NFL Fever 2004
Posted December 7, 2003
I used to play flag football when I was in elementary school. I, being of very small stature, was always the wide out and never got the opportunity to play QB. Well, now the time for me to finally vault ahead of my peers has arrived. NFL Fever 2004 gives players the opportunity to finally call out the audibles, turn the perfect double hand-off, and throw that long bomb...but it's under the guise of a video game of course...I mean, come on.
Prima Games comes out with this year's edition of Fever and with an increased number of options for gameplay, the avenues of entertainment are seemingly endless...or so one might think. Practice your plays, play exhibition style, take control of a team in "dynasty" mode, be the GM of your favorite squad, or participate in the much anticipated never over-rated XSN live league. Here you will be able to play an entire season against teenagers in South Dakota who honestly have nothing better to do than whoop your ass like it's their hobby...and quite frankly, it is! "All these options, and more?" you may be asking yourself. Well yes, but don't get too carried away yet. It's not always the biggest package that holds the best gift.
Gameplay:
As with most sports games, Fever allows you a plethora of options in terms of how to play the game. I'll quickly go through each option with a bit of detail, then I'll get to the actual gameplay itself.
The first option is to go through a series of practice drills. You can do it in true NFL style by actually going to "camp," where you go through a series of drills for both offensive and defensive plays. You can also go to "Open Practice" where you basically choose a particular skill set that you feel you need to work on, and you can do it 100 times until you get it right. Sadly, this is sometimes necessary for certain special skills. Another feature in the practice area is a rather annoying selection called "Chalk Talk". Here you are talked to by Ron Pitts who takes you through different ways to fine tune your game and really get you prepped for a game time situation. These are like practices without doing the actual motions. They give a few insightful hints, but not much more.
Another option for game play is to start your own Dynasty. In my opinion I feel that if your gonna take the time to do this, you may as well join a league via the XSN option (which I'll cover later) 'cause this is extremely time consuming. The dynasty feature means you have to build the team from the ground up, and this includes playing a ton of games, and then playing lots of games...did I mention the games you have to play? Honestly you should play some shorter versions of this game before diving head first into the dynasty option. If you find that you love the game, then go for it, because you can seriously sink 10 years worth of games into the dynasty option. God speed to you if that's what you choose.
Similar to Dynasty is General Manager. This one is a little more in depth, and is fun if you like bringing your friends into games and making characters that look like them (something I've enjoyed with basketball games in the past). The GM option allows you to create and edit players (their appearance, their abilities, the whole thing), create the uniforms for the team, make trades for your team, and basically any other move that a real GM would be able to do. Unlike the dynasty, you have a lot more control of the actual make-up of your team in this option. I could see this being fun to set up on a lonely Saturday night.
Of course, the personal favorite and most popular is the single game Exhibition mode. Here you can go head-to-head with the computer, or challenge your little cousin to a match (in which your cousin will likely whoop your ass). This mode is just like any other football game mode. Pick your team, pick a site to play, pick the weather, and then off you go. By far the most simple of the options, yet the best when you just want to get in there and cream somebody (or the computer) real quick.
Now for the two "selling point" features of this game. XSN Sports has been kind enough to allow you to link up (via XBox live) and play in a fantasy rotisserie league setting with kids from all over the globe. This is one of the strong selling points for those of us that would rather play a game at 8:00 every Thursday than watch the latest episode of "Friends." XSN allows you to set up your won league, or join a pre-existing one. XSN will track your stats, keep up with how the season is progressing, set up tournaments, even send you e-mail reminders when you have upcoming games. This is the ultimate for on-line sports fans everywhere.
While you're linked into XBox Live, you may as well try out an exhibition against someone somewhere else in the world. You can join into single games with people from all over and talk smack over the XBox Live headset. Put some kid controlling Donovan McNabb in the dirt and yell profanities at him, there's no better therapy (XBox Live and dvdtalk.com do not condone the use of profanity over the XBox Live headset...nor do I. I just thought it would be funny to put in here).
So now that you know all the options, on to the game play itself.
Fever is surprisingly easy to pick up on and learn. Granted, there are literally dozens of different things you can do all based off of 6 buttons and two control pads, but the main functions aren't all that tough to pick up on. Offensively, you pick plays much in the same way that you have for games dating all the way back to Tecmo Bowl. You choose weather it's gonna be a run or pass, and then you choose from a list provided. Yes, there are more than 4 plays like the days of Tecmo, but the idea is still the same. The neat additions are the fact that they have a "Coach's Choice" which is a list of plays the coach recommends for that particular situation, "My Plays" for plays that you have set up before hand that you like and you often use, and then "Recent Plays" which lists the last several plays you have selected in case you want to quickly go back to a set. These options are available on both offense and defense. So anyway, you select the play and then you come back to field. You move up to the line and now you can tap the 'Y' button to see where everyone is going on this play. It shows the routes of the receivers and/or the direction the running backs are going to go. Very useful in games one-on-one versus the computer, not so much when you're going head to head against someone sitting in the room. In any event, you decide what you're going to do based on that defense, or you can call a quick audible and select from a short list of optional plays. This option is fairly new and allows for a change based on a reading of the defense. Once you snap it's a simple decision of picking a reciever (by pressing the corresponding button) and then using the trigger to fire it to him. How hard you press the trigger depends on how hard the toss is. Then it's a simple game of catch. If it's a running play the ball is conveniently handed off to the back, and then you control where he goes from there (No Bo Jackson plays a la Tecmo Bowl in this one guy's...sorry). As you can see, not too complicated. Once you become familiar with the play options out there, play selection becomes easier, as does reciever selection, etc.
On defense, it's even easier. You select the defensive set up you want (nickel, dime, 3LB, 4LB, etc) and then you select the play you want to run. It's all a crap shoot (as all defense is) but again, here you are able to call an audible if you have picked a play that is totally off. For instance, if you come to the line with a run defense set up and the offense has 5 wide outs, you can call a quick audible, and set up differently. Don't be too slow however, because the other team has the ability to do a quick run up to the line and snap it before you have time to adjust. Beyond the play selection, you choose a player you have control of and he roams free based on how you move the control pad. Once the ball is snapped, it's up to you.
Special teams are just like any other football game. The kickoffs are standard directional arrows which are locked first, and then you determine the kick intensity. Same for field goals and extra points. Nothing fancy here.
As you can see, the gameplay is pretty user friendly, and not all that hard to follow along with. For that reason though, this gameplay didn't stand out in my opinion. It was just "blah". Nothing too exciting, nothing I was "wowed" by. I found the gameplay (especially the passing game) to be highly frustrating at times. I was also shocked to see that I had to go into XBox Live a half dozen times before I could load one exhibition game. Is this game that unpopular?...I'd like to think not. The Live gameplay also appeared to run faster on my machine, and the action was clearly pumped up a notch by the talking aspect.
Graphics:
Ok, it's time to give props where props are due. While I didn't get the feeling that I was actually looking at the real players on the screen while playing this game, I did find the graphics to be quite impressive. The overview of the field when you first begin a game gives you a great panoramic of the audience, the field, the players, the whole shebang. Of course one of the neatest features for me is that you can choose the type of weather you're playing in. You want snow?...got it. You want rain?...done. Not only do these add cool aestethics to the game itself, but they alter the gameplay as well. If you're playing in snow, you better not make too many cuts on run backs. If you're in high winds, don't kick that 45 yard field goal. But this is the graphics section, so why did I mention this? Well, to me it's the little things that count, and the fact that you can see footprints with each step when playing in snow...well that's just cool. In all seriousness though, the weather graphics are very noticeable and well done, and add an extra element of realism to any game.
But back to the players themselves. Close ups on individual players did yield a fairly accurate (as accurate as any sports game gets) portrayal of the player in real life. Long gone are the days of Tecmo Bowl type imaging where it's either a black player or a white player. The play selection screen is a well laid out forum too, with the routes, options, and play names clearly labeled and easy to read. Finally, the menu screens are very crisp and the lines are well defined. This is an important characteristic for the average player who is trying to root around within the many options, because if a menu is not user-friendly, than the game becomes a frustrating hassle, and nobody wants that.
Graphics were sound overall and did justice to the type of game play that this game depicts.
Audio:
Alright, I'm not going to lie to anyone here: the announcers get pretty old, pretty fast. I'm sure that in real life hearing Kevin Calabro call a game is fine, but here it just gets old. I'm also not saying that the incessant voice of Ron Pitts or Dr. Randy Rowland is any better. But enough voice bashing, I'm just biased I suppose 'cause I know I could do better.
In any event I must use this space to mention the background music at the menu screens. This music would clearly be better placed at the front of a game called "D-Day" or something along those lines. Sure, people are always trying to compare football to war, what with adjectives like "battle" and "carnage" and "casualties", but do we need the soundtrack to put us in a WWII scenario? Those complaints aside though, I was very impressed with the sound effects of this game. The hits and tackles are accentuated very well with a loud punch, and are often even followed up with realistic sounding trash talk from the players. Audibles fall under this same category, as they too sound very realistic.
Crowd noise and reaction is in line with the flow of the game, allowing the excitement to truly seep into your bones as you play each game.
Conclusion:
Are you the type of guy who spends 9 hours in front of the TV on a Sunday, with an ever-growing pile of chips crumbs in your lap? Do you then do the same Monday night, but instead of chips you have pizza crusts there? Maybe you're the type of guy who is in 5 or 6 fantasy football rottisserie leagues and you can spit out the stats of any player from any given AFC team on the spot. Well, if you are either of these two types of people AND you have halfway decent hand-eye coordination, then I suggest you get this game. For the rest of us: buy the suds, buy the chips, buy the dip, but rent NFL Fever 2004.
Prima Games comes out with this year's edition of Fever and with an increased number of options for gameplay, the avenues of entertainment are seemingly endless...or so one might think. Practice your plays, play exhibition style, take control of a team in "dynasty" mode, be the GM of your favorite squad, or participate in the much anticipated never over-rated XSN live league. Here you will be able to play an entire season against teenagers in South Dakota who honestly have nothing better to do than whoop your ass like it's their hobby...and quite frankly, it is! "All these options, and more?" you may be asking yourself. Well yes, but don't get too carried away yet. It's not always the biggest package that holds the best gift.
Gameplay:
As with most sports games, Fever allows you a plethora of options in terms of how to play the game. I'll quickly go through each option with a bit of detail, then I'll get to the actual gameplay itself.
The first option is to go through a series of practice drills. You can do it in true NFL style by actually going to "camp," where you go through a series of drills for both offensive and defensive plays. You can also go to "Open Practice" where you basically choose a particular skill set that you feel you need to work on, and you can do it 100 times until you get it right. Sadly, this is sometimes necessary for certain special skills. Another feature in the practice area is a rather annoying selection called "Chalk Talk". Here you are talked to by Ron Pitts who takes you through different ways to fine tune your game and really get you prepped for a game time situation. These are like practices without doing the actual motions. They give a few insightful hints, but not much more.
Another option for game play is to start your own Dynasty. In my opinion I feel that if your gonna take the time to do this, you may as well join a league via the XSN option (which I'll cover later) 'cause this is extremely time consuming. The dynasty feature means you have to build the team from the ground up, and this includes playing a ton of games, and then playing lots of games...did I mention the games you have to play? Honestly you should play some shorter versions of this game before diving head first into the dynasty option. If you find that you love the game, then go for it, because you can seriously sink 10 years worth of games into the dynasty option. God speed to you if that's what you choose.
Similar to Dynasty is General Manager. This one is a little more in depth, and is fun if you like bringing your friends into games and making characters that look like them (something I've enjoyed with basketball games in the past). The GM option allows you to create and edit players (their appearance, their abilities, the whole thing), create the uniforms for the team, make trades for your team, and basically any other move that a real GM would be able to do. Unlike the dynasty, you have a lot more control of the actual make-up of your team in this option. I could see this being fun to set up on a lonely Saturday night.
Of course, the personal favorite and most popular is the single game Exhibition mode. Here you can go head-to-head with the computer, or challenge your little cousin to a match (in which your cousin will likely whoop your ass). This mode is just like any other football game mode. Pick your team, pick a site to play, pick the weather, and then off you go. By far the most simple of the options, yet the best when you just want to get in there and cream somebody (or the computer) real quick.
Now for the two "selling point" features of this game. XSN Sports has been kind enough to allow you to link up (via XBox live) and play in a fantasy rotisserie league setting with kids from all over the globe. This is one of the strong selling points for those of us that would rather play a game at 8:00 every Thursday than watch the latest episode of "Friends." XSN allows you to set up your won league, or join a pre-existing one. XSN will track your stats, keep up with how the season is progressing, set up tournaments, even send you e-mail reminders when you have upcoming games. This is the ultimate for on-line sports fans everywhere.
While you're linked into XBox Live, you may as well try out an exhibition against someone somewhere else in the world. You can join into single games with people from all over and talk smack over the XBox Live headset. Put some kid controlling Donovan McNabb in the dirt and yell profanities at him, there's no better therapy (XBox Live and dvdtalk.com do not condone the use of profanity over the XBox Live headset...nor do I. I just thought it would be funny to put in here).
So now that you know all the options, on to the game play itself.
Fever is surprisingly easy to pick up on and learn. Granted, there are literally dozens of different things you can do all based off of 6 buttons and two control pads, but the main functions aren't all that tough to pick up on. Offensively, you pick plays much in the same way that you have for games dating all the way back to Tecmo Bowl. You choose weather it's gonna be a run or pass, and then you choose from a list provided. Yes, there are more than 4 plays like the days of Tecmo, but the idea is still the same. The neat additions are the fact that they have a "Coach's Choice" which is a list of plays the coach recommends for that particular situation, "My Plays" for plays that you have set up before hand that you like and you often use, and then "Recent Plays" which lists the last several plays you have selected in case you want to quickly go back to a set. These options are available on both offense and defense. So anyway, you select the play and then you come back to field. You move up to the line and now you can tap the 'Y' button to see where everyone is going on this play. It shows the routes of the receivers and/or the direction the running backs are going to go. Very useful in games one-on-one versus the computer, not so much when you're going head to head against someone sitting in the room. In any event, you decide what you're going to do based on that defense, or you can call a quick audible and select from a short list of optional plays. This option is fairly new and allows for a change based on a reading of the defense. Once you snap it's a simple decision of picking a reciever (by pressing the corresponding button) and then using the trigger to fire it to him. How hard you press the trigger depends on how hard the toss is. Then it's a simple game of catch. If it's a running play the ball is conveniently handed off to the back, and then you control where he goes from there (No Bo Jackson plays a la Tecmo Bowl in this one guy's...sorry). As you can see, not too complicated. Once you become familiar with the play options out there, play selection becomes easier, as does reciever selection, etc.
On defense, it's even easier. You select the defensive set up you want (nickel, dime, 3LB, 4LB, etc) and then you select the play you want to run. It's all a crap shoot (as all defense is) but again, here you are able to call an audible if you have picked a play that is totally off. For instance, if you come to the line with a run defense set up and the offense has 5 wide outs, you can call a quick audible, and set up differently. Don't be too slow however, because the other team has the ability to do a quick run up to the line and snap it before you have time to adjust. Beyond the play selection, you choose a player you have control of and he roams free based on how you move the control pad. Once the ball is snapped, it's up to you.
Special teams are just like any other football game. The kickoffs are standard directional arrows which are locked first, and then you determine the kick intensity. Same for field goals and extra points. Nothing fancy here.
As you can see, the gameplay is pretty user friendly, and not all that hard to follow along with. For that reason though, this gameplay didn't stand out in my opinion. It was just "blah". Nothing too exciting, nothing I was "wowed" by. I found the gameplay (especially the passing game) to be highly frustrating at times. I was also shocked to see that I had to go into XBox Live a half dozen times before I could load one exhibition game. Is this game that unpopular?...I'd like to think not. The Live gameplay also appeared to run faster on my machine, and the action was clearly pumped up a notch by the talking aspect.
Graphics:
Ok, it's time to give props where props are due. While I didn't get the feeling that I was actually looking at the real players on the screen while playing this game, I did find the graphics to be quite impressive. The overview of the field when you first begin a game gives you a great panoramic of the audience, the field, the players, the whole shebang. Of course one of the neatest features for me is that you can choose the type of weather you're playing in. You want snow?...got it. You want rain?...done. Not only do these add cool aestethics to the game itself, but they alter the gameplay as well. If you're playing in snow, you better not make too many cuts on run backs. If you're in high winds, don't kick that 45 yard field goal. But this is the graphics section, so why did I mention this? Well, to me it's the little things that count, and the fact that you can see footprints with each step when playing in snow...well that's just cool. In all seriousness though, the weather graphics are very noticeable and well done, and add an extra element of realism to any game.
But back to the players themselves. Close ups on individual players did yield a fairly accurate (as accurate as any sports game gets) portrayal of the player in real life. Long gone are the days of Tecmo Bowl type imaging where it's either a black player or a white player. The play selection screen is a well laid out forum too, with the routes, options, and play names clearly labeled and easy to read. Finally, the menu screens are very crisp and the lines are well defined. This is an important characteristic for the average player who is trying to root around within the many options, because if a menu is not user-friendly, than the game becomes a frustrating hassle, and nobody wants that.
Graphics were sound overall and did justice to the type of game play that this game depicts.
Audio:
Alright, I'm not going to lie to anyone here: the announcers get pretty old, pretty fast. I'm sure that in real life hearing Kevin Calabro call a game is fine, but here it just gets old. I'm also not saying that the incessant voice of Ron Pitts or Dr. Randy Rowland is any better. But enough voice bashing, I'm just biased I suppose 'cause I know I could do better.
In any event I must use this space to mention the background music at the menu screens. This music would clearly be better placed at the front of a game called "D-Day" or something along those lines. Sure, people are always trying to compare football to war, what with adjectives like "battle" and "carnage" and "casualties", but do we need the soundtrack to put us in a WWII scenario? Those complaints aside though, I was very impressed with the sound effects of this game. The hits and tackles are accentuated very well with a loud punch, and are often even followed up with realistic sounding trash talk from the players. Audibles fall under this same category, as they too sound very realistic.
Crowd noise and reaction is in line with the flow of the game, allowing the excitement to truly seep into your bones as you play each game.
Conclusion:
Are you the type of guy who spends 9 hours in front of the TV on a Sunday, with an ever-growing pile of chips crumbs in your lap? Do you then do the same Monday night, but instead of chips you have pizza crusts there? Maybe you're the type of guy who is in 5 or 6 fantasy football rottisserie leagues and you can spit out the stats of any player from any given AFC team on the spot. Well, if you are either of these two types of people AND you have halfway decent hand-eye coordination, then I suggest you get this game. For the rest of us: buy the suds, buy the chips, buy the dip, but rent NFL Fever 2004.