A Sports held a mini event in San Francisco last night, showing off a handful of new titles—only two of which we can talk about now. Both NFL Tour and EA Sports GameShow were playable, giving us a taste of the newly re-imagined successor to the NFL Street series and an all-new title geared toward low key, accessible fun. In addition to the hands-on time, EA Sports’ President Peter Moore took the stage in one of his first public appearances since taking the job. After making a joke about the perception that he left one so-called evil empire, Microsoft, for another, he talked about some of the brand’s successes and challenges. Moore said EA Sports saw the Wii as both a challenge and an opportunity, though none of the games we saw were shown on the platform. He also trumpeted the company’s online strategies, saying they were getting closer to their goal of having games support the same number of online players as there are players in their sport. He wrapped things up with a brief Q&A—but you can check out our one-on-one interview with Moore tomorrow. And now, the games.
NFL Tour
NFL Tour is a reboot of the NFL Street games, and there are more differences than just the name. As it implies, one of the biggest changes between the two are that games no longer take place on the streets or other fantastic venues—games are now played at various stops on a touring show. An NFL Tour, if you will. If you’re accustomed to the cartoonish, over-the-top antics (and art style) of the Street games, you’ll probably be a little surprised to see how the gameplay has changed.
EA points out that while soccer and basketball have street versions of their sports, football doesn’t. While they tried to take elements of the NBA and FIFA Street games and incorporate them into seven-on-seven football games, the company wasn’t completely happy with how it turned out. With Tour, they believe they’ve struck a balance between arcade-style football action and something that won’t necessarily turn off die-hard Madden fans. While the action is still over-the-top—players don’t wear helmets, and they can run up the sideline walls for short periods of time—the days of super crazy Gamebreakers seem to be over.
The game is pretty simple, to the point where it almost feels retro. The interface is clean and stripped down, and the field isn’t cluttered with arrows or other Madden staples. One of the interesting aspects of the gameplay is the reversal system, which allows ball carriers to break through tackles or defenders to pull down quarterbacks. Once a player is in position for such a move, a button icon flashes over his head. Tapping the button repeatedly lets you pull off the maneuver. From what we played, it seems well balanced—you won’t become an invincible titan if you’ve got fast fingers, but it is a skill that can certainly come in handy.
The two venues we played in—Seattle and New York—were both outdoors, with the appropriate trimmings. The Seahawks play under the shadow of the Space Needle, and New Yorkers can watch their teams play right on the edge of Central Park. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of details other cities get—will the Vikings play in the shadow of the Metrodome? Characters get similar details, though their jerseys lacked player names in this build.
From the few games we played, we can see how the game could appeal to both sides of the football fence. People who might get turned off by the intricacy of the Madden experience might appreciate the easy controls and uncluttered presentation. Madden fans might like being able to actually see the faces under the helmets. We were a little underwhelmed with some of the action, though. While there are still a few more months left in the development process, there seemed to be a lack of big, meaty hits in the game. Even if we can’t spin the ball on our fingertips or dive dozens of feet through the air, it would be cool to see a bit more variety in the tackles. Even the powered-up tackles seemed like they belonged in JV, not the NFL.
We’ll definitely keep an eye on NFL Tour to see what happens between now and the release.