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Platform:
Xbox
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NCAA Football 06Score: 9.1/10
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"There's no doubt that NCAA Football 06 lives up to the pre-release hype and keeps the dynasty going by staying on top and garnering yet another title as the best college football game around."
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With back-to-back national football championships and a serious threat for a three-peat this upcoming season, USC is unquestionably the best college gridiron program in the country. They're so good, that they could probably win 10 games in the NFL this year. But as good a run as USC is currently enjoying, that's nothing compared to the dominance of the college football gaming genre that Electronic Arts has had with their NCAA Football franchise. Even though EA secured the exclusive rights to publish NCAA football games, they really didn't need to: There is no better college football game on the market today and when there was competition, EA's NCAA Football easily vanquished any and all opponents it faced on store shelves.
NCAA Football 06 is no exception, and instead of simply sitting on their exclusive license and not offering any new features EA did the exact opposite by coming out not only with a great playing, features packed title, but adding another one of the famous immersive modes, Race for the Heisman. If you had fun creating a player in previous NCAA Football games, it doesn't compare to the Race for the Heisman mode that's in NCAA Football 06. And if you actually play well enough to be honored with a Heisman Trophy selection, you can import your now-legendary doppelganger into Madden NFL 06.
In Race for the Heisman mode, you start by trying out in drills (at a position you select beforehand) under the watchful eyes of college football coaches. Depending on how well you do in those drills, you'll be offered a scholarship. If you don't like any of the schools willing to hand off a scholarship, you can go to the school of your choice as a walk-on.
From there, you go through a typical college preseason (without the wild frat parties and even wilder football groupies) and proceed to hit the field in a four-year quest for the Heisman individually and a national championship for your team. Of course, you have the best shot at the Heisman if you're a quarterback or running back, or even a wide receiver, |
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and if you rack up awesome numbers throwing, running, or catching the pigskin, you'll give yourself a shot at that legendary hardware and enhance your opportunity to enter the NFL as a first-round draft choice (in Madden NFL 06) and the shot at fame and glory as a NFL superstar.
It's a great mode that involves you in the game more than any other college football game that's come before NCAA Football 06. And it's not the only new feature added. There's the inclusion of the Impact Stick that can help you pull off jukes and hits that can make the |
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difference
between a five-yard run and a 50-yard touchdown. Along with the Impact
Stick is the Impact Players, who are stars on the field on both sides of
the ball that can use their
Who Impact Players are on your team can change from game-to-game depending on their previous game's performance, but they generally tend to be a quarterback, running back, wide receiver, defensive lineman, or cornerback and stay in the impact zone (which you can see by the pulsing white circle under their cleats) for most of the season. In short, if you've got an Impact Player or two, use them to your advantage. Conversely, keep a keen eye on an opponent's Impact Players while playing defense or stay clear of them while you're playing offense.
Another addition is all-year recruiting, and mini-games that serve as a practice mode. Also, more teams and their rosters, including historic teams, are available for nearly every single college football program, no matter what the level, playing today.
Controlling
the action on the field is generally problem-free as is usual for an EA
sports title, but the Xbox version doesn't quite control as well as the
PS2 version, mostly in part to the not-well-placed black and white
buttons on the Xbox controller being used. Especially the black button
that controls the option pitches of the QB. Overall, the game doesn't
function as
While
it's certainly not visually stunning, NCAA Football 06 is a good-looking
game, more so in the highly-detailed stadium environments than the
player models, with the Xbox version noticeably better-looking than the
PS2 edition. It's the stadiums and the frenzied college crowds that make
each college game a special occasion, and EA recognizes the need for
Helping
bring the stadiums to life is not only the visuals but the sounds of the
stadiums, including the college bands playing fight songs and the
rumbling roar of the crowd that gets louder and louder at home games
with the pump-up-the-crowd control. By pressing the "pump-up"
button, the crowd gets more raucous and the stadium (and the game
screen) literally starts to shake, rattle and rumble. It's supposed to
fire up the home team and disrupt
If you can resist the temptation of playing the Dynasty and Race for the Heisman mode for just a while, get online via Xbox Live and experience a great online football game. Although it's tough if you play someone online that uses the option play a lot (and racking up a lot of yards unless you can shut it down), for the most part, there's smooth-running online gameplay requiring solid football strategy for consistent winning.
Even when NCAA Football had competition, it easily came out on top and with the good controls and plethora of the famous EA immersive modes, it was destined for greatness even before the addition of the Race for the Heisman mode. There's no doubt that NCAA Football 06 lives up to the pre-release hype and keeps the dynasty going by staying on top and garnering yet another title as the best college football game around.
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Lee Cieniawa (August 23, 2005)
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