After creating the thread about NCAA 11 Football demo, I just realized there was no thread yet about Backbreaker yet. I was going to create one a couple weeks ago when the game released, but I forgot to do it.
Anyway it's been out for a short while now, and I'm sure sales haven't been that great because of the flaws and limitations of the game. These include the lack of NFL license, or any real-life players at all, the crappy unchangeable camera angle and just overall lack of polish compared to Madden, which isn't the best example of such a thing but it's the only real thing to compare to.
However, for a first go around at penetrating the football market that is dominated by EA, I think NaturalMotion's got a nice idea in Backbreaker, even though it ultimately feels like the game is not much more than a glorified tech demo.
The defining characteristic of the game, of course, is that it is a physics-based game, unlike EA's football titles where it is mostly animation-based. This means there aren't any pre-canned things you'll see repeatedly and require players to teleport or move unnaturally to fit into the animation system. Tackles will happen according to how the physics engine determines it. It makes for a more realistic feel, even though the player models make everyone look kind of ridiculous, and the uniforms don't help.
One of the major issues I have with the game is the limiting camera angle that they put you in. It's like the Superstar camera from Madden or NCAA, where you are put more behind the player rather than high in the sky. It makes it tough to see the field, but I guess it would be slightly more 'realistic' in that way. I think it takes away from the fun, though.
Defense isn't impacted so much by the angle, since there is a lock-on button to make you focus on the ball. The camera does make it harder to pass, while the running game isn't drastically hampered. Running with the ball is probably the most fun thing to do in the game, which is probably why they have that 'Tackle Alley' game mode where all you do is avoid people trying to stop you from reaching the end zone. It's even an iPhone game that maybe some of you have tried.
Now, not having the NFL license is pretty much a killer deal that stops most football games from being anywhere near as successful as Madden. One way around it in Backbreaker is that it features a pretty robust Team Editor. It's very similar to the livery editor in Forza Motorsport 2 and 3. You can't edit team attributes specifically, like the number ratings and all that for individual players, but you can edit team tendencies, overall skill level, colors, logos, uniforms, and things like that.
BUT!
If you have the Xbox 360 version of the game, some fine fellows over at Operation Sports have taken it upon themselves to create edited save files that contain all 32 NFL teams already made and customized in Backbreaker. In addition, someone has created a PC-based editor to manually change the number ratings for players, so you can fully customize players or teams as you wish.
The reason it's only for 360 so far is because of some process of signing/resigning save files to make them work in the game, and they haven't figured out how to do it for PS3 save files yet, or it isn't possible to get around the encryption? Something like that.
The forum over at Operation Sports for rosters:
http://www.operationsports.com/forums/backbreaker-rosters/
The 32 NFL teams save file:
http://www.operationsports.com/forums/backbreaker-rosters/417993-xbox-360-nfl-16-team-roster-download-complete-all-players.html
How to transfer them to your Xbox 360:
http://www.operationsports.com/forums/madden-nfl-football-rosters/409673-step-step-guide-transfering-roster-files-onto-usb-flashdrive-x360-users-only.html
The PC editor:
http://www.operationsports.com/forums/backbreaker-rosters/418546-backbreaker-pc-editor-1-3-6-13-update.html
So, did anyone else bother picking this game up? I haven't played a whole lot of it, but I enjoyed it. I was waiting to play more of it once I could download a save file that had all the NFL teams created, and that editor. Now that it looks like both are out there, I'm ready to get back into it and see if I can get my money's worth of the game. I probably shouldn't have bought it on release, as it was still $50, but oh well. I think it might be pretty cheap soon, if it's not already on sale.
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