PlanetDreamcast | Games | Reviews | NFL 2K2

NFL 2K2 Football is back on the Dreamcast with NFL 2K2. - Review By Josh Hiscock - Page 2/2 Protect the ball during your running game, it helps. The Good & The Bad Graphically, the game has moved up a notch (maybe two) in the last twelve months. Improved player models are present, as well as some new animations, particularly in the realm of tackling. Those WWF-style bodyslams certainly looked cool in previous versions, but they did take 'suspension of belief' to a whole new level. Fortunately, there's more variety this time around. Additionally there's a new icon under the receivers when you pass, giving you an idea of whether or not your pass is on target, and if not, whether it's too short or too long. The audio also sports some improvements, including a further deepening of the already-excellent commentary. My one gripe here is that it almost seemed like the commentary was quieter than in the past. Maybe my hearing's starting to go; I dunno. What I DO know is that on my normal volume settings, I had to strain to hear what was being said. OK, so I lied -- I have another gripe. The player taunts don't seem to have changed at all from last year. Maybe Visual Concepts thinks football players are only capable of two or three taunts? I dunno. I am, however, getting used to hearing "Let's see what you got, Warner, let's see what you got!", "Get motion man, get motion man!", and one or two other such comments. I'd like to see some more variety there, but perhaps VC couldn't think of anything that might be G-rated. Still, pretty pictures and ambient noise are only ever of secondary concern -- the real meat and potatoes is the gameplay. Here, we find a bit of a mixed bag. There's plenty of good to rejoice over, but there are also a few concerns here. The modes of gameplay should be familiar to all; exhibition, online, season, and career play are present, as you'd expect, with few changes. In a sense, you'd expect that -- there really isn't that much room for new play modes. An online career league would be nice, but is probably more suited to the hardware found in the Xbox or, soon, the PlayStation 2 -- you know, a hard drive. Wide open down field, don't drop the ball now. That isn't to say that there aren't any changes in the game at all, however: the on-field action definitely plays differently than in years past. The running game, for example, continues to evolve. Two years ago, it seemed as though it was nearly impossible to run. A year ago, the running game seemed as though it had been tweaked until it was more or less just right, although money plays were in abundance both in the air and on the ground. This year, those money plays are all but eradicated, but the balance between the rushing and passing attacks seems to have been knocked off-kilter in the process. In real life, there are few running backs capable of picking up six yards per carry; in NFL2k2, it doesn't really seem to matter what team you use. Whether it's Marshall Faulk or Joe Blow, your ground attack will thrive. It's worth mentioning that the QB AI has also seen some changes. The signal-callers are now much more likely to scramble than in past years, but also seem to have inordinately more success than their real-life counterparts. I don't really have any quantifiable evidence for that, other than seeing Donovan McNabb drop back 10 or 15 yards, scramble to the sidelines while being hounded by 3 linebackers, and throw a perfect completion every time. Will that always be the case? Probably not. It's still a disturbing sight, though. Bottom line, this is essentially the same game we played last year. The online arena has seen a minor upgrade -- the ability to track won-loss statistics is a definite plus. The obvious downside to such stat-tracking, however, would be the potential for increased game-dropping to protect perfect win-loss records. The game gets around that by marking a disconnection as a loss, but that would seem to unfairly punish those whose connections drop for legitimate reasons (mother picks up the phone, ISP just plain craps out, whatever). Also included are create-a-player, create-a-team, and create-a-play/playbook. The create-a-team feature is a nice touch, as it allows you to not only name your team, but select a stadium for the team to play in, as well as a team logo. Through purest chance, I named my team the Warhawks, only to discover that there existed a "Warhawks Stadium" and a logo for the Warhawks. That was definitely a nice surprise. Unfortunately -- perhaps because the created teams must be filled mostly by cloning other players from around the league -- there was no way to use one's created team in a career setting. It would have been nice to be able to, say, swap in your created teams for one of the other teams in the league (who really needs the Redskins, anyway?). The Final Word On the whole, it really boils down to one simple question: How much of an upgrade is necessary for you to purchase the game? If you're satisfied with updated rosters, win-loss records online, and some tweaks to an already excellent AI, this is the game for you. If you were expecting NFL2k2 to go out with the mother of all bangs on the Dreamcast, you may be mildly disappointed. Either way, one thing's for certain -- unlike WSB2k2, NFL2k2 actually represents a worthy successor to last year's model. History may be a harsh judge, but the Dreamcast's last football game will be remembered not for what might have been, but as Visual Concepts' finest hour to date on a system whose end came all too soon. Developer: Visual Concepts Publisher: Sega of America Genre: Sports Highs: Improved online play, tweaks in the gameplay, improved QB AI. Improved player models and animations, framerate hiccups seen in NCAA2k2 not present. Lows: 'Create-A-team' is a nice touch but cant use them in career mode. Crowd and sidelines look unchanged from last year, player taunts also seem recycled. Other: 1-2 Players, VMU Compatible, Jump Pack Compatible, Standard Controller, VGA Box, 56k Modem. Final Score: (out of a possible 10) Previous Reviews Comments on this review? Mail Feedback or talk about with others in the Forums.