A game not for kiddies
posted by corrosive (NEW PORT RICHEY, FL) Sep 15, 2008
Member since Jun 2007
18
out of
19
gamers (95%) found this review helpful
This game is almost everything fans of text-based simulations have wanted in a graphical representation of the genre. This is not a game for little kiddies (not that some younger folk won't like the game). While it doesn't quite give you the level of control of most text-sims (i.e. Front Office Football), it does make the transition to consoles well. The menu navigations and "clipboard" where most actions will take place work well in the absence of a keyboard and mouse combination.
The game play itself is solid but where this game really shines is draft-day. The scouting mechanisms are great and the systems used for rating the draftees is something console gaming has needed for a while. Instead of just giving the player a single overall rating many other things are taken into consideration. You must also look at the players potential. This potential grade will fluctuate from coach to coach as different players will do better or worse in different offensive or defensive systems.
The game is not without its flaws however, and this is what prevented the perfect 10 score, although it is very very close. There are some issues with the two-minute drill. There are a few glitches that cause scrub players to demand high salaries, and using the in-career play-creator feature causes injured players to never recover. However plays can still be created on the fly during the actual games and from the front menus. However the developers have promised to address these issues in a patch, at which time this game could easily receive a perfect 10 score. The play creator design itself also leaves something to be desired, but it is adequate. The option to export those plays to Madden is pretty neat too.
All in all, I don't think this is a game for the mainstream. However, those who are serious about football strategy and/or love text based sims should give this game a try. I have been playing this game much more than Madden and see myself playing it long after I have tired of Madden.
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