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Deattribution · 08-13-2008, 10:21 PM

Some early impressions (I'm 8 games into a season with the Lions, started in the offseason)

Pros -

100x better interface, I'd give the interface about a 8. It's about as good as it can be considering it's meant to be played with a controller instead of a keyboard/mouse. The ingame interface isn't quite as fluid, but it doesn't affect enjoyment much once you get use to the slight 'hitch' to load the screens in game.

The game is deep. RFA's with 4 or 5 tender levels, contract incenitives, player personalities, weekly practices that are useful and not daunting, play book knowledge with each individual player having there own knowledge ratings, coaching staff with each position coach represented including a trainer and GM that can be hired/fired also all with their own individual skills that can be trained up and tons of other stuff.

Game 'defining' moments that pop up on tough decisions during a game (do you go for it on 4th and 1 down by a touchdown and gain fan support, media support ect (or lose it if you fail) or punt and guarantee a loss of support that you don't get back if you don't win).

It's simply alot of fun having a full 3D representation of your game.

Deep draft scouting done in the off season and during the season but again, it doesn't feel daunting. (For example, one of the ways I've seen scouting done during the season is you pick what level of schools you want to scout (big, mid, low), and what position then it scouts that level of school at that position a certain %, so when the college player report comes out, you'll see that all the QBs from the top schools are 75% scouted (thus giving you info on traits,skills, durability ect) while all the others are only 33%.)

Players come from college with full personalities, and body damage from college. Neat stuff.

There are alot of other things but...

Cons -

The gameplay has some 'madden' flaws. Too many fumbles. Interceptions aren't too bad at all (plus I think it's tweakable) but there seems to be a high number of INTs returned for TDs. As with any game, there will be some frustration with the visuals not always matching up with what looks like should have happen (such as clipping, ball traveling thru players on replay ect)

Coaching playbook takes some time to get use to, it's laid in a straight down scroll format instead of a book layout like madden.

Sound isn't anything to get excited over. At times it seems delayed, with the sound of players calling time out being played during the next play (doesn't affect actual gameplay though)

Some repetitiveness. There is some use of small videos in the corner of the screen (gm asking what you want to do for practice, coordinator during game making comments) after about 4 or 5 games you've heard about everything the coordinators are going to say during the game, and know what the gm is going to say everytime.

- All in all, the gameplay flaws are the only ones that really bother me. Even those, I could see myself overlooking if I really had to, or finding some sliders to tweak things. Although I don't think fumbles can be fixed by sliders. Beyond that, everything isn't perfect but this is the closest thing I've found to what I'm looking for since FOF and it does some things better.

I thought the 15 seasons would really be a hangup, and it still may end up being in the long run due to being attached to a certain team by end but so far I think that if I coach every game, and play seriously by the time I'm at the end of the 15 seasons, I'll have put in atleast over 60-100 hours which is more than most games offer for their main modes.

I think it really depends on how hardcore you are about accuracy, and what you're willing to trade off. It is spot on when it comes to managing an NFL team, and coaching it. It has some 'arcade' touches to it when it comes to gameplay and stats/scores (from what I've seen so far). Personally, if the fumbles are fixed, and some gameplay tweaks - I'm willing to overlook the madden/arcade-esque stuff.

08-13-2008, 10:21 PM	#278
Deattribution College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2003	Some early impressions (I'm 8 games into a season with the Lions, started in the offseason) Pros - 100x better interface, I'd give the interface about a 8. It's about as good as it can be considering it's meant to be played with a controller instead of a keyboard/mouse. The ingame interface isn't quite as fluid, but it doesn't affect enjoyment much once you get use to the slight 'hitch' to load the screens in game. The game is deep. RFA's with 4 or 5 tender levels, contract incenitives, player personalities, weekly practices that are useful and not daunting, play book knowledge with each individual player having there own knowledge ratings, coaching staff with each position coach represented including a trainer and GM that can be hired/fired also all with their own individual skills that can be trained up and tons of other stuff. Game 'defining' moments that pop up on tough decisions during a game (do you go for it on 4th and 1 down by a touchdown and gain fan support, media support ect (or lose it if you fail) or punt and guarantee a loss of support that you don't get back if you don't win). It's simply alot of fun having a full 3D representation of your game. Deep draft scouting done in the off season and during the season but again, it doesn't feel daunting. (For example, one of the ways I've seen scouting done during the season is you pick what level of schools you want to scout (big, mid, low), and what position then it scouts that level of school at that position a certain %, so when the college player report comes out, you'll see that all the QBs from the top schools are 75% scouted (thus giving you info on traits,skills, durability ect) while all the others are only 33%.) Players come from college with full personalities, and body damage from college. Neat stuff. There are alot of other things but... Cons - The gameplay has some 'madden' flaws. Too many fumbles. Interceptions aren't too bad at all (plus I think it's tweakable) but there seems to be a high number of INTs returned for TDs. As with any game, there will be some frustration with the visuals not always matching up with what looks like should have happen (such as clipping, ball traveling thru players on replay ect) Coaching playbook takes some time to get use to, it's laid in a straight down scroll format instead of a book layout like madden. Sound isn't anything to get excited over. At times it seems delayed, with the sound of players calling time out being played during the next play (doesn't affect actual gameplay though) Some repetitiveness. There is some use of small videos in the corner of the screen (gm asking what you want to do for practice, coordinator during game making comments) after about 4 or 5 games you've heard about everything the coordinators are going to say during the game, and know what the gm is going to say everytime. - All in all, the gameplay flaws are the only ones that really bother me. Even those, I could see myself overlooking if I really had to, or finding some sliders to tweak things. Although I don't think fumbles can be fixed by sliders. Beyond that, everything isn't perfect but this is the closest thing I've found to what I'm looking for since FOF and it does some things better. I thought the 15 seasons would really be a hangup, and it still may end up being in the long run due to being attached to a certain team by end but so far I think that if I coach every game, and play seriously by the time I'm at the end of the 15 seasons, I'll have put in atleast over 60-100 hours which is more than most games offer for their main modes. I think it really depends on how hardcore you are about accuracy, and what you're willing to trade off. It is spot on when it comes to managing an NFL team, and coaching it. It has some 'arcade' touches to it when it comes to gameplay and stats/scores (from what I've seen so far). Personally, if the fumbles are fixed, and some gameplay tweaks - I'm willing to overlook the madden/arcade-esque stuff.