Backbreaker News Post

Backbreaker Hands-On Preview w/ Gameplay Videos (IGN)

08:17 PM - March 2, 2010 by backbreaker

IGN has posted their hands-on preview of Backbreaker.

Quote:


	"Passing seemed to work a little better in the frantic football world that Backbreaker presents. The approach is certainly different than any I've seen for hurling the pigskin. Actually passing the ball is done entirely by the right stick, while targeting a player is done by holding the left trigger and moving between receivers with the left analog. The AI is largely in charge of the strength of the pass you're throwing (something that I'm worried about) unless it's a bomb pass, in which case you can move the analog down and then up to emulate a throwing motion of sorts. Every other pass is done with a simple flick upwards. Passing didn't feel all that great when I played with rigid camera movements that strain to follow the ball down the field and some wonky physics when the ball hit either the ground or a player's hands. Aside from standard quick play games, there's also an 8, 16, and 32 team season option and something called Road to Backbreaker which I'm guessing is designed to deliver some sort of loose tournament structure in the same vein as Mortal Kombat (escalating difficulty with meaner and meaner opponents)."

Game: BackbreakerReader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 51 - View All

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Member Comments

# 81 TheWatcher @ 03/03/10 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boooey


	I have been saying this all along.. I doubt this game will be great, but it doesn't have to be. This game is showing you what EA & Tiburon doesn't want you to see, and that is real time physics in a football game. All this game has to do is get a real sports game developer like 2k or SCEA to pick up this engine and get it into their own football game, OR put enough pressure on EA to finally dump their outdated animation engines for Madden.. Either way, we all would be the winners in the end. I would love to drop my $60 for a Madden with this real time physics engine in it.

I got the impression that NM intended to sell the Technology all along. I seem to recall that EA put out a release of some sort talking about potentially doing something with it? After that dried up, NM probably figured they could make a lot more by just doing it themselves, but initially it appears that they weren't sure they wanted to do it, which would probably explain all the delays.

# 82 alliance4g63 @ 03/03/10 09:23 PM

To the new wave of negative people:

Where are the specifics? All I have heard are complaints about the camera which I find laughable because we have known that would be the angle since 07. So I'm starting to think people are just complaining just to complain.

In my post I noted everything that I saw positive in the video. And most people that like the game seem to sway the same way. So what is so negative about the videos? Because I don't see it. I still see the core elements of football being represented in the videos, unless I'm missing something.

Alot of people hate change though and are stuck in their ways. Just like boxing fans that still hate mma and just like Madden fans that still buy Madden and never even rented 2k5.

# 83 WDOgF0reL1fe @ 03/03/10 09:30 PM

Man a lot of you are pretty harsh. Its just a fun little football game that by no means is supposed to break records or anything. Give it a rest, this isnt the next coming of you know what

# 84 drae2 @ 03/03/10 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeonM


	This is from The IGN article. Just read it. Ok where do I start. First thing to remember is that the game that was "previewed" here was not the final build. The camera has been pulled back to give the player a better on field view of the field. Ok next, The whole point of Backbreaker is to be different from every other football video game ever made. The Euphoria engine is set up for on field play. The game is intended to be played from the player perspective. No doubt, For the lifelong football video gamer, The on field view is going to take awhile to get used to. I never liked first person football on NFL2K or superstar mode in Madden. I too have been skpetical about BB's decision to go to an on field player camera. I differ from some people here in that I was pleasantly surprised at how well the game looks like it plays at that level. I personally love the fact that the camera is going to be pulled back a bit to give the gamer a better view of downfield. Once you get that camera angle correct. You don't need any other view in my opinion. Should the developers have put in multiple camera angles? I don't think so. This game is not trying to be like Madden or any other football video game, We have ever seen before. Playing at The BB level is going to take some time to get used to. I have always been a fan of The Madden series. I have 2010 and play it regularly. I have never seen Madden as a bad game. Just not a great one. What has always frustrated me and some is that Madden falls short of greatness. With The NFL license and next generation engine. Madden should never just be an average game. That being stated, I will be there for Madden 11. As far as Backbreaker. I have already pre-ordered and I will state why. I am a huge football fan and I like what I am seeing and hearing so far. This isn't a gimmick arcade game. It's pro football with a whole new perspective. I believe in the euphoria engine and this game looks good and has the right features that I am looking for in a football video game. I personally want an alternative to Madden and I am glad to be getting one. I think that it is unfair to judge Backbreaker so harshly so early with out having seen the final product or playing the game. I like what I have seen so far. I am on board.

Not the final build, that's the key words. People are losing their mind and they don't even know what build that this preview was. And people turn to IGN for another football preview/review of a game that's not Madden. Hmmmmmmmm.

# 85 djordan @ 03/03/10 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alliance4g63


	To the new wave of negative people: Where are the specifics? All I have heard are complaints about the camera which I find laughable because we have known that would be the angle since 07. So I'm starting to think people are just complaining just to complain. In my post I noted everything that I saw positive in the video. And most people that like the game seem to sway the same way. So what is so negative about the videos? Because I don't see it. I still see the core elements of football being represented in the videos, unless I'm missing something. Alot of people hate change though and are stuck in their ways. Just like boxing fans that still hate mma and just like Madden fans that still buy Madden and never even rented 2k5.

Are you serious??? I mean really? Besides the gang tackles if anything else was shown in that video and labeled as Madden 11 90% of you guys would be disappointed.

# 86 LeonM @ 03/03/10 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drae2


	Not the final build, that's the key words. People are losing their mind and they don't even know what build that this preview was. And people turn to IGN for another football preview/review of a game that's not Madden. Hmmmmmmmm.

LOL> The previewer Ahearn already stated that the camera view is being pulled back to give the user a better view of the field. So the previewer is only really sampling the product and he is not playing with the final build yet.

This is not an easy job that the developers of natural motion have. Implementing the euphoria engine for a football game. I like what I have seen so far. It does look like this game is going to be hard to play at first because the controls and look of the game is so vastly different from any other football video game ever made.

It's going to take time to get used to the new controls and camera view. I believe that alot of people who pick up and play this game for the first time, will have a problem with the game. It will seem too frantic and it will throw off the early users of the game. Time will tell but let's see what the final build eventually looks like. I like the way that the game looks now. They just need to tweak some things and as the previewer clearly states in The IGN article. The version of the view of the game he previewed has already been altered.

# 87 t11 @ 03/03/10 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djordan


	Are you serious??? I mean really? Besides the gang tackles if anything else was shown in that video and labeled as Madden 11 90% of you guys would be disappointed.

yeah... wanna know why though? I bet you can guess... hmmm... how long has Madden been in developement? Oh yeah, 21 YEARS

# 88 Gusto1 @ 03/03/10 10:13 PM

This is the first venture for backbreaker it would be sad if all this potential died becuase people dont give the game support. Not buying this game this year will kill a masterpiece two or three years from now. This is why many real NFL teams never become champions they fire the coach before he has a chance to build his vision.

# 89 alliance4g63 @ 03/03/10 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djordan


	Are you serious??? I mean really? Besides the gang tackles if anything else was shown in that video and labeled as Madden 11 90% of you guys would be disappointed.

Give me examples and don't just generalize. Again I posted everything that I saw as a positive but I have yet to see anyone specifically say what BB is doing so wrong in the videos. Especially compared to Madden.

Forget stuff like lack of signature styles, camera angles and "goofy uniforms" because we have known about this stuff for years. So again.. what specifically is so fundamentally wrong with those videos that make it look so unplayable? Because I am just not seeing it.

# 90 KBLover @ 03/03/10 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alliance4g63


	Where are the specifics? All I have heard are complaints about the camera which I find laughable because we have known that would be the angle since 07. So I'm starting to think people are just complaining just to complain.

I didn't even know Backbreaker existed until I heard about it somewhere on this forum, much less any details.

I certainly didn't know what the camera angle would be for 3 years...

# 91 blackscorpion11 @ 03/03/10 10:59 PM

Seems like they shoulda spent more time on the little nuances that give it a "real football" feel.. Hard to tell without playing it but While the tackling and blocking looks awesome, the played models look futuristic, too big, too generic, too cookie cutter..even with different uniforms, all the wr's, hb's, fb,s seem to look the same??

# 92 blackscorpion11 @ 03/03/10 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveDQ


	This preview is proving what many have feared, this game's priority is to platform Euphoria. It's not about football, it's about exploiting this new physics engine. You can't do that. You can't put the core of the sport on the back burner and rely on some other peripheral to lead the way.

nice!,

Ditto

# 93 blackscorpion11 @ 03/03/10 11:30 PM

MSG to BB

All BS aside,

If they want my money, they better stop hiding this game and come with some difinitive details about what it is, and what is is not capable of doing, what features it has online and off, and what regular gameplay looks like. Stop showing me people getting tackled and show me a playbook! show me a field goal! show me player creation screens, talk about game customization?

Talk to me like im your customer and you want me to buy this thing? or step off! NCAA 11 is right around the corner anyway.. I'm buying one football game this year and i've already decided it's not madden

# 94 blackscorpion11 @ 03/03/10 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hatisback


	The players Blackscorpion look futuristic because it is a futuristic league. I am not sure if you knew that or not.

Had no idea, i thought we were being sold football today, not some last boyscout, starship troopers BS! What next? James Caan playing rollerball!?? Do i need a laser cannon to get a first down now??

Cmon Bro

# 95 SouthernBrick @ 03/03/10 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djordan


	Are you serious??? I mean really? Besides the gang tackles if anything else was shown in that video and labeled as Madden 11 90% of you guys would be disappointed.

I can see how someone like you who had hardly info on the game could be upset at only having one camera angle. They said there was only going to be one camera angle from get go so people can't exactly be upset about this and IMO I don't see how people can compare this to "well what IF madden did this people would be upset". This is obviously not madden and of course people would be mad if the devs making madden 11 did this because, it has had numerous titles with multiple camera angles.

I got a feeling if there is another BB game they will put in a god view like madden or 2k but, who knows. Maybe they stick to their guns but, I like that in this dev team. I think they'll get enough complaints to make more camera angles but, I think they would still try to keep it very low to the earth. I would love a god view though just to what BB would look like in that perspective. Just gotta do it in the replays I guess.

This is BB's first iteration. I'm not saying Its right for them to do this because, I to would like to have a choice but they're doing what they want. This isn't BB's 4th or 5th iteration, the devs are basically forcing people to play with the "down on the field experience" because, that is what they have been preaching since day one and they want people to experience that. That has been the devs word and they're obviously sticking to it even though Its a pretty bad idea IMO.

# 96 SouthernBrick @ 03/03/10 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackscorpion11


	Had no idea, i thought we were being sold football today, not some last boyscout, starship troopers BS! What next? James Caan playing rollerball!?? Do i need a laser cannon to get a first down now?? Cmon Bro

Really just stop with all that.

We all knew the players looked like this for a while(more than likely because, of legal issues). The game comes out in about 2 months and a half. I'm sure you'll find out sometime in between then. This is usually when all the info starts coming out about the game so we should see more and more. They still have quite some time before the game releases.

# 97 gamerk2 @ 03/04/10 12:21 AM

My thoughts:

Passing: concerned a bit about automatic pass strength, but considering how few people actually DONT use bullet passes short range to begin with, its not high on my radar right now. Worth watching though.

Looks decent; I'd have like to seen how scolling between recievers looks like though.

Running: Looks great. Notice a few of the plays were reverse side draws, which seems to indicate pretty wide playbooks, although thats way to early to know for sure. Handoffs looks correct for the situtation, although it seemed the QB was snapping the ball out in too short a time. Really seems important to pick the right hole though.

Blocking: Saw very few instances of an actual pocket, but part of that was because of all the chaos up front. Don't know how much of that was AI versus defensive stunts. [Knowing the called plays would REALLY have helped out in this regard.]

As for O-linemen picking people up after their initial assignment, the worst I can say is that its no worse then it currently is in Madden. Could use some improvement in that area. I need to see a LOT more to come to a conclusion in this area.

Defense: Generally took proper approch. DE's seemed to come stright in during a lot of plays, but until we know how the playbook is structured, we don't know if thats an AI issue or a playbook issue (Think "Base" versus "Fan" setups from 2k football). Seemed to be a lot of stunts on the line, but again, I don't know if thats just the play, or an AI issue.

Nothing looks "wrong" per say, but the game showed its indi roots a bit.

# 98 huskerwr38 @ 03/04/10 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnyGivenSunday


	Really just stop with all that. We all knew the players looked like this for a while(more than likely because, of legal issues).

Well I don't think EA owns the license to the way a football player looks.

Anyways, a comment on the camera view. Why can't we just have a create your own camera view? I know the people of Backbreaker wanted to get you right down into the action, but what if we don't want to be right down in the action? Why can't the people decide for themselves where they want the camera with a custom camera? Why do the developers have to decide where the camera should be and what is better for everyone? If a person wants to be super close so they are right in the action then let them create a custom camera view then.

# 99 kjcheezhead @ 03/04/10 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huskerwr38


	Well I don't think EA owns the license to the way a football player looks. Anyways, a comment on the camera view. Why can't we just have a create your own camera view? I know the people of Backbreaker wanted to get you right down into the action, but what if we don't want to be right down in the action? Why can't the people decide for themselves where they want the camera with a custom camera? Why do the developers have to decide where the camera should be and what is better for everyone? If a person wants to be super close so they are right in the action then let them create a custom camera view then.

Actually, he might be right. If they made them with NFL style pads and a gamer creates a Steve Smith "likeness" in a Carolina uniform, there is a potential for a lawsuit. The player model protects against that because he still wouldn't look like Steve Smith. Stupid, I know, but that's the world we live in.

# 100 SouthernBrick @ 03/04/10 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	Actually, he might be right. If they made them with NFL style pads and a gamer creates a Steve Smith "likeness" in a Carolina uniform, there is a potential for a lawsuit. The player model protects against that because he still wouldn't look like Steve Smith. Stupid, I know, but that's the world we live in.

Exactly. If they made player look extremely alike in uniform shape, color, and likeness(i.e. name, team, birth place, college played, weight, height, etc) then they could most likely bring it up a potential law suit. If this game was a pretty big success I don't think EA/NFL(more likely) would think twice about a law suit. The biggest reason IMO why I think they have the big pads, every player wearing the visors, and the taking place in the future talk just in case a potential law suit did happen to pop up.

A law suit could be brought up fairly easily just by player likeness. In the second iteration if the first one does well enough I hope they can at least take the every player wearing the visor out at the least. The futuristic uni's IMO is to make sure that if they did happen to go to court it would give them the best chance to deal with a law suit.

This is just my opinion of why they did it like this though.

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