Have you always wanted to have an impact on the NCAA basketball March Madness as a head coach? Wolverine Studios and Draft Day Sports: College Basketball 2017 may be the game for you.
The game isn’t developed by a mainstream, large publisher, therefore some people can expect a light game out of this title. It’s not like that. The game is incredibly deep.
Creating a new saved game is pretty straightforward. It is required a little waiting time to allow the game loading all the needed files. You can also play exhibition games out of your saved association or create customized 64-team tournaments.
The start can be a little overwhelming if you didn’t have played any WS title before. The coach’s home page is well structured, with plenty of information. All the needed stuff is located within one or two clicks. Rosters aren’t filled with real players, but you can edit any kind of information with a right click, or you can download mods from the forums.
The first thing you have to do is scout and recruit players. It’s not an easy feat, and you can see the huge amount of work the devs put in this aspect of the game.
Having only one scholarship per season makes it harder, but also more realistic.EDIT: There is no limit on scolarships per season, you can get as many as you are replacing. You’re also on a tight budget (how tight, once again very realistically, depends on your team). Just have a look at the following screenshot to appreciate the depth of the various options:
It is, of course, realistic that potential recruits will back stab you when deciding their school, and this only adds to the realism. You can also redshirt players and manipulate your schedule, to an extent.
The only thing is that you don’t get an alert when you get emails, so be sure to check them before simming to the next phase.
Games are played out with a sort of old-school 2d view, but it gives you a great idea of what’s happening on the court, as you can see from the screenshot.
The in-game footage is very similar to the Pro Basketball bigger sibling and offers either a 2D game mode or Gamecast mode. The text-based sim is convincing, and while a little bit clunky it can be addictive, at times, especially when both the clock and the score are tight, although you may want to accelerate it a bit (up to 10x) in the less important games.
As I said earlier, this game is not meant for the casual fans. All the options give the game an incredible depth, but it also means that you will need more time, and probably also more passion, to play this game. But for all the fans of the most complicated sports simulation games, all these options are a godsend.
VERDICT
Pros
- Incredible depth
- Well-tought recruiting system
- Engaging 2d view
Cons
- UI can be clicky at times
- May not be the right game if you’re not in the sports-managing niche
