A funny thing happened on the way to Saturday’s NCAA football game and a classic Pac-10 matchup – there was an English test. What? An English test?? … in a football game?? …

You bet, and it is part of the Campus Legend feature in the latest iteration of EA Sports NCAA Football 07. In previous years, gamers could create a player and vie for the Heisman, but with the 07 edition, the experience is much deeper. Not only do you have to have a major (and occasionally take a multiple-guess test) but you have to balance practice and social activities as well to really become the campus legend you are trying to be.

Campus Legend is just one of the multiple new features that sparkle in this title – making it clearer a must-own for any NCAA football video-gamer. This PlayStation 2 title is packed with football goodness, and while it may have the occasional false start, as well as a few items belonging in yesterday’s playbook, the game still brings in some first-class elements to create an addicting experience.

What’s new? Spring drills are new (16 mini games that help hone your team’s skills) and there is a spring game that can help determine which underclassmen make the fall roster and which redshirt; there is also a new kicking dynamic that has you moving the right thumbstick akin to a golf swing. Whether punting or placekicking, the controls will have you moving the stick down to reach the desired power and then forward to lock in the direction you wish to send the kick. This works in tandem with the coverage and you can easily shank the ball if not paying attention.

Have a right-handed quarterback that you like to roll to the right, but this becomes a problem because he gets outside his protection? No problem. Another new feature is the slide protection, a function before the snap that allows you to dictate the direction your O-line will move as they try to provide blocking. On defense, you can anticipate the snap, and jump across to get an edge on the offensive line. Anticipate it well, and you may be able to bust through and create mayhem in the backfield. Time it wrong and you may give up five yards via the penalty route.

NCAA Football 07 also has a new third-person perspective. On certain plays (like punts or field goals), you can hit the triangle button and jump behind the defensive line. This works if you are trying to find the gap to bust through in an attempt to block. In previous iterations, blocking that field goal or extra point, or even a punt, was a rarity. In half a season, the player-controlled defense knocked down two attempts (one field goal effort and an extra point). Now if that does not bring a surge of excitement and personal power, this game is not doing its job of entertaining.

Also new to the 07 release is the momentum meter. Pulling off a big play will swing Mr. Mo to your side and if you continue to gather momentum, it will be much easier to pull off the big play, offensively or defensively.

The interface for in-season recruiting is a touch easier this season, and the game still features great features like the coaches’ cam (to check on matchups), create a school and player, defensive audibles for the line, linebackers and secondary, as well as offensive hot routes or audibles to target hot/star players.

The controls have been tweaked subtly to make the game more accessible to freshman to the game class, while those who are upperclassmen will immediately be able to jump in and go.

Graphically, the game shows what the outgoing generation of console is capable of – aside from some clipping problems that do not affect game play, this is a lush game that hits slow motion at the right times to highlight spectacular plays. There is some repetition in the reaction animations, but rarely do the physics of the game falter.

Now, having said that, the oddest animation occurred during a USC game (against a player-created university). The Trojans were trailing in the fourth quarter (remember the moment, it has not happened much in the past few years), and an onside kick was imminent. The receiving team did recover the ball, but instead of taking the joyful hops that the football should have, it went about five yards and stuck to the ground like it was glued, without a hop. Not a good job of capturing the physics. This was an anomaly though, as several other on-side attempts played out as expected.

The audio track seems to use most of former title’s narrative. The lines are repetitious and at some points are ridiculous. Brad Nessler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso handle the commentary and at times what they are saying seems to have little to do with the action on the field. And then there are the pre-game comments …

The matchup is the UCLA Bruins versus Rice. Herbstreit calls UCLA an offensive juggernaut that should win easily. Corso’s comments? “I have to disagree with you, and that’s why I’m going with the Bruins!” (For those who do not know, Rice is the Owls – and yes, you can major in school mascots in the Campus Legend mode.) The comments are simply ludicrous at this stage for this title. It may be time to revamp that pool of talent or, at the very least, record all new sound bytes.

The rest of the audio is bone-crunching blows and marching band-type songs that add to the flavor of the game. Overall, the audio is not too bad – once you get past the repetitive and dated commentary.

But when you get right down to it, what NCAA Football 07 offers is dynamic, entertaining sports action. EA Sports has served up another wonderful gridiron experience that should not fail to entertain. With a great options package, new elements seamlessly integrated into the game’s mechanics, and visuals that will delight, this is a truly fun game.

Gameplay: 8.8
The controls have been fine-tuned a bit to be a bit more intuitive and the overall mechanics of this game are very good.

Graphics: 8.6
In spite of some video clipping (as opposed to players clipping other players) the animation for this game is still very strong on the PS2. The players look great, some of the collisions may have you wincing and the environments (fans aside, there is some retread here) are well done.

Sound: 7.0
This title sports much of the same retreading dialogue that previous iterations used, placed at inappropriate times. When Lee Corso utters that a holding call could be called all game long because the offending party has been doing it throughout the entire game – and this comes on the first offensive play of the first quarter – you know it is time to turn down the sound. (Ok, technically, it may be true, but you would not hear real announcers say something so inane on a Saturday broadcast.)

Difficulty: Medium
Not only can you set an overall difficulty setting, but you can also fine-tune the AI for human help or computer-controlled teams in three general areas – offense, defense and special teams. The game truly enables the players to set the difficulty to match their playing skill.

Concept: 8.7
The game is showing its age in some areas, but the tweaking to the controls, and turning the Heisman race of the previous titles into the Campus Legend mode was very nice. The game is, overall, getting better with each release.

Multiplayer: 8.8
A lobby allows you to play a ranked game, an unranked game (does not influence your rankings), a Season Match, or simply jump into a quick match up. During several games, lag was a rare beast and the games played very well (Ok, got crunched a few times, but that was a problem with the coach, not the connection or game). EA will charge you to play though ($2) or you can forego the fee and let ESPN (which is splashed all over this game) send you its advertising (can you say spam?).

Overall: 8.7
With a bevy of options, some tweaking to the kicking mechanics (almost to the point where you think you are playing golf with the kicker’s leg), and all the other accoutrements in the game modes, EA’s NCAA Football 07 is a joyful gridiron game. The game does have a few short games, but still manages to convert on third down in the fun arena. For those who have owned the 2006 version, the changes are plenty but may not be enough to warrant a purchase – unless you are looking for improved gameplay mechanics; but for college football fans who don’t have an NCAA video game, this is a sure-fire winner.