NCAA Football 09: Bluffing Play Art

In an era in which online gaming garners the lion’s share of attention, it comes as a pleasant surprise that EA Sports hasn’t forgotten about offline head-to-head gameplay. One subtle, but significant, improvement to debut in NCAA Football 09 is the ability to show phony play art at the line. Here’s a look at how it works…

In this example, Auburn comes out with the Ace Normal – Smash. Once at the line, the offensive player can press and hold RT (R2 on the PS3) and up on the right analog stick to display the actual play art. Alternatively, the player could press right or left on the right analog stick to display random bluffed play art from that same formation/set.

The implementation of this feature provides no clues to your opponent as to which play art is genuine (assuming he isn’t looking at your hands). As a result, memorizing assignments when using audibles is no longer necessary. In fact, you could show one bluffed play art, fake an audible, and then show the other bluffed play art-- all while running an entirely different play. That should be enough to keep even your dirtiest opponents honest.