When a game publisher releases a demo, it’s designed to provide a taste of what’s to come; a sample of what the final product will be like in the hopes of persuading you to purchase it.

Oftentimes, such a demo illustrates how a game sets itself apart from the crowd or its competitors, but in the case of NCAA Football 09, things are a little different. Namely - the game has no competitors; NCAA Football has an exclusive license to college teams and stadiums, so in many regards, this demo is simply a matter of preaching to the converted.

Nevertheless, the game does change from year to year, and today, we’ll look at the recently-released NCAA Football 09 demo after playing it an borderline-unhealthy number of times in order to see what’s new and exciting for football fans next month.

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It’s easy to notice that the game packs a bit more graphical punch; player shapes and sizes are more pronounced, animations are more varied, especially on tackles, movement throughout the game is noticeably smoother with less frame-rate jitters and the game’s received a pleasant makeover of color, specifically during sun-dappled afternoon games, when the reddish tint through autumn leaves creates a setting that none of pro football’s stadiums can provide.

During the pre-game introductions, the crimson glow might be a smidge overpowering, but that’s a quibble, and on the field, shadowing and lighting look excellent. Here’s hoping that the sun sets afterwards and these games finish with a dark sky and the field under lights.

The game’s commentary, which is among the best in sports gaming, is starting to feel a bit stale, but some of this is undoubtedly due to the size of demo and not the result of the announcing team’s solid work. Playcalling screens have gotten a makeover, as well, incorporating team-oriented graphics and a more efficient system of cycling through formations. This is often the hardest part of any football game to get right, and while it doesn’t break new ground, NCAA Football 09 has an efficient and easy-to-manage system, allowing the gamer to focus on their strategy itself instead of navigating menus. On the field, the pre-play adjustment menus are simple and effective, though the Coca-Cola Zero ad embedded within is excessive and leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

On offense, many things have changed for the better. While the offensive line play hasn’t improved to the level that one can truly run effective counter plays, it is still improved, making screen passes and short-yardage plays more realistic. The addition of effective screen plays changes the entire dynamic of the game, allowing the offense to slow the traditional EA blitz-every-time style of defense played by too many. The linemen still blow a lot of obvious blocks, and you’ll still find yourself sacked before you can even make a standard hand-off at times, but that’s been lessened.

Quarterback is more challenging, especially if you’re playing as the road team. The new Home Field Advantage mechanic cleverly affects your receivers, whose button/target icons can disappear in the pre-play “coach’s view”. Quarterbacks under pressure can make some truly awful throws and planting your feet is critical if you want your QB to get anything on the pass. With any luck, this will end up cutting down on the playground-level lunacy that has befallen many a game of NCAA Football in the past. Your receivers have some serious hops - perhaps too much, as tight ends often pull down passes that normally would sail over their heads - but they also tip more passes, so the game’s balance isn’t at risk there.

Like most EA football releases, the game seems to noticeably favor the passing offense, which is at least a bit more realistic in the college ranks then the pros, but on the whole, the offensive balance is finally settling in, it seems - real attention has been paid to the running game this year.

On defense, the game can be quite difficult, as the game’s collision detection has improved. No longer do running backs go down with any type of contact. Since they’ll run right through arm tackles, squaring up your man takes on added importance. Getting pressure on the quarterback without a blitz is tough, which means that team with formidable front fours don’t have the advantage that they probably should, but hopefully, gamers will be able to adjust sliders to taste if this becomes a problem. Against the pass, man-to-man defense is usually effective, but the combination of high-flying receivers and slow-to-react zone defenders makes playing this defense a risk. Too often, playing zone means handing the offense the field 15 yards at a time, since the players don’t react well to open receivers in their zone. Coaches call that “taking responsibility”, and the defenders in the demo aren’t all that great at it.

All told, however, playing defense is fun and challenging, and making plays on “D” is often more satisfying than making them on offense. That’s something to be proud of.

“Icing the kicker” has been added to the game, as well; a last-second time out will slightly change the camera angle and add a heartbeat sound, ratcheting up the tension somewhat. With regard to special teams play, while the return games are appropriately exciting, I’ve run a half-dozen onside kicks back for touchdowns against the AI, which is unusual to say the least. Hopefully, that rather glaring issue isn’t in the game’s final version.

On the whole, NCAA Football 09 looks to be incrementally improved on the field, but that’s not a bad thing - it was the best football game on next-gen consoles to begin with. If what’s playing in the demo now is indeed exactly what we’ll see in mid-July, gamers will be sure to get some good, reliable fun out of the long-running series’ latest iteration, even if it feels more than a little bit familiar.