was fortunate enough to be invited today to 2K's NY offices to get a hands-on look at their new All Pro Football 2K8 title. While I wasn't allowed to take any in game screen shots or videos, I did get to spend about an hour watching the game in action and playing it for myself as 2K's PR Manager Anthony Chau walked me thru different aspects of the game.
Before I go any further, Anthony wanted me to explain exactly why there is no Franchise mode, and to clear up any misconceptions that 2K has been planning this game for the last three years. According to him, the idea for this game was born about a year ago and as it began to go into development, there was just no time to add a robust franchise mode. The producers also wondered just how feasible it would be to have a franchise mode with teams made up of legends. 2K has not ruled out future iteration of the series having added franchise mode as they are exploring ways to do it, but for this year the focus was strictly on gameplay and delivering the best football product that they could.
From what I saw with my own eyes, they are well on their way to delivering on that. Fans of the last ESPN NFL 2K5, will have no problem picking up this game and playing it like they haven't missed a step. In fact the game moves identical to 2K5, granted with major next-gen upgrades, has some of the same moves (jukes, turbo charge), and all the defensive adjustments you were used to in previous versions of NFL 2K have made their return.
They tinkered with the kicking game a bit. Instead of it being meter based, the power of your kick will depend on your fingers. You'll see the familiar arrow which shows the direction the kick will go in, but that's where the similarities end. Instead you pull back on the right analog stick and quickly swing the stick upward with the distance being determined how fast you can swing the stick. At first I didn't dig this mechanic but as I played more, I got more used to it and eventually it becomes second nature.
One thing that stood out to me was the player control, it was really responsive. I had no problem skating Barry Sanders thru the hole or turning him on a dime upfield. The run blocking was well done, you could see the lineman surging forward on runs and standing defensive ends upright when pass blocking. Another wrinkle 2K added, and this was to combat the suction blocking that infuriates us all. When your defender engages in a block, by flicking the analog stick left or right, he can reach his arm out and try to trip the ball carrier as he goes by. Of course this animation will depend on how good the defensive player is, or how good the offensive player blocking is, but at least you have a chance in all situations to make a tackle while blocked. An element like this adds a great dimension to the gameplay.
The player models were well done and some of the 30 generic stadiums looked really hot. 2K since they weren't bound by any NFL restrictions, really went over the top on some of the stadiums. One stadium had this huge bird at one end and it's wings acted as the stadium's retractable roof. Hot! Anthony couldn't confirm that we'd be able to see the roof retract during gameplay, but the design was outstanding. The graphics on the players were tight as well and they really nailed some of the player faces like Jeff Hosteler (yeah he's in the game and not LT..BOOOOO!), Jerry Rice and Johnny Unitas. I asked why certain Legends were not in the game like Lawrence Taylor and was told generally it was a money issue. Some ex-NFL players wanted a bunch of loot for their likeness and 2K had to pass.
Just because the game is centered around legends, not everyone in the game is on the same level and 2K stressed that sim gameplay was still a priority. So any fears that APF was going to play NFL Blitz style can now be put to rest. You have different tiers of legends, gold tiered (Rice, Unitas, Sanders), silver tiered (Willie Gault) and bronze tiered (Hostetler, Jim McMahon). When you first start up a game, there are no set teams, so you have to pick your squad before you play. You get a choice of 2 gold tiered players, 4 silver tiered players and 5 bronze tiered players (forgive me if I'm a little off with the numbers, this is all off of memory). The rest of your squad will be filled out by generic players which break down like this:
OFFENSIVE LINE:
RUN BLOCK, BALANCED, PASS BLOCK
DEFENSIVE LINE
RUN STOP, BALANCED, PASS RUSH
DEFENSIVE BACKS
COVERAGE, BALANCED, RUN SUPPORT
WIDE RECEIVERS
SPEED, BALANCED, POSSESSION
RUNNING BACKS
SPEED, BALANCED, POWER
So you fill out your squads based on what strengths are a priority for you. When playing online you won't know what kind of team the opponent has until the matchup screen or you look at his VIP. So you may build a team that's strong against the run, but weak against the pass, while the opponent's team is a great passing team but has a weak running game. Should make for some interesting matchups online.
One thing I almost forgot to note, 2K did away with player ratings, instead the stars have certain abilities specific to them (about 4 catergories). For instance I saw Dan Marino had, Quick Release as one of his abilities, Walter Payton had Scissor Kick (for that high leg kick juke he used to do), Rice had Route God (no explanation needed) and Joe Montana had one listed for Signal Stealer for his ability to read and know exactly what the defense was doing. Quarterbacks with signal stealer as one of their attributes will be able to see what play you called on defense by pressing the X button.
The on the field action was done really nice, there are interactive sidelines (you can run into people standing on the side) and they have a camera shot called Field Pass that takes you right onto the field and you can see the offense or defense calling out plays. The familiar voices of two-man team Dan & Peter are also back calling the action.
I did see a few quirks, but keep in mind this was an 80% build I was playing. One instance I had a player running around with no upper body, only was his torso and legs running around on the field and a couple times the screen would go completely black for long periodds of time. I also saw some clipping of players. All this I was assured would be fixed.
