Ed. note: for the rest of the week, Chat Sports will be reviewing the hot new video game NCAA 14. Be sure to check back for more in depth reviews on different aspects of the game. Up next: Dynasty mode.
Apart from one-on-one bragging rights battles with your friends, Dynasty Mode is the thing in the NCAA franchise. Take control of your alma matter (or any other team) and keep them/bring them/return them to glory. This year, there are two fairly significant changes in Dynasty Mode.
First and foremost, recruiting has been drastically simplified. In the past, users would probably spend more time recruiting than playing. That's still very possible, of course, the recruiting features are still incredibly in-depth. Now, however, instead of taking time to learn about recruits preferences or choosing who to give phone calls or lord knows what, players simply divvy up points. Each week, your dynasty is give 5,000 points to "spend" on recruits. The more points you spend on a recruit, the harder your staff works to recruit him. It's still complicated, but the time needed to do it well has been mercifully chopped.
The other major change is in coaches. A new "coaching tree" allows users to progress the abilities of their head coach and coordinators based on in-game success. Improvements include attribute boosts for players, such as upgrading the defensive coordinator's "charge" attribute, which gives your defensive players extra pass rushing ability in games; or upgrading your head coach's recruiting attributes, to always ensure you come out on top in those close battles.
The offseason process has also been streamlined. The period of time leading up to signing day is just one recruiting "period," where you will have 10,000 points to spend however you choose. Whereas in-season you can spend a maximum of 500 points per week on a recruit, in this brief pre-signing day period you can choose to spend all 10,000 on one player if you so choose.
Otherwise, NCAA '14's Dynasty Mode is similar to what it has always been. There is no revolutionary new feature, just small tweaks to help make season go by faster. Unless you liked spending three hours recruiting for every hour you actually played a game.
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