I downloaded this and played it several times. The games is not without its flaws, but it’s such a fresh alternative to Madden. I’m not psyched about the camera and the defensive controls really need work and these are not elements expected to be fixed by the time the game releases, but I’m still going to buy this game. I’m really excited for the potential for the team creator option.

Yeah, I think the camera is fine on offense but the defense threw me off. When you switch to another player that is closer to the ball carrier the camera spins around to that player and its very confusing.

Other than that I enjoyed the game and am going to play a bit more today. I am a guy that can’t stand Madden because it bores me and is nothing like actual football, IMO. Backbreaker is a bit more exciting.

NEW GAME: Play Tackle Alley. But, only Showboat and not run. It’s hysterical.

This game is absolutely horrific. When I downloaded the Dev Diary videos, and saw all these guys with british accents telling me how they we’re gonna immerse me in a game that felt like realy football I was like “what do you british guys know about American Footbal?! Go make a soccer game or something!”

The engine is cool I guess, but all in all, it’s a very bland game. It’s a shane EA had to be a bunch of dirty bastards n buy out the NFL License. The 2K series from Visual Concepts was some of the best football ever. I remember being so excited for All Pro Football 2K8, but it was a pretty big letdown. NFL2K5 is still the best football game ever made in my opinion

Well, I have to say I completely disagree with your point, OfManNotMachine. You failed to mention why the game isn’t done well, and only that these “guys with british accents telling me how they we’re gonna immerse me in a game that felt like realy football.” That seems to be a common theme on the boards all over, but at least others had reasons why they didn’t like the game other than that. First of all 2K5 was the most overrated piece of shit ever. The game sold really well and was received well due to its price tag. Was it a decent game? Yeah, but at that price, they could have put in Tecmo Bowl and it would have gotten the same response. People looking for anything other than Madden with the same gameplay style as Madden will be disappointed, for sure, because BB plays nothing like any football game out there. But, to say that these guys can’t make a good football game because they are from Europe is the worst argument, and you’d know it’s not even a valid one if you played the game for more than 2 seconds. It sounds like they could teach YOU a thing or two about an “American sport.” That ‘American Sport’ just happens to be a sport that was forged from the cores of Rugby and Soccer, two things that the British do very well. So, while American Football may not be their forte, to say they can’t do the sport correctly is ignorance and it means you didn’t spend enough time with the game.
The only part of your argument that had ANY validity is the game being bland. Surely, for a demo, it’s not filled with a ton of bells and whistles, but at least that argument had an opinion that wasn’t just anti-European sentiment. It sounds like you just need a game with the NFL license and that’s fine, when Madden 11 comes out this year, we’ll both be in line to buy it (as I have been for the last 9 years) but, when I see those canned animations behind every single tackle for the 11th time in the same quarter, I’ll switch back to Backbreaker, and be online with my custom team and authentic game engine. Peace out, newb.

Alright Rich, this game is just flat out terrible. The reason you like this and not the Madden franchise is because you don’t know jack about sports, or have any interest in them whatsoever. The Madden franchise is hugely successful because it makes the game fairly realistic which is what people who like sports like to see. This goes for just about all successful sports games outside of skating. For you to praise this game and say that the Madden franchise bores you because it isn’t anything like real football is a statement that testifies to your lack of knowledge of anything sports related.

If this game is anything like the demo, it will be horrific. The controls suck and the attempted rough and tough music that is inserted is laughable. You are incapable of running in a straight line when you pitch it to your running back or pass it to your receiver because the camera action is pathetic. The defensive controls are simply terrible also. I would imagine that if I were to sit down and play this for an hour or so I may become more acclimated to the controls. This is not what I want, I want a natural feel to the controls that come easily, which is what the Madden and the NCAA franchises deliver. There was not one enjoyable minute for me during this demo play. The millions of individuals who play Madden and NCAA Football will not go for this game. I would rather play NFL Blitz on the N64. It was a waste of my time to even download it. Thanks a lot Rich.

Oh Hai, Is there ah button to punch people in this game?

When I say that Madden isn’t like real football, I mean to say that Madden is too scripted for me to enjoy it. Everything in the game is done very specifically and it shows.

The reason that I enjoy Back Breaker is because it is really utilizing the Euphoria Engine to create procedural animation. There are plenty of preset animation in the game but every time you make contact with another person, the Euphoria Engine kicks in and I really like it. If the defense makes a tackle and catches the ankle or hit him straight on, and depending if the running jumps or stiff arms completely changes the animations.

I agree that the defense kind of blows, but I like the offensive elements in the game.

Alright, I may be the only one here who agrees with Rich. But so far, the knock against Rich is that he’s not a sports gamer and I’m not seeing anyone justify their hatred for this game with anything really concrete other than the control scheme. Are the controls the same as the controls for Madden/NCAA? Of course not, it’s not going to play like Madden- get over it. I love Madden just as much as the next guy, I buy it ever year. It’s taken Madden years to develop the control scheme they use now and they refine it every year. A game doesn’t need to have perfect controls to be a good game, and I don’t even think the controls are bad, I think that there are just a bunch of Madden die hards who won’t play anything else or even give anything else a chance. Crawford said “I would imagine that if I were to sit down and play this for an hour or so I may become more acclimated to the controls.” No shit? If you sat down for an hour you may learn the controls to a game you’ve never played? You mean, you may have to learn? And the “natural feel” of Madden you’re referring to? It’s only natural because if you’re anything like me, you’ve been playing this game for the last 10 years or more and the control scheme is largely unchanged. I would hope that it’d be natural to you after that long, I’d be terrified if it wasn’t, actually. Rome wasn’t built in a day, guys, and Backbreaker is not perfect, but so many of your arguments are based fundamentally on the fact that the game isn’t Madden. You need to get over that real quick.

Hey Geeeoff,

First off, I wasnt tyrying to be anti-europeaon…but it’s no secret that most europeans…dont like american football. If these guys wanna make a football game, hey…more power to them man. I’m just saying the game is terrible. Now I’ll illustrate why I think it is.

First off…To say NFL2K5 is the most over rated piece of shit ever…is a pretty wild statement. The game always sold quite well even when it was $50. Also…you may be in line to buy Madden 11, but I won’t be. I haven’t purchased any Madden game since EA went exclusive with the NFL. I’ve never really liked the Madden games. I’ve tried em out every year, and I’m just not into them at all. I agree with Rich saying they felt too scripted. And there’s always easy cpu exploit plays that make it unplayable online. Perhaps these existed in NFL2K5, but I never came across any myself when playing it. And I played it quite alot.

So….Backbreaker….

I’m not expecting bells n whistles from a demo. What I do expect…is to gather a decent idea of what the game is going to play like, if I decide to shell out $50 for it. Is the game engine nice? How all the tackles are different? Sure it is….but all that’s going…is making every tackle different. It feels every bit as scripted to me as Madden, of even NFL2K5. Just different animations. Does not having NFL teams make it worse? Sure…but I cant fault the developers for EA being a bunch of greedy bastards.

But I don’t feel this game gives me anything worthwhile. If you enjoy the game, sweet man. Enjoy playing it. I was just saying it did absolutely nothing for me. The camera angle is really akward. But what it is…is an arcade style football game. The dev diary referred to it is “an arcade sim” Sorry…u can’t have both. It’s one, or the other. It’s an arcade style game similar to blitz, but probably alot better than blitz.

It just felt bland to me. Sorry we disagree.

Of course, I am not here to start arguments. My sentiments is that this game is getting a lot of criticism from it “not being Madden,” and this is coming from those who are both fans of Madden and not fans of Madden. If you look at the 2K series (2k5 in particular, because it’s considered football Valhalla), the game is terribly overrated. The reason why I feel this is: 1. The game shipped at a $19.99 price tag. It didn’t drop to that, or become that price, that’s how it shipped. Your game should outsell Madden based on that fact alone, if it’s even moderately good enough, and I’m pretty sure it didn’t. 2.) The game hasn’t aged well. The graphics were on par with Madden’s (I’d even give the edge to 2k5, but only slightly) but the gameplay wasn’t that different! So, it was total fodder for those who simply were anti-Madden and wanted a new experience. The problem is that the game didn’t offer that different of an experience. If you compare the gameplay styles, they are largely the same basic set up. 2k5 took the gameplay that Madden created, made some tweaks, slapped a 20 buck price tag on it, and sold it. I at least give BB the points for trying a new gameplay style. 3. 2K Sports has done nothing since 2K5 for football. Games have proven time and again that an NFL license is not required to be successful. Yet, 2K put out their game in 2008 and it was so incredibly mediocre. They had years to develop a game that could live up to the hype of their football mecca, and didn’t because they just didn’t or can’t. Speculating here, but if they are such superior game makers to the Madden developers, then why haven’t we seen an un-licensed game for football since 2k5 that isn’t just mediocre? YOU DON’T NEED A LICENSE TO CREATE A GOOD FOOTBALL GAME. And people, stop hating on Blitz. The series was outstanding, there is a reason they made as many of them as they did. And Blitz: The League? Underrated as hell.
OfManNotMachine, I’m not mad or even upset, I just felt like your argument came from a place of many others and that it wasn’t really self thought out. I feel like so many train themselves to hate this game because it doesn’t play the way “they want it to,” but they have no idea that the way they want it to play is just like the game they don’t want to buy. I just don’t get it. It means you either really don’t hate Madden, or are really just holding some kind of grudge.

Well,

From my own experience it went like this…Back in 99, when I purchased the Dreamcast, well..Madden wasn’t an option. I had honestly never been much of a Madden fan, I played them on PSX, and I played some on PS2 as well. They just never did much for me. Is the game complete garbage? Of course not. It just never did anything for me. Blitz, same thing. To me…Blitz is crap, but I can see why certain people would enjoy it alot. It’s arcade football experience, and for some, that’s perfect. It’s just not my thing at all.

The 2K Series I’m sure when it was selling for $50 was being outsold big time by Madden. Back before NFL2K5 came out, I used to work for Game Stop. I’d always ask people when they we’re reserving Madden “hey..have u ever played the 2k series? It’s not too bad, ya outta try it sometime” And I’d almost always get “Nope…not even gonna try it. I ONLY play Madden” So I’d ask why. The response “cause it’s Madden” I’m sure the guys at Visual Concepts felt their game was superior to Madden, and I’m sure they discovered the same thing, there was a large number of people who weren’t willing to pay $50 to try out their football game. So hey…why not release the next game at $20 n see what happens? More people are likely to try something new for $20 instead of $50. I honestly have no idea how well it sold in comparioson to Madden, I’m sure it still got crushed in sales but I’m sure it had a pretty good increase in sales. Enough of an increase for EA to say “we better make sure they can’t make another NFL Football game!”

I totally agree with you that All Pro 2K8 was TERRIBLE. I bought it the day it came out. I didn’t care about the NFL License. I just wanted to play a good football game. Maybe my own expectations of the game was why I didn’t like it, but like you said, they had YEARS to develop it, and it flat out sucked.

I totally give the guys credit at 505 studios or whatever the studio is called, for tryin to make something different. However, I just feel like the game doesn’t know if it wants to be blitz, or a madden style game. It’s like…caught in between the two. I’ll certainly say it’s better than All Pro 2K8 that’s for sure. But again…I bet most people want the NFL License, and I’m sure this game will sell poorly. But honestly…even IF the game was AMAZING, it’d still get crushed by Madden. Simply because….90% of football gamers, for some resaon…play Madden, and refuse to play anything else. Madden gamers probably won’t even try the demo of this game.

At least I can say I tried it out.

I can say myself I’m not loyal to a sports franchise. I used to prefer the 2K hockey games, then over the last couple years, I felt the EA hockey was so much better. I always try out both every year. I used to be a HUGE fan of Pro Evolution Soccer, but it’s become very stale, and The FIFA games from EA the last few years have been incredible.

Hopefuilly I illustrated my point a little better in my last post, and this one here.

By the way, really like the site. You guys all do a great job.

Look at it this way They Cant use NFL teams cause Madden is scared But who said they cant make a basketball game cause look at backbreaker now how u there basketball game will look mine you they can use NBA TEAMS