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

# 141 TheWatcher @ 03/04/10 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ODogg


	CreatineKasey - just wait a couple of months and you can pick this game up for $3 in the bargain bin. J/k...couldn't resist that one.

^^Ha. I do expect this game to top out somewhere between 200K and 300K copies though. Seems small, but given the size of the team and other savings, they should make a huge profit provided they didn't sign their butts away when they hooked up with 505.

# 142 CreatineKasey @ 03/04/10 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ODogg


	CreatineKasey - just wait a couple of months and you can pick this game up for $3 in the bargain bin. J/k...couldn't resist that one.

That's what I should be doing. Have to pay off student loans coming up here. Have to be critical of purchases!

# 143 Blzer @ 03/04/10 05:37 PM

I liked everything but the terrible stand-up blocking, the pretty perfect passes, and the player voices. Hopefully we can do audio edits and tone that down, because I know that will get annoying really fast.

# 144 CreatineKasey @ 03/04/10 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creed200569


	EA will still have their faithful Maddenites who buy it every year but there's gonna be alot of ppl looking to BB first cuz they want to see what this technology is all about.

I think the reason people will look here first is because it's getting released before the others. There's many people looking for a new football fix coming up here real quick. Tecmo is doing the same thing.

# 145 Hova57 @ 03/04/10 05:57 PM

honestly by time this game comes out there will be madden info out in abundance(i would think). people will def weigh their options, its really gonna come down to how comfortable they are with something new vs. madden. and if they really wanted they could just wait til aug and get BB it will prob be around 30-40 dollars new.

i know for myself the main reason i won't be buying BB will be because of Skate3. i'm more interested in that than buying a third football game.

# 146 CreatineKasey @ 03/04/10 06:20 PM

Tecmo is what this game is competing against with me. Tecmo has a 15 year head start on BB... or any football game for that matter

I'm always up for playing something that's fun yet deep at the same time. Tecmo does that well. Hopefully BB learns from that concept since they are definitely going with a less deep game style ("pick up and play"). It can still be deep, just have to do it right like Tecmo did.

# 147 kjcheezhead @ 03/04/10 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CreatineKasey


	Absolutely not. The outside defenders did NOT drive upfield. In a lot of situations the DE's/OLB's run 3 yards past the line of scrimmage before engaging an offensive tackle/runningback. Don't get me wrong, there's things I like so far from what I've seen, but the pocket is not one of them so far. Don't kid yourself man, DE's don't just always square up with OT's and stalemate 5 yards from the QB. That was just as much of a pocket as Madden has. Like I said, in most pass rushing situations the outside rushers are getting upfield. Because of that, the QB needs to step up and remain in the pocket.

There you go. Does BB's pocket blow Madden's away? No. Does BB's match the quality of a pocket seen in Madden? Yes. Now with Euphoria, the outcome of the blocking matchups aren't predetemined or simple dice rolls. Angles, physics, strength are supposed to decide. My final grade--Backbreaker squeaks out a tiny advantage because of how unpredicable it is.

I never expected BB to beat Madden in any area other than really having physics matter and tackles with no predetermined outcomes. So far that's what they've shown in the gameplay.

# 148 ODogg @ 03/04/10 06:25 PM

CreatineKasey - No game can compete with Tecmo, if they do it right (like the classic Tecmo) that is....!!!!

# 149 SouthernBrick @ 03/04/10 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creed200569


	Madden;s sales have gone down every year and it was probably the biggest % down last year cuz ppl are tired of their crap gameplay and you dont think technology like this that ppl have been waiting for will hurt their sales??? LMAO. Of course it will. Now ppl wont feel they have to buy Madden cuz its all thats available. All Pro 2k8 only sold 300,000 copies cuz it didnt have more customisation,franchise mode and better graphics. BB has a robust customisation,franchise and Road to BB mode and much better graphics than 2k8. The 3 biggest thing that kept ppl form buying 2k8 are in BB. You're kidding yourself if you dont think BB introducing this technology will hurt Madden. EA will still have their faithful Maddenites who buy it every year but there's gonna be alot of ppl looking to BB first cuz they want to see what this technology is all about.

We'll see. I really don't believe this game will hurt madden and If it does it won't be much IMO. Madden is still going to sell millions of copies and all will be right with the world. Maybe you'll be right but, maybe you'll be wrong...all we can do is assume.

I would love nothing more for this game to hurt madden competition wise but, I just don't see it happening. We'll find out in the months to come but, for now I got my opinion and you have yours.

# 150 CreatineKasey @ 03/04/10 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	There you go. Does BB's pocket blow Madden's away? No. Does BB's match the quality of a pocket seen in Madden? Yes. Now with Euphoria, the outcome of the blocking matchups aren't predetemined or simple dice rolls. Angles, physics, strength are supposed to decide. My final grade--Backbreaker squeaks out a tiny advantage because of how unpredicable it is. I never expected BB to beat Madden in any area other than really having physics matter and tackles with no predetermined outcomes. So far that's what they've shown in the gameplay.

What I was getting at was both games apparently don't have a pocket or their pocket plain sucks. If BB can compete with other aspects of m10 I'll be very happy with this game. That particular aspect I was using to prove that it's bad in that sense. APF has a great pocket... nothing else comes close.

# 151 kjcheezhead @ 03/04/10 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CreatineKasey


	What I was getting at was both games apparently don't have a pocket or their pocket plain sucks. If BB can compete with other aspects of m10 I'll be very happy with this game. That particular aspect I was using to prove that it's bad in that sense. APF has a great pocket... nothing else comes close.

I agree with you there. From what I've seen, APF/2k still wins in overall football, but if Backbreaker matches or competes with madden in the major areas, this game will be different and fun.

# 152 CreatineKasey @ 03/04/10 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	I agree with you there. From what I've seen, APF/2k still wins in overall football, but if Backbreaker matches or competes with madden in the major areas, this game will be different and fun.

For sure. Even though I'm heavily criticizing Madden's pocket.. I still play that game a lot. By far the most important thing for me is just fun and balance. This means minimized exploits (like Madden 10... they did a great job this year with exploits) and a fun set-up. To me, Madden 10, Tecmo and APF are all very fun in their own respect. They all have slightly different ways of being fun, but nonethless they all are fun to play.

Trust me, I'm really pulling for this game, I just can't stand people giving it a free pass in some aspects.

Some things like injuries and uniforms don't matter one bit to me. I just want what I mentioned. It is a video game after all... I play for fun.

# 153 computerlover @ 03/05/10 12:04 PM

its amazing how some folks are expecting absolute perfection from this game! it looks sick to me and im buying it.. the only question i have is 360 or PS3 version.. Come on folks.. madden has been around for over 15 freakin years and is still far from perfect.. yet most of you are like hapless sheep following the madden herd. 2K5 WAS the closest to perfect but most of you tanked it because it wasnt from EA.

Look.. if you keep comparing your next girlfriend to that beotch that broke your heart you will never be happy.. lol! just take the game as is, rent or buy it and see for yourself AFTER you played it. relying on videos, and third person observations.. well skip it.. cant convince sheep and fanboys to try something new.

Cant wait for this game!

# 154 ODogg @ 03/05/10 01:26 PM

I haven't seen anyone in this thread that could be considered EA sheep. In fact nearly everyone in here, myself included, plans to either rent or buy it as soon as it comes out. The fact that myself and others are criticizing it does not mean we expect perfection, only that we would like to see some very basic issues addressed before the game releases.

# 155 CreatineKasey @ 03/05/10 02:32 PM

I'm not a sheep nor a fanboy. I'm someone who has to consider my purchases wisely. I've tried numerous football games, but coming from someone who buys around 3 games per year, it's a big deal to purchase this. I only buy games that I intend to put serious time into.

Some of you should stop alienating other viewers. I played just as much 2k5 as most of you and probably far more APF 2k8 than most. Check my blog, it's full of APF league game reports and strategy articles for APF. I'm not a blind sheep because I see problems in this game. Again I'm not giving it a free pass because it's non-EA football.

# 156 KBLover @ 03/05/10 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creed200569


	The problem is you guys are expecting everything from this game their first time around. What sports game do u know that has everything done on their first game. NONE.

If:

Good fundamental football (blocking, route running, etc)

Strategy/playcalling being deep without being cumbersome

Good gameplay and controls

Good AI

Players perform to their ratings so that the top and weaker players are easy to see even without checking ratings (and if/when I do, the player is really good at whatever he's displaying on the field)

Solid franchise mode with realistic simmed stats and good team management AI.

Customization options both for game play and team/player creation

Is wanting everything and being greedy, then yes, I'm greedy.

And I'm greedy whether it's Backbreaker, Madden 11, Football Mogul, whatever. It's what I want out of sports games - in this case a football game.

So, fine, I'm greedy. Am I supposed to be ashamed or something after this post? Or say "okay, since it's their first game, it could do nothing but tackles well and I'll be giddy with joy?"

# 157 Hova57 @ 03/05/10 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KBLover


	If: Good fundamental football (blocking, route running, etc) Strategy/playcalling being deep without being cumbersome Good gameplay and controls Good AI Players perform to their ratings so that the top and weaker players are easy to see even without checking ratings (and if/when I do, the player is really good at whatever he's displaying on the field) Solid franchise mode with realistic simmed stats and good team management AI. Customization options both for game play and team/player creation Is wanting everything and being greedy, then yes, I'm greedy. And I'm greedy whether it's Backbreaker, Madden 11, Football Mogul, whatever. It's what I want out of sports games - in this case a football game. So, fine, I'm greedy. Am I supposed to be ashamed or something after this post? Or say "okay, since it's their first game, it could do nothing but tackles well and I'll be giddy with joy?"

i like that list.

this is about to get ugly

# 158 booker21 @ 03/05/10 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hova57


	i like that list. this is about to get ugly

I love that list!

# 159 blackscorpion11 @ 03/05/10 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KBLover


	If: Good fundamental football (blocking, route running, etc) Strategy/playcalling being deep without being cumbersome Good gameplay and controls Good AI Players perform to their ratings so that the top and weaker players are easy to see even without checking ratings (and if/when I do, the player is really good at whatever he's displaying on the field) Solid franchise mode with realistic simmed stats and good team management AI. Customization options both for game play and team/player creation Is wanting everything and being greedy, then yes, I'm greedy. And I'm greedy whether it's Backbreaker, Madden 11, Football Mogul, whatever. It's what I want out of sports games - in this case a football game. So, fine, I'm greedy. Am I supposed to be ashamed or something after this post? Or say "okay, since it's their first game, it could do nothing but tackles well and I'll be giddy with joy?"

Good post! i'm greedy too bro!

why should we settle for less quality when they charge the highest price ??

# 160 CreatineKasey @ 03/05/10 09:44 PM

Yeah, we want BB to be BETTER than M10! That's what games do: better eachother. Why would I accept less? I'll play the game I have the most fun with, enough said.

I just always point out my background being 2k football and Tecmo because if I somehow criticize BB I'm an EA loving greedy fanboy sheep.

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