All Pro Football 2K8 (By: Andreas Hale)
3 out of 5

While Madden and EA Sports have completed a monopoly on football gaming, Visual Concepts had to figure out how to fight their way back into the arena without an NFL license. As many gamers know, the 2K series of football games posed a very serious threat to the Madden dynasty. What better way to destroy your competition than to rip away the very basis of a football game – the NFL license. Instead of crying and tossing in the towel, Visual Concepts decided to employ the use of old school NFL players and come up with a new and innovative twist on football gaming with All Pro Football 2K8.

With legends such as Barry Sanders, OJ Simpson and Joe Montana mixed into the game engine of the 2K series, All Pro Football does a whole lot with a little and makes it work the best way they can. Gamers don’t get to play as the Bears or the Dolphins, instead you get teams like the Sharks and the Assassins. Complete with unique stadiums and uniforms, All Pro Football is a new game all in itself.

The presentation is absolutely stellar and reminds of the old NFL 2K days. With nice touches such as halftime and end game highlights as well as in play animations of players celebrating intertwined seamlessly, All Pro Football is everything Madden is missing. The animations are sweet and lifelike, bringing a sense of reality and fluidity to the game. Even the small intricacies such as Dan Marino’s quick release and Roger Craig’s high knees help bring life to a new football game.

If you’ve played any of the 2K football games, you’ll be pleased with how All Pro Football handles. Everything is ultra smooth and easy to learn in contrast to the mind-boggling (and often confusing) options Madden offers. With the exception of a crappy kicking system, All Pro handles well enough to make die hard Madden-ites question what EA has been doing. Unfortunately, the AI isn’t all that great and is easy to take advantage of. Regardless, it’s a great alternative for those not pleased with how Madden plays.

But its not all good as the features are entirely too lame to hold your attention. The season mode is a simple as sixteen games, playoffs and that’s a wrap. Also, the way you select your team of Gold, Silver and Bronze tiered players isn’t really a slick way to recreate a fantasy draft. What’s a draft when you have limitations on which players you can pick up? Continued on page 2 »