NCAA Football 2006 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've played this for over a week now, so I'm revising my earlier review. I still say there are some definite improvements.

The CPU can actually play offense now!I was getting quite bored with the complete inability of the CPU to run, and minimal ability to pass.It was fun to rack up the stats, but winning 84-0 even in Heisman mode got old.The CPU receivers can actually catch the ball, and the quarterback actually avoids sacks and scrambles for positive yards on blitzes and draws.In All-American and Heisman difficulty levels, the defense AI manages to catch on to your play calling pattern a lot better than before, so you're can't successfully run the same play over and over again as easily as before.There is some benefit though, you can REALLY exploit an over eager defense with the right play action, screen pass (which actually works for positive yards now), or draw plays.It works to your disadvantage on defense though, because if you are not creative and run the same defense on the same formations over and over again, the CPU will burn you.They have also added some new defensive QB Spy plays (e.g. Nickle DE and Nickle OLB Double Spy plays) which work very well against the option.

The best new features by far are the impact players, and "in the zone" modes.Both player and CPU impact players when "in the zone" make some spectacular plays, and fun post play celebrations.Thankfully, the refs are not as trigger happy with the unsportsmanlike conduct flag.The timing of the players going "in the zone" is quite good.It happens at key moments in the game on key plays.Unfortunately, and I may discover this not to be true later, is that you can't seem to develop an impact player during the course of a season.They are locked in and set for the entire season.If you end up with a linebacker with 60 tackles, a dozen sacks, and a half dozen forced fumbles and interceptions by mid-season, I should think that he is an impact player by any definition.

The Dynasty mode is about the same as 2005, but one REALLY nice feature is season long recruiting.You are shown the potential weaknesses in positions where you would lose seniors, so you are given 12 scholarship bids you can put out and monitor recruit interest and allocate 0-100% of points weekly amongst recruits throughout the year.They have also added academics as a pitch.Unfortunately, (and maybe I just haven't figured out how yet), you cannot choose the recruiting pitch criteria nor choose to scout.The AI doesn't do the best job, because let's say you figure the pitch to use is Program Prestige, the CPU continues to pitch other things.The only time you can choose the pitch is during in campus visits.There is a menu option to select when you can pitch, but it's always set to campus visits, and I can't change it even if I disable the recruiting AI assistance.You also get a lot more 5 and 4 star duds with "poor" to "average" potential which was very rare in 2005.Sadly, you are locked in with 12 recruits at the beginning of the season, so you can't replace any choice, and all you can do is change the priority percentage to 0 and hope he withdraws from contention.You cannot target kickers or punters during the season.Another nice new feature is that you can auto-name the select or complete rosters, so no more of the Position + Jersey Number schemes for the first few seasons.However, in Race for the Heisman mode, you have to do that before you start the campaign, because you absolutely cannot edit the rosters in his mode.

The most spectacular feature which makes this game far superior to 2005 is the Heisman Race mode.You select a player position, and run drills for college scouts.Depending on how well you perform, you get scholarship offers from various schools which you can choose to accept, or go in as a walk-on to any school you select.It would seem the ability scores and the number and quality of offers are directly correlated to how well you do in the drill.My first run through with an RB, I only scored 3 touchdowns in 10 tries, and got offers from three schools ranging in rank from #51 to #58 in addition to walk-on.I ran through it again, scored 7/10 times, and this time I got some offers from top-25 teams.This also sets the ability scores which cannot be modified.The gameplay, as I mentioned, is spectacular, and the games when teams are close in level, are exceptionally close.There are some caveats to this mode.It might seem that you have no control over rosters and recruiting in this mode.You also have no access to the pennant collection, and cannot edit rosters (names, equipment, etc.), and can only set the depth chart during the game, and it does not carry over to the next game.You can play pennants during the game, but to cash in points and enter codes, you have to exit Heisman and go to Dynasty mode.Having said that, I think Pennants are irrelevant because the gameplay (especially passing) is much improved.Rushing has become a lot harder which is a good thing, especially because I-Form Normal counter play is not a guaranteed touchdown with 4-3 man coverage & wide receiver motion like it used to be.

There are some other odds & ends.

The Good:

- You can switch the controller to either team's side during the game.This is really fun if you choose to play some of the marquee games and play either offense or defense on both sides.I don't recall this ability in 2005.It will disable pennants if one of the teams is user controlled.

- You can't edit player skills in Race for Heisman mode, so you can't create a super player.The skills are set during tryout.

- There is less discrepency in the coaches/media rankings.In 2005, if a team started too far down, at one point it would be ranked #2 in the media poll, but #25 in the coaches poll.

The Bad:

- You can't redshirt your Heisman hopeful.If you do well enough in the tryout, you may end up on a top team with a 99 skill senior in your position, and it seems insane that a freshman would get the start.

- Players and refs still walk through each other in the post play animations.

- It is sometimes raining with clear blue skies, and sometimes there is sunshine during night games!:)

- The OL gets WAY too many pancakes.After my first season, my center had 288 pancakes!Even mediocre OL players pancake all but impact D-Linemen on 20-50% of the plays.The CPU doesn't get that benefit.

- You can edit *every* skill value when you create a prospect up to the 99 maximum.In 2005, the upper bounds were limited by player position and size.Now every created prospect can be a super Paul Hornung. It would have been nice to create an "athelate" prospect with some limits, but this one goes too far.

- On the Xbox, they switch the select player button from X to B, so it takes some getting used to.The juke function has moved from the right trigger to the right paddle, so it is extremely difficult to pull combination spin, hurdle, juke moves without your right thumb fumbling and flailing all over the place.

- In the weekly schedules, when you looked at the game info, it would show the teams' current ranking whether they were in the top 25 or not, but now, you only see that right before the game starts, or right after it ends.There is also no longer an overall grade for a team.You just have offense, defense, and special team grades.

The Ugly:

- Who in the blazes picked the menu colors?Dark navy text on a black background?That is what you get for your team in Race or Dynasty mode.The contrast is so poor, it actually hurt my eyes.I can't believe the Beta testers did not riot over this.They also had some nice red-yellow-green shading for NCAA interest level, coach job security, etc., but they've gone to solid colors now.There is no longer a grading system for coach job security.

- All the player pictures in roster and recruiting screens look like county sherrif mug shots.This is a really major step down from the last version.Also, the refs have five o'clock shadows and look like they came to the game all hung over after throwing an all night drunk.

- During late afternoon games, the shadow coverd parts of the field are pitch black!If your team is wearing light uniforms,
you can barely see them, and if the other team is wearing dark uniforms, you absolutely cannot see them until they tackle you or intercept your pass.

- They changed the kick meter to Madden style, and I personally do not like it one bit.However, that is entirely subjective.

All in all, this game is an absolute "must buy" if only for the Heisman mode.I will be wasting a signficant number of hours of my life on this game!

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Product Description:
Impact Player and lead him from high school summer camp all the way to Bowl victories as a collegiate legend. As your blue chipper improves on the field, he'll become a big man on campus with a decked-out dorm room filled with stacks of fan mail and the past season's hard-earned awards. With all-new Breakaway Controls, in-game analysis, and studio commentary, this is college football like you've never seen or heard. Get your acceptance speech ready - the Heisman Trophy presentation awaits you in NCAA Football 2006.

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