All-Pro Football 2K8

"APF 2k8: Because You Care if Your Pants Match Your Socks"

My review is based on the Xbox 360 version of All-Pro Football 2k8 (from herein referred to as "2k8"). First let me say that I do not have any innate, built-in preference toward 2k or EA football products. I enjoy purchasing both companies' football products every year (when available) for their respective strengths.

OVERVIEW

2k8 is 2k Sports/Visual Concepts' first outing on next generation consoles. It gets around EA's exclusivity agreement with the NFL by offering a comprehensive create-a-team system with historic NFL players and generic fictional players.

Players choose 2 gold star, 3 silver star, and 5 bronze star historic NFL players, with the rest of the roster being filled with generic fictional players. The abilities of the generic fictional players can be tailored to a specific specialty for each position (for example, OL fictional players can be pass or run specialists or balanced; WRs can be speed or possession specialists or balanced; etc).

After putting together your roster, you pick a logo, team name, city, and stadium. One of the coolest features of 2k8 is the ability to manipulate almost every detail and color of your teams' logo, home/away uniforms, accessories, and helmet. The system is similar to, if not more detail-oriented than, Winning Eleven Soccer's groundbreaking team creation system. I cannot speak highly enough of how in-depth and fun this feature is for create-a-philes. For me, this is one of the key draws of 2k8.

2k8's biggest, and most obvious, drawback is the lack of a franchise mode. You only have practice, single game, single season, online single game, or online season as choices here. There may be programming difficulties with having a franchise system when the game is based on historic NFL star players, but I still would not mind playing a franchise mode consisting of only fictional players. The historic players add to the experience, but they are not as important to me as having a franchise mode where I can build my created team up over multiple seasons. Next year, eh?

Unfortunately, you cannot edit any of the CPU-controlled teams in Season mode. So, if you were planning to create all realistic NFL teams instead of the fictional squads available (like Winning Eleven Soccer) you are out of luck.

PRESENTATION (6 out of 10)

The shortfalls of 2k8's graphics are well documented. Frankly, the graphics are little or no different from NFL 2k5 on original Xbox. There are some new animations and additional effects (like raindrops on helmets), but other than that, nada.

The audio is basically unchanged from 2k5, but that is not such a bad thing. The announcers are believable and timely. The crowd noise is incredibly cool and immersive. Unfortunately, no more importing your own music to play on the menus and in the arenas (at least as far as I can tell).

The physics and animations seem more polished than 2k8. You will rarely see player models' arms, legs, bodies, etc., do things they should not actually do, or go places they should not go. As per 2k Sports' usual, this is far more realistic than anything else we have seen in videogames.

GAMEPLAY (9 out of 10)

The gameplay is incredibly immersive and realistic. The controls feel even better in 2k8 than in 2k5, probably because of the new animations and tightened up physics. The years of experiencing Madden and NCAA running at 30 fps do not hurt 2k8's silky smooth feel either (though EA football has improved to 60 fps this year).

Choosing plays in 2k8 is the same as the previous 2k football games (choosing a D-line play before choosing the coverage scheme, etc.). You can also elect to choose a play based on 1) formation, 2) which of your star players it features, or 3) what type of play it is (deep/short pass, inside/outside run, etc.). Also, you can get recommendations from the AI.

There are a number of pre-snap defensive and offensive adjustments available to the player. The defense always sets up logically (aware of the strong/weak sides) without need of further tinkering or side-switching, but after that, you can use pre-snap adjustments to confuse opponents and/or focus on their stars.

For some reason (maybe the "signal stealer" player trait), the CPU-controlled opponent's defense always seems to recognize when you are planning on throwing the ball, audibling from a run to a throw, or audibling to switch the sides of your running play. They respond immediately in their own formation, always in a way that will minimize your chance of succeeding. If you audible back to the original play, they will revert back to their original formation as well. This "ESP" ability should be eliminated in future 2k offerings.

Execution of the defensive or offensive play is extremely satisfying. Running the ball has always been the best part about 2k football, and this standard continues in 2k8. Unfortunately, 2k8 borrows the "charge up" function for running and throwing from 2k5 -- an element I was never fond of. Essentially, if you want to perform moves more efficiently, or throw a rocket pass, you need to hold down the green/A-button for a short time before executing the move.

VALUE / SINGLE PLAYER (3 out of 10)

I enjoy creating and meddling with my teams and uniforms, but beyond that, 2k8 is really only good for the occasional exhibition match or season. Practice mode exists, as with any other sports game, but is fairly negligible. Create-a-player exists, but it needs fleshing out to be more flexible. The absence of a franchise mode is an abysmal setback, highly reminiscent of some sports titles available at the Xbox360 launch. 2k Sports absolutely needs to somehow implement this feature in the future (getting rid of the historic NFL players is fine by me if that is what is holding them back).

VALUE / MULTIPLAYER (10 out of 10)

Online play is where this game shines. The gameplay was designed specifically for eliminating unrealistic multiplayer cheese and it shows. I have experienced zero lag or “connection hiccups” so far. In fact, the online game is technically indistinguishable from single player action. Noteworthy is the return of custom online leagues, if you can make a regular time commitment.

OVERALL SCORE (7 out of 10)

Try before you buy. The game's presentation appalls at first, but quickly grows on you the more you play. I am going between 2k8 and NCAA'08 right now, and I can tell you that on-field action, physics, and animations are superior in 2k8, but the absence of franchise (regardless of how well-announced this was) and the last generation-style on-field graphics (regardless of how expected this was) are only going to hurt the replay value. Here is hoping 2k5 becomes backwards compatible on 360!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/20/07