Podunk
University is located in a town that usually only sports a population of
5,000-7,500 people in one of the nation’s least populated states. Who would’ve
guessed that such a remote area would house an NCAA Division I school?
And yet,
there is it, with a shining stadium that seats 65,000, and a football team that
is gearing up to play with the big kids. With an open slot on the schedule, Air
Force was selected for the opening game and it was a blow-out. (It could be a
long year for the Air Force Academy.) With hopes riding high, the local team
took to the road, heading to Florida for a matchup with a pre-season No.
22-ranked team. Another blow-out! Err, but not for the local kids; they were on
the other side of that whipping. That is the difference between blue-chippers in
a high-profile program, and a program just getting started.
You have no
reputation, and so recruiting is going to be a hard sell, but one you can invest
in throughout the season.
EA Sports
has released NCAA Football 06 for the PlayStation 2, and simple put – if you are
a console gamer with a love for sports and football, own this game. It may have
some minor glitches (like players who inexplicably stop moving or slow way down
the moment you take control of them, even though you will swear the appropriate
control buttons are engaged), but the excitement is sky-high and the game is a
tantalizing bit of eye candy.
The game has
attitude. Pick off a pass and perform antics for the camera. Breakaway for a
long scoring run and taunt the trailing opponents as you cover the last 10
yards. The infamous first-down antics are in full force here. Sure, in real
football the refs would be hammering away at the demonstrations with penalty
yardage, but not here. This is excitement! This is fun! This is entertainment!
Stadium
Pulse is back, Create-A-School and Create-A-Player is back. The deep dynasty
mode is back, but a new element is added to that dynasty mix. You can target
blue-chip players, by state, and keep up the recruitment during the course of
the season. As you play and accomplish certain feats, you rack up points, which
can be invested in players you are recruiting. They will offer you feedback on
games. Come up with a particularly brilliant defensive scheme for a game? Those
defensive players you are going after may well notice and your standing with
them may go up. Conversely, get blown out of the water, and they may drop you
from contention for their services, opting for a school that is more of a
contender, and less of a whipping post.
Also new to
the 06 mix is Race for the Heisman. This is a four-year career mode in which you
take a kid out of high school, attend summer camp to achieve a ranking (which
will go up as you progress through your seasons), get recruited by a university
and start that path toward football glory. How you do in the summer camp will
depend on which schools recruit you. There are a series of drills for the
different positions available (pocket QB, scrambling QB, running back, wide
receiver, defensive lineman, linebacker and defensive back). Once you complete
them, you are given a list of schools wanting you to play for them, or you can
walk on at another school. From that point on, you are in the game, striving to
be the best you can be to garner the attention of the Heisman folks. If you are
really good, you may end up on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Of course,
the key is – because you are the playcaller – to not let your young Heisman
wannabe carry the team. You can’t always call your own number, and there is
always the risk of injury. If that happens, you can skip ahead in the season.
The focus in this aspect of the game is the player, not the team so much. But,
of course, when you are playing a game, winning is always at the edge of your
consciousness.
The game
does have a few less exciting elements. The musical score is mostly by bands you
may not have heard from before, performing a series of songs that do little to
fire up the tempo of the game, or enthusiasm for the game. The commentator trio
of Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Brad Nessler are good, but there are
repetitions. Within a five minute span, the same banter about Corso’s nickname
of “Sunshine Scooter” was replayed. And the game has some long load and save
times.
Graphically,
NCAA Football 06 is a treat. Perform a particularly nasty hit, or breakaway, and
the game will pause, the camera will zoom in and rotate to give you the best
look at moment. Truly good stuff.
The controls
can be a little sticky at times. You may find that you push a button and get no
response from the game, and need to push it again. This only happens during
playcalling or at other times not in the confines of the actual game. This is
just a minor inconvenience in an otherwise responsive game.
With
customizable play books, and the creation process, coupled with the excitement
of the game, this is about as addicting a sports game as they come. Upsets will
be the norm and you may well find yourself pushing for that SI cover and
recognition as a gridiron great.
Get it, play
it against a strong AI or online against other gamers. Anyway you play NCAA
Football 06, one thought remains, this is a thoroughly terrific game.
|
|
Gameplay: 9.1
Exciting is one
word to describe this game; long load times is another. The controls are easy to
understand, but at times there is so much happening that players simply stop
moving, and there were also times where certain buttons on the controller
(during play selection) had to be hit twice for the game to recognize the input
command.
Graphics: 9.4
The breakaway
elements, and the way the cameras zoom in to reveal the big hits really pumps up
the excitement. Counter that with some perspective elements – big heads on the
nearest players during the coin toss – and a couple of clipping lapses,
Sound: 8.8
The music is
merely average, and the banter of the commentators can be repetitive.
Difficulty: Medium
Ok, you can dump
down the opponent AI (you know, reduce completion percentages and the like) in
the single-player game and virtually eliminate any challenge, but if you want to
play the game the way it was intended, you won’t do that. The game does also
feature an array of difficulty settings.
Concept: 9.3
Race for the
Heisman is a fresh element that brings a career gaming element into the mix.
Combined with easy-to-understand controls, and old favorites like the
create-a-school and create-a-player elements, this is a complete package.
Multiplayer: 9.0
It’s fun to go up
against other players, and this title comes with full online support. It is
highly recommended that players going online to play disable the firewalls,
which is an unfortunate aspect of the way a game can time out.
Overall: 9.3
There are a few
minor stumbling points, but NCAA Football 06 brings back the greatest elements
from past titles and adds exciting new career gameplay with the Race for the
Heisman element. Sure, the refs would be tossing the flags for excessive
celebrations a lot, if this were the real world, but it is not, and that means
the glitz and excitement of college football meets with demonstrative elements
to pull off exciting gameplay. Gridiron greatness – your name is NCAA Football
06.
