NFL Quarterback Club '98
Reviewed by Jae Min
First of all, I had very high expectations of this game. I'm ashamed to say
that I trusted N64.com and went out and bought this game instead of Madden,
and I'm regretting myself. But, I just realized Electronic Boutique's
had a return policy so I can go trade it back. Note: If you want to try
one but think you might like the other one better, get the one you want to
try first, then after 9 days go take it back ;-).
Graphics: 9
The graphics, in themselves, are by far the greatest I've seen in a sports
game, and perhaps in any game period. Bar none, this is the best looking
game out there. BUT, and that's a huge BUT, sometimes, the game moves quite
slowly. For example, on the kickoff return, the speed should be the greatest
and the impact should be the greatest because it's full speed on each side,
but the movement of the return is so slow it doesn't give you the feeling of
a kickoff return at all. The thing that bugs me the most about this is that
the steps, in physics, are correct. There are about 2 steps per five yards,
as usual, but the actual player movement is so slow that it's rather
annoying. One thing I must mention is the instant replay. If you do the
replay and you watch from either the blimp cam or just from far away, it
truly does look like a real TV broadcast. This feature might move you to buy
the game, just because, when you're playing friends, and you make a nice
throw out to Rice and he goes all the way, you can watch it in graphical
perfection. The detail is so great, even the players' names show up on the
back of their jerseys. And also, there are several different tackles. For
example, when you hit the opponent head on, the player with the ball just
gets tackled, and you can actually see the defensive players clutch the
jersey and the legs pumping to slam the player into the ground. Then, for
example, Dana Stubblefield comes from the side to rock Barry Sanders, the
momentum shows in the tackle, and Barry's body jerks as any normal humans
would when a 290 pound defensive lineman runs into you full tilt from the
side. Also, the framerate is silky smooth. Sometimes, it seems too smooth.
Gameplay: 7
The gameplay is quite average. Therefore, it gets an average score of 7. As
I mentioned earlier, the graphics are very well done, but it moves so slow
at some times that it detracts from the gameplay. Also, there are too many
money plays. If you're honest then you won't use these plays, but when you
just want to win, like me, then you'll use these plays over and over. Then
Brent Jones ends up gaining 400 yards in one game. That's plainly
unacceptable. Also, the AI isn't very well done. Though the game is
challenging, this is mainly because you just cannot run. The defense always
collapses on the runner much too quickly, and even with a quick, in real
life, running back like Barry Sanders, you can't get much. Once in a while,
you may break free, but these are rather rare. Back to the AI. Sometimes,
when you passed a screen to a running back, the linebackers just stand there
for a few seconds, and then they react. It could be that the programmers(not
acclaim, since they only published it, according to EB workers), just put
this in to make up for the slowness in some sports, but even still, it's
unacceptable. Because of the imbalance between passing and running, the
quarterback ends up throwing 40-60 passes a game with lots and lots and lots
of yards with those money plays. On defense, the interceptions are
realistic. But sometimes, the ball seems to go right through your defensive
back's arms. When you watch the replay, you see it, but when you're
actually playing, the ball just ends up in the receivers hands. RATHER,
annoying.
Sound: 7
Again, this is pretty average. The sound effects for hitting and such are
pretty decent, but Marv Albert sounds...well....dead. Putting the fact that
he admitted he was guilty aside, he's a great sportscaster. I'm not quite
sure what happened, but he sounds so dead and down and so full of
nonemotion. It's sometimes counteractive to the game. For example, whenever
the quarterback is sacked, the phrase, "the quarterback tries to scramble,
but is caught and brought down for a sack" is played. The thing is, it
doesn't matter if the quarterback was trying to run. If the quarterback's 30
yards behind the line of scrimmage, he's still trying to "scramble". The
music is just ok.
Control: 7
Again, it's just average. The analog makes a difference, but in a football
when do you want to be walking instead of running? Luckily, the digital pad
is available for use. I'm pretty sure that the controls are changeable, but
they are ok. It would have been twice as good if you could change it
around, but...alas, you can't.
Overall: 8.5
All things considered, it's a pretty well-made football game, even with the
extreme slowness at times. The graphical excellence, though it's not
supposed to, still makes up for the sloppiness in programming. It's a great
game to play with friends, just because of the awesome instant replay
feature. Once you crank that up, you will seriously be flabbergasted at the
quality. Even still, I'm going to trade this back for Madden.