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Not bad for the 1st next gen release, but needs more refinement

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: August 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

First off, I am not a 2K fan boy, and DEFINTELY not a Madden fanboy. Know that this is my FIRST 2K football game ever. I never got a chance to play NFL 2K5 as I was still playing Madden/NCAA 03 at the time. After being disappointed with Madden/NCAA for the 2003 release I skipped over the 04 and 05 editions, and because it was so late in the season I decided to skip NFL 2K5 as well, planning on getting NFL 2K6 the following year, but EA changed that and I was stuck with the EA football titles for the foreseeable future. I decided to give EA one last chance, and they failed again with Madden/NCAA 06. At this point I decided I was done with EASports and since they had the monopoly I figured I was done with football games for good.

Then 3 years later 2K decides to get back in the football gaming market and I was very excited, finally a choice in football gaming again and true football fans wouldn't have to be stuck with EA's monopoly.

I picked this game up recently, in fact a couple of days before I got my XBOX back from Microsoft. I was finally able to play one game last night, and I must say I am pretty impressed.

When you first start up the game, you are instantly prompted to build you own team, there are no predefined teams on this game so every team you use, you have to create them from scratch. You are allowed 2 Gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze rated former NFL players to build you team. The rest of the team is filled by generic players. You have over 240 former NFL players most of them being all-stars during their careers. Some notable names include Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Steve Young, John Elway, Reggie White, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, and Williams "Refrigerator" Perry. While you might recognize many of the names included in this years release, you will also notice some missing, some right of the top of my head are Howie Long, Michael Irvin and Jim Kelly. That is not to say the list provided is disappointing, 240 players is plenty especially considering 2K had to individually sign these players.

After you select your players and choose the generic players to fill you team, you are taken to a screen to select your city, team nickname, logo, and stadium and after your done, you then go into actually editing your teams uniforms all the way down to how many stripes the players' socks will have and the color of their shoes, helmets and face masks. You can even change the colors of the team's logo. There are tons and tons of different combinations you can choose and this can be very long and drawn out considering how much you care about how your team uniforms (home and away) look on the field, but the game already has predefined color schemes so if you just want to get to the action, you can skip this all together. If you do decide to edit your team, then just know the menu is very cumbersome and admittedly not very intuitive as it should be. In fact it took me a while to figure out how to change my team's helmet colors from white to black.

After your team is created it is saved and you are ready to go. You are then taken to the game's main screen where you can either choose to play a quick exhibition game against one of the computer created teams or go into season mode. I just wanted a quick game so I just choose a quick match in my home stadium.

The first thing you will notice about the game that these are not truly Next Gen graphics. Even in HD at best they look slightly better than HD regular XBOX games. But believe me there is much more to a game than jaw dropping graphics, and I found that out after the ball was kicked off in my very first game. As soon as the ball was kicked off I knew that this was going to be a football game like none other I have experienced before. First off the players move realistically. I hadn't noticed and robotic like movements of them running like they are trying to make it to the bathroom before they have an accident. The tackling animations are also quite more realistic than I have seen in other games. There is real gang tackling here and not anything like the "hey, I'm going to hold you, while my teammate comes and hits you" crap. There are no sled animations or seeing receivers skate to the ball either. Even the sidelines have animated players that react to plays on the field and attempt to get out of the way if they see a player out of control flying towards them. Other times, they'll step in and grab him to stop his momentum.

The game plays like football is supposed to be played. No longer can you back up 30 yards and throw 80 yard bombs all day, because chances are you will be sacked or more often than not your pass will be knocked down if you're lucky. Your linemen block who they are supposed to block and don't miss an obvious block just so they can go block a free safety 15 yards away who is not even in the play to begin with. On the defensive end of the ball players react well to both the run and pass. Don't expect 20+ yard runs on every single possession, if you do manage to get a long gain you better believe the D will adjust incase you try that crap on the very next play. In the running game you have WORK for your yardage, you have to find the hole and hit it hard. If you just dance around in the back field you WILL get your bell rung. Take a hole and go for it. Passing is also quite realistic and very rewarding when you complete a long pass play on 3rd and long. The defense reacts pretty well to the ball and will knock it down if they can't quite get two hands on it. If you throw in double coverage too often you will pay for it, if your throw is too late or too early the D will knock it down. As good as the AI is on both sides of the ball, I never got the feeling that it was "cheating" like other games I have played in the past. I remember in the said game, I would be running for a first down, clearly beating the defender and all of a sudden he makes a dive for me at the wrong angle and then while in MIDAIR, he body changes direction just so he can stop me; this is not the case in APF2K8, if you have a man beat you have him beat, and the only thing he can hope for is that he has enough foot speed to catch you. Another thing I used to hate on the "other" game is that when my defender had the perfect angle on a guy going towards the end zone and I will dive towards him clearly expecting at least some contact between my defender and the ball carrier only the have the game take over and cause my guy to dive in the complete opposite direction of the ball carrier. I can't tell you how frustrating that was! But that is no longer the case in this game, if you have an angle and time your hit right, you will at least make contact with the ball carrier getting him to go down is another story if you are dealing with the bruiser gold/silver/bronze star RB's.

Another thing I like about the game is that the halftime show shows actual video highlights from the game you are playing and the same is true for the post game show. While the commentators start getting repetitive after a while, its still good to go back and see the big plays of the game without having to rely on your saved replays all the time. Other things I like about the game are the stadium mascots that do various things after the home team makes a big play, if you are the Assassins and score a touch down, the giant hooded "assassin" at the end zone will perform a stabbing motion, if you are the Firebirds the bird will squawk and flap its wings, there is even one team that has two battle ships that shoot off its cannons! In addition to this the crowd always seems to be in the game, you make a big play they respond with ecstatic cheering, if you make a stupid play, then you will get booed....loudly. Another final thing I would like to mention is that if your XBOX is online while you are playing a game, you will get up to date sports tickers from the real world of sports. Even though it really does not add to the game you are playing its still a cool feature. It's nice always being in touch with the real sports world while I'm playing video games.

As much as I like the actual game, there are handful of flaws that are disappointing and one that is downright frustrating. First of all if you already didn't know, there is no franchise mode. So the team you create for offline play can only go through one season and that's it. No continuing to a next season, and no tracking career stats etc. The most you can do is take that same team though the same team again with a slightly different scheduled, or just create another team all together. In addition the Season mode itself is pretty limited. There is not even an ability to "watch" other games that your team is not playing in, and even more, you can only bring ONE of your created teams into season mode. This was a disappointment, especially for someone who primarily plays offline 99% of the time. I've tried online play before with other games, and if you have read my last reviews you will see that I am not a big fan of online play, playing people I don't know, most of who are cheesers, whiners and glitchers. The only time I will play someone online, is if I know them in real life. The lack of franchise mode bothered me, but not enough not to get this game. I have always heard 2K made the best football games, and if APF was anything like the NBA 2K series, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed in the game play. The other limitation is a big one, even bigger than the lack of franchise mode in many ways. You are only limited to creating 8 teams in the game, meaning that at any one time you only have 8 teams to choose from as you can't play with any of the CPU's teams. This is not a big problem in itself, because I would have expected some sort of limitation on the amount of teams you could create. However, this 8 team limit is PER storage unit, and NOT per profile. This means that no matter how many profiles you have on your XBOX, there are only 8 teams to go around for all of the profiles as the roster file with your teams is not saved to individual profiles but to the memory unit itself. If you have a memory unit, then that is another 8 teams, but a bigger problem is that only ONE roster file can be loaded at one time. So say you create 8 teams on your Xbox, and your friend creates 8 teams on his memory card and brings it over to your house, there is no way your teams can play your friends' teams as its one roster file or the other. If you friend loads his roster file to your game, then YOU have to play with his teams, and vice versa. The only way this can be done is if you play over XBL, and in the case that your friend or family member live in the same house, then you are pretty much SOL if the two of you want to play your created teams against each other. This is a big oversight on 2K's part, it's like they completely forgot about the offline gamer to focus on online play. I can deal with no franchise mode for the first year, but only being able to choose from 8 teams at a time is a big minus. I'm pretty sure person A's friend wouldn't want to be forced to play with his friend's A teams when person B spent so much time creating his own teams and vice versa. There should be no reason why person B can't take his MNU over to friend A's house and have a blast pitting their created teams against each other....but you can't.

I agree that the actual game play in this game is much better than Madden has ever been and when playing it's no doubt the best football game I ever had the opportunity to play. If you are an online gamer, then this is a no-brainer. However if you are only concerned with offline play, then think hard before you spend $60 on this because if you don't know all the limitations before going in, you will be quite disappointed. Personally I am pleased with the game overall, but to be honest the lack of offline features is quite a disappointment. I am by no means a Madden supporter or an EASports supporter in general, but have sense enough to know if 2K expects to make in the football gaming market which they no doubt should, they really have to appeal to all types of gamers, both offline and online. One strike against 2K from the get go is that EASports has a monopoly on the NFL and NCAA Football. Adding to that fact, the suits over at EA are way too rich and have a very big fan base for 2K to continue to leave important features out of their football games. I don't EVER expect them to outsell Madden even though to me 2K football's game play is light years ahead of arcadey, unrealistic game play of Madden. However if they don't start to appeal to all types of gamers then many fans will have no reason to "take a chance" with 2K and will end up buying Madden instead. Others like me who can't stand Madden will just do without a football game all together, as I have been doing for the past two years.

This game has a solid foundation with superb game play (which is the most important part of any game). It just needs more stuff to go with it; and no I'm not talking about the gimmick crap Madden makes a big deal out of every year, I'm talking about things that will actually improve the game, (i.e. Franchise, ability to play two profiles created teams against one another). I like playing with the Legends, but if the Legends are what's holding 2K back from doing a franchise, then I say scrap the legends and go with all generic players, many fans who don't care about the NFL license or using "real" players would still no doubt appreciate the game play. Maybe even have a single season mode with Legends and a franchise mode with all generic players. The possibilities are abundant with a little creative thinking. A bigger issue is only being able to choose from 8 teams to play with. At least give gamers the ability to load more teams from separate profiles to increase the choices! This limitation is bad enough in the first release, and will be unacceptable in all future releases.

This is 2K's first year back in football gaming in a few years, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt this year, giving them some time to work out the many missing options. Despite the disappointments, the bottom line is that this is a very fun football game. However if 2K wants to continue to produce this series and have "success" with it, they will really have to bring it in the future. I desperately wanted to give this game 4 stars, but my conscious won't allow it. I'll put it this way, if you are an offline player like me, this game gets 3.5, if I was primarily an online player, then the lack of feature in offline wouldn't bother me so it would get a four at least. In either case, it gets a perfect 5 for fun.

All that said, welcome back 2K! It's about time we have a choice in football gaming again! Let's just hope EA doesn't figure out how to license the sport of football itself so they can take the easy punk way out again by buying their way out of competition.

Dream Come True

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: July 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've waited for the release of this game for a very long time. I was hooked to the 2K football series since its inception on the Dreamcast. However, after the EA exclusive license, I played Madden, hoping that one day the NFL would realize how poorly EA has done since. I purchased my 360 last year just so I could experience football with a next gen machine. Madden 2007 on the 360 was a pure joke. My 360 was benched in favor of the PS2 version, which was at least bearable.
If you are a fan of online football gaming like myself, you will find this game to be top notch. I've played two online games tonight and 2k has not missed a beat. Granted, they reused the audio from the old series but who cares? It's still better than the cheesy 'Maddenisms'. The graphics, the animations, and the overall presentation make this game much more fun to play online. The best part of playing online is that I can finally get back to playing in online leagues! In Madden, you have pseudo leagues that you pay for at third party sites. Here, each league has its own web page and you can make trades with other players via the web interface. Think online fantasy football. The greatest benefit of leagues is that you can establish them with players you trust, and weed out the cheese ballers.
I want to make it clear that I am not a 2k fanboy. I am a person who desires to play the most realistic football game out there. And being that this is a game made by human beings, this game does have its flaws. However, keep in mind that these flaws are nothing compared to the ones I experienced in Madden 2007 on the 360. Flaws like running through men like ghosts, horrible ball spots, etc, etc...are all absent. There are no flaws from what I can tell as far as game play. The biggest flaw about this game is that there is no NFL license. This will ward a lot of people away and to them I say good riddance. However, if you are like me and just want to play real football, then give this game a try.

Could have been better

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: July 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As someone who preferred NFL2k over Madden I was excited to hear 2k was back in the football business and doubly so after hearing that they would have NFL legends form the core of their new game. I couldn't wait to run the ball with Barry Sanders or throw a bullet pass with Dan Marino or John Elway.

Creating a team is quick and easy allowing you to be done and playing in a few minutes. The players look and perform very much like the did in real life and most of them even have highly detailed facial features that actually look like the real thing. The game play looks good too, with great animations and controls, but it feels a little sluggish to me. However, this could just be a next-gen thing because NCAA08 also feels sluggish on my XBOX 360 compared to my old XBOX.

So far I have loved creating teams and playing with the legends, but the reason this game gets only 3 stars from me is the lack of a franchise mode. I don't play online and I rarely play head to head. So, to me, franchise mode is everything and the lack of it for this title means that the re-playability is very limited. At least there is a season mode where you can play through a schedule and compete in the playoffs, but without a franchise mode to give it context the season play seems hollow.

All in all this is a great game for nostalgic football fans or head-to-head gamers, but a little disappointing for franchise players.

2K Football is BACK

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: July 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Ok....got it....and I love it!

first thing you do when loading up the game is it's a no BS kinda game to get into

You pick your players, and jump right into customizing...I easily spent an hr trying to get my team the way i wanted it to be.

The legends pretty much look like who they are. but still can tell it's a computer game...most have retained thier signature game.

After that I played a quick game....so far I am impressed....2K didn't miss a beat...they still retained the 1/2 time show...all the hits all the playability that made 2K5 such a hit....the controls will take a bit getting used to but it's pretty easy to jump into....framerate was pretty steady and the animations was excellent...great AI also.

Commentary still hasnt changed much but still gets you into the game

One play my AI defender caught a sideline interception...instead of stepping out of bounds like per usual, he tightroped it and turned upfield for more yards....the CPU AI isn't any slocuh either and will start bottling you up if you call too much of the same thing.

this game is a real winner and sure maybe if they had the NFL licence it would give Madden a SERIOUS run....but right now....it's a great start by 2K.

2K is back in the game....don't be surprised if Madden pulls all the bells and whistles out due to competition this year!!!

Very fun football game missing some game modes.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

APF 2K8 delivers a great football simulation based upon the legendary NFL 2K5 engine. The NFL 2K5 engine was updated with improved AI, better pocket formation, glitch fixes, HD graphics, a full suite of online options (quick match, lobbies, tournaments, leagues, etc.), 40% more animations, and 240+ licensed football legends.

With APF 2K8 you draft your team from the 240+ legends available by picking 2 gold star tier players, 3 silver star tier players, and 6 bronze star tier players. The rest of the time is filled out with computer-generated players. With your team you can play individual games or take your team through season of the (fictional) All Pro Football league.

When you tire of playing against the AI, take your team online and play against thousands of other players and their legend draft teams.

People that love single player experiences may be upset that no franchise mode is included. However, the high-quality of the 2K Sports gameplay should more than make up for the missing franchise mode. The uniforms, helmets, and the football all look great. The fanciful fictional stadiums are excellent. However, the player faces are not all good representations and the field itself is a just textured plane.

All in all, this is a very fun football game that should be a welcome addition to any football fans game collection. It is certainly a welcome relief to see some competition enter the football videogame space since having a complete monopoly on all football videogames has allowed Electronic Arts to put out an inadequate product since they know you had absolutely no alternative if you wanted to play videogame football.

A true football simulation.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: July 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Jonathon's review is completely bias. People must remember that APF 2k8 is not Madden so it wont play like Madden. This is a football simulation game not an Madden arcade game that makes exploding sounds when you throw a bomb. Its supposed to be hard to throw a twenty to thirty yard pass because its hard in real life.

The game is very realistic it takes into account how the quarterback is standing while throwing. If he's scrambling and throwing the ball won't be thrown as accurate as if he is planted and stepping into his throw.

Its been three years since I played a 2k football game so the controls take some getting use to. Like tapping "A" for turbo and charging it for a bonus on stiff arms and juke moves. I must admit that the field looks fake and hopefully they will update that next year.

Overall its a great football simulation. The animations are top notch, gang tackles, players fighting for yards, and stopping near the line when attempting to make a catch. I've only had the game since yesterday but I love it. This is coming from someone that bought both Madden 2006 & 2007 and was just as disappointed with both. After 3 hours of play I can see that this game is definitely better than both of those titles. Can't speak on Madden 08 simply because its not out yet.

If you like football and don't care about whether its officially licensed, then this game is for you.

WOW! IT'S 2K5 WITHOUT CRIB!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: July 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is basically 2k5 without the crib. Commentary is exactly the same! Only improvement is stadium! I would wait for madden 08 or rent it...so you won't be disappointed like I was!

Great first effort, there's room for improvement

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I don't regret getting this game at all and have played Madden to compare it to.

The difference between the two games is passion. There is no passion in Madden. You find that passion in APF. What do I mean? It means that players don't just stand around after plays the way they do in Madden. The sidelines react to the play on the field. There are details that are completely absent in Madden, mainly in terms of presentation.

Gameplay is better as well. Madden's running game has always been inferior to 2K and this year is no exception. It's easy to follow blocks in 2K and very difficult in Madden.

Creating different teams and uniforms in APF is a lot of fun and the stadiums are great.

Yes, this is all fictional, but creating teams and taking them online is the heart of this game.

It is really great to look at your online oponents and focus the strategy of your game based on their strengths and weaknesses.

They need to bring the presentation up to the 2K5 level and improve the player graphics a little bit, but what's there is still superior to Madden's dull radio commentary and complete lack of TV like presentation. Madden lacks a half time highlight show and post game show as well.

Both games are still inferior to 2K5, but APF is as close as it gets and its twist on football makes it a very intriguing game you'll be playing for a while.

Next year should be that much better if they add a franchise mode. They should also add fictional team histories or even go all out and create a completely fictional league with story lines to go with it. Basically take Blitz: The League concept of team stories and keep the game a sim.

Drafts and player progression and the ability to fully customize teams need to be added as well.

Brilliant

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game! The learning curve is steep even if you are familiar with NFL 2K5 like I am. The graphics on this game are awesome, but you definitely need an HDTV to see the its full potential. The game play is where this game really excels. It is very realistic and complex. If your QB is a pocket passer like Marino or Kosar then you better stay in the pocket. You won't have much succss passing outside of the pocket and you won't be accurate if you don't have your feet set, just like a real NFL QB.
There is no franchise mode, but that's really not a problem for me. I never played franchise even on NFL 2K5 because I would much rather player against a real person. I just play against the computer to prepare for playing real people on Xbox live.

It's unfortunate that peope don't give this game a chance and it probably won't sell a lot. If you want "true" football simulation then APF is a must buy.

Just because Madden is bad doesn't make this good...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: July 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Comparisons are bound to happen when two football games go head to head. This one doesn't even get out of the tunnel. I read a lot of reviews and I don't know if there is a crack epidemic resurging or people hate madden so bad they just WANT something to be good. But wanting and getting are two seperate things in life.

There are a number of unforgivable flaws in this game, a few good things and some potential, but ultimately, this game falls shorter than a 2 yard gain on 4th and long.

The good:
The graphics are serviceable but I was not blown away. The voice work is alright, but if you're not paying name actors, why not make it super deep with ton's of statements. Still, I didn't hate it. And thankfully, there were no super repetative "maddenisms", but then again, I only played this game for a day before I was bored with it.

Classic players are a cool function and it's all well and good, but not when you're supposed to play them like they are the current players. Classic players are for unlocking and team building later. Why not just make up some players for you to get to know and play, or better yet, randomize it. It might made the gameplay a little bit deeper.

The Bad:
The game play is as shallow as it can be without morphing into 2k5. The plays are incredibly simple and the recievers run the routes like they are drunk and loitering. They finish the route and just stand there, but guess who doesnt, the D... they swarm around them and if you even try it, INT. The game is pretty simple and the kicking is interesting but inevitabley that's not enough to set it appart from Madden which is what this game was supposed to be doing.

Madden Killer? Not even a Madden annoyance...
It's like 2K is going backwards. First you got an arcade alternative with 2k5 but now thanks to EA, you get even less in the fact they are trying to gimmick it up to cover the lack of NFL license. Pathetic!

Just like I said in my review of 2k5 forever ago, I really wanted this game to be successful. I thought it was going to be a great alternative to the monopoly EA currently has over the NFL and would be something that might even push EA to improve the Madden brand to be a more solid all around game. But basically, there was nothing creative about this game and for sixty dollars, it should be damn near curing your cancereous body parts if this is the gameplay they expect you to tolerate. It's not a value. 29.99 and it might be a value, but do yourself a favor... wait a week and if you really MUST play it, buy one from the soon to be flood of them on ebay.

Save your money folks.

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