There are two ways to win at Deathrow, either score more goals than your opponent or knock em all out. The game is played 4 on 4 with a goal (hoop) at both ends of the field. A disc is dropped at the beginning of the game and is live until the end, or until it gets stuck somewhere in the arena. All aspects of a team sport come into play. In this regard it's a lot like hockey or basketball. You need to find the open man and quick passes are a must. The caveat is that you could be waiting for a pass and get drop kicked in the face before it gets there.

You can play single games or run through the tutorial, but eventually you'll want to play through an entire season. The game only starts with four teams unlocked although there's many more lying in wait. In the first bracket of the season, you need to play through those first four teams. During games you'll earn money for many different feats. Scoring goals, knocking opponents down, and getting the crowd on your side all reward you with cash. In between periods and in between games it may be necessary to pay to have your teammates healed. This takes money. Not only will you need green to pay for the injuries, you will also be presented with opportunities to train (upgrade) your players or even purchase contracts to new ones. So, how you play is closely related to how you are paid, and you won't be winning at the higher levels if you haven't dished out for some contracts on star players.

The learning curve is a little tough depending on what camera view you play from, but the tutorial will help you out a tad with that. See, you can choose, before a single game or before a season, to use a top-down view of the arena or a third person (behind the player) view. The first being called the Sports view, and the latter named Action. The sports view is easy to come to grips with as it plays a lot like a console hockey game. The action view, on the other hand, is a bit tough at first. The controls end up being similar to a first person shooter, and it becomes easy to lose track of the action. What it loses in control it makes up for in immersion. This puts you right in the mix for fights and up close goal scoring, while the sports view is a bit more removed.

There is a surprising amount of strategy as well considering we're dealing with a made up sport. This is mainly due to excellent attention to detail on the physics of the disc used for play. It moves at the perfect speed allowing for quick shots while still making it manageable to grab an interception here or there. Like I said before, the disc is always live, so there are no set plays or downs. If a goal is scored, then it can be immediately picked up behind the hoop and scored again by the same team, all the more reason to try and take out the goalie. The AI is smart though. If you knockdown or KO the goalie, the opposing team will quickly run someone else from the team into position so as to not leave an open goal. When to fight and when to try for a score is a constant struggle during the game, and you have to take into account the strengths of your team when deciding. Some teams are very weak fighters, and if you go around looking for a fight, you're going to get whooped. Instead you would need to use your speed to break into open fields to run up the score.

Deathrow does a fantastic job of bringing the player into its world. There are background stories for all the teams involved, each with their own agenda. The crowd and the announcer both help convince one that this is a real televised sport. Then the players do their job talking insane amount of smack on the field. They drop F-Bombs left and right. I've even had my own teammates screaming at me, "Throw me the *#%@ing disc, I'm open." The captains even share words before the match at mid-field, and the taunt is specific to each team they face.

Another thing that helps immerse you in the Deathrow world is the superb graphics. The early screenshots were an indication, but I never thought they'd be so close to actual in-game visuals. It's tough to notice all the details when you're playing from the higher up sports view, but you can still see the excellent animation and lighting effects. The disc has this constant glow about it, and it lights up the arena everywhere it travels. Down in the action view you can see all the player details like unique faces and uniforms. Plus, from that view it almost looks and plays like an 8-person fighting game. There's no shortage of special effects either. The lighting is a real winner, and it totally adds to the intense feeling of action in the matches. There are also slow-motion throws, which look particularly brutal.

I think I already glossed this a little, but sound is top quality as well. The voices in particular stand out the most. That's not to say that the effects are lost, as they do more than their share of the work. This all goes back to the idea that we need convincing that this is a real sport with real atmosphere, and the audio and visuals really come through. On top of playing in 5.1 surround, you can also choose your own soundtrack for the matches. I, of course, chose some extremely hard rock, and it fits perfectly. Sometimes the music would start at the beginning of the match when the captains were facing off, and then it'd kick in right as the disc was dropped almost like it was meant for the game. I love that!

There are only a couple of things that keep Deathrow from being an absolute must-own. The camera views number only two, with a few options inside each. You can only choose the view before a match or an entire season. This is due in part to how completely different the games are from these separate views. They even use different arenas, so there's no way to switch on the fly. If you can't get accustomed to one or the other, then the entire work of the game would be lost on you. There's also the simple fact of repetitiveness. Although there's strategy, it's nothing as complex as the game of American football, and after a number of matches it does get tiring.

If one never tires of the gameplay, then you'll see that Deathrow offers an immense amount of replay value. Not only playing through the season mode with all the teams to see their different players and endings, but also spending the points you earn on unlocking teams, arenas, and other modes of play in the single game. To top it all off, there's a first rate multiplayer mode. My friend and I played through an entire season together in co-op mode. Being in control of two of the four players made for some interesting strategies and highlights (all played back after each quarter via a fine replay I might add). Deathrow is a real quality title showcasing excellent presentation and enjoyable new gameplay. You'd be sorely mistaken not to find a way to play it, if not own it.