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Rating: Good NFL 2K is a huge leap forward for football games from a technology standpoint, but it's actually a step backward from a gameplay standpoint. The first thing I noticed about the game is that the graphics are simply amazing. Not only do the players look real, but they move realistically and act realistically. There was a long period of time in which there was something new that made me say "wow" to myself just about every play. Eventually this wow factor wears off, but NFL 2K is still the most graphically impressive football game on the market any way you look at it. The instant replays, which automatically start after big plays, are great thanks to camera views that are zoomed in enough to make you drop your jaw in amazement, but still let you see what's happening. The tackling animations are also great, but for some reason the players making the tackles usually get up slower than the player who got tackled. The game also uses the same old "getting up slowly" animation way too much. NFL 2K's sound is also incredible at first, with the most fluid and realistic announcers yet in any sports game. The announcers even tell jokes like, "That pass looked like a drunk duck with a poor sense of direction!" At first I was amazed that the commentators had so much to say, but before too long I was annoyed by how much the commentators have to say. Given that the commentators seem to have several things to say about each and every play in the game (and sometimes they're still talking about the last play when the next one has already started), sometimes I wish they would just shut up. After a couple games, you'll probably hear most of the commentators' phrases, as it's not like Madden where they have unique things to say about different individual players. Unfortunately, there's no option to make the commentators less talkative; you can only turn them off or on. And if you turn them off, the game is too quiet due to the apparently half-asleep crowds. As for the game's music, there's only one music track and it's pretty short, but it's still a great tune and the best football game music since the original NFL GameDay. NFL 2K's playbooks are pretty small, but it's nice that each play is actually drawn out on the field so you can clearly see who's going to go where and how far that is from the first-down marker. It's also nice to be able to choose your plays on the VMU so that your friends can't see what play you're picking in multi-player games. NFL 2K has a decent enough stat package, but there is no Franchise Mode or anything similar to the Franchise Mode to give the game the kind of depth that makes you want to play it for months on end. Also, kicking field goals is a guessing game of how far left or right to send the kick. There's nothing more frustrating than driving down the field 60 yards and then missing an easy 35-yard field goal just because slightly moving the directional arrow caused the ball to slice to the left in the air. The defensive game is fairly well done, but the same can't be said for the offense. Consistently passing the ball well is made un-necessarily hard by defensive backs who all manage to swat away passes and make interceptions like they're Deion Sanders. Finding an open man and getting the ball to him is still very possible, it's just a little harder than it probably should be when you're going against some the league's worst cornerbacks and safeties. What really kills NFL 2K (and what makes it a step backward from a gameplay standpoint) is its horribly unbalanced running game. Regardless of whether you're in a single-player game or a multi-player game, and regardless of whether the difficulty level is on Rookie or All-Pro, running the ball is insanely difficult. The defensive AI is so good that it gives the defense an unfair advantage over the offense and cripples the game. Passing the ball is so much more likely to get you first downs that there's no point in running the ball, and because of this the game quickly breaks down into a one-dimensional shoot-out in which almost every play is a pass play. That was fine in 1992 when I was playing Tecmo Super Bowl, but that's not acceptable in 1999 when there are plenty of football games on the market that have decent running games. NFL 2K could have been a revolutionary, must-have football game if it weren't for its flawed passing game and its absolutely worthless running game. I'll take the depth, balance, and inferior graphics of Madden 2000 over NFL 2K any day. Send your thoughts on this review to ivan@mastergamer.com
© 2001 ivan@mastergamer.com