TheXboxLife

In todays day and age of electrifying graphics, intense online play and overall realistic entities in modern games, strategic simulation games like EA’s NFL Head Coach ‘09 must have an engaging gaming experience in order for the game to be successful. In this case, NFL Head Coach ‘09 offers a realistic and strategic look into what it would be like to manage and coach your own NFL franchise.





With this game, your put right smack in the middle of being a GM of your own NFL franchise. As the “head honcho”, you have the ability to sign and trade players, scout draft prospects, call plays and perform pretty much any task that any GM or Coach would have to complete. Although you do not directly control the players on the field, everything that you do as the GM/Coach is in preparation for how your CPU players will compete on the field.


From the start of your career you have the option of continuing a current coaches career, or start from scratch by creating your own. Your franchise ranking will be based on an “approval” ranking system, which you gain points in by completing everyday tasks, winning games, and coming through in those pivotal game-time moments. Although winning games will give you the best opportunity at boosting your approval rating, the other tasks allow GMs to get away with losing records but showing that they are turning the franchise around.





One of the greatest parts of the game is the update of the tabbed interface and overall free-agent/trading options. The tabbed menu is well improved from the previous NFL Head Coach, and even though it will take some time to get used to the new menu, it does offer more options then the previous release. The free-agent and trading process is one of the best new features to the game, and holds a lot of realism in what actually happens. When looking at a free-agent, all GMs will now have a 1minute process to try and sign the player, which brings a level of realism not seen in the previous version. Now, as the GM, you are able to offer combination deals to free-agents, along with negotiation buyouts, contract holdouts and other realistic elements of the NFL. The only part that is flawed in the trading sequence is the ability to pick up a pro-bowler for 3 unknown scrubs (it can’t all be perfect).


As for the graphics, NFL Head Coach ‘09 runs on a previous Madden engine, so it isn’t the best looking piece of art, but in the end, your running the franchise, not controlling Adrian Peterson while he gallops for an 80yd touchdown.





Graphics aside, there is one feature that everyone will be a fan of, and that’s the customizable portion of the game that allows you, the coach, to design your own plays and see them ran right in front of you. The only problem is that your “created play” is based off a previous one in the playbook, but hey, no other game offers this kind of customization.


Overall NFL Head Coach ‘09 is heading in the right direction, offers online play (even though it’s not amazing), and is a big improvement from the previous release. The game isn’t perfect, but it’s obvious to see that future releases will chisel out the flaws, and bring a new type of simulation game to the stage.


7/10

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Tom Stanley