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THE SPORTS JOURNAL | NEWS FILE |
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REVIEWS
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NFL Street : smackdown, knockdown.... Touchdown !
Posted on Friday, February 20 2004
| REVIEW INFORMATION |
 |
By
AndyP
"Head online for an all new style of football gaming with the latest outstanding release from EA Sports Big. If you're sim only then give this one a miss - otherwise you're in for tons of fun." |
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| DISAGREE ? POST YOUR OWN REVIEW |
Publisher
: EA Sports
Developer : Tiburon
Release Date : OUT NOW !
Genre : Football
|
| 9 |
Gameplay |
| 9 |
Graphics |
| 8 |
Longevity |
| 9 |
Presentation |
| 8 |
Sound |
| 8.6 |
Overall
Score
(not average) |
Platform :     |
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HOW IT STACKS UP
| THE
GOOD |
| Player creation, addictive gameplay, stable online experience |
| THE BAD |
| Limited single player mode |
When it was announced last year that EA were planning to release a street-style of football game to complement their already popular simulation football title, Madden NFL, eyebrows were raised. A certain scepticism came into the minds of most us who wondered quite what EA would bring to the table, but it didn't take long for us to realise that with the name EA Sports Big comes a track record of solid, fun, feature rich and playable titles and this would likely be no different. The drip feed of information that emerged over the next few months served to increase that expectation and come release time the EA marketing team had done their job once again as those of us who were in two minds about whether this would be 'out kind of game' simply couldn't resist diving into the nearest game store to see if it lived up to expectation.
NFL Street... think NBA Street with the same kind of insane moves, extreme energy, GameBreakers ... but without the round ball.
Gameplay
First up, it should be noted that this is not a simulated version of NFL football. There are no kickers, no special teams and you're starting 7 will play both sides of the ball from start to finish. No substitutions. No replays. No punting. If you don't want your guys to perform over the top moves and don't like the idea of being able to maintain possession despite attempting 6 laterals on the one single play, then this is probably not for you. Having said that this is not NFL Blitz - it's not so outrageously over the top that it becomes a button-mashing waste of time. There is much more to this game than that.
Playing offense is incredible fun. While running the ball is distinctly more effective than a passing style of offense, the playbook has a good set of plays available for both as well as a cool collection of trick plays. The lateral, as well as the ability to dive for the goalline are impressively integrated and the lateral in particular will be one of those moves that earns you great reward if you can pull it off and still keep possession. Multiple laterls on a single play are particularly effective and can take you all the way down the field if you do it right.
Speaking of moves you can accumulate plenty of points by showboating in this game. In fact, the more showboating you do, the more points you get - all of which adds up to a GameBreaker once you hit the jackpot. If you're a veteran of the NBA Street series you will know what a GameBreaker is all about. In NFL Street a GameBreaker shifts the advantage completely to your side, meaning if you're on offense your guys will become twice as quick, twice as powerful and insanely effective. On defense the same kind of thing happens with your defensive backs able to hit twice as hard and seemingly pop the ball out of the hands of the offensive players at will. Once you have enough points to activate a GameBreaker you can do so either on offense or defense which calls for a little strategy depending on what stage of the game you're at.
Before we leave gameplay, the online component is probably the best and most addictive feature of the game. If you lose interest in playing 'real' football online because it either takes too long or you're tired of being 'cheesed' then this will come as a refreshing change. Games can be played pretty quickly, and you can fit as many as 3 games into a single one hour stretch. Perfect if that's as mucg time as you have available. As far as guys pulling the plug is concerned - well they're still out there, but to date on every single occasion when one of those losers has pulled out the cord I have been credited with the win. I don't mind a guy quitting if I know I will get the credit for a game I was inevitably going to win anyway. Stats might not be important to you but there's a principle involved - and if you get the win in the end it makes it easier to take.
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