NFL Head Coach 09
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Sports
Genre: Sports Sim
Release Date: September 3, 2008
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Reviewer: Dan
I bet you're trying to find a reason to spend $90+ on a collector's
edition of a game that you'll buy again in a year. While the Collector's
Edition of Madden NFL Football 09 Doesn't feature everyone's
favorite Packer Jet Interception Machine
Gunslinger, it does come with a slightly discounted copy of NFL Head Coach
09.
You might remember a few years back when EA Sports tested the waters
of coaching simulation with a last-gen version of the game. For the same
reason I still own NCAA Football 2005, I still own my PS2 copy of Head
Coach (I'll give you three guesses as to where I'm from). The concept of
that game wasn't a bad one. The execution, however, left a lot to be
desired. The level of tedium in that game was at times just plain
painful to sit through. There were certain aspects of that game that were
too detailed; too realistic (I know it's a sim, but do I have to sit through
each and every rep of a practice?). There were also times when I thought
your players and assistant coaches got waaay too emo on you, which made them
perform rather poorly.
I'll give EA credit, they did get it right the second time around. Head
Coach 09 took everything that was boring and painful to sit through (even
for hardcore football fans) and tossed it out the window. The main focus of
the game is now put on coaching the actual game rather than preparing for
one. You can, of course, jump right into a quick game to test out your
coaching skills against the computer or against other coaches online. But
unlike Madden or NCAA Football where you can have just as much fun in quickplay
and online, this game really shines when you jump into career mode.
The best way I can describe career mode is that it is much more like an
RPG rather than a sports game. You can begin your career with an existing
coach, but who really wants to do that? Hardcore RPG grinders will start off
with the new coach with practically no skills. This is where the RPG element
comes in. Each coach, including all of your assistants, gain skill points by
performing certain actions throughout the season. These points can then be
used to purchase regular or special skills that boost the abilities of the
players on your team. There is also an approval rating you must keep your
eye on. The fans, media, players, and coaches all have their own impact on
your overall approval rating. If it dips too low, you might find yourself
out of a job. What I find sort of funny is that you can actually lose this
game. If you get fired and no other team hires you, you could be forced to
retire.
Like in the first version of Head Coach, there were certain goals you
had to meet. In this version, there still are goals, but those super-annoying
weekly goals are no longer there for you to get a headache about. Instead,
we're treated with simply preseason and season goals, which can include
resigning a player near the end of his contract or making the fans happy by
beating a rival. Meeting or failing to meet these goals will affect your
approval rating.
You still have to go through practice each week, but this time it's
presented as your Gameplan for the upcoming game. Instead of picking
individual plays and watching each and every rep, you choose what you want
to work on and the practice is simulated behind the scenes for you. Choosing
what to practice will ultimately decide how prepared you are to face your
next opponent. There are also times during the week when you must deal with
players and their contracts. The system they used to negotiate contracts in
this game is fantastic. When negotiating with a player you must beat the
clock in order to get a contract worked out before you have to go on to
another negotiating session. You're initially presented with a wide range of
contracts with differing salaries, bonuses, and incentives. You and the player
work towards and acceptable contract. Like the kicking and punting controls
first shown in Arena Football, this contract system may find its way into
other EA Sports games.
The best and worst part about this game would have to be the actual games
you coach in. Visually, it looks just as good as Madden 09 does, but it does
get a slight edge over Madden simply because they took the time to make the
player models on the sideline look just as good as the players on the field.
The audio is also rather impressive, as it adds in the ambiance of players
chatting away on the sidelines. You have two main choices of gameplay during
a game. You can either pick each individual play or just let a coordinator
do it for you. Each method can be effective, so I tend to mix it up a bit
call plays off and on. You also have the ability to use the headset to
verbally call in plays, much like an actual coach does with the Quarterback
and defensive captain. I've yet to attempt this because that would actually
require you to know each play by name. There are also certain events during
the game that require either a calm or emotional reaction, whether good or
bad. Your choice of reaction will affect your players approval rating
depending on which reaction you pick. There are also game changing moments
in which you must make a tough decision; the outcome of which can drastically
change your approval rating.
What most people actually want this game for is the play creator. You
start the game with a playbook of your choosing. After the first week of the
preseason, you then have the option of creating your own plays and adding
them to your playbook. I have mixed feelings about this. While it does seem
pretty in-depth with plays on the passing game and defensive plays, it only
allows you to modify pre-existing running plays instead of creating them from
scratch (at least I haven't found a way to make a running play from scratch).
I also can't seem to figure out how to create a play-action pass, which is
annoying when you're running a run-first offense. These problems are at least
offset by the fact that you can download plays made by others as well as upload
your own creations. However, a lot of the plays tend to be these quasi-hail mary
5-wide jobs that would never see the light of day in a respectful NFL offense.
But the real reason people like this feature is the fact that they can export
their playbooks to Madden 09 and use them there, much like exporting draft
classes from NCAA Football.
Final Verdict
I did have a lot of nice things to say about NFL Head Coach 09. Honestly, there
are a lot more good things I can say about the game than I already have. I've
even been playing this game a whole lot more than I've been playing Madden 09.
Going from the first version of Head Coach to this is a huge leap forward
for a series that I don't think will exist for too much longer. If EA wants to
do it right, they'll just add a "Head Coach" mode to a future Madden title and
never look back. I can't recommend this game to either a casual gamer or a
casual football fan. The game fills a rather small niche in the gaming world, but
it does a much better job at doing it than the previous version of Head Coach.
If you played the first version and enjoyed it, then you'll love Head Coach 09.
I would give this game a 5 out of 10 if I were thinking of it in broad
general terms, but I would go as high as an 8.5 out of 10 if you've been
a fan of Madden these past 20 years and really enjoy the franchise mode.
Basically, if you don't know anything about football, don't bother.
