Why I didn't buy APF(but might at 20$)

[Bornindamecca]

This isn't just for the forum members, but for any 2k devs looking for reactions to their game as well. I didn't buy All Pro Football, but my favorite sports title to date is NFL 2k5, I'm an avid NBA 2k8 gamer and I think Madden has lacked in quality since 2004's solid effort.

When APF was announced, I was very excited. Admittedly, some of the repls comments in GameInformer were off putting and arrogant, but I don't have to listen to him when I play the game so I just put that in a box and threw it in the sea. The features all sound good, and then the demo comes out. Hm. A little bare bones. Also, the artwork isn't as good as NFL 2k5. The 360 is a much more powerful system than last gen, so the graphics are technically better, but relative to the current quality of graphics of this generation, the demo was underwhelming.

I played the demo, and the jury was still out. It didn't wow me, but with enough features, I could see giving APF a shot. After all, these are the guys who made NFL2k5, so they have a longer leash with me.

Then the reviews come in. There are no features. There is no dynasty mode, and they don't have a comparable amount of options for their fictional universe as we do for the real NFL. I'm a big NFL fan, but for the sake of a great football game, I could make the sacrifice of marquee. After all, that's what the NCAA is for me, especially after one or two years of Dynasty or Campus Legend. It's all make believe a few seasons in, so if they had enough of it, I could just pass on that first year or two of real life rosters.

But this is where they disappointed me, as an offline gamer. There is no HoF mode where you can build your own legend. There is no fictional world of football that my team can grow in. There is one season of play, with some legends and generic players who can never be legends. From an impartial gaming standpint, that is much much less game than any sports title, let alone Madden.

With all of the great games for the 360, this automatically disqualified the game from my list. It didn't supplement the lack of an NFL license with an abundance of non NFL, but football related features. It is what it is: a blueprint. 2k put out a template for what could be a great franchise. This is the iPod that's too big and has no video.

A dedication to making their fictional footbal world as big and impressive as the real world based Madden-verse would have made a compelling case for the offline football fan. As it is, 60 bucks is too high of a price for a game that is roughly 2/3s less than another football franchise that I won't even buy. Even if the passing is much better.

At 20 bucks, it is worth it to check out, even though most of me just wants to wait and see what they do with 2k9. But at the end of the day, for some gamers, all of the reasons not to buy APF had only to do with APF. I don't have Madden because I don't need a new football game every year, and I still don't feel like I'm playing a relatively better game than NFL 2k5 when I pick it up. It feels too basic and the passing still feels three years behind the times. For both companies, football needs to step it up. Madden needs more football, and APF needs more game.

[muggins]

yay for rehashes

yayyyyyyy

[Vast]

Co-sign

[metallicatz]

Well, i had a feeling APF would get old pretty quick for me, being a franchise-only type sports gamer. I was pretty disapointed when I found it wouldn't have a franchise mode (as were a great many others). However, I still bought it at launch because I wanted to support 2K and contribute financial stimulation to take the series to the next step. Even though the game got old after 6 seasons in the bare-bones season mode and I traded it in, I don't regret having bought it at launch. If 2K comes back to the table in 09 with a great game and a proper feature set (including a deep franchise mode) i'll be back on board. But if there's no franchise mode a 2nd time I won't spend the cash this time around.

[DocHolliday]

Intead of writing that, just get Xbox live.

Problem solved, best online sport game ever

[ubernoob]

Quote: Originally Posted by DocHolliday

Intead of writing that, just get Xbox live. Problem solved, best online sport game ever

Some people don't enjoy playing online.

Now if this game had the deepest and most feature-rich franchise ever, with no online? It'd be the exact opposite. People would be complaining about no online, but we can say go play franchise - but that's not for everyone.

[Bornindamecca]

Quote: Originally Posted by ubernoob

Some people don't enjoy playing online. Now if this game had the deepest and most feature-rich franchise ever, with no online? It'd be the exact opposite. People would be complaining about no online, but we can say go play franchise - but that's not for everyone.

Exactly. Instead of making excuses for 2k, demand that they put out a product with at least as much content as the competition. For that matter, at least as much content as NFL 2k5. Not just as a football game, but as a video game, APF is behind NFL 2k5. I'm not saying some game mechanics aren't improved, but if you take in the total video game package, it just comes up way short. Compared with other quality sports titles (Winning eleven, Nba 2k8 etc..) APF is just way behind. Madden has all of the features, I'm just not in love with the graphics and the gameplay.

[metallicatz]

I think if you did a hard statistical analysis, you'd likely find that the number of offline sports gamers far exceeds that of online gamers. I don't care about cultivating an online ranking. I like my games and my time spent to count for something in the "grand scheme of things". I like to build franchises over time from bottom feeders to powerhouses. Perhaps i'f be more inclined to go online in the future if I could join an online franchise league w/ serious players. But as it stands now.......way too many childish, obnoxious, smack talking jackholes hanging around online. When I scan the 2K boards the vast majority of what I see is complaining about the "cheesers" and the online experience in general.