Backbreaker Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

[thedude213]

Quote: Originally Posted by SemperVictoria

Exactly. Also, unless you watch the replays every time you miss 90% of what the Euphoria engine is capable of. As I said in another thread, I'm pretty bummed because other than the camera view this game is awsome. However, the camera view is something I don't think I can get beyond.

I'm in the same boat. I really am not feeling the new camera. And that sucks because this game has so much going for it, that it's a shame for the camera to be such that it ruins the gameplay for me.

[dan77733]

I have a few questions -

1) Will it be possible to edit player equipment? Seeing EVERY player with a black visor is annoying to say the least.

2) To those who have played the demo, would you rather play BB or 2K5?

Thanks.

[Matt Diesel]

I quite like this game. Hopefully the AI offense is better. I like the camera angle. Its different and challenging.

[LoostheMoos]

OK....downloaded the demo this AM...have to work the graveyard all weekend (but that gives me a LOT of internet browsing time , so my impressions were formed from 10 AM CST to 1 PM CST and then I had to turn it off to get ready for work....only I ended up playing "just one more round" of Tackle Alley until 1:45 PM!

Several times in this thread its been mentioned ... "you've changed things..."...and I have to agree whole-heartedly. There are things done in this game with the Euphoria engine that FINALLY make me feel like a "next-gen football game" has arrived. I know that many of us have been extremely disappointed with the current lost-generation of football games, and for most of us who feel this way it is because the football games of this console gen have lacked that innovation and "wow" factor that games like Gears of War (3rd person shooter), Uncharted 2 (third person action-adventure), COD4:MW2 / BF:BC2 (first person shooter), etc. have given us.

it has been my impression that this lack of "wow" is mainly due to the fact that the gameplay of Madden, NCAA and even 2K8 have ALL been nearly identical to their earlier-gen brethren (2K8 is very much like 2K5 in gameplay, even if the refinement for 2K's first and only 'next-gen' offering is in the details, it is there more-so than the putrid mess that Madden NFL 2006 on the 360 as EA's first offering on these machines. Not to get all Morpheus on everyone...but there's something wrong in the world of video football, what it is you can't define, but its there and its been driving you crazy for 6 years now...until now.

BackBreaker is a totally mediocre game to me (with elements that are so astoundingly good that it literally pains me to not love this game as a whole the way I love some of its parts) ...BUT that's as an overall package. It has a lot of annoying aspects and many of them have been cataloged in this thread already, but suffice it to say the camera is going to be the lightening rod for a lot of people and the control system for many more...what will NOT be an issue for almost anyone are the tackles and the physics of the gameplay.

The hits, tackles, blocks, reactions of the ball (in the air, and on the ground and to being hit by physical objects like arms, helmets, the ground, etc.) are STUNNINGLY GOOD. They are literally jaw dropping...they are so good that they make me ache for what we SHOULD be playing on an NFL-licensed current video football game...they are so good that they made me totally forget about Madden and NCAA and daydream about a great football game the same way that NFL Gameday and NCAA Gamebreaker for PS1 made me totally forget about Madden for about 5 years at that time.

One example is from the video impressions thread, the INT where the guy is on the ground catching himself, while STILL watching the tipped ball and then makes a catch while rolling on the ground. Another is the example video of the tackle where the defender over-pursues the ball-carrier and while slipping down grabs the runner's leg to slow him down and another defender comes in to finish the hit. THAT is the level of detail and realism that I had assumed would be the norm by now - whether it was EA or 2K or anyone else...but the sad fact is that the other games on the market cannot touch BB in that regard.

The use of the Euphoria engine in a football game is EXACTLY what I had hope it would be when I first saw the demo clips on the Endorphin website back in 2006!!! The mere fact that we have not seen anything close to this yet is mind boggling to me and 100% puts EA on blast for the entire gaming world to see. If a group of 6-9 BRITISH guys (not the biggest American football fans in the world and certainly not steeped in the NFL like our American developers at Tiburon supposedly are) can put together a basic football engine that does so many things right in its first iteration that EA has not matched in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 10 or the clips of the unreleased 11 to date, then what exactly HAVE they been doing down in Orlando all these years????

Why can a team of Brits have better looking running and tackling and blocking and ball reactions than the Americans in YEAR SIX?!?!?!?!? Why does Tackle Alley have better pursuit logic and spin moves and fluidity than Madden and NCAA??!!??!!??!!

Time and time again while I was playing the BB demo I was seeing things that MUST be added to football games in this era...NOT in the "next-next-gen", in THIS generation. It is clear now that the engine at EA-Tiburon, even with "locomotion" in 2011, is far, far short of what is possible. Once upon a time the dominant football videogame was at the vanguard of each console generation...Nintendo had the original Tecmo Bowl, Genesis / SNES had the original Madden, PS1 had Gameday and forced Madden to step up its game to reclaim the throne, PS2 had Madden and later 2K to challenge them and force the issue....yet XB360 and PS3 have been a gigantic let down and BackBreaker's demo just kept hammering that home for me...snap after snap..****n through Tackle Alley after run through...time after time...

BackBreaker IS a mediocre game overall, but realistically I could not have expected more from a small group of developers on a first shot. There are wonky control issues, there is a lack of user customization for the overall experience (camera angle choices), there is some very serious AI issues that will gain in importance once the "wow" factor wears thin, there is a lack of depth to the title with only 13 stadiums...in a 60 team game? (REALLY? Teams that share stadiums? Or is there no such thing as a real "home" team...are these all "friendlies" on neutral pitch?

But the things it does right make it memorable and make the full retail game a must-buy for people who want to see better than what we have been fed for the last 6 years. This year we have been given a chance to vote with our wallets, and I plan on putting down a $50 marker on Natural Motion and 505 Games in the hopes that they can get enough sales to make BB2 a reality and a potential NFL licensee in 2012!

+ Tackle Alley -- definitely should have been an arcade / PSN downloadable title, it is addictive as hell and while by itself its not worth $50, I will probably end up getting $50 worth of entertainment from it just trying to beat all 100 levels in the retail game!

+ animations/Euphoria tackles and interactions -- in a word? FANTASTIC, easily the best looking stuff I have ever seen in a football game.

+ "wow" factor of playing something new for once in the videogame football arena

+ I agree with others that the player models are no where near as annoying as I feared they would be...more variation in run styles and agility are definitely needed, but my worst fears were unfounded...

+ I like the challenge of learning a new way to play instead of learning the new ways to break a worn-out engine...at least in BB I need to learn how to place passes and use touch instead of figuring out how far across the screen my WR needs to get before I can safely throw a pass that he will warp-catch into...

- the camera being locked into only one choice is a drawback...I understand the intent and applaud the effort, but think that ESPN 2K5 would have been 1/10th as popular if the ONLY way to play it was First Person Football? Me either...

- the missing details will start to drive a lot of guys nuts in short order and others it will take time, but there are enough things missing or slightly wrong that by September they will be talked about ad nasuem...

- the rest of the game seems to be less addictive than Tackle Alley, that could certainly be to the steep learning curve that is required to break out of 20+ years of video football conventional habits...but its going to be a problem for the publishers and will cost them sales. There was really no way around this given the design choices made at the outset. I wish them luck and I will give them MY money...but I am less sure about others....

[SemperVictoria]

Excellent post.

[NFLHITMAN]

Just a few comments on BB...

1. Remember when consoles created analog sticks for the very first time? Remember how you hated having to use the analog sticks after being trained for years on the D-Pad? You were able to change and now analog sticks on the controllers are 2nd nature to all of us. BB will become 2nd nature if you allow it to.

2. You have the option even in the Demo to use the conventional button configuration for passing, running & defense instead of only the analog sticks. Just change your controller to alternate setting and you will have the traditional button configurations.

3. If you hold down LT while on defense you will zoom out with a better view than without LT.

[MiNiDiTkA]

Quote: Originally Posted by dan77733

2) To those who have played the demo, would you rather play BB or 2K5? Thanks.

2K5 for me.

[TheCreep]

Great physics engine. Few things missing though. Cant detail em at the moment, I'm on duty, gotta go.

This game can change the face of football video gaming I do know that.