Game Informer Review

[Afrikan]

I disagree with the review....there are problems like with other current sports games, but that being said, imo...not enough to warrant a 5/10.

but at least I finally have the game and I am JUST SO Happy....it seems the BackBreaker community is strong...we are all helping each other with gameplay tips, and creation tips, and just sharing our gaming moments.......even though it seems there are still people here who will not purchase the game, but for some reason go out of their way to steer threads.

but what ever, can't wait to start sharing NFL teams and playing a different and next generation take of the sport I love, football.

also was this last sentence necessary?

Quote:

. Only the most hardcore gridiron fans dying for an alternative to the EA Sports offerings should bother bringing this one in for a look.

so "ONLY" these types of gamers should "bother" bringing this one in for a "look".

what if you want to play Madden and you want to play BackBreaker.....is this not allowed?....lol.

[mvb34]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fiddy

i didnt read this whole thread and even just skimmed the review.. but why dont reviews give these type of games love when it comes to creating the NCAA or NFL Leagues/Conferences teams etc? i mean this is a huge plus for this game and they dont touch on it much. grrrr!!

He does a little "Though Backbreaker lacks the NFL license, the robust team customization tools give you several options to sculpt your own teams. The Forza-like logo creation isn’t easy to use, however, so only passionate graphic artists will likely be able to replicate the logos of their favorite teams. Backbreaker blocks you from using the names of NFL players past or present, but you can get around this by using initials for the first name or leaving an extra space at the end of the name. The game offers no roster trading functionality to share your creations with others online"

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

I fail to see how one needs an NFL license to produce a game with an AI opponent that is at least minimally competent, or to develop a game that observes the basic rules of the sport. If it's your position that NM should get a pass on this because of the inherent disadvantages facing a developer w/o an NFL license, all I can say is that you should spend your money as you see fit and I will do likewise.

Of course they don't deserve a pass. But judge it like a first effort, and one that isn't benefiting from having a blueprint to follow. When 2K made APF, they specifically said they were trying to make the most realistic sim-football game to date. And in most ways they succeeded. So judging the game a certain way is to be expected.

NM never said anything like that. But that's the expectation being placed on them. In fact, NM said they were trying to do something different. Expectations are all over the place with the game because some are trying to make it out to be something it was never intended to be from the beginning. Either way, judge it for the first year title it is. [That licensed game] had a ton of AI issues in it's first year. And it's second year. And it's third. In it's third year it still had huge turnover issues for example. And it still wasn't faulted by the general press for having those issues. Holding BB to that expectation isn't fair imo. Again, no one is saying BB doesn't deserve criticism. But it needs to be weighted and balanced appropriately. I've said this before - go and check the OS reviews of Madden 08 and APF2K8 and see how different the tone was and the expectations were between the games. Other sites did the same thing. There's just no way you can have the same expectations of a 5th year licensed title as you would of a 1st year unlicensed title.

[StormJH1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fiddy

i didnt read this whole thread and even just skimmed the review.. but why dont reviews give these type of games love when it comes to creating the NCAA or NFL Leagues/Conferences teams etc? i mean this is a huge plus for this game and they dont touch on it much. grrrr!!

Well, he did (as the poster above pointed out), if the game doesn't work very well, does it really matter? Also, with the difficulty barrier of creating the logo and the lack of an online sharing mechanism, what percentage of Backbreaker users are going to go through the effort of creating an authentic NCAA or NFL league? 2%? Less than 1%?

I'm preordered on this game and it's looking more and more like a disappointment. But given the fun I had with the demo, I'm just going to try and not take it so seriously.

The desire people have for this to be a good game--even going against our better instincts--proves that something is missing from next-gen sports gaming. Just think if EA had taken this kind of direction in 2005 with Madden, instead of printing money every year using the same formula they've had for a decade. With EA's resources, perhaps we could have had a true next-gen football experience by now, much the same way EA's NHL game took the next step forward. Oh well.

[mvb34]

[quote=spankdatazz22;2041125776]Of course they don't deserve a pass. But judge it like a first effort, and one that isn't benefiting from having a blueprint to follow. When 2K made APF, they specifically said they were trying to make the most realistic sim-football game to date. And in most ways they succeeded. So judging the game a certain way is to be expected. quote]

Shouldn't they atleast gotten the basic rules of football right? A ball being punt into the endzone and pickup by the kicking team is not a TD, not even in the XFL..

[Playmakers]

This quote kinda tells me if they had included some sliders this game could have been tweaked to make the CPU function better

"Given the poor offensive AI, however, the defense easily racks up negative plays, sacks, and interceptions, which robs the experience of realism.

With the AI hardly providing competition, the onus is on other humans to find a challenge. Unfortunately, the split-screen two-player presentation couples with too-tight camera angles to hurt the couch play experience. Online matches are your only honest option."

Why on earth would they not include sliders................

[JMD]

Sounds like that guy only played the game for a short time, and it also sounds like he tried to play it as if it was Madden or 2k football. Two very big mistakes.

[ZoneKIller]

Quote: Originally Posted by grunt

We can't compare games in this thread.

My bad,didnt mean to compare ,just saying a 5 is pretty bad for a score.I mean ALOT of sorry games have gotten better grades than a 5.

I had been thinking about getting this game but I might wait for the dust to settle.