Review: Are You Ready For Some Football? Gameloft’s NFL 2010

September 9, 2009 | By Admin In Technology |

[Brett] It’s that time of year again. Summer is over, the kids are in school, and football is back in full swing. I never played any organized football growing up. Sure, I played some neighborhood football and flag football, but I never wore the pads and helmet. Of course, I also played any football video game I could get my hands on. I guess for me, this was the next best thing to playing for real and it was even better when you could play head-to-head against a friend. So, when I found out that Gameloft released NFL 2010, the first real console-style football game, on the iPhone, it took me all of 5 seconds to buy it.

[Doug] LOL, Brett. I was exactly the same. I never played football, but I have always enjoyed watching it as a fan. As for video games, I have been playing football games since the LED handheld Football game of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. I still remember when Football II game out, adding the ability to throw a pass. We sure have come a long way since then.

[Brett] So, how well did the team at Gameloft do taking NFL football and squeezing it into the iPhone? Read on to find out.

Review: Are You Ready For Some Football? Gameloft’s NFL 2010

[Brett] The presentation of NFL 2010 is very well done. When you launch the game, you are greeted by a short video highlighting some of the top teams and players. This really reminds me of the openings you see in the Madden or NCAA Football franchise games.

Review: Are You Ready For Some Football? Gameloft’s NFL 2010

[Brett] NFL 2010 even has announcers that will add some more realism to the game. Of course, I think this may be a bit buggy still. All I know is when I, playing as the NY Giants, intercepted a pass against the 49ers and ran it back for a touchdown, the announcers called out “TOUCHDOWN 49ers”. At least it gave me the touchdown on the scoreboard!

[Doug] I did not have any problems with bugginess. Maybe the game just does not like the Giants. I will say, though, that the audio really helps immerse you into the game. Talk about bringing the whole experience.

Review: Are You Ready For Some Football? Gameloft’s NFL 2010

[Brett] I am a fan of options. In NFL 2010, when calling a play, most of the time you can choose either Basic Plays or Advanced Plays. If you choose Basic, it gives you easy-to-understand play selections like “Man-to-Man Zone”. If you select Advanced Plays, you can select your formation and plays. This is a lot like the “Easy Play” feature on the Nintendo Wii that allows pretty much anyone to pick up a controller and just start playing Madden or NCAA Football. This also gives the flexibility to target some of the more advanced gamers that enjoy to select from the entire playbook.

[Doug] I love these options. What it means is that you do not have to possess an advanced degree in football theory in order to enjoy the game. don’t know the difference between a dime defense and a nickel. Don’t worry. Just head over the Basic and select zone coverage or man-to-man. Same thing on offense. All you need to know if whether you want to run or pass. On the other hand, if you are one of those people who knows every play in the book, then Advanced is where you want to play. This gives you considerably more control over gameplay. Like Brett said, this makes the game available to players of all levels, which I thought was fantastic.

[Brett] The on-screen controls are about as good as you can get on the iPhone. There is a virtual joystick on the bottom-left that you use to steer the player you are controlling. Depending on the situation, there are also some “buttons” on the bottom-right that allow you to quickly perform actions such as swat a ball on D and juke or do a spin move while running with the ball. A great feature that Gameloft adds here is when the game expects you to use one of these “buttons”, it will slow the game down, which gives you time to hit the correct one. At first, I thought this was lag, but I quickly realized the genius behind this feature.

[Doug] I agree, the controls worked well, especially the “joystick”. Though I will say that some of the other buttons took some time to learn. There are a number of buttons which appear or disappear depending on the situation, and on more than one occasions I reached for a button, only to find that it had disappeared or changed to something else. Still, I thought Gameloft did a nice job of not cluttering the screen with buttons you do not need.

[Brett] One of my favorite things about NFL 2010 is the fact that it is an actively developed game. Unlike games on older consoles (I have a Wii at home), Gameloft can add content. Shortly after Michael Vick’s return to the NFL, they announced that they were going to update the Eagle’s roster to include him.

[Doug] This is a fantastic feature, which may go unnoticed by many users. One of my big complaints with a lot of these sports games is that you are always stuck playing last year’s roster, so it has an out of date feel out of the box. With this active update system, you will always be able to access the latest roster for your favorite team…even if that is Michael Vick’s Eagles.

[Brett] The main missing element to NFL 2010 is multiplayer. I always get bored of playing the computer eventually. It is much more fun when you can play a live person and trash talk back and forth about the play you just pulled off.

[Doug] I noticed this as well. In fact, in preparation for this review, I was going to suggest a head-to-head game, but quickly realized that would not work.

[Brett] Luckily, according to Gameloft, they are adding in multiplayer, via online, Bluetooth, or Wifi, in the next update. They are also taking it social and adding an option to upload your replays directly to YouTube. So, not only can you give you buddies a hard time in person, you can then post a replay up on YouTube for all of your friends to see.

[Doug] That is great news. Though I wonder how many people will actually take the time to upload their highlights to YouTube and show them off to their friends. Then again, I am sure I am underestimating today’s youth by simply asking that question.

[Brett] After playing NFL 2010, I am really hoping that a college football game gets released in the near future. I am a much bigger college fan, so I would love to see a game with this quality take on the NCAA and BCS.

[Doug] Not me. I love the NFL. The simple playoff system alone blows away the confusion of the BCS any day. But we are not here to debate the NFL vs. NCAA or the merits of the BCS system. We are here to discuss Gameloft’s NFL 2010, and I have to say that I absolutely loved this game. The attention to detail, both in the graphics and animation, as well as the audio and announcers, gave the game a realistic feel, truly immersing you into the action. The options and play calling also serve to put you in charge, taking on the role of head coach, as well as on the field players. What better way to get ready for some FOOTBALL!

What We liked: