| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: NFL Street 2
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
The QB takes the snap and rolls backwards. The routes are covered, both men swamped by the opposing cornerbacks. The QB dodges one defender, leaps over the second. Heading for the sideline he stiff-arms a tackler and then leaps and, briefly, runs along the wall. Two more tacklers miss and he's across the line for a cool six points!
A Sunday in the life of Michael Vick? No, that was Peyton Manning taking the end zone by force with his mad acrobatic scramble. Madden Football? No, this is NFL Street 2, EA's second attempt to make gridiron action as urban as hoops and stickball and it's a blast from start to finish even if the parts don't quite add up.  The premise is simple. Take real NFL teams and a handful of real NFL players, remove protective gear, and put the gridiron in an urban setting. Then eight gladiators pound the rock or rocket it toward the end zone for six. No kickers are allowed so the only extra points come on the ground. The game is extremely offense heavy. You can spin, juke, stiff-arm, jump, and dodge with ease. Make one-handed grabs from a QB throwing off his back foot. Power through and break tackles, or rebound off the wall like Jackie Chan in, well, in one of his earlier films. It's all possible and with an intuitive and easy to remember button scheme (easy on the Xbox and PS2, harder on the GameCube) you're the master of the offense. Bringing the skills and the trash talk to go with it. The graphics are sharpened, clearer, and less exaggerated than last year. The street graffiti look is retained while everything else just looks much more detailed and solid. Personally, I think the look of the game would be stronger if the character models weren't so exaggerated and cartoonish, but that's a look they maintain throughout. The animations are just about perfect, even the more outrageous moves ﾖ and you'll see plenty of outrageous moves ﾖ are fun to watch. Almost every major player is here, with only a few holdouts, but you'll find a nice assortment of familiar players to use in the game. Each side gets six players and it's up to you how to mix and match your team. Say you have the Patriots. You can take Brady, Vrabel, Bruschi, Dillon, Branch and... do you want a Tight End? Another Receiver? Maybe take another linebacker or a Center, to beef up the line? This is where the game gets strategic. All players play Offense and Defense, so do you stack the O, or the D, or do you play a balanced attack? The game is still replete with options, mini-games, tutorials, and different ways to play, but it struck us funny that EA hasn't really pushed the envelope here. This is a funky cartoonish look at NFL football. You know, the "No Fun League?" Yet EA Big does little to bite the hand that feeds them (but then again, this is still a better game than NFL Blitz ever was). Oh, except that now you can run up walls and if you hit posters and logos on those walls (the game calls these "hotspots") you gain extra power for your next stiff-arm or spin move. Doing this and "showboating" (high stepping into the end zone, waving, rude gestures, etc.,) give you points on your Gamebreaker meter. Once filled, you can devastate your opponent. A single Gamebreaker will probably net you a huge sack, an interception, or something equally momentum shifting (this can be countered by a skilled player). But if you save two of them and unleash them? You're guaranteed a score or, if on D, you'll watch your guy penetrate the line and literally take the football from the opposing QB. There's nothing your opponent can do about it. All of this is fine until you get to the D. Defense is always limited in football video games because it's such a reactive role. If you're not controlling the right guy, you miss the tackle. Grab control of a cornerback and you're liable to fall off the route, bring on a pass interference call, or worst of all, miss the tackle and cause a short dink pass to turn into serious yardage. The good news with games like Madden and ESPN are that the AI controlled D can usually handle things without your help. Not so here. NFL Street's offensive powers are such that any reasonably skilled player can smack around even an expert's defense. Play calling won't save you and neither will speed and quick reactions. It's like the tools aren't in the game.  This is evident on the couch, but even more on Xbox Live or online PS2. In multiplayer the game becomes a TD fest where first possession is crucial (otherwise you're playing in a perpetual hole and hoping your opponent makes a mistake) and last possession is even more crucial (because the game goes to a score limit, not a clock, there's no time management in this game). A grueling match between two players goes back and forth like a tennis match with each player praying for a mistake rather than using the D to cause one. NFL Street 2 is a terrific rental and a great game to play with friends online or off, but here's hoping NFL Street 3 gives us more to do with the D. Because, everybody knows, they tune in to watch Offense but it is Defense that wins championships. 
The game is simple, easy to pick up, and it's one where random button mashing often leads to success. That makes it good for younger kids and non-game playing adults. Best of all and worst of all, the single player mode stinks, so it's the kind of game you're going to need to play together. The game is very violent - the hits are brutal but cartoonish - and players play without pads. Beware kids imitating it and clothes lining their friends.
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "NFL Street" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: NFL Street 2 |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
