So how do you rate APF 2K8?

[Transformdagame]

After creating a team, playing two online matches, editing my team once and playing a 3rd online match - I'm rating it somewhere between an 8 and an 8.5.

Initially, the drafting process was annoying because there are many good players and so little room and it's very hard to pre-determine the opposition and what they may bring to the table.

However, once done with my 11 picks and team attributes - I was very excited to hear Dan and Peter after what seemed like an eternity.

It took a little getting used to considering I haven't played a football game on 360 since Madden 06 (which was bundled with my system when I bought it back @ launch). I can't compare it to any of EA's products because Madden 06 lasted as long as it took me to get the acheivements. Game was traded in soon after. I didn't bother with 07 and I'm not a fan of EA's NCAA. I did however, give the demo of NCAA 08 a test drive and that was purely a waste of space on my hard drive - it is now a ghost image if anything at all.

Anyway, APF2K8 is a solid game, with solid presentation and on a HDTV set, this game is uncut raw! Anyone on the fence on whether or not to buy this game should most definitely rent it first, especially those who are so caught up with professional football properties.

2K did a wonderful job of signing raw talent to this product and I'm happy to play with guys like Johnny Unitas (G) and Willie Gault (B).

The stadiums are massive and the crowd feels alive. It doesn't appear to some looped animation. Gotta love the flashbulbs!

What I like most about this game is that you can tweak and fine tune your team to give you that perfect blend, over and over. Johnny U and OJ (G) are beasts and Willie Gault will scorch most defenders. Yeah OJ is my RB and I could care less about how people feel about that. So I'm already prepared for the jokes and the hate, been dealing with it since the verdict was read. Get over it people. Wanna piece of me? Hope you like a tall glass of OJ with that toast!

APF 2K8 is my football game of "choice" and Newark Gladiators is my squad. CLAPONCLAPOFF is my gamertag. Bring it!

[Transformdagame]

Drafting 13 or 14 players would have been nice, it would have IMO given more balance to both sides of the ball. But I'm not complaining. I'm glad 2K is back and knowing that EA fanboys are trembling w/ anticipation of another lame offering by EA/Madden.

FYI: There were over 4200 people online last night when I logged in. Close to 900 were actually playing a game. I think that's a fairly decent # considering the game launched yeaterday and is still being shipped.

[dacks]

I love the gameplay. The new animations are smooth and there's a ton of them. I had a play last night where i had a ball batted over the middle, i selected the nearest receiver and hit Y, he came sliding in on his knees to try and catch it! Also, it seems they fixed the AI big time, the CPU can actually pass now, the DB's are great with their assignments, and the penalties actually work now. In 2K5 i never had an offsides penalty on either side of the ball, now they actually jump offsides!
The new momentum and tackle system takes a little getting used to but it feels natural and is effective. I also need to get used to the auto-strafe. I love the stadiums, the announcers and the sound. The graphics aren't overall as good as i would of hoped but they do look sweet close up.

As for the downside, i wish they had cards for your generic players. I want to get to know them a little bit, which would help in getting into the team more. Of course more former pros and a franchise type mode would be nice so hopefully they'll figure something out to appease us. On a side note to that, perhaps they could seperate it into two game types. One with online play with legends as it is now and another with generic players which we can edit in a franchise type mode.

Overall so far this game is exactly what i expected, 2K5 reborn and where it would be today if it continued(gameplay-wise). If i was to give it a rating out of 10 i would say 8.7.

[Transformdagame]

I agree the animations are great! I had a few plays where the ref actually got caught in the middle of a WR/DB fight for a tipped ball - this ref was a durable dude, lol.
Still it was good to not see my player just pass right through him. I also noticed that the whole officiating team changes from game to game. My first game, the head ref looked like he just stepped off the set of "Thriller".

I haven't checked all the in-game options yet, but I hear what you are saying about the auto-strafe. I guess we can turn that feature off? I sincerely hope this game receives updates such as new legends, more create a player options, etc. And I hope they release them the day b4 Madden hits stores. :-P