Before diving into EA Sports' latest college football title, let us first introduce ourselves to "the horseshit play."<
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After two highly successful defensive downs, your computer controlled opponent looks at third and seventeen, an obvious passing situation. You call a passing defense formation, with Prevent or Double Outs coverage to account for two of their four receivers, with your LBs on their slot receivers. Before the snap, you move your defensive line in tight, both to block any running lanes in the attempt of a QB draw, and to make the offensive line easier to penetrate and provide pressure on the QB. The ball is snapped and a lineman comes free, hitting the quarterback just in time for him to affect his release of the ball. It sails high and deep, seemingly without target, until you notice your two defenders tightly wrapped around a receiver, following the flight path of the ball. Forty yards later, as all three players jump for the ball, your opponent comes down with the catch and is invincible to any tackling attempt by the two players who are still on top of him, and runs the ball in for a touchdown.<
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If you are like me, after executing perfect defense such as the situation describes, and are still robbed of the glory of a fourth down, you throw your controller down in
and shout "HORSESHIT!!1"<
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This is the failure of the game. It's too hard. Not too hard in the right ways, where you have to respond in a split second when the computer makes a right move. It's too hard in the manner of horseshit plays, where, against ridiculous odds, the computer routinely performs near-impossible feats. While your own offensive and defensive success is based on strategic playcalling, pinpoint execution and flawless controller technique, the success of the computer opponent seems to be entirely arbitrary and based on stupid luck.<
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I've played roughly 15 games since I bought it yesterday, and provide this list of complaints. Note that I'm playing the game on the default difficulty setting with the 05 controller scheme.<
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1. Horseshit plays occur entirely too often, especially when playing against wildly inferior teams (#86 ranked computer team getting four 50+ yard touchdown passes on consecutive drives vs. my #1 player controlled team). There also seems to be defensive horseshit plays. One of the worst problems of 2005 was a player lock when the QB was about to be sacked. When a computer defender was approaching the QB to sack, there was about a 1% chance you would be able to control the QB in effort to avert the tackle, throw the ball away, etc., while the computer controlled QBs routinely would "hit the black button" to avoid losing yardage.<
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2. Turnovers seem to be more frequent in this year's edition, and although most interceptions are the fault of the player, fumbles seem to happen at random, especially in the red zone. On two consecutive drives, against a team entirely outclassed, my Heisman-leading HB fumbled on the one yard line, but I have yet to force a single red zone turnover. I also have yet to recover a single fumble, although this is largely due to the camera orientation of the game. When the ball hits the ground in traffic, there's just really no way to see it, and so the computer, mechanically knowing where the ball is, is able to pounce on it. The one time I was the beneficiary of an offensive horseshit play, one of the covering defenders jarred the ball loose, and even after making my guy jump directly on the ball, the opponent made the recovery.<
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3. This edition introduces Impact Players, which causes the game to lean toward star players rather than good team cooperation, a mainstay of college football. Impact Players are capable of going "In The Zone," which seems to happen completely randomly, converting them from well-above-average athletes to superhuman cyborg football ninjas. If a QB or WR are In the Zone and a pass play is called, nearly any attempt to keep them from scoring will be turned away. For HB and FB Impact Players, the In The Zone effect seems to be lessened, although they are more capable of
eaking a series of tackles. Non-option run defense has never been harder than it should be in the NCAA games, but pass defense has always been an issue, and with the introduction of Impact Players and the deluge of horseshit plays, even the most flawless defensive strategy and execution are useless.<
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NCAA Football 2006 has a number of good features, such as the new Race for the Heisman mode, which the game inserts you in by default. You select a position and are given an offseason-style drill to perform, and based on the outcome, are offered three starting positions, although you can choose to walk on to any school you choose and be the starter. You then customize the look and name of your player, and are off to play his college career like Dynasty mode without the recruiting and coaching decisions. The goal is, of course, to win the Heisman, and after your career, your player can become a coach in Dynasty mode, which I'm sure includes extra coach prestige.<
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Also included this year is in-season recruiting, which was borrowed from the NCAA March Madness game, and is useful for getting a few key players before the offseason rush, where the bulk of your important recruiting will be done.<
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I've loved the NCAA Football games for years now, even more than the Madden series, but I don't think I like this one very much. Every step of the way
ings frustration, and while I think the game should be challenging, the problems I have are based on bad design more than my limited skill. I don't like the idea of Impact Players, as it further blurs the distinction between the college and pro games. I also don't like when a team I'm beating 28-0 in the 4th quarter, who has 70 yards of total offense, scores three touchdowns in three minutes on plays that are impossible to defend.
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