If you’ve read, and committed to memory, my past
sports games reviews, you know I am not a 989 Sports fan. Somewhere along the
way, they seem to have abandoned real in depth knowledge of the sport in favor
of getting out product. There are many exceptions, but this is not (sadly) one
of them. We’ve been handed another "average" game for a stale
platform. Just when the PSX needs a hard push for the goal line, we’re instead
given a yellow flag and assess penalty yards.
OK, so it’s not the worst sports game I have
played on this platform, but having had a taste of potential with their Major
League Baseball winner last year, I had hoped for a replay. However, football is
a much more physical and demanding game– both on the field and in the digital
arena. So, I will cut some slack and not compare the two sports and digital
counterparts.
NFL GameDay 2004 is 989 Sports latest offering–
in time with the onslaught of other NFL licensed titles. For us fans of the
game, it gives us something to do when we don’t have the real thing to watch.
NFL GD 2004 offers the standard playing options as most: Exhibition, Season,
Tournaments, etc. The hope being that you have enough to choose from and will
sit for hours and hours playing the game. The variety is nice, but the execution
was sub-par.
Exhibition allows you to pick your team, and the
team you want to play against. You can tweak your options such as conditions,
rosters, graphics (more on that later), etc. I usually start with this choice,
and this was no exception. As always, I chose my TN Titans against the Raiders–
whom beat them this year in the playoffs. My revenge was set! I lost the first
game. It was a HUGE learning curve of frustration and annoyance as I learned
that the players jerk, twitch and fall down at odd times. It made me think NFL
might stand for "Nearly Footless Losers". Those guys just plain
move funny!! My second attempt, with a fresh glass of root beer, was better,
though not much less annoying. I won, and managed to get some angry revenge.
Even sweeter would have been to play against a fantasy team of the people that
designed this game and allowed it to be released… but I digress.
Next to sample was the "Season" mode.
The action was the same, but the lineups and schedule are predetermined. I
slugged along game after game for a while until I was about 4-4. I had to shake
things up, so moved on to Tournament mode. There, I did even worse. Maybe it was
the pressure. I was out quick. Tournament does allow you to select between a
smaller eight team or larger full-blown sixteen team lineup. Doing so poorly, I
opted for the eight. That was enough. No, I was never Superbowl Champ. I had
some fun, and got to sample some nice lineups and injury challenges. It was a
crash-course in player management. Who’d have thought fake players could get
hurt so much??!!
You can also play around as god of all that is
Your Team as the General Manager. If this is your kind of thing, you can
micro-manage the rosters and trade your way to certain victory. Such success
requires playing many seasons in full, which is very time consuming. But, if you
want to go that far into the rabbit hole, they give a nice option to do so. You
can participate in the all important draft. There was some fair A.I. here. They
just throw a sampling of player skills at you, and you decide whom will be the
best asset for your needs. You can take your new teams onto a practice field and
work out with them. That’s fun, as you aren’t getting whupped as you see who can
catch and run. Creating your own plays was nice. I made up some from my own
personal experiences from High School. Yes… Coach Coggins would be proud to
know that I placed the "231 Trap" in there. That was one of my favs as
it allowed me to take one step to the left and allow the defender to come
through. Too bad McNair didn’t like that one, much.
Creating your own Franken-player is there, but
not much fun. You spend your time building the perfect player, but he is just as
able to be injured as anyone else. Nice touch for the gamer that needs to feel
more involved.
The graphics were rough on my playing. Right from
the start, and to the end, I struggled with the Moonwalking and bizarre
jerking/twitching motions. It was like watching the old electric football games
from childhood. Very retro, but I doubt it was deliberate. My QB fell often and
for no reason. I would move back, watching my receivers, and the QB falls. The
crowds look terrible, but I’ve come to expect that from PSX games now. That’s
not a big deal since I am busy with other things. There are some real-footage
nice montages in the openings, but the delays for game loads were long. Watching
the progress bar was sometimes more satisfying than the gameplay.
The sounds were average. The announcers would
call out a player’s name… followed by a delay as the actual play action caught
up with the player. "McNair……. <pause> …. back for
a loss". The crowd noise was weird. The "Boos" sounded like a
weird instrument. Like a kazoo with deep bass. The cheering was OK, but kind of
crackled like poor sampling.
I like football. Even more as I
"mature". I watch it more regularly now, and have a good knowledge of
the teams and key players. Maybe that works against me when playing something
like this. I watch the "real deal" and expect to see/feel the same
things under my control. On newer platforms, the advances have been tremendous,
and I imagine this could be a lot more fun. However, with the limitations of the
PSX, there was much to be desired. I have seen the PSX pushed to its limits and
do well. If not for that, I would not be as critical. However, with the talent
989 has, I know they can do better. There are genuine moments of fun and excitement, so it’s
not a total loss. I know some will get a lot out of this, particularly if you’re
into the hands-on drafting and Managing aspects. That requires no graphical
perfection and can be done methodically. As a sports/action game, though, I have
to call a timeout here and declare this is no Super Sunday.
Gameplay: 6.5
If you’re into fighting controls,
jittery players and hard to decipher plays, you will love how this one feels. I
like to be more in control and know what is going on, so I have to say the play
is lacking. Some of the potential directions (playing GM) are nice touches, but
actual in-the-grass play is difficult to stomach.
Graphics: 6.0
No
player recognition at all. I don’t think any attempt was made at all. Just skin
colors and team uniforms. Generic and tired. The crowds looked like Fisher-Price
toys that bob up an down. The fields were good, but the environments were
distracting. Is that rain?
Sound: 7
Only slightly better than the
graphics, but any improvement is worth noting. The announcers sounded fine, and
the grunting and crunching were decent. Nice sounds of pads hitting pads and
such macho stuff we need to hear in football. Weird crowd sounds, though.
Hard
to play- for all the wrong reasons. Challenge is good, disobeying players
messing up plays is bad. There’s a learning curve here that I never did
straighten out. It’s rare that I do not eventually get the hang of how a sports
title like to be "played", but this was an exception.
Concept: 7.0
Nothing
original, and maybe even a step back. With the exception of the Manager route,
and tweaking rosters, it’s just a tired football game with not much fluff to
look at or dive into. Maybe throw in a QB competition next time? Throwing
footballs through tires, etc?? Just a thought.
As
always, I prefer playing against humans. That was more fun. The game moved at a
better, though slower, pace. It gave me a sense of eagerness instead of dread
when new games loaded. I knew that the players would be controlled by
something other than a silicon logic robot with repetitious (and too perfect)
moves.
Overall: 6.5
It’s
back to the grass drawing board for this one. With a few nice touches, this game
could be much better. But, what we have to work with is not up to standards. I
think the effort has gone out of developing for the PSX. If that’s the case,
close the playbook on this series and focus on newer platforms. If there has to
be new games each year, then direct focus on gameplay and realism. The extras
are distractions to make you feel like you bought something better than it
really is. If you have the 2003 version, stick with it.
