[misterkrabz]

My demo impressions=yuk.

On Offense:
It still takes no skill to pass, you have little to no control over where or how hard the ball is passed other than picking the receiver you want to throw to. I can envision many 1,2 or 3 play touchdown drives..I had three in my first game (on AA).

On Defense:
It's still next to impossible to cover a receiver in the open field with a user controlled defender, there is no deflect or swat pass button, but that doesn't really matter because the passes are thrown so fast that even if you by chance had your defender in position to make a play the ball is passed so hard/fast that you don't have time to react anyway.

I'm still on the hunt for a football game that makes me feel like I'm in control of the action and what I do with the sticks DOES have an impact on the game. Sadly this isn't it. You might as well not even play defense and on offense the bulk of the challenge is simply finding the open receiver and hitting to corresponding button with very little risk/reward involved in your decisions. Graphics are beautiful but for me that doesn’t cut it. If you’re looking for a game that is basically a strategy type game where you call the action and watch it play out on the field this might be a nice option for you. But if you're looking for something that is rewarding to play that gives a sense of accomplishment, this isn’t it. This game reminds me of Tecmo Bowl on steroids.