Backbreaker Preview - Natural Motion based football title

[bkrich83]

Remember Backbreaker is a new game and most new games require more than one year to develop and they do not have to release a new game every year so there is time to fix the flaws.

BB had significantly more than one year of development time.

[ScoopBrady]

This conversation is not helping in my decision to actually open the game (BB) that is sitting on my shelf.....

Fifa, if you enjoyed the demo then I would recommend to just go for it. If you haven't tried the demo I would recommend you check it out first. If you didn't enjoy the demo I would recommend you return it.

[Rodster]

This conversation is not helping in my decision to actually open the game (BB) that is sitting on my shelf.....

FIFA I was on the fence and actually I thought the demo was meh. I bought the game new for under $30. I've been enjoying it a lot especially since I have all 32 NFL teams. I'd say open it up it's a fun game.

[Teal]

Jiminy Christmas...just play your favorite football game, and be done with it.

[FifaInspected]

Opened it yesterday and am really digging a fresh new way to play football. I'm a casual football fan and this is a lot of fun.

Rodster - Do you have it on the 360? I'd love to try online.


Any tips on running would be greatly appreciated as well... i'm finding it rather difficult

[Rodster]

Opened it yesterday and am really digging a fresh new way to play football. I'm a casual football fan and this is a lot of fun.

Rodster - Do you have it on the 360? I'd love to try online.


Any tips on running would be greatly appreciated as well... i'm finding it rather difficult

Yes got it for the 360. A tip wrt the running game is to play it on easy and go thru the tutorials !

[GTHobbes]

Opened it yesterday and am really digging a fresh new way to play football. I'm a casual football fan and this is a lot of fun.

Rodster - Do you have it on the 360? I'd love to try online.


Any tips on running would be greatly appreciated as well... i'm finding it rather difficult

FIFA, glad to hear your first impressions were positive (that's probably more than half the battle with this game). Before the patch, the running game was my bread and butter. A lot of times I would hit the spin move as I was approaching the line and it was an effective way to pick up pretty good yards.

They toned down the effectiveness of the spin moves with the patch, so I've had to learn a new way to have success with the running game. What I'm doing now is laying off the right trigger until I see a hole I can get through, and a lot of times I will do a juke left or right (depending on what's around) when I'm getting near the line of scrimmage and I've been having success with that giving me the space I need to get a few more yards. A LOT of your success with the running game (if you're playing another player) will also depend on mixing up your play call selection. I try to get my opponent to play the pass early in the game before hitting them hard with my run game as the game goes along. When I come out and see my opponent with 3 down linemen and DBs back in pass coverage, I'm confident I'll be able to gain at least 5 yards (and possibly break a bigger gainer).

I do think the run game needs to be made easier (if they made it the same as pre-patch, we would be golden), but you'll find some success with the run game as it exists right now if you stick with it.

[FifaInspected]

thanks for the tips fellas..

hobbes.. ps3 or xbox?

Rodster.. let's plan a time to get a game in.

[GTHobbes]

FIFA, wish I could play ya, but I'm PS3.

One other thing with the running game -- outside running plays (stretches, counters, tosses) are mostly awesome, as are play action passes from the T and other run formations. Have fun!

[Rodster]

thanks for the tips fellas..

hobbes.. ps3 or xbox?

Rodster.. let's plan a time to get a game in.

Weekends are best for me as i'm self employed and my schedule is unpredictable. Don't forget to try the NFL teams for BB.

[Rodster]

FIFA, wish I could play ya,.

I'm sure you would, nothing like padding your win/loss stats you BB freak !

[GTHobbes]

FIFA, wish I could play ya,.

I'm sure you would, nothing like padding your win/loss stats you BB freak !

Actually suffered another loss this weekend, so I could use a couple of easy wins against a newbie to help ease the pain.

[matthewk]

This game is the biggest video game tease ever. The promise of a new football engine & almost wide-open creation tools is enticing. The gameplay is fun, and a lot of the design decisions, such as the camera angles, really help make BB enjoyable. That said, it does have some very frustrating flaws, even post-patch.

Over the weekend I saw a perfect example of how BB messes up the Xs & Os. CPU on offense, trips left. The 3 WRs head out on what looked to be deeper patterns. The HB rollsout to that side in the flat. No one is covering him, but 2 LBs and the DE on that side are coming after the QB. The QB decides to toss it out to the back, who at this point has noone within 3 yards of him. He catches the pass in stride. Should be an easy 5-10 yard gan if not more. The wideouts are now blocking their defenders. Instead of heading at an angle up the field and towards the sideline (he still has plenty of room before worrying about going out of bounds), the back does an immediate pivot to head straight upfield. The problem with this it that it gives the defenders who were pressuring the QB time to chase down the runner for a loss of 1 yard. That is dumb AI.

I can have fun with BB for a short while, but these kinds of problems have me giving up on it after each try. They happen too often, and there are just too many plays (for both teams) that result in no gain or losses. The overall numbers hide this a bit as there are now more big pass plays (20+ yards) after the patch. The blocking is still not right, and the game balance just is not there right now.

[JRod]

This game is the biggest video game tease ever. The promise of a new football engine & almost wide-open creation tools is enticing. The gameplay is fun, and a lot of the design decisions, such as the camera angles, really help make BB enjoyable. That said, it does have some very frustrating flaws, even post-patch.

Over the weekend I saw a perfect example of how BB messes up the Xs & Os. CPU on offense, trips left. The 3 WRs head out on what looked to be deeper patterns. The HB rollsout to that side in the flat. No one is covering him, but 2 LBs and the DE on that side are coming after the QB. The QB decides to toss it out to the back, who at this point has noone within 3 yards of him. He catches the pass in stride. Should be an easy 5-10 yard gan if not more. The wideouts are now blocking their defenders. Instead of heading at an angle up the field and towards the sideline (he still has plenty of room before worrying about going out of bounds), the back does an immediate pivot to head straight upfield. The problem with this it that it gives the defenders who were pressuring the QB time to chase down the runner for a loss of 1 yard. That is dumb AI.

I can have fun with BB for a short while, but these kinds of problems have me giving up on it after each try. They happen too often, and there are just too many plays (for both teams) that result in no gain or losses. The overall numbers hide this a bit as there are now more big pass plays (20+ yards) after the patch. The blocking is still not right, and the game balance just is not there right now.

Why are people confusing artificial intelligence with game engine issues. There isn't player change of direction momentum and it's been commented repeatedly on the BB forums. The problem is that the AI doesn't something stupid it's the they didn't get momentum right.

[Danimal]

I'm surprised he didn't run out of bounds, that seems to happen a lot when I play.

[RallyMonkey]

I've been sitting back just reading the commentary but figured i'd add my two cents as i've had this game since launch. This game simply destroys other football games in terms of fun factor and the taste of on the field football action. For a first effort it is worlds better than other games that have been around for decades. Are there X and O issues as pointed out by some folks, sure. Are there issues in the competitors games. Yup. The most enjoyable football game i ever played was Tecmo and that game was a joke in terms of execution and flaws. But damn if i didn't have a great time playing it. Same deal here for me. Call it the other games getting stale and a lack of effort in terms of caring about making a more "fun" game of football, but to me the ball has been dropped too often by the boys at EA. When NHL and MLB can make terrific sims of their respective sports and still make them fun to play, there is no excuse for years of the same ole same ole we've gotten from the those folks.

I hope in ten years we're talking about all the years of effort put into BB to make the game great, because out of the gate they have a damn good game on their hands.

As i said, just my $.02.

[JRod]

I've been sitting back just reading the commentary but figured i'd add my two cents as i've had this game since launch. This game simply destroys other football games in terms of fun factor and the taste of on the field football action. For a first effort it is worlds better than other games that have been around for decades. Are there X and O issues as pointed out by some folks, sure. Are there issues in the competitors games. Yup. The most enjoyable football game i ever played was Tecmo and that game was a joke in terms of execution and flaws. But damn if i didn't have a great time playing it. Same deal here for me. Call it the other games getting stale and a lack of effort in terms of caring about making a more "fun" game of football, but to me the ball has been dropped too often by the boys at EA. When NHL and MLB can make terrific sims of their respective sports and still make them fun to play, there is no excuse for years of the same ole same ole we've gotten from the those folks.

I hope in ten years we're talking about all the years of effort put into BB to make the game great, because out of the gate they have a damn good game on their hands.

As i said, just my $.02.

I have fun with BB. That's the key.

But I think you hit it right when saying, making terrific sims that are still fun! That's all anybody is really asking for. What differs is what each person is going to put up with. At the end of the day, is it close to what we see on TV and is it fun.

BB needs one more patch to correct some of the issues Patch 1 created. Then start work on BB2.

[matthewk]

Why are people confusing artificial intelligence with game engine issues. There isn't player change of direction momentum and it's been commented repeatedly on the BB forums. The problem is that the AI doesn't something stupid it's the they didn't get momentum right.

The CPU decided to change direction and turn upfield, towards the defenders. That is not a momentum issue. Had he kept going and his momentum carried him out of bounds then it would have been a momentum issue.

[Spooky]

I'm up for a game anytime online for the 360...let me know.

Still need to figure out how to get those damn NFL logos/rosters working. I have a Mac and there doesn't seem to be anything for download. My work laptop is Windows but it appears that my security settings are not letting me open one of the .exe files correctly (even though i have admin rights). Frustrating!

[GTHobbes]

If any of you guys ever do get in an online game on the 360, I'll be curious to hear what you think. I'm getting almost no lag whatsoever on the PS3, and IMO nothing beats a good online opponent with this game.

[Rodster]

I'm up for a game anytime online for the 360...let me know.

Still need to figure out how to get those damn NFL logos/rosters working. I have a Mac and there doesn't seem to be anything for download. My work laptop is Windows but it appears that my security settings are not letting me open one of the .exe files correctly (even though i have admin rights). Frustrating!

I maybe able to send you the file. All i'd have to do is send it via email, you setup your USB flash drive on the 360 then from your computer copy the file to the USB drive. Then overwrite your custom teams file on your 360. It's worth a shot since I did all the hard work lol.

[Spooky]

I'm up for a game anytime online for the 360...let me know.

Still need to figure out how to get those damn NFL logos/rosters working. I have a Mac and there doesn't seem to be anything for download. My work laptop is Windows but it appears that my security settings are not letting me open one of the .exe files correctly (even though i have admin rights). Frustrating!

I maybe able to send you the file. All i'd have to do is send it via email, you setup your USB flash drive on the 360 then from your computer copy the file to the USB drive. Then overwrite your custom teams file on your 360. It's worth a shot since I did all the hard work lol.

Ummmm...YES PLEASE! Maybe we can PM the details?

[Rodster]

I'm up for a game anytime online for the 360...let me know.

Still need to figure out how to get those damn NFL logos/rosters working. I have a Mac and there doesn't seem to be anything for download. My work laptop is Windows but it appears that my security settings are not letting me open one of the .exe files correctly (even though i have admin rights). Frustrating!

I maybe able to send you the file. All i'd have to do is send it via email, you setup your USB flash drive on the 360 then from your computer copy the file to the USB drive. Then overwrite your custom teams file on your 360. It's worth a shot since I did all the hard work lol.

Ummmm...YES PLEASE! Maybe we can PM the details?

PM me your email addy !

[Danimal]

PM me your email addy !

If this works I want in on it

[Rodster]

PM me your email addy !

If this works I want in on it

Why wait you can be first !

Send me your email addy. I'll need to setup my USB stick first.