Addicting ‘NCAA Football 2012’ practically perfect

When I began playing "NCAA Football 2012," I thought it was the greatest football game of all time. It plays so beautifully and smoothly -- most of the time.

But then I played a full season as the Georgia Bulldogs and realized it has a few bad seams. It's still a great outing, so let's focus on that first.

This addicting game looks, moves and feels so much like real football, it's surreal. That goes for the way you run, pass and defend. That goes for the rippling biceps of receivers. It goes for almost everything.

It's not an easy game. As usual with "NCAA Football," to win, you must be really good at a handful of things.

Primarily, you must find plays that work like a charm, then run them over and over. I picked the exact same defensive play 99 percent of the time in one bowl game, and my opponent scored zero points.

On defense, to properly attack an offense, you should also shift your linemen before most plays.

On offense, in order to exploit the defense's weaknesses, you should put receivers in motion and change receiver routes during many plays.

If you don't do those things consistently, "NCAA Football 2012" will eat your lunch.

So, here are the problems.

1. When I'm on defense, my linebackers sometimes stand around watching rival runners race past them, which doesn't help me win, obviously.

2. Occasionally, a referee or booth review gets a call wrong. I was playing a tight game where the other team's quarterback threw a Hail Mary pass. His receiver was a step out of bounds. But the referee and the booth review wrongly deemed it a touchdown.

3. The joystick you use to tackle is a little off. So now and then, you'll try to dive at someone and nothing much happens.

But "NCAA Football 2012" is so amazing that the flaws, as dumb as they can be, weigh like feathers compared to the strengths.

This is a splendiferous football game. Sure, once I figured out which plays to run repeatedly, this made it much easier to win the BCS Championship.

And yes, it doesn't make sense that I beat the Oregon Ducks 24-0 for the national title, yet New Mexico State threw a massive amount of passing yards against me.

However, "NCAA Football 2012" is what I mythically call the 12-Month Game. You could play this thing for a year. That's good value for your gaming life and your dollar.

If you want to get really wild, the game lets you rearrange all the college football conferences. If you desire to put every SEC school in the Big 10, go crazy.

You can draw up your own playbooks. Also -- before, during and after each game -- there are tons of real-school mascots and TV presentations, just as if you were watching ESPN.

And college cheerleaders are back, with cameras pointing up their skirts. Oh, "NCAA Football 2012," you cad.

("NCAA Football 2012" by EA retails for $60 for Xbox 360 and PS 3 -- Plays addictively fun. Looks phenomenal. Very challenging. Rated "E." Four out of four stars.)

Contact Doug Elfman at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.