All-Pro Football 2K8

So to prove that I'm not a dirty liar, I'm going to play the game I said I would this last Saturday: All-Pro Football 2K8.  Developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports, All-Pro Football was released in July 2007.  It is the successor the the ESPN NFL 2K series after Madden purchased exclusive rights to the intellectual properties of the NFL and NFLPA.  The game is incredibly fun and the large number of legends to build your team with. 

And speaking of building your team, it is the first thing you do when you start the game.  You get two gold players, three silver and six bronze to choose legends to build your team around.  After choosing your legends, you are given generic players under specifics (to benefit either your running game or passing game).  There are a lot of players in each position with the gold players being the most famous and skilled.  I want my team to be an offensive beast so I'm going to fill my stars with offensive players.  

So I'm starting with my silver stars so I can grab a few offensive players without having to use my top picks as of yet and as I start to look I see an easy first pick: at quarterback... Joe Theismann.  After that I decide that I need some good targets, so I grab wide receiver Charley Taylor and tight end Todd Christensen.   Now that I have my silver players I'll move up to my gold stars to get my all stars.  I first grab Jerry Rice to add to my receiving core and then give my running game a huge boost with Walter Payton.  I use the rest of my bronze picks to grab some good linemen as well as another wide receiver. 

So now that I finally have my team I can start and I'll be playing against the Detriot Firebirds.  I get a nice return to begin the game and am on the 35.  Starting with some running just to get used to the controls, I move up to second and seven, third and five... Payton is getting me there but not quickly enough.  I try to pass, but it gets batted down and I'm forced to punt away. 

The Firebirds are a bit more consistant on offense then I am (maybe because they have a defensive plan and I rely on luck) and are moving rather solidly.  They go to third and one before getting a first and moving even further down the field. I get a nice hit behind the line on their running back to force a third down and seven yards, forcing them to pass... and that's followed by a sack to push them to fourth down and fifteen yards. They are now out of field goal range and are forced to punt the ball away.

I retreive the punt on the sixteen yard line but start with a long bomb to Jerry Rice and I'm at the 48 yard line.  I attempt a run but lose a yard, then gain nothing passing to my fullback as he goes out of bounds.  I want a first down but I don't know who to pass for... so I throw to Jerry Rice for a first down.  But the red flag is thrown and a challenge is made and it is overturned and I lose the first down.  The Firebirds get a great run off though and I can't stop them from getting a touchdown.

But of course there are still a few minutes left in the half and I have the ball once again.  Jerry Rice starts me off (he is the blunt of my offense) and I am moving down the field.  I am held to fourth down, but no guts, no glory and I'm going for it and Jerry Rice gets me there again.  It's time to run the clock down by running with Walter Payton.  He gets me in the goal with very little time left and the half ends at seven all.

And so another game is played and another game is done.  I think I'm done with football for a while (I still have a few games left) so I'll move to something else tomorrow.  Perhaps an action game... or maybe an RPG... or maybe a platformer... I'll figure it out tomorrow.  Adios for today though.