Deathrow

"Deathrow may be the Grand Theft Auto of Sports Games."

Think of Grand Theft Auto: open-ended game play, innovative, and fun (not to mention the girls and cursing). Well we have that in a sports game for all intents and purposes. The future has arrived, and like a lot of low-budget futuristic movies, factions of cyborgs, humans, robots, and religious extremists have formed (think of the movie, Return to LA). All these groups fight for money and glory in an illegal sport called “Blitz”. The object of Blitz is to score more goals by throwing a disc throw a round laser-like goal more than the opponents. Another way to win is by knocking out all your opponents.

This game has an exhibition mode, an easy to use tutorial, but it’s true value is the Conquest (campaign mode). You choose one team and you work your way to the top of a division and then enter new divisions after that. However, there are side missions where you fight in Action mode (the alternative camera angle in different arenas against special teams), with a focus on the fighting and graphics of the game. You can take risks by buying genetic enhancements that will make your players stronger/faster with possible other costs, like downgrades in shooting and passing. Sometimes you will be fined money because a player has done something wrong (i.e.: slept with an advertising sponsor’s daughters). Other times you will get bonuses for really defeating a team by a lot.

By winning single player exhibition games and conquest mode games, you gain Unlockable Credits so that you can unlock teams you defeat, their arenas, and their substitute players. The harder the difficulty, the more credits you gain. Unlike games where you have to do special tricks or win by so many points, which can get annoying and frustrating, all you have to do is WIN GAMES to get these credits. Unfortunately, ties are like losses and there is no overtime. After you unlock a team you can start a new conquest mode with that team. I find the Conquest mode and unlockable features of Deathrow to be the best yet on any video game that has unlockable features. The Conquest mode is very in-depth and surprisingly pleasing.

Each team and player has its own rankings, designed to how good that team/player is and where his/her strengths/weaknesses are. Each team has a particular strategy, as some teams focus on speed or strength or fighting ability. Each team has its own arena, often made to the home team’s benefits. A large and slow team battles in a small round arena, whereas physically weak but fast teams play in larger more oval shaped arenas. Some arenas you can score from behind the goal, others you cannot.

Deathrow has two camera angles. The sports view is an overhead camera, where you focus on scoring goals and get a nice sense of what is going on as a team. The action view focuses on one player in a close up. You can still switch players but the controls for running around are very different. There are smaller and very different arenas when playing action mode because the entire game is very different! Like any sports game, the graphics from the overhead view are not special, nor is it easy to tell each player apart by their faces. However, when in action view (like any sports game), the graphics shine and utilize the power of the X-Box.

The sound of the game is excellent. You will hear many curses when your team is losing or getting beat up. The characters speak and react in a very realistic manner based on their performance. “We’re getting our *expletive expletive* kicked out there.” You can also play your own music on the game as it has a feature to upload songs from CD’s to the game.

The game is very fun to play. It takes approximately 1 hour to figure what exactly is going on, where the disc is, and how to pass and shoot. It takes longer to figure out other moves, such as slide tackles, defense, and saving shots. However, once you understand, the game is very fun, especially with several friends. Sadly, the game features no X-Box Live feature. This is a real shame because there is no doubt that this game would be one of the most popular if it did.

I give this game an 8.7. At a $30 price tag for new at Funcoland, this game should be bought. It is hard to find at stores like Best Buy, most likely because of the game’s mature nature. It will also be hard to find to rent. However, considering the cheap price and long time you will be playing this game because of its deep conquest mode, it’s definitely worth at least a strong consideration. X-Box has not had many great games so it is important to get your hands on the underrated (and underpriced) ones, such as Death Row and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Game play: 9
Graphics: 8
Sound: 9
Value: 9
Tilt: 9
Overall: 8.7

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/03, Updated 01/08/03