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Mediocre Critical Reception
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0 3 7 4 |
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 Excellent  Good  Mediocre  Poor |
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Platform: |
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Xbox 360 |
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Genre: |
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Football |
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Developer: |
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NaturalMotion |
ESRB: |
Everyone |
Release: |
June 1, 2010 |
Publisher: |
505 Games |
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Critic Reviews The following reviews are used to calculate the overall reception for this game. All applicable scores are converted to our simplified rating system based on the specifics offered by each publication or the tone of each review. You can read more about how we do this here.
June 2, 2010 - Good - While the Euphoria Engine-driven tackles are satisfying, they alone aren't enough to sell Backbreaker. It's a good game that sets an ambitious precedent, although you'll have to carve through some bumbling elements to hit its high points.
June 10, 2010 - Good - With some of the most impressive physics ever to be used in a sports game, Backbreaker looks the business; if only its gameplay matched up this would be the perfect American Football game. We can't overstate just how much the physics add, and this is still a highly ambitious game and well worth a look. Just don't expect a revelation.
July 21, 2010 - Good - To be honest there is very little that Backbreaker does wrong. Its only real drawback is that it is not an official NFL licensed game and misses out on the major draw of taking a team to the Super Bowl. It does well to create a bruising, action-packed take on the American football sim genre and any fans of the sport would do well to give it a try.
June 7, 2010 - Mediocre - Like Blitz: The League and its sequel, Backbreaker eventually does fall on its sword, but there's a nobility in the way it does. If the thought of making another Madden zombie-walk to the store this year makes you heave, Backbreaker might be the palate-cleanser you need.
June 3, 2010 - Mediocre - In its current state, Backbreaker neither matches Madden's polish nor overcomes its monopoly on the NFL license; in fact, its shortcomings highlight several reasons why Madden remains so appealing.
June 4, 2010 - Mediocre - Every football gamer should play Backbreaker just to see the slick tech that drives it. Paying $50 to see that tech is asking far, far too much when you can simply download the demo for free.
June 3, 2010 - Mediocre - The animations and hitting in Backbreaker are done so well that there is still fun to be had, but every other element is riddled with problems that make it hard to enjoy this game for the long term.
June 8, 2010 - Mediocre - The basic graphics, incessant crap rock music, weak stadium commentary and shortage of bonus modes make this questionable value at retail alongside the likes of Madden, but it would have made a high-end downloadable title. Despite that, it's certainly different, and if they don't persist with a sequel maybe they could sell the tech to EA.
June 2, 2010 - Mediocre - Backbreaker, despite its many flaws and poor design choices, actually does have potential thanks to the euphoria engine. The groundwork has been laid for a fine football experience but the developers need to re-think some of the steps they've taken to get to this point, mainly in the core gameplay of Backbreaker.
June 3, 2010 - Mediocre - The cold, harsh truth is that Backbreaker feels like a Euphoria tech demo. This is no Madden killer, as some have billed it. But it's a clever game. Backbreaker won't leave EA sweating, but it will do well to learn from it.
June 7, 2010 - Poor - At its core, Backbreaker is a soulless attempt at straddling the fence between the over-the-top action found in the Blitz series and trying to accurately simulate the sport of football like the competition.
June 1, 2010 - Poor - Natural Motion's Euphoria technology is a great building block for a football game, but Backbreaker suffers from too many rookie mistakes. Only the most hardcore gridiron fans dying for an alternative to the EA Sports offerings should bother bringing this one in for a look.
June 4, 2010 - Poor - If a you're going to release an unlicensed football game, it had better knock our socks off. Backbreaker doesn't even come close. Pass on this one and hope for a better game next year.
June 11, 2010 - Poor - Its animation system, over-relied-upon as it is, does manage to impress. But whether or not that animation engine warranted an entirely new game to be built around it is severely debatable, given the end result here. Someone should do something with this technology and put it to better use in a better game.
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