NCAA '06 goes deep

Like that Belinda Carlisle song, heaven is a place on earth.
Heaven is being the top college football player in the country, winning the Heisman trophy, being surrounded by pretty cheerleaders and ugly sycophants, promises of more fame and fortune around the corner.
Maybe I'm just playing too much NCAA Football '06. But these daydreams are a credit to the game's depth.
NCAA Football 2005 was one of last year's best sports games and its predecessor is even better. Created on EA Sports' Madden engine, it's a very similar feel to that franchise, with college football teams instead of professionals.
What's new this year is the "impact player." Teams usually have at least one "go-to" guy, the player who can always be relied on in pressure situations. You can call up plays that best suit your impact player, whether it's a quarterback who can run the option for a 15-yard break, or a speedy wide out who can leave everyone in his wake.
The game's main mode is the new Road to the Heisman, in which you create your own impact player, and enrol him as a freshman in one of the many schools available. You have four years to win the MVP trophy, and should you win it earlier, you have the option of going to the NFL draft early. Once Madden 2006 is released (in August), you'll be able to transfer that college player to a pro team.
In Dynasty mode, you can also recruit high school players during your season. You can invite them to your campus when you're playing a home game, and if you win, they're more likely to want to enrol at your school. This ensures the quality of your program year after year.
Home field advantage also returns this year, and on key plays, the stadium erupts and the screen shakes, rattling the visiting team and making a false start, interception, sack or incompletion more likely. And the right analog stick can now be used as either a hit stick (as in Madden) or to shake off defenders if you have the ball.
Now, most of us didn't attend Penn State, but that shouldn't put you off this title. I created my alma mater (Western Ontario) with ease, created uniforms, a stadium, playbooks, a coach, made myself quarterback and put all my university friends in other key positions. Heck, with enough patience, you can create every team in the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport).
The bottom line is with all the options and personalization, this is a title that gives new meaning to "fantasy football." Don't sit this one out.

Nick Lewis
Calgary Herald