ESPN NFL Football Updated Impressions

At a recent press event, Sega Sports and Visual Concepts, the makers of the critically acclaimed 2K line of NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB sports games, made several announcements regarding the future of their sports franchises. While numerous topics were discussed, the primary focus of the event was clearly the latest game in their NFL franchise, including the announcements of the series' new title--ESPN NFL Football--and the addition of Warren Sapp as the series' newest cover athlete. Also announced at the event was the addition of a brand-new gameplay feature that Visual Concepts believes will revolutionize how gamers view football gaming--a feature VC has titled first-person football. First-person football is a player-perspective mode that puts you inside the helmet of your chosen player and lets you see the field the way a real NFL player would. We had a chance to sit down and take a lengthy look at first-person football to get a feel for how it actually works.

First-person football is not simply an available camera view within a normal game, but rather its own specific mode, selectable from the main game menu. During the gameplay, you'll find that first-person football is a drastically different experience from the normal third-person camera view that has been the standard for so many years. For starters, since you will, in effect, be inside the helmet of your player, your field of vision is significantly more limited. You'll see your face mask, the outer edges of your helmet, and your player's name labeled on the upper part of the helmet. Additionally, you'll find that the game is significantly louder when you're smack-dab in the middle of the field. The bad side of this is that you'll find that the overall noise level can be extremely confusing and disorienting initially. The good side, however, is that you'll be able to detect the footsteps of approaching defenders. A visual representation of this is provided via a threat-detector meter in the corner of the screen, which lets you know the direction the danger is coming from, and just how impending it is.

On the offensive side of the ball, you'll be able to take control of the quarterback or the running back by selecting a passing play or running play. When taking the role of the QB, you'll have the option of just passing the ball and remaining as the QB until the play is over, or having the camera transport you into the body of the receiver immediately after the ball is thrown so you can try to run the ball into the end zone yourself. When working as the running back, you'll remain the running back throughout the play. On the defensive side, you'll be able to cycle through any of the available defenders and choose how you want to proceed. For instance, if you choose to work as one of the defensive linemen, your obvious assignment will be to try to stop the run or sack the QB. However, if you take control of a linebacker or a defensive back, you'll have an assigned player or scheme to deal with. Figuring out your assignment is actually fairly easy, as you'll be able to bring up an icon over the head of the player you're meant to cover. You will also have the option of utilizing a temporary slow-motion feature that will slow the action down a couple of notches and let you take a moment to look around and see where holes in the offensive line have opened up, or where open receivers have appeared.

While it isn't clear at this stage of the game whether or not first-person football is going to be the answer Sega Sports has been looking for, this new feature certainly has us intrigued. Though first-person football has been tagged as a one-player-only mode in the standard game, you will be able to select this perspective in other single-player modes in the game, such as franchise and tournament, as well as in the game's online mode. We'll have more on ESPN NFL Football in the coming weeks.