NFL Head Coach 09

"Do you have what it takes to be an NFL Head Coach?"

One of EA's latest installments in their flurry of sports titles is NFL Head Coach 09. This game allows you to take over as a current NFL coach in the franchise of your choice, or create a coach and start a career with your favorite team. Once you make your decision, you are put in charge of an entire NFL team. That's right. Nobody leaves or is put onto your team without going through you. You have full control over the roster, the coordinators, and even the staff. It is your job to acquire players that best suit your offensive and defensive philosophies via trading, drafting, or the free agency market. Fulfilling your responsibilities will turn your franchise into a very successful one. Failing to live up to your duties will result in failure of your team, and the loss of your job.

Here are the different aspects of the game in a bit more detail

GRAPHICS: 5/10

The graphics themselves are not bad. If you look at screenshots, it would be hard to distinguish this game from Madden. Obviously the players and the field doesn't look as polished as in Madden, but that's not the main focus of this game anyway. The one thing that pulls down the graphics so much is the frame rate. It doesn't totally detract from the gaming experience, but the game moves very choppily while playing on the field. The rest of the time in the game is spent in menus, so you don't really have many other experiences graphically.

SOUND: 8/10

In the menus, we have some new Sam Spence NFL Films music to listen to. On the playing field, all you can hear is the collision of pads and the constant complaining/commentary from your coordinators. This is fitting to the game, though. Sometimes the coordinators can be very humorous.

CONTROL: 5/10

You basically navigate the entire game with the feature called the Coach's Clipboard. This is a sidebar menu that brings up prompts for certain events that need to be tended to. In the off-season, there will be notices for free agents that pop up. You can click on the prompt and you will be brought to an offer screen, which I'll explain more about later. During the game, the play call will pop up on the clipboard after every play. You can choose your own play or ask your coordinator what you should call. So, as you could imagine, you aren't really using a lot of buttons for anything. Therefore, the control is very basic. Not bad by any means, but there isn't a lot to offer if you're looking for crazy, creative controller usages.

GAMEPLAY: 7/10

The meat of the gameplay in NFL Head Coach 09 is done from your franchise menu. This is where you will build your team, hire your staff, make trades, draft players, cut players, negotiate contracts, etc. What you do in your office shows up on the playing field. One interesting new addition is the new free agent signing method. You will be prompted on your clipboard when a free agent is looking for an offer. If you click on the notification, you will be brought to a bidding screen. A lot of different information lies on this screen, including your cap space, the amount of money the player seeks, how much cap money you would be set back if you were to sign him, and a picture of all of the computer-controlled teams interested in the free agent. The main point though, of course, is to out-do other teams in your bid for the particular player. Prices for big name players get very steep, and with most teams' salary cap, you can only afford one marquee free agent per off-season, if that. The new bartering system is quick and effective, however. It's actually kind of fun. Similarly, the trading system has been re-done. Instead of totally controlling your proposed offer, you click on the player you want to trade for, and that team's coach gives you a list of packages he would consider in the trade. You select a package, for example a 2nd and 5th round pick, and if the other coach agrees, then the trade is accepted. If he doesn't agree, he will counter-offer. If you don't accept, then the negotiations are over.

A big part of your coaching career is your approval rating. This is what the fans, media, coaches, GM, players, and owner think about you, all factored into a main number. Obviously, the most effective way to keep this high is to win games. But, other things can be done as well. For example, if your GM suggests a player you should draft, and you draft that player, your approval rating from the GM will go up. But the thing that changes your approval ratings the most is the Defining Moments. These show up during the games in itchy situations. For example, in a tight game on 4th and goal at your opponent's 1 yard line and down by 3, you could go for the tie and play it safe, and keep your rating relatively unaffected, or risk it and go for 6 points. If you take the risk, your rating goes up automatically. If you succeed in the risk, it goes up even more. If you fail in the risk, it goes down a bit but you're rating is still higher than before the defining moment.

To increase your approval from the owner, you must try to fulfill all of the goals he sets for you. These include the development of certain players and other various requirements, such as creating a set amount of custom plays or acquiring a player at a specific position with a minimum overall rating of 85.

The gameplay is very in-depth, but it is also very tedious. This gives the game a moderately low replay value.

AI: 4/10

The players on the field cannot be controlled by you, all you do is call the plays. This makes it frustrating sometimes because you have to sit there and watch your halfback ignore a blaring, wide open hole to cut to the outside and get tackled for a 1 yard gain. You also have to watch your quarterback totally ignore wide open receivers. The computer players do the same thing, however. So it isn't a significant disadvantage. You can also adjust sliders in the menus, so some of it can be controlled.

OVERALL: 6/10

EA again has a great idea with this game, but doesn't necessarily deliver the amount of potential this game has. There are some improvements from the first installment (loading times), and some downgrades. Just like the first one, this is a great game if you love the NFL and know the game of football inside and out. For the casual gamer, though, Madden NFL 09 would be a better purchase.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/01/08

Game Release: NFL Head Coach 09 (US, 09/03/08)