Rating: 3.5 pulses

Genre: Sports

With the release of All-Pro Football 2K8 and the upcoming NFL Madden 08, the rivalry between 2K Sports and EA sports has returned to see who the real king of the gridiron is.

Since EA snatched up the NFL license two years ago, 2K Sports hasn’t released a football game since NFL 2K5, which is still believed by many as one of the most tightly crafted football games to date. Many devoted NFL 2K gamers have passed on the gameplay of Madden the past two years and have continued to play NFL 2K5, but now they’ve got a new game of pigskin from their favorite football developers.

All-Pro Football 2K8 introduces a new way to play football with the appearance of football legends such as John Elway, Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, Ronnie Lott, Walter Payton and more. The game has got over 240 former players to choose from, but I

wouldn’t say all of them are necessarily legends.

When choosing a team you’ll have to balance your team with a choice of two gold-tier players (John Elway, Walter Payton), three silver-tier players (Randall Cunningham, Joe Theismann), and six bronze-tier players (Mike Golic, Len Dawson). After you pick your 11 players, the rest of the team is filled with random made-up players. This is kind of cool in a way because the strategy is to balance your team out or choose whether your power should be on offense or defense.

The team names and mascots are totally made-up (Firebirds, Cobras, etc), but really work well and the stadiums are absolutely gorgeous. The player models look very similar to the other 2K football games of the past but now with next-gen graphics that really capture the faces of the legends. Even the coaches and players on the sidelines seem very animated and active throughout the whole game. You can tell a lot of detail has been put into this game, even the smallest ones.

The biggest and most important reason that All-Pro Football 2K8 was even created was for the gameplay. The game plays a lot different from Madden and many fans of the 2K footballs game are happy to see that it’s back.

Having played Madden the past few years, it felt weird playing this game because the physics of the game are tighter and well, slower. Not that it’s a bad thing, but it actually feels more realistic. For example, when passing the ball there’s a weird bit of delay between when you press the button to throw to a receiver, and when the pass actually launches. It might be realistic but feels stressed when you’re just trying to get the ball out quickly.

Outside of the gameplay, All-Pro Football 2K8 doesn’t really offer much other than season mode or online play. No mini-games, no dynasty mode, no training camp. But the online play is very well rounded with player matches and ranked matches, as well as tournaments and an online season for up to 32 teams.

With All-Pro Football 2K8, 2K Sports is hoping to return football to its roots with football legends and gameplay that we haven’t seen in a few years. Can they do it without the NFL licensing and with the new NFL Madden 08 coming out soon? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Football season is back, baby, and I’m loving it!