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[CamHostage]

Announced as part of the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase
(NFL and developer StatusPro had previously announced a partnership for a multi-year VR football franchise, and this is the game's first showing)

NFL PRO ERA is the first fully licensed NFL virtual reality (VR) simulation game that lets players experience what it’s like to compete as the QB of their favorite NFL team. Leveraging NFL game data, this is the most authentic and immersive first-person football VR game available. Athletes will be able to step under center and see if they have what it takes to compete at the highest level and make the big plays. NFL PRO ERA combines innovative technology, data and direct insights from athletes to unlock a unique opportunity for football fans. Lead your team to a Super Bowl, improve your QB skills by participating in drills, or play catch virtually with your friends in your favorite NFL stadium. As a NFL QB you’ll feel the excitement of what it’s like to lead your team and compete under the bright lights with thousands of screaming fans. The city is on your shoulders, can you make the play?

 

[DeepEnigma]

Looks like shite.

 

[CamHostage]

From the description, this sounds like it's a QB "Homerun Derby" type game, where you play a set of downs on offence to see if you can get to the endzone.

So, unless there's more to it or unless there will be modular "episodic" releases of different players for the game, this first NFL Pro Era is not a traditional full-scale football game. It's more of a mini-game concept. There's no selecting your player from any position on the field in 11-on-11 matchups (or even 1-on-1) or switching around to different characters in the middle of a down as the play unfolds. This game won't have a full 60-minute gametime of O and D. You don't switch to the ball carrier (although it looks like there is a little bit of running through a QB sneak,) you don't spin and dash into the endzone, apparently you don't even play any defense. It's purely a challenge of if you can march down field, reading the defense and avoiding a collapsing pocket in order to make the throw to a man who can make the catch.

Then again, the QB is always everybody's favorite part of playing a football game, and it's the most logical and desirable aspect of a VR football game. (It's also the most "stationary" position, which plays into VR's strengths of a set play area and a larger world in your reach.) It'd be cool to see future NFL Pro Era games take on other positions (IMO no US football game has done defensive play well, and VR might be good of you just slamming and twisting to break past the linemen,) but this is a logical start for the series.

 

[SteadyEvo]

Looks like shite.

Runs like a slideshow. If the graphics are behind low end consoles I don’t see VR taking off

 

[DeepEnigma]

Runs like a slideshow. If the graphics are behind low end consoles I don’t see VR taking off

It's literally on a mobile device headset. That is more of a cause.

 

[Stuart360]

More Gimmicky crap. Why cant i play like Madden with a VR headset, you know just for the visual immersion.

 

[EverythingsOverrated]

Looks pretty fun, ugly, but fun. Don't know if this will have much replayability though.

More Gimmicky crap. Why cant i play like Madden with a VR headset, you know just for the visual immersion.

There needs to be more games that do this. Give me madden/2k/the show in VR that is basically just a normal sports game but with things like head tracking

 

[Ribi]

cool i can become washed

 

[CamHostage]

Looks pretty fun, ugly, but fun. Don't know if this will have much replayability though.

No, it's not much more than a minigame, from the looks of it. It'd be fine if it were free, but pretty limited as a game with the official license. (And in the lead-up announcement, it was said to be a big deal that StatusPro was making the game and would be using actual player statistics in the game... maybe for catch-intelligence and throw-distance, that matters, but otherwise I'm not sure there's a lot of difference in how those numbers add in when you're only playing one player on field. (And players would be furious if pass accuracy was a player factor, because nobody wants to play a sports game where you are the player throwing the ball with your own hand motion and aiming but then the quality of your success ultimately comes down to like a V.A.T.S. RPG accuracy percentage system.)

BTW, there are at least two other US Football games already on Quest (plus a few multisport games that have Footaball in it), so there are options out there.

MVP Football - The Patrick Mahomes Experience on Meta Quest | Quest VR Games

Play as superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and feel like a true MVP, as you play through his career from high school to pro football. Call the plays, throw super charged passes, and escape oncoming defenders in slow-motion in this high adrenaline VR football game.

www.oculus.com

2MD: VR Football Unleashed ALL☆STAR on Meta Quest | Quest VR Games

2MD is a groundbreaking motion-controlled arcade football game. Draw the plays and throw, hand-off, or run the ball before the clock runs out! ‣ Throw like a pro in a seated, standing, or room-scale, experience. ‣ Draw unique offensive plays. ‣ Play 2-minute drill or 20, 40, or 60 minute games...

www.oculus.com

 

[CamHostage]

More Gimmicky crap. Why cant i play like Madden with a VR headset, you know just for the visual immersion.

It might happen with PSVR2 and future Quest hardware, maybe? Right now, EA is only so much committed to VR (unless somebody comes to them specifically to make something like Medal of Honor.) EA has done the "VR Mode of a Regular Game" with Star Wars Squadrons; they also made a VR Need for Speed and a VR side-game for Battlefront. So it might happen.

However... Playing a "real" Madden game in VR though seems like it'd be a nightmare of motion sickness and adaptability. Running down the field, switching characters, getting tackled or pushed around and having your viewpoint thrown about while you're stationary, constantly zooming in and out to read the field, cutting away for sideline cams or replays... none of it would work in gameplay, and any of it could make you sick to play.

A future Madden or NFL game might do like the old NFL 2K5 "First Person Football" mode did where you picked a player and that was your viewpoint and your entire control of the field. Still, in that type of mode, it's really hard for any position by QB (and receiver, but only when you've got the ball, not when you're running your route) to be fun to play. Doable, maybe, but very difficult.

An alternate approach would be like Moss, where you have an omniscient overhead view of the game and you're controlling characters from the third-person perspective like a normal videogame which you are standing in. But that might be too limiting to be fun?

Remembering the terrible joys of NFL 2K5’s First Person Football mode

The helmet mode gave you a new experience at each position. Let’s break it down.

www.sbnation.com