Total Control Football - PC Review - Gamecenter

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Total Control Football

continued
a new meaning for the term wildcard
The bugs are too numerous to mention in detail, but, like SportsCenter, I can cover the highlights. After choosing a team, your first task as G.M. is to apply the latest patch. Highlights of the patch include joystick control for the Windows 95 version and sound for the DOS version. I've seen products released prematurely before, but these aren't simple bug fixes.
Total I call version 1.0 "Lack of Control Football" because of the absence of joystick support. Be warned: the patch only adds joystick control to the Windows 95 version, and I couldn't test the sound in the DOS version because the game stopped working once I applied the patch. After "fixing" the Windows 95 game, the announcer yells "No Good!" after a field goal goes through the uprights. Meanwhile, punts sometimes start automatically, go for only one yard, and, of course, the game crashes. My favorite bug appeared after a particularly nasty crash: Total Control requires 16-bit color in Windows 95, and it somehow switched my resolution back to 256 colors. I tried unsuccessfully for hours to get back into the game. Unfortunately, there is no error message about using the wrong color setting--the only patch that stinks worse is patchouli oil.
grass in the face mask
Bugs aside, Total Control suffers from a general lack of polish. Sound and music are terrible. It's hard to understand the commentary through the low-grade hissing, and what I can understand is extremely repetitive. Once past the poorly animated introduction, the graphics are acceptable in 640-by-480-pixel resolution mode. Players move realistically but are small, and although the graphical menus are well drawn, they are often unintuitive. Finally, press the Esc key at any point during the game and you immediately exit without saving or being asked if you'd like to save. The programmers obviously take the word escape literally, but it's an appropriate term for leaving this game.
It's a shame that Total Control has so many problems. It has the potential to be an in-depth G.M. sim. However, the developers stretched their resources too thin by including the ability to coach and play, and they rushed an unfinished product to market. Playing and coaching can be turned off, but the game is so poorly produced and bug-ridden that no part is worth playing alone. Maybe future revisions will be worth a try, but I have serious reservations about a company that would release a product like this to the public. On a positive note, one part of Total Control is bug-free--the uninstall program. This is fortunate, since it will likely be the most popular part of the game.
tips
-Get the patch.
-Learn to use the uninstall program for maximum enjoyment.

Hugh Falk has no clue about the gaming industry in general and wouldn't know a good game if it was crammed down his throat. This biography is dedicated to those hardworking programmers and quality assurance engineers who have taken the time to critique his crappy reviews of their perfect games. Send your gaming challenges to GamerX.

Facts

Total Control Football
Philips Media, 800/340-7888
Price: $40.00
Pentium-90, 16MB RAM (Windows 95) or 8MB RAM (DOS 6.0), 30MB of disk space, local bus video card with 1MB RAM, 2X CD-ROM drive, Windows 95 or DOS 6.0; Sound Blaster or compatible sound card

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Total Control Football

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