Backbreaker Hands-On Preview (Gameinformer)

[Crimsontide27]

Quote: Originally Posted by t11

Might as well take that whole portion about AI and throw it out the window... He was playing on arcade and there was no mention of the difficulty he was playing on. But the numbers sound like Rookie Difficulty on Madden/2k. When will previewers realize they need to tell us ALL of their variables?!?!? This previwe raised more ? than it did answers...

We have all heard that story before. Doesnt matter which game is previewed early we always have others stating that its somehow because of the mode / settings / skill level that everything appears out of whack. Fast forward to release day and SUPRISE!! same issues seen in videos and mentioned in reviews are the exact same issues you get in release.

Until a game comes out that breaks this trend, I tend to err to the side of caution.

[GIveMeR3alFooTball]

i think there is still more to be seen on this game that will get ppl hype in this game back. because from what i have seen in the dev diary 3 look so promising and i dont see how this game wudnt be fun and a closer simulation than anything else out there. if BB get a balance on the mishaps in the game like the fumbles and other things like miscommunication between players down to a minimum and balance it out those are thing that do happen on the field in real life. however the AI is a make or break for me they need to get it down pack and hopefully make it more challenging this game wud be worth $50

[LeonM]

I would ignore all the comments about AI in this preview because the user played in Arcade mode with a preview build. I'd wait till the demo or release to really judge the AI.

I also expect alot of first time Backbreaker players to struggle with the controls or having success being a player on the field. Backbreaker is a totally brand new football gaming experience. Very revolutionary. I dismiss any complaints from this area.

I also dismiss the presentation element because the game is still being tuned and tweaked and will be different than the build that is being previewed here.

The defensive aspect of this game sounds great. Love the revolutionary perspective of being a defensive player in this game. All the reviews of playing defense on these early builds have been positive.

The limitations when it comes to team editing isn't that bad. You can still create 32 teams with full player rosters and edit them to be anything you want in offline mode. I can create any teams and players that I want and use them in two seperate franchise modes.

The only real limitation is online and it's not that bad. Instead of having The New England Patriots logo with uniforms online. I have The N.E. Patriots logo with uniforms online. Instead of Tom Brady. I have T.Brady. It's not that big of a deal.

The areas that concern me are the limitation in editing players height, size and ratings. There seems to be some form of player rating system in this game but it's unclear to what extent. It sounds like you can alter your team's strengths and then decide how many gold players you have on your roster.

Overall, The reviewer Matt Bertz stated that he walked away with mixed feelings. Not exactly positive but not completely negative either. The proof will be in the pudding when the game is ready for the real previews and a demo.

[CreatineKasey]

This preview didn't surprise me one bit. BB hid info for such a long time. I wondered why. Wouldn't they just be excited to share this revolutionary game with us? Well, now you can clearly see why nothing of depth was really ever discussed outside of the phenomenal physics system.

Crimsontide is hitting the nail on the head here. If it's between believing NM or the reviewer, I'm believing the reviewer at this point. I think he was still holding back some. You can tell he really didn't like this game.

Much like Crimsontide, there's a lot of shortcomings that I'm completely okay with: Editing issues, presentation, commentary, rating style, responsiveness (I preferred APF's lack in responsiveness), or difficulty running.

I'm not okay with AI weakness. From what I've saw in ALL previews until this point, the AI looked weak almost all the time. Rarely did I ever see "that defense was in a cover 2 zone and the safety made a phenomenal play". Instead on previews I see 3 defenders randomly mashed together and a WR catching a ball between them on a throw off the QB's back foot 30 yards downfield... on a frozen rope.

Remember, we can only control 1 player on defense and I guarantee there's a big lack of defensive adjustments we can make pre-snap. Because of that and the new camera view, we'll rely on AI EVEN MORE than we do in "God view" football games in the past. Let's say a guy can run deep passes and scramble for yards easily because of zones sagging so hard, and he can create that "lose-lose" situation consistently where you either cover a 10 yard out or pursue the QB. Without defensive adjustments we won't be able to contain the QB on the fly, for example.

I always said I'm okay with stuff as long as the gameplay is solid. I'm not seeing it or reading it. No way will I buy this week 1 unless I get a slew of improved gameplay and reviews saying otherwise. I try to be equally critical of all games I buy, EA made or not. BB doesn't get a free pass with me.

[JMD]

This preview does not concern me at all for one reason "Arcade Mode". I can put Madden 10 in right now and play on rookie mode and the A.I. will play just as poorly, I will hold it to completing less then 30% of it's passes and they won't score once. I'll throw and rush for over 300 each and score over 100 points. Hell I can even do it on All Pro with Madden 10.

No game plays like the Dev's intend it to on the easiest mode. I'm sure this game is better tuned for Pro mode , where things will be more realistic. If not oh well it will cost me $50.00 to find out. I'm not going to let this guy's opinion of what is essentially a training mode change my excitement for the game.

[Mbalmer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Crimsontide27

We have all heard that story before. Doesnt matter which game is previewed early we always have others stating that its somehow because of the mode / settings / skill level that everything appears out of whack. Fast forward to release day and SUPRISE!! same issues seen in videos and mentioned in reviews are the exact same issues you get in release. Until a game comes out that breaks this trend, I tend to err to the side of caution.

This is the best post on here yet. I can not agree more. This "previewer" is trying to tell us that the game he played sucks and he mentioned several reasons why. Some of us need to open our eyes and stop this madness that this game is going to be the best. I am done posting in the backbreaker forum until the game comes out because I don't want to be accussed of spamming and telling everyone not to buy this game. This game is going to suck, I will be back to tell you "I told you so"

[Draxion]

This is a tough review,you have to remember though that this was played on arcade mode.
The sad thing is that this game looks like it has so much potential and might have a good foundation and even if it has these problems, but just wont have chance to have a sequel.
Madden 06 sucked, Madden 07 sucked and Madden 08 sucked. It took them three games with a bigger developer team get a good/decent game out (09 IMO). The sad thing is that BB is only going to get once chance, its sad.

[jyoung]

Don't care what any journalists have to say about the game, I'm still getting it day one to support the developers.

No doubt this game will have some flaws, but so did NFL 2K when they first started out on the Dreamcast.