more pressure on the quarterback. They are also designed to give the computer a few bonuses to make sure they can be competitive.

In these settings, the number listed first is for the user AI and the number listed second is for the CPU's AI setting

Offense

QB Accuracy - 40/45
Pass Blocking - 0/0
WR Catching - 0/0
RB Ability - 40/40
Run Blocking - 90/90

Defense

Awareness - 5/100
Knockdowns - 100/100
Interceptions - 0/50
Break Block - 50/100
Tackling - 5/50

Special Teams

FG Power - 5/5
FG Accuracy - 5/5
Punt Power - 50/50
Punt Accuracy - 50/50
Kickoff Power - 60/60

NCAA Football 09 Sliders - Heisman

For those that have been playing NCAA Football for years and who have pretty good "stick skills", no amount of tweaking is liable to create a perfect game on All American, so moving to Heisman is the only way to keep the challenge up and still maintain some degree of realism in the game. These NCAA 09 sliders for Heisman are designed to give the defense a chance at stopping the offense, making the passing game a little more erratic, and making sure the running game stays competitive.

Offense

QB Accuracy - 35/35
Pass Blocking - 0/0
WR Catching - 0/0
RB Ability - 40/40
Run Blocking - 0/0

Defense

Awareness - 100/50
Knockdowns - 100/100
Interceptions - 5/5
Break Block - 50/100
Tackling - 50/5

Special Teams

FG Power - 5/5
FG Accuracy - 5/5
Punt Power - 50/50
Punt Accuracy - 50/50
Kickoff Power - 60/60

NCAA Football 09 Sliders - Modified Sliders and More Options

No one set of sliders is going to be perfect for everyone. Those that are great at spinning and juking might need to adjust the tackling of the CPU to keep their running game in check, while those that can seem to get the passing game going might want to adjust the QB accuracy.