NFL Head Coach updated demo

Editors' ReviewDownload.com staffSeptember 2, 2015NFL Head Coach takes a good idea--a 3D football-management simulation--and nearly pulls it off, with a dizzying array of options, plays, and tasks for any would-be football coach or general manager. Managing in-game options is intuitive, but the 3D graphics slow down the gameplay in places where fancy graphics aren't needed, such as during drafting and making roster changes. The action is broken up into three main sections: preseason scouting and drafting, practice, and games. Though the demo ably demonstrates the depth and breadth of content available, it leaves out some key game elements such as the play designer. The demo begins one week before the draft, although preseason options are quite limited. You can only access office hours, a coaches meeting, and the NFL draft, where you will be making selections in three rounds for the Houston Texans, who have the draft's first pick. The action is much more hands-on during an actual game, where you can call every single play, motivate your players with speeches, and make slight strategy tweaks to help your squad. In the practice sessions, you can offer specific advice to your players that they will remember come game time. For example, you can tell your quarterback to always look to the sidelines during a specific passing play, giving you a good option when you need to stop the clock. The game in the demo only allows for one-minute quarters, but there's a full set of time-outs to maximize the gameplay. On our system (2.4GHz CPU and 512MB RAM), however, the action by the players on the field was incredibly slow, enough to almost ruin the experience. Navigating menus by mouse is often frustrating, but the keyboard shortcuts work fine.