NFL Head Coach 09 Review

[Lieutenant Dan]

Re: NFL Head Coach 09 Review

Not at all. I didn't communicate clearly but what I meant is that if we get a 40 or a 50 that's because of bugs, I think that's unfair.

When Game Informer said our game was like a team going from 5-11 to 6-10, I thought that was pretty silly.

The guys on this team killed themselves on this game and they deserve credit for what they did.

Outside of the bugs, I feel like everybody is having a really fun time with the game and I think the OS review was the most fair I've seen yet.

To me, a review is meant to look at the overall experience and judge the game's value compared to other titles.

Amen to all of that...and shame on GI!

[enderfall]

I would give this game a solid 8. There is certainly much promise for the future, as long as we (the gamers) support the title. With some tweaks next year, this could be a 9 for sure (in my book at least).

What really prevents me from giving this game a higher score is that you can't AUDIBLE once you call the play. So if think the CPU is going to pound it up the middle on 3rd and short and you call a base 4-3, but they run out 3 or 4 WR's, you are screwed. Same goes for the offense, you want to air it out on 1st down, but the CPU looks like they are bringin the house, there is nothing you can do but cringe when the play falls apart, or worse.

[Shakes]

I love playing this game and cant get enough of it. I would probably score it an 8.5 because of a couple of bug factors.

1) The fumbles. I know its been beaten to death but unlike the review its the other way around for me. I always fumble in a game it seems like but my opponents never do (and when they do they challenge and the play gets reversed)

2) The 2 minute game. This one annoys the crap out of me as you can not audible plays from the line of scrimmage. Even timeouts used can be incorrect at times. The running out of time at the end of the half when about to kick the game winning field goal is another one. .

3) Speaking of field goals, Why can David Akersw hit a 52 yard field goal in supersim mode but every field goal from 46+ ends up short (even with help fro0m a 20 mph wind at one time).

4) Defining moments. Now for the most part I think these are great but a few need to be ironed out. When I am up in a game with 20 seconds to go and I have to run one more play on 4th down, that should not be a defining moment.

The first 3 are the most important. #4 not so much. Dont get me wrong though, this game is very addicting. Personally if I were the developers I would not release one in 2010 but in 2011. Look at Madden, honestly I am not too thrilled with franchised mode and as far as superstar mode...uh why is it there again? I think you could get a much better collection of what gamers want tweaked and/or added with a 2 year waiting period that doesnt seems like a rushed game then a 1 year.

Anyway basically starting from scratch and dismantling a god afwul original HC game (I was able to draft reggie bush at the 25th spot for crying out loud once) the developers deserve alot of credit to bringing probably my favorite Football game since NFL2k5. (But um..can you not have the intro rip my favorite team with a pass to Reggie Wayne to win the SB?) For the record its going from 5-11 to 11-5 not 6-10. Still some things to work on but overall still one of the best games out there on the market for sports fans.

[TCF]

despite the bugs i give this game a 9.5 out of 10.

[erivera7]

Re: NFL Head Coach 09 Review

Bill Abner had high praise for the game, giving it a B+, which is real good coming from him.

http://nutweasel.blogspot.com/2008/08/head-coach-soccer-and-tecumseh.html

[coach422001]

Great review. I held off on getting Madden to see if HC was as good as the previews suggested. One question regarding the work arounds to the current bugs: I did see the warning not to edit plays from the clipboard or you get the injury bug. Are there other workarounds given and is there someplace where these are outlined/consolidated?

Thanks!

[The Chef]

Re: NFL Head Coach 09 Review

Good review for the most part, there are a few areas I completely disagree with but thats how it goes I guess. Just to throw it out there, you mention in it that star RB's will hit the hole much quicker while backups and journeyman will struggle to find the hole, take longer and have a tougher time running. Well I use Frank Gore who is now a 90 and he still cant hit the hole fast, and I have seen on more the once occasion per game him hit the hole and somehow turn and run backwards away from the hole, so dont know whats going on there.

[Matt Diesel]

Does Gore know the plays you are calling? I find that when a RB doesnt know the play being called, he looks lost.

Good review. One of the more in-depth reviews I have seen on here.

[The Chef]

Re: NFL Head Coach 09 Review

Does Gore know the plays you are calling? I find that when a RB doesnt know the play being called, he looks lost.

Good review. One of the more in-depth reviews I have seen on here.

He does, in fact they are all mastered since there are so few in Mike Martz' playbook. Im not going to get too involved in that here though since this is more for the review but Ive posted about it in other areas.

[Perceptor]

Re: NFL Head Coach 09 Review

Not at all. I didn't communicate clearly but what I meant is that if we get a 40 or a 50 that's because of bugs, I think that's unfair.

When Game Informer said our game was like a team going from 5-11 to 6-10, I thought that was pretty silly.

The guys on this team killed themselves on this game and they deserve credit for what they did.

Outside of the bugs, I feel like everybody is having a really fun time with the game and I think the OS review was the most fair I've seen yet.

To me, a review is meant to look at the overall experience and judge the game's value compared to other titles.

Well said Josh and I agree about the GI comments...however, IMHO the whole review was a joke...anyhow, I gave this game a 9.5 and out of all the football games I've played, this is the most I've played since Madden 05...

[druez]

This game gets a 6 from me. Maybe after they patch it a bit, it might go up.

But a couple of things to note here. The running game is bleh. The 2 minute offense is bleh. The fumble bug is game breaking. Created plays can be easily abused e.g. I created a defensive play that I get about 10 to 12 sacks a game from and it stops the run.

If this game was made by a small developer, it would be ok. Because patches would come frequently and often. We will see one patch that will only fix a few things.

The graphics are average, the sound is average.

[Josh_Looman]

Re: NFL Head Coach 09 Review

Good review for the most part, there are a few areas I completely disagree with but thats how it goes I guess. Just to throw it out there, you mention in it that star RB's will hit the hole much quicker while backups and journeyman will struggle to find the hole, take longer and have a tougher time running. Well I use Frank Gore who is now a 90 and he still cant hit the hole fast, and I have seen on more the once occasion per game him hit the hole and somehow turn and run backwards away from the hole, so dont know whats going on there.

If you are expecting Gore to make amazing runs on every single play, it's just not going to happen.

Unfortunately, no video game accurately re-creates real life 100%.

We did the best we could to make things as realistic as possible.

[The Chef]

Re: NFL Head Coach 09 Review

If you are expecting Gore to make amazing runs on every single play, it's just not going to happen.

Unfortunately, no video game accurately re-creates real life 100%.

We did the best we could to make things as realistic as possible.

Ok, whatever you say, you certainly jumped to the opposite end of the spectrum dont you think? I dont believe I said I wanted him to have amazing runs on every single play, my problem is when guys run into a hole only to turn tail and run backwards out of the hole and losing 4 yards in the process. Then there is the RB who runs parallel with the LOS and never even turns it up field. I get that this is probably more designed to get the outcome the simulater kicks out and its about the results and not how we got there but there is a serious problem with how the RB plays when watching the game unfold on the TV.

Say, since we are talking, any ideas as to how to stop a guy like Alex Smith from throwing for 300+ per game? Im not trying to be sarcastic but its a legit problem that seems to be being overlooked. Is there anything you can tell us as a hint as to what might be causing it to happen? Im talking about constant 300+ yard games, Alex Smith throwing for 5000+ yards and winning the MVP award based solely on Mike Martz' playbook. Any help would be awesome.

[Josh_Looman]

Re: NFL Head Coach 09 Review

Ok, whatever you say, you certainly jumped to the opposite end of the spectrum dont you think? I dont believe I said I wanted him to have amazing runs on every single play, my problem is when guys run into a hole only to turn tail and run backwards out of the hole and losing 4 yards in the process. Then there is the RB who runs parallel with the LOS and never even turns it up field. I get that this is probably more designed to get the outcome the simulater kicks out and its about the results and not how we got there but there is a serious problem with how the RB plays when watching the game unfold on the TV.

Say, since we are talking, any ideas as to how to stop a guy like Alex Smith from throwing for 300+ per game? Im not trying to be sarcastic but its a legit problem that seems to be being overlooked. Is there anything you can tell us as a hint as to what might be causing it to happen? Im talking about constant 300+ yard games, Alex Smith throwing for 5000+ yards and winning the MVP award based solely on Mike Martz' playbook. Any help would be awesome.

My point was that it's a video game and it's not going to be a perfect representation of real life. I watched Steve Slaton hit the hole and run backwards 45 minutes ago in the Cowboys/Texans game on CBS, though.

If this is happening to you on every single running play, it's a serious problem. I watched an entire game between the Chargers and Panthers today and saw that happen once so I'm not seeing it. I'll play some games with the 49ers on Monday and see if it's happening as frequently as it seems to be happening to you.

And with the passing...is this with you calling all of the plays? Because if that's the case, I don't know why it's happening. Are you throwing on every down?

I know I've played dozens of games with multiple teams over the past few weeks and I've never had a QB finish the season with 5000 yards when I played the games. Some teams with pass heavy playbooks can throw the ball a bit much.

The 49ers were a bit heavy on the passing side, I agree. We've said from the start that we went overboard making sure that each team's style was unique and recognizable. If you start a career with the Wishbone playbook and sim a season, you may run the ball 70% of the time. We tuned it so that each team felt different each week and presented a unique challenge. We opted more for a fun sim football game vs. a realism simulator. I'm sorry you seem to be really disappointed with this aspect of the game.

In order to check into this, I need some help. What plays are you calling and how often are you calling them?

[The Chef]

Re: NFL Head Coach 09 Review

My point was that it's a video game and it's not going to be a perfect representation of real life. I watched Steve Slaton hit the hole and run backwards 45 minutes ago in the Cowboys/Texans game on CBS, though.

If this is happening to you on every single running play, it's a serious problem. I watched an entire game between the Chargers and Panthers today and saw that happen once so I'm not seeing it. I'll play some games with the 49ers on Monday and see if it's happening as frequently as it seems to be happening to you.

And with the passing...is this with you calling all of the plays? Because if that's the case, I don't know why it's happening. Are you throwing on every down?

I know I've played dozens of games with multiple teams over the past few weeks and I've never had a QB finish the season with 5000 yards when I played the games. Some teams with pass heavy playbooks can throw the ball a bit much.

The 49ers were a bit heavy on the passing side, I agree. We've said from the start that we went overboard making sure that each team's style was unique and recognizable. If you start a career with the Wishbone playbook and sim a season, you may run the ball 70% of the time. We tuned it so that each team felt different each week and presented a unique challenge. We opted more for a fun sim football game vs. a realism simulator. I'm sorry you seem to be really disappointed with this aspect of the game.

In order to check into this, I need some help. What plays are you calling and how often are you calling them?

Im not calling the plays, Im letting my OC call them since I was afraid if I started calling the plays then paying a guy like Mike Martz to be my OC would be pointless. Ive asked around and nobody has told me if the OC serves a purpose other then calling plays, if the other factor is the increase and growth of your players then maybe I will go back to calling my own plays but until then Im going to keep letting them call. The other side of the coin is I want to see my team struggle because we have a terrible DC, so in turn I want to feel like I have an advantage with a good OC.

I really dont know how to describe it, Martz clearly throws the ball a ton, thats to be expected, I just dont see the troubles of having a bad QB under center and it makes it pointless to go out and get a new one since Smith is playing way above where he should be playing. Like I said, volume isnt the problem, its the insane accuracy at which Smith is torching teams. Im in the middle of a game but at the end I will see if I can track down Smiths season ending stats, as long as they dont reset for the playoffs then it shouldnt be difficult to find. In the end all I can say is let Martz pick your plays and see what happens, thats all Im doing and these are the results Im getting.

Ohh, in terms of Gore running backwards, its different if someone is in the hole and he is attempting to bounce it outside but Im seeing him run backwards out of a hole that is wide open without a sole around, its like the guy is seeing a ghost and is running away in fear. Its not just strange to see, its irritating to no end.