NFL Primetime 2002
Score: 77% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Konami Developer: FarSight Studios Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Sports
Graphics & Sound: Madden 2002. NFL 2K2. GameDay 2002. NFL Quarterback Club. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it was football season. Of course, this massive selection of games to choose from drives football fans nuts wondering which game to get. Well, add one more game to that long list of football games vying for place on you game shelf - NFL Primetime 2002. Call me psychic, but I know exactly what you are thinking so I'll tell you right off the bat, this isn't a Madden killer, however it does a few good things that even Madden wishes it could do. Unfortunately, all the new features come at a price, some of which are pretty steep. The first thing you will notice are the player models, which for the most part are just plain weird looking. They walk funny, move their arms in weird ways, and the color of some player's faces do not match the color of the rest of their bodies. As you play the game though, you begin to notice the small things that make the game feel a little better. For one, helmets become marked up and dirty over the course of a game, and the uniforms are probably the best I've seen yet on the PS2. The uniform dirtying is especially cool to see. In Madden, even in rain games, players look way too clean, but not in Primetime. Simply put, these guys get dirty! Player animations are okay looking, but seem to lack that certain natural (or almost natural) feel of Madden or 2K2. I have to give major points for the camera work. It is a bit overwhelming when you begin to play, but as you progress through the game, it becomes a very endearing. The sidelines are a mixed bag as well. They are bustling with activity, but I have two major problems. One is that the coaches don't look like they should. I understand this probably involves some kind of licensing fee I could not even begin to understand, but it would have been nice if they at least kind of resembled their real life counterparts. The cheerleaders are nice, and it is great to finally see them appearing in football games, but the squads in Primetime have these creepy Harlequin grins on their faces. They look like they all used that Joker Brand makeup from the first Batman movie. 'He...could...go...all...the...way... TOUCHDOWN!' I'll give you one guess as to who does the commentary. As with most football games (2K2 being the exception in my mind), the commentary tries, but gets old very quickly. Chris Berman and Tom Jackson's commentary is okay, but have a real canned feel to them and lack any type of emotion. It is not as bad as Madden, but it is close. The familiar ESPN music is all here, and along with the stadium music is one of the highlights of the game.
Gameplay: Here is where we get to the part about the left out things. While Primetime has more than a few problems, for the most part they are nit-picky and you probably won't notice them (example: No left handed QBs or Kickers). There are a few glaring ones that have a big effect on the playability and enjoyment factor. First, the passing game is spotty at best. It is very hard to tell if your receiver caught the ball. Another interesting thing that happens is when players are not even facing the ball, it goes in their direction and magically appears in their hands. I know the NFL has some amazing receivers, but not even Jedi can pull this kind of stuff off. As you move to different difficulty levels, balls are dropped more frequently, making it possible for players like Joe Horn and Randy Moss to have only one or two catches in a game. The running game is a little better, but has more than its fair share of rough spots, the biggest of which is that linemen rarely block. They just run into each other and fall down instead of fighting each other like they should. At times, it didn't even seem like it mattered who was blocking, size or power wise. Anyone who has seen Norman Hand knows he's a big man and hard to take down, but over the course of my season, he spent more time on his back than...okay we're not going to go that route. Primetime isn't all bad though, and manages to have a few good things thrown in as well. The biggest of them is the sheer depth of features it gives you. Of course, it has the requisite play modes such as Exhibition and Practice, but it also includes the option of setting up certain game situations. Want to recreate that last big play you saw during your favorite team's last game? Just set up the situation and see if you could have done things better. Primetime also features one of the best Franchise modes I have seen in a football game. You begin with any team and play through pre-season, regular season, playoffs, the Super Bowl, and even the Pro-Bowl. During the off and pre-seasons you can even trade and draft players to help your team out. The off season draft is the coolest part because it goes through a real NFL style draft complete with a ticker to tell you when you get to make a selection. For a good idea of just how deep the Franchise mode gets, explaining all the different options takes up nearly half of the entire 31 page manual.
Difficulty: Primetime allows you to choose from four difficulty levels: Rookie, Pro, All-Pro and Hall of Fame. As mentioned above, the only difference the difficult meter seemed to make was that your players catch fewer balls and blocking goes down the tubes. This does not mean that coverage gets better - your players just forget how to catch. What really makes Primetime hard is the inconsistent penalty calls and ball spots. No matter the situation, the computer always seemed to get the favorable calls and since you cannot challenge them, you are often forced to grin and bear it. Get used to having flags thrown on a few of your team's biggest plays.
Game Mechanics: The control setup for Primetime is the standard set up for most football games. I did have a few problems with the player movement though. You see, the world of Primetime is a frictionless one on which players slide across the field with little to no resistance. The movement is a little too loose to be comfortable. After playing an early version of Primetime, I felt really good about it and thought it was headed in the right direction. Having played the final version, I was happy to see some of the problems were fixed, but for the most part, the only ones that were fixed were the graphical ones. The major gameplay components haven't changed much at all, resulting in a game that can be fun at times, but is sorely lacking in areas that are most important. Football fans looking for something different may want to give ESPN Primetime a rent, but unless you want to take full advantage of the excellent Franchise mode, you may want to stick to either Madden or 2K2.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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