NFL Head Coach 09
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NFL Head Coach 09
Because coaching isn’t easy!
You’re watching the game with your buddies and during half-time everyone is saying what the coach could’ve done instead. He could trade this guy and get that other guy, buyout the contract of this one, fire the other…so easy to say but it’s not so easy to do. For all those mouth-loud couch coaches, EA has the solution to test their knowledge and see if they could’ve done better: NFL Head Coach. Although the game was on hiatus since NFL Head Coach 06, EA Tiburon took advantage of the 20th Anniversary of the Madden franchise to release a new and improved version of the coaching simulation game, and frankly, it’s good to see it again. Here’s our review.
Gameplay
For those who don’t know what NFL Head Coach is about, the game lets you take the reins of your favorite NFL franchise in virtually every aspect – from dealing in the front office with budgets, contracts, and drafts to patrolling the sidelines and executing every game decision according to your game plan. The future and success of your franchise is in your hands. All your decisions will be taken through your “Clipboard”, which is your one stop destination for everything the game requires of you. I was very happy to see how EA Tiburon simplified the menus in Head Coach 09 down to the Clipboard compared to the clunky and heavy menus of Head Coach 06. The Action Queue feeds you with the information needed to manage different scenarios. You can take action by either resolving a situation or ignore it and let the CPU handle it. Of course, the A.I will not always do what you wished, but it doesn’t make a huge impact on your simulation experience. Its usefulness goes far because it’s always good to take a second look and check with the AI’s choice before making that final decision of ignoring it. Remember, every decision will have repercussions, maybe not during your current season but after two or three seasons, if you overpaid a player or released a hopeful rookie, it might kick you in the butt later on.
Take your time to evaluate your players before doing something stupid!
Between the General Managerial decisions, you’ll be asked to take on your coaching duties, so start thinking about reaching and winning that Super Bowl! Once again your Clipboard will let you manage your practices, adjust line-ups, decide offensive and defensive tactics and get ready for the upcoming game. During the game, you can analyze the summary of each drive, create plays on the fly and follow your players’ fatigue rate and injuries during the season. Game decisions will also become available while coaching and an in-depth play creator is also available with the possibility to upload them to your Madden 09 game.
You can either test your wit on an exhibition game or jump ahead and start a new coaching career. Here you can establish a legendary franchise with one of the 31 NFL coaches available to choose from or you can create a new one. Starting with the NFL Draft, you can play through the entire season and even go all the way through the Super Bowl…provided you can get there! And you can up against other coaches using online play. However the online experience is limited to a chart with plays, no visual no animations. Not very attractive but it does the job.
Graphics & Sounds
NFL Head Coach 09 doesn’t have stunning graphics since most of the action is in the form of text or candid animations. It’s a simulator. So don’t expect to see high end graphics here. Although the game does look spectacular, it’s much better than Head Coach 06. It is however, very pleasant to see NFL Head Coach 09 back in action because of its light and crisp menus and the decent likeness of the head coaches. But don’t expect more.
The sound department…well, except the fact that there’s some minimum broadcast commentary from time to time and the same, repetitive soundtrack, there’s nothing else to say.
Don’t worry, you won’t have to deal with Jessica Simpson here
Value
The game will go on sale this on September 3 in a standalone version after being presented alongside the Madden NFL 09 20th Anniversary Collection (The Collectors edition is selling for 90$). Although NFL Head Coach 09 is a good NFL coaching simulation, spend 50$ for it might not be a good investment because of it’s complexity and unique nature. Not many gamers will see the interest of buying it and those who really want it already have their hands on it when they bought the Madden 09 Collectors Edition.
Conclusion
Yes, NFL Head Coach 09 is a very, very, detailed and in-depth experience and I have no huge complaints against it except that loading times are quite fastidious and the learning curve can be difficult for anyone who hasn’t played the past version of NFL Head Coach.
This game isn’t for everyone and your patience may be tested. As surprising as it may sound for you, there’s people really interested (me included) on playing the other side of the medal once in a while. The game not only shows you an approximate of what the NFL general managers and coaches are doing every day to bring their teams to the top but also it teaches you a valiant life-lesson: it’s easy to judge from the stands than actually living it for real.
Verdict: For every coach in the world (football or not), I highly recommend giving this simulator a try. It’s obviously not a game that will sell millions but it’s one of these games that need to be tried out at least once in your life. And since EA (apparently) won’t be releasing this game every year, it’s good to see how it has evolved since Head Coach 06. Once again, the game is being offered as a standalone game this week for 50$ and for free when buying the Madden 09 20th Anniversary Collection, making it a good buy for hardcore football fans – especially Madden players who bought the Anniversary collection.
Pros
- An excellent NFL coaching simulator
- Total control of your NFL franchise
- Lots of changes and fixes since NFL Head Coach 06
- Tremendous replay value
- Easy to surf menus
- Online play
Cons
- Very complex game
- Sideline action graphics are simplistic
- Pricey if you didn’t bought the Madden Collectors Edition
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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