Backbreaker Football
5.5
10
2
2
A little wonky, but great game.
Bought this game on a whim at Gamestop on Boxing Day. Couldn't be happier.
The game obviously takes place in a futuristic setting. The stadiums are massive, the players are massive, and everything is really shiny. Those who like realistic LOOKING football games are going to be greatly disappointed. That being said, I don't mind a little embellishment, so I don't mind how it looks at all.
The modes you can select from the main menu are; Training Camp, Season, Exhibition, Tackle Alley, My Teams and Locker Room.
Training Camp is a mode that takes you through all the main fundamentals of the game. It is very well done and will allow newbies to get a good grasp on the mechanics very quickly.
Season mode is your general sports-sim franchise mode. It has two variations, Season and Road to Backbreaker. Season is the mode where you pick every team in the league, put them into divisions, and then play as one until the championship game. The cool feature about this is that you can pick how many teams are in your league (8, 16, 32). I know a lot of CFL fans will be happy to hear about that one.
Road to Backbreaker is your typical rising through the ranks story. You pick your team, and you battle through divisions trying to get to the top. Forewarning: it gets very, very difficult.
Exhibition is your typical 'quick-play' option. You can play one or two player local splitscreen, or one versus one online. You can pick from the games 32 premade teams, or select your own custom ones you've made yourself.
My Teams is one of the best features this game has. You can create up to 32 custom teams, and they're all completely customizable. You can customize colors, make your own logos, stadium names, endzone decals and player names all from the in game editor. If you have an Xbox 360, a team has been pumping out all the NFL Teams and full rosters every year that you can download for free.
Locker Room is where all the options are stored. Not much to talk about there.
Now on to gameplay. It's very smooth. The hits are big. The plays are incredible. This game is everything I've personally wanted in a football game for a long time. With Madden, you're seeing the game from a sky cam, and completely ruining any immersion. With Bacbreaker, however, you're right in the action, seeing it from an on-the-field perspective. Not only does it add to the immersion, but also, seeing the massive euphoria based physic engine pumping out massive hit after hit is absolutely incredible. The one thing this games lacks, however, is presentation. There is no commentary, little to no tv-esque tidbits, it's 100% football all the time. I personally like hearing the crunches of pads and grunts of players moreso than annoying commentary anyways, so to each his own.
Also worth mentioning, Tackle Alley is the minigame that comes on the disk. Its a game where; you, a lone ball carrier, are put up against 100 rounds of increasingly difficult defense and 100 yard runs. It is a great way to showcase the euphoria engine and is a lot of fun too.
Bottom line: If you enjoy big hits and fun gameplay, buy this game. It might not have the presentation that Madden has, or an NFL license, but it does have some truly incredible gameplay, and at the end of the day, that's all that really matters.
12/27/12
This Game REALLY sucks
I got this game for free, and I'm really glad I didn't fork the money out for it. The reason why I choose this game out of 40 was because I didn't have a football game and thought that this game could fill the void. Within five mins of the game I was through. This game is wack, the controls are jerky and sometime seem nonresponsive. There are a lot of replays and stops in the game. The players look fake and unnatural. All together the game look, feel and play is low budget. For those who say this is the next gen. Please stop write reviews about football games if you know nothing about football games.
9/11/12