NCAA Football 23 (2024)

in:Sports Games, EA Games, Football Games

About this Game[]

NCAA Football 23 was released by EA Sports the day before the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship Game on PS5, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Google Stadia. Due to the new NCAA trademark rules that had been recently approved, EA Sports surprised everyone in the gaming industry with the announcement of the first NCAA Football game since NCAA Football 14. It has some extremely innovative features to it that would end up defining the sports video game genre for decades to come. The cover athlete/coach is former Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence and Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

Game Features[]

Dynasty Mode: This mode would be very similar to the previous Dynasty Modes in the other NCAA Football games. This mode would feature a huge twist that would define the mode for years to come. The mode would allow you to climb through the ranks of college football coaching as either an offensive coordinator or a defensive coordinator before becoming a head coach. Due to a new camera that comes with the PS5, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Google Stadia, this would allow the camera to record your real self instead of a virtual representation of you in the game, such as during college pregame shows, introductory press conferences, team meetings, etc. EA would come up with new technology that would allow you to say whatever you choose to say, and the virtual characters would have a response of every kind to whatever you say, which is an advanced version of NASCAR 06: Total Team Control that allowed you to speak with your race team, except that there are no premade responses. The characters have every kind of response for whatever the coach says. In addition, you are rewarded for good decisions by increasing your stars and ranks as an assistant coach before becoming a head coach. As an offensive coordinator, you only control the offense, and when you are a defensive coordinator, you control only the defense. Once you start the mode, you can choose whatever school you want to become a coordinator at, such as your favorite school. Once you earn 3 stars or more, you become a candidate for a head coaching job, and you will receive offers for head coaching jobs at that time. This comes with time, as you must watch film on your opponents, participate in team meetings, participate in press conferences, participate in media interviews, and win at least half of your games as a coordinator before you get to the minimum 3-star threshold. Once you become a head coach, the game adds the extra layer of recruiting, as you can recruit whatever players you like, even past greats such as Clemson's Trevor Lawrence or Texas' Ricky Williams. Once you win at least 2+ bowl games, appear in and/or win at least 2+ College Football Playoff semifinal bowl games, or appear in and/or win 2+ National Championship Games as a head coach, you automatically are considered for the College Hall of Fame and can retire once you are done.
College Superstar Mode: This is a narrative mode that is very similar to Madden NFL's old Superstar Mode and the current Face of the Franchise mode in Madden 21. You start off as a high school junior who is about to get the starting job at whatever position you choose. You can either create your own player or scan your body using the console's camera to create your player. You can also create the name of your high school, create the city name and choose the state where your high school is located, and choose a mascot for your high school, which allows players to put the high school that they went to in real life in the game itself. To get college recruiting offers, you must be impactful in your high school playing career, get at least a C in your high school classes by studying for at least 15 minutes (the 15 minutes will be short in the game), and practice your craft on the practice field. Once you complete your junior and senior year in high school and lead your high school squad to state titles, then you get recruiting offers and you start your college career, you start off as a second-string or third-string player depending on how well your high school career goes. You must work your way to the starting job based upon getting a B for your college courses by studying for 20 minutes (like the high school study time of 15 minutes, the 20 minutes of college study time will be short in the game), practicing your craft on the practice field, participating in team meetings, interviews, media availabilities, and coming in to games at pivotal moments and winning them. Once you become a starter, you must complete the same requirements as a backup, except that you now play the whole game at your position, and the now added expectation of having enough impact to lead your team to a bowl game or even the Playoff. Once you earn at least 2+ bowl wins, appear in and/or win at least 2+ College Football Playoff semifinal bowl games, or appear in and/or win 2+ National Championship Games as a starter and have enough impact that you lead them to win the bowl game or at least appear in or win the Playoff semifinal or the National Championship Game as a starter, then you are considered for the College Hall of Fame and can enter the NFL Draft. You can continue your player's career by connecting your college player with Madden NFL 23, and playing in the NFL.
NCAA TeamBuilder: This mode is very similar to the previous series' TeamBuilder on the EA Sports website, except that it is now in-game. You create your own college football team by creating a school name/nickname, creating your own custom logo for your school, designing your team's stadium, creating your own uniforms, creating the coaching staff/players, and even designing and naming your own mascot for your school. You can also choose an exclusive TV network that broadcasts your games, or create your own TV network that broadcasts your custom school's games. This continues after the creation by becoming the Athletic Director of your created school and attempting to lead them to a bowl win, an appearance in the College Football Playoff, or an appearance in the National Championship Game.
NCAA BowlBuilder: This is basically the same as the TeamBuilder mode just described, except creating a custom bowl game. The only difference is you create your own custom conference tie-ins for your bowl game, and then once your bowl game is created, then you can play it in an exhibition mode, in the playoff mode, or in any career mode, or continue the BowlBuilder mode by becoming the Bowl Director and leading whatever team you choose to the bowl win. You can also choose whatever TV network it's on, such as ESPN/ABC, FOX/FS1, or NBC/NBCSN, and even choose the broadcast crew for the created bowl game, including current broadcast crews such as Gus Johnson/Joel Klatt/Jenny Taft for FOX/FS1, Chris Fowler/Kirk Hebrstreit/Maria Taylor for ESPN/ABC, and Mike Tirico/Tony Dungy/Kathryn Tappen for NBC/NBCSN on TeamBuilder, BowlBuilder, and ConferenceBuilder game modes. You can even choose legacy or fill-in broadcast teams such as Tim Brando/Terry Bradshaw/Emmanuel Acho for FOX/FS1, Keith Jackson/Dan Fouts/Todd Harris for ESPN/ABC, and Bob Costas/Cris Collinsworth/Alex Flanagan for NBC/NBCSN in all three modes, and you can choose whatever combination of play-by-play/color commentator/sideline reporter you want for all three modes. For broadcasters that are deceased, such as Keith Jackson, the game uses archival audio to create "dialogue," for the virtual commentators in all three modes. You can even design the bowl game's stadium (if you don't want to choose an existing stadium for your bowl game), and design the bowl game trophy!
NCAA ConferenceBuilder: This is the same as the TeamBuilder and BowlBuilder just mentioned, except you create your own custom football conference. You can add whatever schools you choose to this created conference, choose where the conference championship game is located, create custom rules for the conference, and even design the conference championship trophy!!! You can also choose whatever TV network and broadcasting crew that broadcasts the conference games which are the same as the networks/broadcast crews for the BowlBuilder and TeamBuilder modes, choose whatever bowl game you want your conference to be tied in with, and then you assume the role of Conference President and try to lead whatever school within your conference that you want to either the College Football Playoff or a bowl game that you tie in your conference with.
College Football Playoff Mode: This is where you become the College Football Playoff Director, choose whether you want a 4-team, 8-team, or 16-team playoff, create your own custom College Football Playoff matchups using a virtual Selection Show as the backdrop, choose whatever bowl games you want to as the semifinal (for a 4-team playoff), quarterfinal/semifinal (for an 8-team playoff), and Round of 16/quarterfinal/semifinal (for a 16-team playoff) bowl games, and then choose the National Championship Game location. You can even choose to design your own national championship trophy if you want!!! Like the TeamBuilder, BowlBuilder, and ConferenceBuilder game modes, you can choose whatever TV network broadcasts the Playoff, and the broadcast crew that covers it. You then lead whatever school you want to in the matchup towards a national title.
Play Now Mode: This is an exhibition game mode where you choose your school to play with, choose your opponent, decide whether it's a normal exhibition, a bowl game, or the National Championship Game, and also choose the broadcast network and broadcast crew that covers the game. You can also do the same thing if you only want to watch the game rather than play it.
Legacy Mode: This is a mode where you can attempt to recreate or rewrite history in several classic college football games. You can choose your role in the matchup, either as a player on one of the teams, an offensive coordinator/defensive coordinator, or the head coach. If you become a player, you only control that player. If you become a coordinator, you only control the offense or defense. If you become the head coach, you control both sides of the ball. This mode also has a season component where you can choose whatever player from the past that you want to and attempt to win the Heisman Trophy and/or the National Championship Game. If you become a coordinator or a head coach in the season component, you can choose whatever coordinator or head coach from the past that you want, and attempt to win the Assistant Coach of the Year (for coordinators) or Coach of the Year (for head coaches) and/or the National Championship Game.

Pre-Order Bonuses[]

Standard Edition: With a Standard Edition pre-order, you can become a 3-star coordinator automatically in Dynasty Mode, become a high school starter automatically in College Superstar Mode, and unlock preset logo and uniform designs for the TeamBuilder mode based upon whatever store you preorder the game at (like GameStop, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, etc.). You also unlock special stadium designs for TeamBuilder, BowlBuilder, and ConferenceBuilder modes, and unlock special TV networks and broadcast crews for those modes (such as GSTV for GameStop). This is $59.99.
Playoff Edition: You get all of the benefits from the Standard Edition pre-order, except becoming a 4-star coordinator in Dynasty Mode and an automatic college player in College Superstar Mode. You also get a mini helmet from the Virginia Tech Hokies, Ohio State Buckeyes, Texas Longhorns, or the Oregon Ducks based on which region of the country you live in. If you are an international customer, then you can choose out of the 4 mini-helmets what mini-helmet you want. This is $79.99.
National Champion Edition: You get all of the benefits from the Standard Edition and the Playoff Edition, except becoming a 5-star coordinator in Dynasty Mode and an automatic college starter in College Superstar Mode. You also get a mini-poster of a former college player of your choosing, and the choices are Trevor Lawrence, Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, and Tua Tagovailoa. This is $109.99.
Heisman Trophy Edition: You get all of the benefits of the Standard Edition, Playoff Edition, and National Champion Edition, except you automatically become a college head coach at whatever school you choose in Dynasty Mode, and skip your first college season as a starter and end up in the College Football Playoff in your first season in College Superstar Mode. You also get an autographed mini-poster of a college football coach of your choosing, and the choices are Alabama's Nick Saban, Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Ohio State's Ryan Day, and Notre Dame's Brian Kelly. This is $129.99.