Eagerly awaiting the release of this title, after having spent literally hundreds of hours playing Madden 2002, I come to the task of reviewing this game with a lot of questions for Visual Concepts. Are graphics the impetus behind enjoyment? Can variances in a game’s depth be this incongruent? What happened to the offensive depth?

Wondering where I am going with all of this? I’ll tell you. Since this title is aptly compared to EA’s Madden series for many reasons, let’s look at what makes both titles good, so we can attempt to understand what Visual Concepts was trying to achieve with the release of NFL 2k2.

One of the things at which the Madden series excels is making the player feel as if they are an actual NFL Quarterback (so-to-speak). What I mean is that, in Madden, from the moment the huddle breaks, there are numerous key decision points at the player’s disposal--very much like what an actual NFL Field General must consider. Whether it is changing a particular receivers route at the line of scrimmage to exploit a defensive alignment or mismatch, putting a man in motion to throw off the defensive set; or perhaps taking the ‘called’ play and changing it to play out from the opposite direction. All of these things are what an NFL QB must be prepared to undergo; while at the same time being time constrained by the play clock, making the excitement of reading and reacting to defensive sets a real thrill.

This is one particular area in which NFL 2k2 appears to be woefully inept. You cannot flip an offensive or defensive play at the line of scrimmage. You cannot change a receivers route during the snap signal, and there is a convoluted way you must cycle through defensive players at the line of scrimmage; which can make for some rather frustrating attempts to get back to the player you wanted if you inadvertently pass him up before the snap. Add to this the fact that you cannot call a coverage audible to have your D-Backs play Bump and Run or Deep coverage and things really get disjointed.

Conversely, while the interface is not all that good, the plays that one can call are very well thought; accurately named to resemble real NFL plays and allow for some interesting deceptions. If you run a play you like (that seems to be working), you can run the same play from a different formation. This is very good for freezing unsuspecting defenses. Moreover, on defense the game allows the player to select the ‘wrinkle’ of the D-Line separate and apart from what the secondary and D-Backs are doing. For instance, if you want to run a Cover 4 Zone, but want to prevent a possible run up the gut, you can choose to ‘Pinch’ the D-Line and Zone the rest of the defense. Oppositely, you could opt to ‘Flare’ the D-Line if the suspected run threat is a counter or sweep. This provides great flexibility and depth to the game and Visual Concepts should be commended for the attention to detail they’ve worked into this aspect of the game.

In terms of sheer pace, NFL 2k2 and Madden are truly apples and oranges when it comes to game speed. I frankly feel that NFL 2k2 plays too fast. This impacts the game in many ways. First, the time spent generating new and useful run animations has been all but wasted. The new ‘Getting Skinny’ process, which allows a Running Back to twist sideways to fit through narrow spaces, can only be truly appreciated upon review in replay mode. This feature is not solely a visual gimmick but a realistic and useful component of the running game. It is just a shame that the animation zips by at a blinding pace. Other animation issues crop up in the transitional frames. The game comes across very staccato and twitchy as a result. Also, one glaring complaint is when special moves are being charged and/or executed; the actual running animation (the churning of the runner’s legs) will freeze. The player will continue to progress up or down field as directed, but he can be seen rocking from the toe of one foot to the heel of the other foot while gliding across the surface until the animation sets. This is very poor and is something that should not have been left in a football title allowed to go Gold.

Graphically the game is very sound. There's lots of good detail to be found in things like pads, facial animations and general anatomy. Polygon counts have soared and the game looks graphically tight and fit for the effort. The ball itself may be a tad large but at least this time it does not glide through the air like it is on some sort of imaginary clothesline. However, I must add that when it hits the ground it is very bouncy; in a most unrealistic way. All the more standard and requisite things like textures, colors and relative size are fairly represented within the games own sense of space.

From a gameplay aspect, the game suffers from far too many interceptions, which totally cheapens the Defensive Back interaction; which we all know is a staple component of any good football game. Interestingly enough though, blocking assignments are well executed and as such defensive pressure is a heightened sensation when playing NFL 2k2. NFL 2k2 lacks the momentum-based aspects found in its EA counterpart, and this seems to add to the overly reactive control scheme. However, Max Passing is back and allows for enhanced leading and under throwing of receivers. Yet, kicking is still way to easy. The game would benefit from some changes to that aspect of the interface. Diving tackles are also exacerbated and play ‘too large’ a factor for the sake of realism. But their bone-jarring, gut-crunching nature does have its inherent appeal.

Speaking of bone jarring, Visual Concepts has done a nice job with the sound bites. The game especially excels in the area of commentary. Nobody does it better thus far! Useful, insightful and thoroughly engaging analysis, laced with whimsical quips from two grossly underrated voice talents permeate this game from stem to stern. Pay careful attention and you will hear commentary later in the game that is tied closely to earlier occurrences that are very germane to what is currently going on during your matches. Another example of some very well thought and executed game design. But somehow NFL 2k2 still manages to disappoint in other key areas.

The single most detracting aspect of this game is the very poorly implemented Fantasy Draft and Franchise modes. Going through a Fantasy Draft is a slow and arduous process. Making matters a bit worse is the fact that these modes lack real depth of any kind whatsoever. For instance, all of the Safeties are lumped into menus with all of the Cornerbacks. So, if you don’t know the name of every Strong Safety in the NFL (as you draft players) you could wind up with a Cornerback playing at the Safety position, trying to stop the run. Not good. Also, when you start a draft, you seemingly always end up with the last pick. Going deeper, the CPU drafts like a football novice—leaving key players available deeper into the draft than they should be. Salary cap management is also not factored into the process and player-rating categories are thin and seem to be a bit out of sync compared with titles like NFL Fever and Madden.

What all this means really depends on what kind of gameplay experience the player is seeking. If you are looking for a game that is not very deep before the snap and that plays like NFL Blitz [with eleven men] NFL 2k2 is darn close to perfect in its execution. Whereas if you are a purist who wants to read and react to what the other team is doing and feel that aspects like pace, physics and replay depth (i.e., franchise modes and fantasy drafts) are key to an immersive football experience, you will want to try the other guys game. So as not to take the closing line cope out route, I will lay my digits on the table: NFL 2k2 is a game bifurcated into something laced with tons of brilliance and dollops of idiocy in its final implementation.

Bottom line is that I will keep it handy so I can engage in a change of pace from the countless hours I spend playing that other football game. Does it totally disappoint? No. It just fails to precisely connect with my current route.