Backbreaker Review: It’s No Madden, But Maybe That’s Okay

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Backbreaker
505 Games
Developer: NaturalMotion
PS3, Xbox 360
ESRB rating: E for Everyone
System reviewed on: Xbox 360

Console-based football games are in a tough position. EA Sports has the NFL license all locked up until 2012 so for any would-be competitor to attempt to compete with the Madden series, it needs to be radically different or radically better (preferably both) than Madden to stand a chance.

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I’ll go on record and say that I’m a fan of Madden in that I buy the new version every year, but I don’t think it’s perfect by any means and I certainly think the series could use some healthy competition. Backbreaker finds itself hovering somewhere in between an all-out, over-the-top hit fest like Blitz: The League II and the balance of realism and playability that Madden has become.

On paper, it’s an idea that just might work. However, as with any underdog, often times it takes perfect execution on all fronts to take down the champ.

Presentation

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NaturalMotion’s physics-based “Euphoria” engine is put to excellent use with Backbreaker. Bodies never seem to move or collide the same way twice. It’s a very natural-looking style of motion that’s a far cry from the days of scenario-based animations. I’d venture to say that Backbreaker’s been able to top Madden in this department, though we’ll see what EA has in store this year.

What Backbreaker is also able to do better than Madden or any other football game, for that matter, is replicate the feeling of actually being on the field during a game. The camera system consists of a single camera that floats closely behind the player you’re controlling at all times and intelligently shifts, shakes, and wobbles based on what’s going on around you.

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It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s an impressive way to feel like you’re truly part of the on-field action. That being said, if you’ve ever played in a real-life football game, you’ll know that most plays consist of a few seconds of adrenaline-fueled confusion until someone gets tackled or breaks into the open field. Backbreaker’s no different. On defense, especially, you’ll find yourself blitzing the QB, for instance, only to witness him throw the ball downfield, at which point the camera view doesn’t change unless you switch to the nearest defender. And switching to the nearest defender can get mighty disorienting when your previously-controlled player is 20 yards away.

This on-the-field feel that the game touts means that certain other presentation elements are pretty much non-existent. There’s no witty banter between a play-by-play announcer and color commentator (although some would argue that Madden’s audio presentation’s been seriously lacking the past few iterations), there’s no stadium music aside from “Boom” by P.O.D. being played during kick-offs (it gets old pretty fast), and the stadium crowds are basically an afterthought, though you don’t have much time to enjoy the crowd when you’ve broken into the open field and the camera’s wobbling along behind you to signify the chaotic motion of a big play.

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Gameplay

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Controlling the action is relatively simple, with just about every basic movement being handled by the left and right analog sticks. Backbreaker has opted to do away with the four main controller buttons aside from the A button being used to select plays, snap the ball, and switch players.

You use the left analog stick for directional movement and the right analog stick to perform jukes, spins, and dives. The left shoulder button is used to focus on specific players—eligible receivers if you’re controlling the QB, nearby threats if you’re running with the ball—and the right trigger is used for “aggressive mode,” which should be pretty self-explanatory.

On offense, the game’s camera system starts to get in the way. If you’re running the ball to the outside, the camera’s position behind you offers little to no peripheral vision so you rarely have any idea of which defenders are coming at you, what their angles of attack are, and how close they are.

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That shortfall pales in comparison to the passing system, though. Instead of being able to throw the ball to individual receivers with individual button assignments, you have to hold down the left trigger and flick the right analog stick to the side to cycle through your potential targets. And the tightness of the camera makes it nearly impossible to survey the field, so you end up either hoping to hell your primary receiver is open or maybe, just maybe, being able to cycle to your second receiver before throwing the ball. Any more time than that, and you’ll almost certainly get sacked.

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Defense is actually done pretty well. The camera stays behind you, which is a departure from most other football games, and the overall feel is pretty close to the chaos of playing in an actual game. The fixed camera, though, means that two player games are handled in split-screen. I’m not sure if it’s worth it.

Overall

Taking the presentation style and gameplay mechanics together, the overall experience just seems to fall a bit short. I didn’t find myself finishing a game and then saying, “That was awesome, I’m going to play another one right away!” It was more like, “That was okay. There were a few cool running plays but it’d be nice if passing the ball was fun.” There just didn’t seem to be enough compelling me to come back again and again.

Part of that is the NFL fan in me wishing I could play with actual teams in actual stadiums but the other part is a longing for the strategy involved in being able to survey the entire field at once to set up your downfield blocks or find your open receiver quickly.

I can’t in good conscience write off Backbreaker altogether because I think the Euphoria engine is done really well and the idea of the on-the-field gameplay style has the potential to add another layer of realism.

Everything just needs to be refined and tweaked a bit to reflect the split-second strategizing that takes place on the field when a quarter back is looking for an open receiver or a running back is deciding whether to cut, wait for a block, or run head-on into a defender.

File Backbreaker in the “to rent” category or download the demo first. There’s a lot of potential here—the execution just needs to be refined a bit.

Official Techland Score: 6 out of 10

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