- Has familiar ESPN statistic
display, giving it television-production feel
- Strong amount of statistical tracking for season and
franchise play
- Has franchise mode for 15 seasons
- Graphics are shameful considering
other Xbox football game’s visuals
- Lackluster A.I. on both sides
of the ball
- A.I. CPU defense given too much of an advantage during pass
plays
- Boring announcing and overall sound presentation
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ESPN
NFL Primetime 2002
Score: 5.0 / 10
One of the saddest things to see in sports
is when someone obviously past their prime is trying to play just that
one extra game or season when they really know deep down in their heart
they should hang it up. A childhood idol of mine was the Philadelphia
Phillies’ left-handed pitching ace Steve Carlton. It wasn’t a pretty
sight seeing him get lit up like a Christmas tree every time he pitched
his last season in the majors. He didn’t know when it was time to toss
in the towel and leave the pitching to those hurlers better than he was.
This is the case with the late entry into the Xbox football game field,
ESPN NFL Primetime 2002 (PT2002). This series should have given up the
ghost after its pathetic attempt appeared on the PS2 last year, actually
thinking it could challenge Madden or any other title for football
videogame dominance simply by capitalizing on the popularity of ESPN.
But instead,
Konami gave it another go this year, and
the results are exactly what you would expect in its first (and
hopefully last) Xbox showing: largely dreadful.
There are many problems with the overall makeup of PT2002. The worst is
the apathetic and downright lousy artificial intelligence both on
defense and offense. It reacts unrealistically on both sides of the
ball. While on offense, the
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A.I. always has an unfair advantage, plugging running lanes regularly
and playing a mean defensive backfield, picking off your medium-to-long
range passes so much that you will quickly lose confidence in the
passing game. In one game, I had the Philadelphia Eagles as my team with
Donovan McNabb at the quarterback helm. The real McNabb is a steady
passer who rarely throws interceptions. I had seven passes taken away in
one game. Whenever you attempt to throw long, the ball always comes up
short of the receiver unless he is wide open. The defensive player
always finds a way to deflect or pick off your passes unless you stick
to screens or five-to-ten-yard passes. On defense, the game rarely helps
you out in coverage by providing some of the dumbest-reacting defensive
work I’ve seen in a while. If an opposing receiver gets just a step on
you, forget about getting any assistance from other CPU-assisted
defenders. Without smart defensive A.I. helping out on coverage, your
opposition catches long passes and goes for touchdowns on a regular
basis.
FarSight should have been able to conjure up a much better visual
performance with a hardware system capable of superior graphics (like
the Xbox). I can’t find a plausible excuse as to why the game is
visually not up to the standards of any other Xbox football title.
Player animations aren’t as numerous as PT2002’s Xbox competition. This
results in awkward-looking and unrealistic running animations by
offensive and defensive players alike. Kickers and quarterbacks suffer
the worst graphical humiliation of all players. They look like
lobster-boys with their grossly disproportionate arms and hands that
have a claw-like appearance. Easily PT2002, has the ugliest-appearing
graphical football players in a next-generation videogame out there.
Crowds and stadium visuals aren’t as bad as the players, actually having
a realistic appeal to them. But they aren’t any better than PT2002’s
competing titles of Madden 2002, NFL Fever 2002, and NFL2K2. While
acceptable, they are bland compared to the excellence of the
above-mentioned others.
If any part of the game passes as adequate, it’s the special player
moves under your control. Stiff-arms, hurdles, spins, and dives are
relatively easy to operate. But that’s where the control ease stops
cold. Passing plays on offense are much more difficult to learn than
running the ball. Too many receivers drop balls right in their hands,
even if there isn’t tight defense covering them. And it’s almost a
crapshoot when passing anyway. As you chuck it to one of your receivers
or are playing defense on the thrown ball, the pigskin almost seems to
disappear for a split second. It’s as if the game needs to decide if it
should give the player the catch or not before the ball suddenly seems
to reappear and either turns into a catch or is intercepted at an insane
percentage when you are on offense or is batted away. You don’t ever get
a comfort level of trust for a successful pass play.
Running works better from a control standpoint, but there is only a
slightly higher comfort or success level achieved running the ball. The
problem here is that running backs, even super-fast backs (like the
incomparable All-Pro Marshall Faulk of the Rams) don’t hit open holes
quickly, and too many times the defense stuffs runs that should produce
more yards. All backs seemingly run at the same velocity, and this just
shouldn’t be the case. Unfortunately, the speed-burst really doesn’t
provide a noticeable increase in swiftness, and that hurts most when in
short-yardage running situations. It’s almost impossible to launch a
huge run over 15 yards, let alone burst through for a long touchdown.
The A.I. overcompensates too much for gameplay balance’s sake, which
leads to frustration as you play offense, and this is definitely not fun
at all. The only good running aspect of PT2002 is when you control the
quarterback after deciding to take off on a scramble. It plays out
comparable to the excellence of NFL2K2, much better than either Madden
2002 or NFL Fever 2002 in this lone department.
Chris Berman and Tom Jackson know a lot about football. They do a great
job on ESPN during the season providing insightful post-game analysis of
NFL football. But their performance as the announcing tandem for PT2002
comes nowhere close to their work on ESPN. There’s an episode of The
Simpsons where Krusty the Clown has to do some voice recordings for a
line of Krusty the Clown toys. He rushes in the studio, grabs the flash
cards with the required phrases, records them in a uninspired fashion
and leaves within 20 seconds with check in hand, nary a second thought
to how good his voice work turned out. You almost get that same feeling
here with Berman and Jackson. There is no emotion or enthusiasm in the
play-by-play or color commentary, making for a boring gameplay
experience. The crowd noise isn’t done well either. There’s no audible
difference from the cheering fans if the home team is making good plays
or throwing interceptions. The crowd always sounds the same. The
crunching sound of good tackles is the game’s best audio feature.
One thing that is developed well is the franchise mode, which allows you
to manage and play up to 15 seasons in the quest for the Super Bowl
championship. PT2002 has a strong amount of statistical tracking for
season and franchise play. Even exhibition games can help develop rating
points for players based on their performances. It has that familiar
ESPN statistical display that gives it a television-production feel and
keeps track of an overwhelming number of statistics, just as you would
expect from an ESPN game. But the high quality of the franchise mode
becomes a moot point considering the low quality of PT2002’s other
areas, particularly the gameplay itself.
There’s a reason Konami tried to sneak this game onto store shelves near
the very end of the past NFL season. It is truly the worst football game
you could possibly buy for the Xbox. Every aspect of the game is
essentially weak compared to the other Xbox football games available
save its franchise mode. PT2002 doesn’t even warrant rental attention.
Consider this the Carolina Panthers of gridiron gaming that I doubt even
a Hall of Fame development team could turn into a contender for your
football game-purchasing dollars. Look at Madden 2002, NFL Fever 2002,
or NFL2K2 if you need an Xbox football fix and stay far away from
PT2002.
