All-Pro Football 2K8 (Sony Playstation 3, 2007)

ESPN NFL 2K5 is one of those games that have developed a seriously hardcore following in recent years. That's because it happens to be one of the most tightly crafted football games ever made, and also because it happens to be the last NFL-licensed game made by 2K Sports, following EA's snatching of the NFL license into the land of exclusivity. For just about three years now, fans of the 2K brand of football have been wringing their hands in anticipation of what 2K might do to bring back an alternative to Madden. The answer is finally here in the form of All-Pro Football 2K8. All-Pro is precisely the kind of football you remember from NFL 2K5--maybe a little too much like it--but with a roster of classic players from NFL yore. The premise? Build your own team out of your favorite old-timers, and compete against other teams full of heroes of the gridiron, both offline and online. It's a very cool idea for a game, especially in the way you build your team, but some niggling issues with the gameplay and presentation, as well as a stripped-down package of modes, prevents 2K8 from being a truly great return for 2K football.

The Good:

* An exciting, highly realistic gameplay engine
* Over 200 classic players to choose from
* Building up teams and taking them online is a lot of fun
* Largely excellent animation
* Great on-field sound effects.

The Bad:

* Much of what makes All-Pro's gameplay so great was done just as well in NFL 2K5 three years ago
* A distinct lack of offline modes
* Player models look ancient (and not just because they're old players)
* Commentary is mostly recycled from 2K5
* Could have used more in the way of customization options.

The gameplay isn't nearly as good as the Madden series and I was disappointed by the small number of past pros to choose from. That said, it is still kinda fun to play manager and watch the legends battle it out on the field for a bit. For the price, it's an inexpensive addition to my game library and I'm not really sorry for having bought it.

This is a game that I wanted to like when I knew of its release. I wanted to like it because I liked the previous 2k football games. But Sega was the in the mix with those games which I believe made them great. I was skeptical of how this game would turn out. I would say that you musn't play it just once especially if you are new to 2k football games and are wanting madden gameplay. You won't like it much. 2k football games are like dark beers they need an aquired taste for but once you have that you never go back. At first 2k football gameplay feels awkward when used to Madden. But if you give it time you will soon learn it and find that it is a whole lot more complex than madden and a lot more fun. This game is great to play online, and that is about it. Not much of a game to play a season or build a franchise, but online is where the real competition and fun is anyway. The graphics arean't amazing in fact 2k5 is still way better along with the presentation. But in this game you can play with Elway, Montana, Barry Sanders and more! Definately a great game but still could be better. If your new to 2k football rent it and play it for at least 3 games, especially try it online. 2k football requires a strategic gameplan to win so if you don't want to have to think this isn't the game for you wait for Madden 08. If you liked the old 2k football games pick this up and do away with madden, in a few years they won't have the NFL license anymore and 2k will own the football industry. Oh yeah probably not since everyone wants to play mindless Madden football games. Either way its great to have 2k football back. Now if sega would only come back to the hardware bus...

Since Madden has the exclusive NFL license, 2K Sports can't release a current game with current rosters. So they went the all-time fantasy route, which was an excellent choice. You build your own team from scratch, picking 12 "stars" (some are real true legends, like Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, etc., and others are guys who were merely good like Al del Greco). There are over 250 guys to choose from, available at every position.

It plays like NFL 2K, which if you don't know what to expect, it's great. It's still a better football sim than even Madden 11. The audio is great fun, with the two fictional announcers Dan Steven and Peter O'Keefe from the NFL 2K games, and their commentary is fun. The graphics are probably the weakest point - the models and stadiums look like PS2 quality and the framerate is in the 30fps range. The Xbox 360 version was quite clearly the lead as it's a solid 60fps all the time.

So it's a fun game, and since it's cheap you should pick it up.

I LIKE THAT THIS GAME IN NEW,AND I BROUGHT THIS BECAUSE MY BROTHER-IN LAW JUST GOT A PS3 AND NEED GAMES.