Backbreaker Updated Hands-On Preview: Angle of Attack (Gamespot)

[adamgod8]

Gamespot has posted their updated hands-on preview of Backbreaker. Video interview included.

Quote:

"There's more to being a top-flight football player than tremendous strength, precise reflexes, and blistering speed. One of the more overlooked attributes of a position like running back is vision, specifically peripheral vision. After all, what good is all that strength, speed, and precision for a ball carrier who can't see a defensive end coming in from the side to clobber him? That's one of the challenges the developers at Natural Motion are facing with the upcoming Backbreaker, the upcoming unlicensed football game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3."

[adamgod8]

I love in the video at 2:18 how the lineman throws the DL down, it looked awesome!

[booker21]

nice, looks good.

hope the AI is good... and we get a decent football game.

[strawberryshortcake]

Quote: Originally Posted by adamgod8

Gamespot preview http://www.gamespot.com/news/6252644.html

Very nice. Great Find.

First reaction:
1. Loving the 3rd person on the field camera angles.
2. Finally some defensive camera angle. Loving it first go around.
3. Finally some comparatively "longer" plays.
4. 3rd person camera vision looks solidly promising.
5. Will need to actually analyze footage to see if there are AI issues that were problematic back in Dev Diary #1 and #2.
6. Will need to revisit footage to see if player movements, and pursuit angles are executed correct or incorrectly.
7. First reaction: more excited than before.

EDIT: I thought I caught a glimpse of "sky-vision" resembling traditional footage view (aka 2k5/apf2k8/madden, etc) before the start of a short play sequence.

EDIT: Looks as if you wanted a greater field vision from a defensive perspective, play Free-Safety or Strong-Safety.

EDIT: By AI issues, one key part I'm referring to is if Defensive Backs play proper coverage, and moves properly with respect to where his assigned receiver is.

[adamgod8]

Yea in the article it stated they have "coach cam" where you can watch the play from up high, you just can't control the player

[SouthernBrick]

The camera angle looked very nice on both sides of the ball. Glad to see some actual gameplay on both sides of the ball. I need to see a little more but, this was a nice start. That right there proves not every tackle will be some kind of over the top highlight tackle.

I didn't like the QB drop back, It looked weird but, It could have been User controlled and not letting the CPU control it. Can't wait to see 9 or 10 minutes worth of just straight gameplay. Wish I could have seen more from the smash mouth football but, this should tide me over for a while.

Was this gameplay from the final build or from a something else?

[adamgod8]

This gameplay was from the North American tour they had in mid-February I believe, so it was a couple months before the final build.

[Glorious Arc]

The interaction between Oline Dline looks...stiff. At first it looked like there may have been some suction in the blocking at the 3 min mark but after rewinding it a few times it looks like that was the appropriate sequence of actions to occur. I will have to see more footage but I am holding it in question right now.

Overall liked the video. I was unsure about the angles that were first being shown but the plays near the end of the video really left a positive impression. Meaning the Dline was up close and personal and the DBs felt like they had more view of the field.

No injuries is kind of a let down but I think I can live with that. Injuries are both a blessing and a curse for realism. I remember as a kid turning them off so no one would get hurt haha but as I grew up I turned them on to add another level to the game. I am left wondering how progression will work and the ratings system as well. We can have back ups but how it all works...

Also buying players is an interesting concept. They said you would have to get better players to help you win as you progressed in the leagues so I am again left wondering about the scouting system, progression, and the ratings. So many answers today but so many questions are left unanswered that really matter about the longevity of the game.