Next Gen Sports Game Presentation

I have seen many reviews for sports game in this "New Generation" and they all seem to get high scores. But for what really? I think they boil down to the graphics being good. That should be a given (sorry Wii). There is much more to game presentation, however. The atmosphere of a sport can go a long way towards being captured with just good sound effects alone. Ambient sounds and crowd noise make the player feel they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Announcer play by play is also a huge factor in player immersion. I haven't seen much of any growth in either of these two areas since the previous generation. Madden 08 for example still has the lame radio broadcaster from last year. The game is named after one of the most high profile color commentators in all of sports. Use him. Other games like NHL 08, while b eing good overall games are seriously lacking in the presentation department. The announcers repeat the same 15 or 20 lines over and over again ad naseum. Keeping with NHL 08 as an example, the on ice sound effects are repetitive. I swear if I play any more I am going to hear: "Wheel! Wheel!" in my sleep. As far as I am concerned NFL 2k5 has the best game presentation of any sports game bar none. You would think that All Pro Football 2k8 would have as good if not better presentation, but that isn't the case. The Game Pass feature is cliche and annoying. The halftime presentation is decent but doesn't match NFL 2k5. What gives game developers? You getting lazy? We ARE paying more money for games now. I want more than good graphics. That should be a given considering the power of the new hardware (again, sorry Wii).

All Pro Football 2K8

Every year sports games come out and it takes weeks if not months to find decent slider settings. I don't know why companies don't just make Pro the best possible default setting for the game to be played. I really have no clue why the rookie settings are there. Seriously, if you suck that bad at playing sports video games that you need to play on rookie, maybe that genre isn't for you. The other end of the spectrum is usually called Hall of Fame (or All Madden) and is equally ridiculous in how the computer cheats to be competitive. I usually end up vacillating between Pro and All Pro depending on the game. What ends up happening is that there is no middle ground either I struggle to win at All Pro and have really low scoring games or I find Pro to be too easy. I have changed my outlook somewhat and decided that it is more fun to be able to move the ball and generate some offense than get into defensive wars that end up 6 - 3. With that in mind I have found some good sliders over at Operation Sports and so far they are working out quite well. Here they are: (sliders by NJPapi)

Human Blocking 70
Human Passing 50
Human Running 40
Human Catching 80
Human Coverage 70
Human Pursuit 50
Human Tackling 60
Human Kicking 60
Human Fatigue 50


Cpu Blocking 75
Cpu Passing 80
Cpu Running 90
Cput Catching 55
Cpu Coverage 100
Cpu Pursuit 70
Cpu Tackling 45
Cpu Kicking 50
Cpu Fatigue 50

Global Sliders
Injury 50
Fumble 100
Interception 80



I play 10 minute quarters for a good reflection of stats with accelerated clock

I use maximum passing

Game Speed is set at normal

No accelerated clocks unless you want to crank the time to 10 minutes

Performance EQ is turned off... this is to balance teams out

Auto Strafe Mode must be off


For those that want to use my custom camera here is the settings


Camera Custom

QB Pivot Mode (Home) On

Pass Play Zoom OUt (Home) Off

QB Pivot Mode (Away) ON

Pass Play Zoom Out (Away) Off

Camera Distance 54

Camera Pitch 0

Camera Angle 50

Camera Height 0


You may also want to try these Penalty sliders. There is a theory that they also affect game play, but I haven't verified that yet. Here they are: (penalty sliders by: Catcatch22)

nuetral zone infraction - 48
defensive pass interference - 65
offensive pass interference - 80
offensive holding - 100
defensive holding - 40
clipping - 100
roughing the passer - 0
roughing the kicker - 50
late hit - 50
ineligible receiver downfield - 55
face mask - 52

Why do we put up with it?

Carry over problems from game sequel to the next... Case in point: I was playing APF 2k8 last night and I am down 17 -10 with 40 seconds left on the opposition's fifteen yard line, so I call a play and get to the line of scrimmage to resounding boos from my hometown fans. Did they really expect me to kick a field goal in that situation? Overtime ensues and the computer has the ball on their 35 yard line or so with about one minute left to go. It then proceeds to call two running plays and no time outs killing the rest of the clock. Did they want to concede the tie?? Dumb AI decisions with clock management like this and atmosphere in the previous example are a carry over of the NFL 2k series and they still haven't been addressed. Don't get me started on Madden. I could make a laundry list of issues I bet are still carried over in Madden this year. Why do we put up with it? We keep paying more for games each year and putting up with more crap.

APF 2k8 is still a good overall game, but this kind of thing annoys the hell out of me. Maybe there will be a patch, but I doubt it.

All Pro Football 2k8 thoughts

I should first start by saying that I haven't had this much fun with a football game in many years. The game is incredibly fun to play, controls like a dream, and plays great online. Of course, nothing can be perfect and in the world of video games that axiom is often painfully made all the more real. I suppose if someone made the perfect game, we would never stop playing it, but I doubt that is going to happen. Here are the pros and cons as I see them:




PROS:

• Incredible animation. Things like the QB stumbling in the rain after the snap to gang tackling and punters slipping in the snow just scratch the surface of a robust animation system.
• Excellent AI. The computer plays you smart and tough in this game. Games against the AI are satisfying and fun.
• Fun running game with Legend backs performing as their real life counterparts. I absolutely got murdered by O. J. Simpson. (Seriously though, he killed me).
• Stunning detail in the stadiums and a huge variety of uniform customization.
• Silky smooth online play. I'm 2 - 0 so far... Look for Flying Norseman if you want to play.
• Announcers are good and not too intrusive.
  
• Sliders actually seem to do something unlike other games I could mention.

CONS:

• The menu system is an absolute mess. This has been a problem with 2k sports for a while. They need to through out all their code and start from scratch in this area.
• No Franchise mode. You can only play single seasons. I am not sure how they would have implemented this with the Legend players, but they could have used generics for franchise mode.
• Not enough Legends. Sure you can create them, but the player editor isn't very robust and it is hard to get the likeness of legends you want to create. Players like Fran Tarkenton and Eric Dickerson and many others are glaringly absent.
• Computer AI in the last minutes is shaky at best.
• Punts against the AI can almost never be returned.

I am holding out hope that the 7 testicled monster that is EA Sports won't come crashing down and not allow 2k sports to have another go at football. EAs exclusivity with the NFL is running out soon and 2k Sports have proved that they can make a great football game so hopefully the PTB at the NFL are paying attention and don't fuck things up like they did the last time and award exclusivity. In the meantime, there is a lot for me to enjoy in this game and I will playing it for many months in the future.