Backbreaker News Post

Backbreaker Multiplayer Hands-on and Videos (IGN)

10:13 PM - March 12, 2010 by lofeazy

IGN has posted their hands-on impressions of Backbreaker, going over the multiplayer details. They've also included a few videos.

Quote:


	"I'm still not a huge fan of how Backbreaker handles running the ball outside and switching players on defense. Both are problems because of the camera angle that's used. When running the camera is still too close to be able to see defenders curling around the offensive line. On defense, the camera angle makes it jarring to switch from a blitzing linebacker to a safety in man-to-man coverage. There's no frame of reference for what the player you're switching to might be doing and it can be frustrating when the opposing team's offense breaks big plays because you can't effectively switch. I found most of my success passing the ball because of my issue with the running. I did toss a few interceptions, but that was more due to the fact that I threw into double coverage too often. The defensive backs do a good job of picking off passes if the ball hits them in the hands, an issue that Madden players have always had."

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# 21 TheWatcher @ 03/13/10 09:58 AM

I say either the models look this way because of a technology hurdle they haven't been able to get over, or they truly are trying to make a play on the futuristic angle in order to stand out. It's more than likely the latter.

# 22 mvb34 @ 03/13/10 10:20 AM

I guess that statment "watch out EA" was a little premature...

# 23 turftickler @ 03/13/10 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CreatineKasey


	So... nobody is going to mention the absolutely hideous throw off the QB's back foot into quadruple coverage for a TD? That's disgusting. I'm okay with the playbooks. Simplicity is fine with me, as long as it's balanced. There's a better chance they are capable of balancing 50 plays instead of 500. EDIT: Note that they WERE playing on pro mode in the last 2 videos. That's as many plays as we get. It's limited.

The throw off the back foot didn't bother me. It was the bullet pass that I didn't like, but oh well. I could sit and pick apart any game all day long, especially "that other game".

# 24 mgoblue678 @ 03/13/10 10:42 AM

Even though I agree with most of the criticisms in this thread, I will disagree with the people calling the player models hideous, at least from a technical standpoint. I can understand why some people wouldn't like the art style they decided to go with as far as being futuristic looking and having limited body types as I don't really I like it either. From a purely technical standpoint though, in terms of things like how well they are rendered, they actually look pretty good in that respect.

# 25 Gort77 @ 03/13/10 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capa


	I agree with you. I just think it is an odd design decision if the latter...I have never seen one request asking for a more futuristic look. Just the opposite actually, gamers (kids and adults) want to play with their favorite players in the NFL and they want them to be exact down to Jerri curls. Since they do not have the NFL license, they should provide a way to replicate the experience and the player models looking real is step 1.

You do realise that game devs make creative decisions without asking for input from people on forums. They chose the character models to differentiate themselves from Madeen, thats it.

# 26 CreatineKasey @ 03/13/10 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turftickler


	The throw off the back foot didn't bother me. It was the bullet pass that I didn't like, but oh well. I could sit and pick apart any game all day long, especially "that other game".

I've got a big issue with stuff like that because it gets abused against other human opponents. Having a QB's feet set is one of the most important aspects to a SIM football game in my opinion. APF had it, Madden really doesn't. It's one of the factors that contributes to passing being so life-like and timing based in APF... you can't just run around and fling a ball at any time. You have to throw things on time consistently from the pocket to have great success passing. If a blitz gets you, you'll have to brace a hit and make a throw, not backpedal away from it.

Imagine the scenario where you send in a great overload blitz yet your opponent can just keep backpedaling and make ALL the throws that he could make with his feet set. The blitz would lose much of its effectiveness.

I've been through this song and dance too many times to be okay with it. I do like the limited playbooks though. I hope many are unique so clear identities come out from different playbooks. There's a better chance this game is balance-able with less plays available too.

# 27 Gort77 @ 03/13/10 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capa


	I understand that...but smart companies don't make the games they want...they make games that appeal to gamers. Like it or not, that other game has millions of followers...very few I bet are looking for player models that look like robots from the NFL on Fox. Listen to your customers...marketing 101. C

Marketing 101 also teaches you to set yourself apart from your competition. To make a game that looks just like madden will not help solidify themselves as something different.

# 28 elgreazy1 @ 03/13/10 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheWatcher


	I say either the models look this way because of a technology hurdle they haven't been able to get over, or they truly are trying to make a play on the futuristic angle in order to stand out. It's more than likely the latter.

I think the main reason for the art direction is, as you stated, due to the technology. The game is new and the devs spent clearly a large majority of their resources building one of the more complex game & physics engines ever released. It's just like a car: the engine & undercarriage comes first while the body comes second.

Look at the Madden's & 2K's games and we see how over time the player models evolved from blocks to defined, realistic shapes. It'll take at least another game release (BB2) and beyond before the devs can re-render and shave down the player models to look more natural AND to add more variation to the models themselves (ie: faces, skin tones, muscle definition, fabrics & fibers, etc). This is something I'm fine with seeing as you can't ask for everything at once in a new release. Am I making excuses for it, hardly not, but I understand where they stand and I'm actually okay with the generic, sleek look of the players.

Even still, I can't wait to get my hands on this for better or worse. I'm simply excited to see another football game, period, and it has nothing to do with my like or dislike of Madden, 2K, Tecmo, etc.

# 29 adamgod8 @ 03/13/10 12:55 PM

Just to update, Rob (producer) said today that the footage shown was a impulsive decision to let the big game companies capture direct feed gameplay. These plays weren't chosen they just happened to be the 3 sets of plays they captured and posted. What we have to remember is EVERY play is going to be different. This is also an unpolished build. Rob said this was the latest build, but it had some bugs because they added a TON of features right before they left for GDC so they could show all the improvements. Most of the bugs in the video have already been ironed out, it just so happened that that version of the build was new and raw. You also should read the review, the writer seems a lot more impressed than the last time he saw it. He said everyone that was playing it was having a BLAST.

I say at least rent this game before you write it off

# 30 kjcheezhead @ 03/13/10 12:58 PM

Here is a post by the developer Rob from the Backbreaker site regarding these vids:

"Arrived back from San Francisco this lunchtime following a very interesting GDC. Just to give you a brief overview, we had two solid days of showing the game to press... some online, some print. You've seen some of the results of that already.

What you didn't realise, and what we only really decided to do at the very last minute, was that we allowed sites to direct capture footage from the game. You may not appreciate what a big step that is for us. Believe me, it was a huge moment. The build that was being demonstrated was literally "yesterday's" build. We got it delivered to the San Fran studio on Tuesday and that was what we ran with.

So all the footage you are seeing coming out of GDC is raw, untouched, not even remotely hand picked. It's also... and this is a big point... not finished!

Following the preview tour of a few weeks back, when code was frozen so that a proper preview build could be delivered, the team started dropping all the new features into the game at a rapid rate. We wanted to return to the States with a build that showed all the very latest stuff... but we decided to live with the fact it wasn't tuned up and poished. What was important to us was to prove that we are still making changes. With the weeks of dev time left, that's when the polish will start to be applied. I am very proud of what the team have achieved in the last couple of weeks alone and even inthe time I've been away. I've heard great stuff.

I've seen lots of praise of the footage and I've seen people picking holes in it. Both are fine! You are more than welcome to point out bugs and errors... in fact, that's helpful! However... at the back of your mind, just remember that this game aint over until the fat lady serving beer in the nosebleeds, sings.

The thing I took away from the GDC demos? What I really enjoyed the most? The fact that every time I played a journalist at split-screen multiplayer (another world first showing for GDC!) it ended up a fast-paced, action packed slice of fun. We laughed A LOT! We jeered at interceptions and boy, there was some nice trash talking! Now I've met a couple of these journalists before, a couple of them never before... so for Backbreaker to bring everyone together like that, well that gives me confidence in the design decisions, the gameplay decisions and the sheer talent of the NM team. These next few weeks are going to be brilliant!

Enjoy the footage, enjoy the previews. But I'm happy to say, you ain't seen nothing yet"

He also posted that the over the middle user pick was a user controlled one by him, still not sure how he pulled that off, but he sounds as surprised as all of us,lol. Gave me a bit of a boost to read, thought you guys might enjoy it too.

# 31 deebo2246 @ 03/13/10 01:49 PM

Could it be possible that some of the QB motions are looking bad because the user was playing it like the EA game? If the game is based on physics and natural motion, then if the user is pulling back on the joystick and not properly setting themselves to throw.That may cause the animation issues with the dropback and throwing animations. I dunno I'm not a programmer, but just a thought. We may have to get the EA tendencies out of our system like APF in order to see the beauty of this game.

# 32 reo @ 03/13/10 01:49 PM

Initial impressions.

Passing Game:

Love how I can't see the whole field when panning with the quarterback. I'm assuming I'll be using the RS to pan while using the LS to run. I did not read what they had to say. I just watched the videos. I've only seen bullet passes and one floater with too much pace. So, I can't comment much here. A bit arcade like but it seems to be the direction their going. I can live with that.

Note: Just saw a ridiculous throwing animation (GDC 2010: 4th Down TD). Ugly. Awful. Please remove this. Otherwise, I'm happy. Too much arcade there for my taste. Haha.

Running Game:

Feels more like north / south runners. It'd be nice if I could use one of the sticks to look in the direction I desire. Regardless, its fantastic. I love the camera angles. It feels more like I'm actually running with the ball. When I'm playing Madden and running with the ball. I feel more like I'm in the broadcast booth. This is different with an acceptable variation.

Tackling Animations:

Lovely. Absolutely brilliant. Never seen anything like this. Although a little puppet like at times, I can understand. A revolutionary initial offering. I could feel those hits. Something I've felt before in Madden and other incarnations, but this, took it to another level. I'm surprised at how well this translated into the whole atmosphere after the beta videos that were released. I did not see it being this successful.

Defense:

Disappointed to see no swatted passes, but I'm assuming it's there. It'd be nice to know that they can drop interceptions too. Otherwise, I'm digging the pace of the game. Watching the user attacking the ball carrier (GDC 2010: Tough Interception & On Defense) allows me to see the possibilities of having a multiplayer arena. This added with the tackling animations feels like the slugfest that I feel defenders need to be successful in the pigskin realm.

Everything else looked okay to me. The videos seemed to highlight the tackling animations more than anything else. Catching the ball on offense or defense did not pull me in one direction or another, however, the effect of catching the ball in the defenders zone did. The tackling is just in a different league. I can't get over it (I realize the redundancy - LoL!) . . .

# 33 LingeringRegime @ 03/13/10 02:01 PM

Thanks cheezhead for that post. A little rationality is always good.

# 34 Crimsontide27 @ 03/13/10 02:01 PM

I dont know what it is, but Im having a hard time liking these new camera angles.

# 35 turftickler @ 03/13/10 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	Here is a post by the developer Rob from the Backbreaker site regarding these vids: "Arrived back from San Francisco this lunchtime following a very interesting GDC. Just to give you a brief overview, we had two solid days of showing the game to press... some online, some print. You've seen some of the results of that already. What you didn't realise, and what we only really decided to do at the very last minute, was that we allowed sites to direct capture footage from the game. You may not appreciate what a big step that is for us. Believe me, it was a huge moment. The build that was being demonstrated was literally "yesterday's" build. We got it delivered to the San Fran studio on Tuesday and that was what we ran with. So all the footage you are seeing coming out of GDC is raw, untouched, not even remotely hand picked. It's also... and this is a big point... not finished! Following the preview tour of a few weeks back, when code was frozen so that a proper preview build could be delivered, the team started dropping all the new features into the game at a rapid rate. We wanted to return to the States with a build that showed all the very latest stuff... but we decided to live with the fact it wasn't tuned up and poished. What was important to us was to prove that we are still making changes. With the weeks of dev time left, that's when the polish will start to be applied. I am very proud of what the team have achieved in the last couple of weeks alone and even inthe time I've been away. I've heard great stuff. I've seen lots of praise of the footage and I've seen people picking holes in it. Both are fine! You are more than welcome to point out bugs and errors... in fact, that's helpful! However... at the back of your mind, just remember that this game aint over until the fat lady serving beer in the nosebleeds, sings. The thing I took away from the GDC demos? What I really enjoyed the most? The fact that every time I played a journalist at split-screen multiplayer (another world first showing for GDC!) it ended up a fast-paced, action packed slice of fun. We laughed A LOT! We jeered at interceptions and boy, there was some nice trash talking! Now I've met a couple of these journalists before, a couple of them never before... so for Backbreaker to bring everyone together like that, well that gives me confidence in the design decisions, the gameplay decisions and the sheer talent of the NM team. These next few weeks are going to be brilliant! Enjoy the footage, enjoy the previews. But I'm happy to say, you ain't seen nothing yet" He also posted that the over the middle user pick was a user controlled one by him, still not sure how he pulled that off, but he sounds as surprised as all of us,lol. Gave me a bit of a boost to read, thought you guys might enjoy it too.

My bad, bro. I started a thread for this. I didn't realize you put it in here. I didn't see a thread for Rob's post yet.

# 36 djordan @ 03/13/10 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deebo2246


	Could it be possible that some of the QB motions are looking bad because the user was playing it like the EA game? If the game is based on physics and natural motion, then if the user is pulling back on the joystick and not properly setting themselves to throw.That may cause the animation issues with the dropback and throwing animations. I dunno I'm not a programmer, but just a thought. We may have to get the EA tendencies out of our system like APF in order to see the beauty of this game.

Posts like this crack me up..lol ..This and the "EA and IGN are sleeping together thats why they are bashing Backbreaker"..HAHHA

# 37 eXperiment63 @ 03/13/10 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by p_rushing


	Playbooks look bad. They need to give you the option to select by formation.

4th Down TD... 12 seconds in... You can see the option to select by formation.

# 38 JMD @ 03/13/10 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capa


	Alpha build or not, I doubt they are going to redo the player models which are hideous, or the run animations which are robotic. There may be tweaks to gameplay and small AI changes, but we are pretty much gonna get what we see now.

Arrived back from San Francisco this lunchtime following a very interesting GDC. Just to give you a brief overview, we had two solid days of showing the game to press... some online, some print. You've seen some of the results of that already.

What you didn't realize, and what we only really decided to do at the very last minute, was that we allowed sites to direct capture footage from the game. You may not appreciate what a big step that is for us. Believe me, it was a huge moment. The build that was being demonstrated was literally "yesterday's" build. We got it delivered to the San Fran studio on Tuesday and that was what we ran with.

So all the footage you are seeing coming out of GDC is raw, untouched, not even remotely hand picked. It's also... and this is a big point... not finished!

Following the preview tour of a few weeks back, when code was frozen so that a proper preview build could be delivered, the team started dropping all the new features into the game at a rapid rate. We wanted to return to the States with a build that showed all the very latest stuff... but we decided to live with the fact it wasn't tuned up and poished. What was important to us was to prove that we are still making changes. With the weeks of dev time left, that's when the polish will start to be applied. I am very proud of what the team have achieved in the last couple of weeks alone and even inthe time I've been away. I've heard great stuff.

I've seen lots of praise of the footage and I've seen people picking holes in it. Both are fine! You are more than welcome to point out bugs and errors... in fact, that's helpful! However... at the back of your mind, just remember that this game aint over until the fat lady serving beer in the nosebleeds, sings.

The thing I took away from the GDC demos? What I really enjoyed the most? The fact that every time I played a journalist at split-screen multiplayer (another world first showing for GDC!) it ended up a fast-paced, action packed slice of fun. We laughed A LOT! We jeered at interceptions and boy, there was some nice trash talking! Now I've met a couple of these journalists before, a couple of them never before... so for Backbreaker to bring everyone together like that, well that gives me confidence in the design decisions, the gameplay decisions and the sheer talent of the NM team. These next few weeks are going to be brilliant!

Enjoy the footage, enjoy the previews. But I'm happy to say, you ain't seen nothing yet!

So everyone can just relax. If we are still seeing videos that look like this come May 15th, then you can start with your Sky is falling posts again.

# 39 mvb34 @ 03/13/10 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMD

Please stop your speculating before you make yourself look more foolish then you already have. Those vids are not the final build, There will be changes made. Courtesy of Turflicker - Rob one of the guys working on the game has said:

Arrived back from San Francisco this lunchtime following a very interesting GDC. Just to give you a brief overview, we had two solid days of showing the game to press... some online, some print. You've seen some of the results of that already.

What you didn't realize, and what we only really decided to do at the very last minute, was that we allowed sites to direct capture footage from the game. You may not appreciate what a big step that is for us. Believe me, it was a huge moment. The build that was being demonstrated was literally "yesterday's" build. We got it delivered to the San Fran studio on Tuesday and that was what we ran with.

So all the footage you are seeing coming out of GDC is raw, untouched, not even remotely hand picked. It's also... and this is a big point... not finished!

Following the preview tour of a few weeks back, when code was frozen so that a proper preview build could be delivered, the team started dropping all the new features into the game at a rapid rate. We wanted to return to the States with a build that showed all the very latest stuff... but we decided to live with the fact it wasn't tuned up and poished. What was important to us was to prove that we are still making changes. With the weeks of dev time left, that's when the polish will start to be applied. I am very proud of what the team have achieved in the last couple of weeks alone and even inthe time I've been away. I've heard great stuff.

I've seen lots of praise of the footage and I've seen people picking holes in it. Both are fine! You are more than welcome to point out bugs and errors... in fact, that's helpful! However... at the back of your mind, just remember that this game aint over until the fat lady serving beer in the nosebleeds, sings.

The thing I took away from the GDC demos? What I really enjoyed the most? The fact that every time I played a journalist at split-screen multiplayer (another world first showing for GDC!) it ended up a fast-paced, action packed slice of fun. We laughed A LOT! We jeered at interceptions and boy, there was some nice trash talking! Now I've met a couple of these journalists before, a couple of them never before... so for Backbreaker to bring everyone together like that, well that gives me confidence in the design decisions, the gameplay decisions and the sheer talent of the NM team. These next few weeks are going to be brilliant!

Enjoy the footage, enjoy the previews. But I'm happy to say, you ain't seen nothing yet!

So everyone can just relax. If we are still seeing videos that look like this come May 15th, then you can start with your Sky is falling posts again.

All spin control if you ask me...

# 40 CreatineKasey @ 03/13/10 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metallicatz


	This is very reminiscent of the Prizefighter release. - Very limited info and actual gameplay footage released until the game was just a couple months out. - Little real marketing. - The message boards were abuzz with people proclaiming death to EA's boxing game before they saw a single frame of gameplay footage. - Then the decision was made for a dev rep for the game to release a preview on IGN or Gamespot with footage of him playing the game. The game looked terrible from a gameplay standpoint. - The official 2K message boards were then bombarded with both general disappointment and blind defense. Die hard EA haters blindly defended the game using the same excuses of "alpha builds" (even though the game was practically on the Launch Day doorstep) and accusations of IGN or Gamespot sabotaging the game because they were "paid off by EA". - 2k did a very similar vien of damage control. They finally released a demo shortly before the release.....which confirmed what the vids had shown. - Game was released and got poor review scores across the board from media sites as well as fan reviews. - The dev studio was shut down shortly after. The game looks like it'll be an interesting change of pace, and it looks about like I expected with the stiff animations, simplistic arcadish gameplay, and minimalist playbooks. I think some people managed to convince themselves that a game like this would be 100% free of canned animations as far as QB throwing animations and such. Simply not the case. I don't think the story will end nearly as badly as Prizefighter's story ended as far as studio closure or poor review scores....but it's simply another lesson that getting your hopes up and/or letting some grudge or bias against EA cloud your objectivity will likely let you down in the end. This game is schedule for a May 25th release....which means the final product needs to be submitted for production/packaging/distribution not long after the beginning of May. Not alot is going to realistically change in the month and a half. This is pretty close to what we're going to get. Nothing wrong with that, if you kept your expectations in check. I'll pick it up on May 25th.

Good post and good story. It seems to parallel this situation.

The lesson: don't let video game companies blur objectivity.

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