All that said, the biggest addition to on-field gameplay is the “Impact Player” dynamic. I recall many years ago on PS1, Sony/989 tried a similar concept in the late 90s “NCAA Gamebreaker”, and it made sense. There is a bigger gap between the marquee players in college football and the average player than there is between pro players. So, in the game- as in real life- its wise to model this dynamic when doing a college game. Well, unlike the GameBreaker series, NCAA 2006 pulls it off well, and does it realistically. Marquee players are signified by a pulsating icon at their feet. As they get hot, it pulsates more, which means either get them the ball (if on offense) or, on defense, this player is gonna hit hard and be more likely to intercept, avoid blockers, or cause a fumble. It does add quite a bit to the game, because you have to gameplan around the AI’s impact players (because the AI is smart enough to involve them- a lot) as well as make sure you rely on your own impact players. Before I played the game, I was worried that the impact players would be unstoppable. Well, they can be contained (maybe not “stopped”, per-se) and it doesn’t become something crazy like NFL Street’s hot players. They will make big catches- sometimes in traffic, and they will break a tackle or two more than the average back on a given run. They make their presence known in the game, but effective gameplanning can force the AI to look to other players, but much depends on the team in question and how it matches up. You WILL work your rear off to beat a top 10 team with a top 20 or top 30 ranked team. You will also lose that matchup more often than not (especially if you are on the road). So don’t always assume you are gonna take a #30 and come near the top ten in your first season. You may be required to build a better team over a few years, but isn’t that reality? I would say so.

There’s also much to be said for the new “Race For The Heisman” mode, which I didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I am. I’ve never been a big “create my own player guy”, but I must admit that I tried it and really liked it in NCAA 2006. You start out in front of a recruiter and you do you position drill. You have to pick either QB, WR, RB, DB, LB, or DL- (which covers the glamour positions- though I was a bit disappointed that you couldn’t choose to be a tight end.) Depending how well you do your drill, you will get recruited by about 3 different schools. Basically, if you do well, higher ranked schools will recruit you. (Example- I went crazy in the QB drill and got recruited by FSU and Miami). Also, the better you do at the drill, it seems the better your players ratings will be- so there’s a bit of a role playing element. It does bear mentioning that you CAN walk on to any school you would like and you will be a starter there as well. The RFTH mode then takes you to your own dorm room, where you can get the news from around the NCAA, go to practices, store your trophies, check your Heisman hype status, as well as check the picture of your current girlfriend (and you start out with some..uh…well…you’ll see.) Of course, you are probably going to want to pad your player’s stats throughout the year to help with the Heisman battle, but be warned- it seems that first year starting freshmen fumble quite often. Word to the wise, on offense use the “cover the ball” move (up on the right stick) when tackled as a freshmen. All in all it’s a very cool game mode and adds a more personal element to the game that it didn’t have before. I was also presently surprise to see my last name was in the commentary database for my player. (“Hemphill” is not a very common last name, but its in the game.) My player- who is a QB for Miami, will not win the Heisman in year one- as there’s no way I’m catching Matt Leinart. It certainly won’t happen with my conservative/safe passing approach and too many INTs in my current season, but I have 3 more years to try before I graduate.

Graphics:
As stated before, my review copy was the PS2. I have to say that I’m impressed by the graphics. They are sharper than last year and seem to move better with more animation. There’s better textures and better detail on the players. There’s also noticeably better field graphics. All that said, the graphics are not revolutionary and more of a “touching up” … but you will notice the “Touch-ups” when you see them. Lets face it, as with all games this year, these are late-system life games for both the XBOX and PS2. This much is to be expected. The graphics aren’t a huge strength of NCAA 2006, but they are not a weakness by any stretch- all things considered. (Example- I thought NCAA 2006 looked more like a refined XBOX game than it did a PS2 game- judging only by its graphics.) That’s a compliment.

Sound:
Sound is a mixed bag in NCAA 2006. You have the bands, very active fans (who boo and cheer when they should), and you have the hits and all the awesome college sounds you have come to expect from the NCAA series. Unfortunately, EA still seems to be lagging behind the 2K Sports games in terms of commentary, and this has yet to be addressed. Brad Nessler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso are back. Perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad thing if they went out and recorded many more lines of dialogue than what we are used to, but it sure doesn’t seem that way. I’ve been hearing Corso say “That’s right baby…I’m ALWAYS excited..” and the same things for the past 3 years or more. It does seem that the NCAA crew is stuck in that “Madden-like commentary rut” of the same things over and over again. Hopefully, this will be addressed with next year’s EA/ESPN presentation license. Still, I find myself saying the commentary is okay- and some times I detect what is perhaps some new dialogue, but its rare. In fairness, what NCAA 2006 doesn’t have in terms of commentary, I feel it makes up for on the field with the sounds from the game, the bands, and the crowd.

Presentation:
In-game presentation didn’t get that much of an upgrade. EA did add a commentator’s booth where Corso, Nessler, and Herbstreit are presented in the game when they do the team introductions. Lee Corso then gives his pick by wearing the gear of his picks mascot (like wearing a Gator head). The only other big in game presentation edition is the new “Impact Camera” that slow-motions the big plays of your given impact players up-close and personal during the game. I would have guess this would be a distraction since it happens during the actual play, but its done effectively and it isn’t disruptive. Its also rare enough to not grow old quickly. Other than that, it’s the same presentation as last year, which falls into the “okay” category. You have the basics- like the teams running out on the field, key players being shown up close at pre-game, etc. Again, hopefully this will get a serious upgrade next year on the jump to PS3/XBOX 360.

Artificial Intelligence:
EA seemed to boost the AI from NCAA 2005 substantially in NCAA 2006 in some key areas. Teams do a fine job of playing to their real-life strength. Teams that pound the ball, actually do it. Teams that throw more than run also tend to throw more than run. In previous versions, it was possible to stuff the AI on its first offensive run calls, and the AI would react by airing the ball out most of the game- even with running teams. Not so in this year’s game. (I’m still reeling from what the Sooners did on the ground to my Notre Dame boys!) This is VERY welcomed. Last year, that was my single biggest knock on NCAA 2005, and I’m very happy to say that EA responded and made things much more realistic in this regard. Defensively, I find the AI sitting on my frequently called plays if I go to that well once too many times (or back to back). Let me warn all of you about this game- if you are too predictable, you will lose to the AI. On a more critical note, I will say that sometimes it appears that the long-ball is a bit too easy when throwing to an impact WR. This phenomenon is there for the AI’s impact wideouts and your own (assuming you both have at least one impact WR). Impact wide receivers generally can get good separation and make clutch catches. If you get one of them “in the impact zone” they are more likely to do something huge, even in traffic. Slider adjustment may help in single player- but this dynamic may lead to some online cheese, as Bangpow noticed when he played someone on XBOX live. It is something you’ll have to be aware of. It also seems that the AI sometimes shirks some kickoff coverage and you can spring some pretty big returns at times. This is a catch 22 for EA, because people complained about how difficult it was to get any good return in Madden 2005, and now I bet people will complain about easy returns in NCAA 2006. Overall, AI is a mixed bag- but I will venture to say it’s a big improvement over last year.

Depth/Replay Value.
Since NCAA 2004 and all the player tracking/recruiting/team building came about in NCAA dynasty mode, the series hasn’t ever suffered from lack of depth or replay value. This year, Race For The Heisman added more depth and a fairly cool new mode of play to an already juicy offering. There’s a ton of good football gaming to be had here with NCAA 2006, and I don’t think college football fans will be disappointed at all.

Closing Comments.

NCAA 2006 is definitely a more refined and balanced game than its predecessors. Key gameplay areas (such as the running game and the frequent easy pass drops) have been tweaked over the years to bring the game more in-line with reality. More importantly, the game is very fun and challenging and offers some great new features (such as impact players) and a very interesting new mode of play (Race For the Heisman). Its not perfect, and has the occasional rough area (such as re-used commentary and rather vanilla playbooks that need updated) but overall I would highly recommend this game if you are any kind of football fan. College football fans- stop reading this review and go buy it.