NFL 2002, reviewed by J.B.
Football happens to be one of my favourite games. The high scoring nature of the sport coupled with it's ferociously competitive aspects help to make Australian Rules Football a highly entertaining game. And until recently, it was the only code of Football besides Soccer that I was familiar with. But I was introduced to American Football via NFL 2002 on a mates Dreamcast. And what a game! I don't believe that I have ever seen a sporting simulation display graphics as life-like as those in NFL 2002. The detail is unbelievable, gobsmacking and really just provides more evidence that Sega is stupid for ditching the dreamcast. For those of you who are difficult to convince, I need only to describe the fluidic nature of the player animations in order to cause convulsions of excitement. But as that may be dangerous, I should probably comment on the incredible extent to which gameplay options dominate the menu screens of NfL 2002.
Well to start with, NFL 2002 allows you to play via an impressive amount of gameplay modes that include practice, tour, exhibition, season, playoffs, franchise, fantasy, tutorial, and network (against up to seven other players nationwide). The franchise mode is an unexpected bonus. It offers a variety of scouting and free agency options, letting you customize your roster as a general manager based on the statistics and financial demands of actual players. Speaking of actual players, its interesting to note that control of the players, and in particular, control of passing to other players, has been the subject of an incredible amount focus. But despite this, the passing system does appear to be geared more towards the expert footy player then the beginner. So to cut a long story short, passing becomes easier as you master other aspects of the game.
Traditionally, the major flaw of goal intensive sport games tends to develop in the running game. For example it may be too easy to run away from an opponent, pass, get the pass back and run into an easy goal. Or conversly, the opposite may be true. But in NFL 2002, the running game is perfect, its not too easy yet not too hard. If anything the only problem you will have here is that you will forget that your playing a video game because the animations are so life-like. For instance, there are literally dozens of potential endings to any collision in this game, from stumbling after a surprise tackle to spinning helicopter style between two linebackers. While the tackles are often spectacular, NFL 2002 doesn't betray its simulation roots by making them too extreme. Rather, the right balance between reality and fantasy is reached. And this is important because at the end of the day this game is a simulation, a simulation done well.
NFL 2002 gets 92%