List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $11.58
Today's Bonus: 42% Off
Finally an alternative to the Madden football games we've all been forced to play since EA gained exclusivity of the NFL license.
If you were one of the few to pick up All-Pro 2K8 you'll know that, without the NFL logos, the game of American football seems to appear a bit different. While All-Pro 2K8 was a decent comeback for the team responsible for the finest football game to date (NFL2K5), 2K sports just couldn't compete with the Madden marketing juggernaught and, sadly, gamers never got to see an updated version of All-Pro.
Flash forward three years and out comes a new contender in "Backbreaker." Hopes were high, but expectations had to be set low, for this new football game coming from UK developer 505 Studios. You really need to see this game running in all of its glory to appreciate what 505 has done here. Like their marketing has boasted, "there are no canned routines and every tackle IS different." Linemen move realistically, players obey the rules of football and the animation engine never seems to quit giving of itself. Some hits are brutal, some are downright hilarious and some hits I've seen would kill a person if they happened on the field. Sure the crowd animations are limited and the characters look like sculpted-robot-men from the future but, at its core, Backbreaker is a very solid first outing and definitely has the components to build an even greater football experience their next time around.
As for now, at $49.99, you can't find a better reason to stop paying for Madden's inability to innovate every year and start playing football again.
Click Here to Read More Reviews >>
The good:Tackling and physics are incredible. The player interaction is more organic and the whole game just feels far more realistic than any of the animation driven games like Madden.
The logo creator and custom team creation. The logo editor is very similar to what's used for decals in Forza, and basically allows you to create any logo you can dream of (or you can copy the NFL).
The running game and playing defense both very fun but don't try switching players on Defense, just stick with one guy and play your assignment. Switching will disorient you pretty badly.
Passing game the mechanics of the passing game and the idea behind it is the most realistic I've ever seen in a video game. You actually have to read the defense and know which receiver you want to throw to before the play and you have a blind spot you're forced to look at your receivers before you throw it to them. None of this scrambling to the left then jump/spin/fling the ball to the right crap that Madden has.
The bad:
The offensive AI for the CPU can be incredibly stupid sometimes. There is a patch in the works though so this may be fixed in the future.
The playbooks are far too limited when compared to other football games.
The passing game while I love the mechanics there is a bit of an issue with defenders seeming to have hands of glue. Both you and the CPU tend to throw just a few too many INTs.
Penalties seem to be a bit sporadic at best, and there are some odd rule interpretations. It isn't NFL football.
No injuries or player fatigue. Not a game killer, but definitely a bit disappointing.
The other:
The game has 2 different season/franchise modes one where you work your way up through a tiered league system, and one that resembles a standard multiseason franchise mode, though it's rather bareboned. I haven't played either mode enough to really have an opinion on them yet.
Overall it's a very very solid foundation for a football game.This game will immediately WOW you. The tutorials will leave you speechless at how awesome the game play is.
Then you hop into a regular game and you get worked...so it gets VERY frustrating. BUT....if you can train yourself to forget the years of "training" from playing the same dry football game we've been force-fed yearly...YOU.WILL.LOVE.BACKBREAKER. Even if you are getting destroyed, this game is fun.
Tackle Alley (a mini-game that has you running from one end of the field to the other avoiding would be tacklers) is arguably worth the money alone. Especially when you play it split screen with a friend.
This game is gorgeous, no other sports game comes close. The tacklers are amazing. If you can get past the steep learning curve (which is mostly just being able to over come your previous football game knowledge) and learn to play this game for what it's meant to be you will enjoy this.
The team creator will cause you to lose sleep as you stay up till the wee hours of the morning creating your own team!
Read Best Reviews of Backbreaker Here
Great game!! It way better then I expected. I've been glued to this game since I brought it home. The graphics and sound are amazing. This game is much better than Madden. This game is alot of fun once you get pass controller's layout. So Madden there a new contender to the throne.This is my first time ever writting a review, but I think people should know that this game is not what everyone says it is.1. When I first got the game, it was frustrating trying to play when you are so used to the controls from other football games, but I fought through this learning experience and now I actually like the controls. It does take some time to get used to them though.
2. It seems that everyone is claming that this is "real football" and unless you know real football you will not appreciate it... Well, that is true to some extent. The camera angle does make it much more like real football in that you can not see the whole field all the time, but to me that is where the "real football" experience ends. The gameplay is nothing like real football. While playing games, I notice that there are WAY TO MANY SACKS AND INTERCEPTIONS! It happens all the time, not just to me (I could understand that because it takes time to learn the game), but the computer throws interceptions all the time also. You will probably get at least 3 interceptions per game (5 min quarters), and possibly many more... Now, in "real football" it is rare for 3 or more interceptions, but not in this game. Also, you will probably get at least 10 sacks in a game, and get sacked many more depending on your skills. How many games of "real football" do you see a team get 10 sacks in? And that is not from me, I play the safety position, so those are coming from the computer vs computer on the line.
3. I have run into several issues with returning a punt. For 1, I am probably not exagerating when I say 25% of the punts result in a roughing the kicker penalty from my guy running into the kicker (and I'm way back controling the returner) This happens way too much and I end up having to take control of the ends to keep them from running into the kicker for a 15 yard penalty. Not much like "real football" to me.
4. The computer AI is terrible. I was in a game where I was trailing by 2 touchdowns with 3 minutes to go... The computer did not try to run the clock down to win the game... The computer repeatedly threw passes and did not let the play clock run down... I was able to stop them and score, then stop them again inside of 2 minutes and tie the game. I didn't even have to use my timeouts because the computer was throwing the ball and not letting the play clock run down. This isn't "real football"
5. One final point. Your player falls down way too easy. If you run into the back of your lineman you will most likely fall down backwards. I haven't seen (that I can recall) my player bounce off the back of my own man to hit the hole once.
Summary: There are several GREAT things about this game, but after giving it an honest try I would not recommend it and would not buy it again if given the choice. The physics are great, the new controls are actually good once you get used to them, and I even have grown to appreciate the camera angle. BUT, there are way to many BAD things about this game to make it a "real football" game. I have come to the conclusion that people are just saying that to make themselves feel like they know football more than others.
0 comments:
Post a Comment