Gaming Target - Xbox: NFL Fever 2004

Written by Adam Woolcott on October 02, 2003

Full Review: Apparently this form of fever is borne of leprosy, because this one is falling apart.

2 years ago, Microsoft stunned Xbox owners with a great football game in NFL Fever 2002. It was such a solid game of football that it actually outsold Madden and NFL 2K2 that year, with great Xbox quality visuals and a very cool Dynasty mode. Good things were expected of the series. However, last year Microsoft took the lazy way out, as NFL Fever 2003 was essentially NFL Fever 2002 with online play and a game-ruining bug that actually prevented the new Houston Texans from ever making the playoffs, no matter if they're 16-0 or not. By all means, Fever 2003 was a colossal disappointment.

For the 2004 edition, Microsoft is to be credited for at least doing more than rehashing the same game from 2002 again. Unquestionably it plays much different than Fever 2002 or 2003 did. It's a shame though, that it's again a step backwards and further placing it behind Madden and ESPN on the Xbox football totem pole. The XSN options are a great option that really is a step in the right direction for online gaming, but NFL Fever 2004 is just really not good enough to warrant going online with it unless you absolutely need to play online. XSN or not, Fever 2004 is merely a competent football game that will probably be fine for Fever fans of old, but even they might be allured by the much better and improved versions of Madden or ESPN NFL Football.

The only new thing in Fever 2004 is the XSN play Ц everything else is the same. Even the Dynasty mode is the exact same thing, barely changed or enhanced from the past 2 games. There's some great concepts that other games haven't caught onto yet such as the list of Super Bowl MVP's, Super Bowl Champs, Hall of Famers, and numerous all-time records, but there's nothing else here that's not done better in other football games (even the records are dumb compared to 2002 where they had the real names of players instead of numbers).

Obviously Xbox Sports Network (XSN) is the major selling point. XSN is basically fantasy football, only it's played by yourself in numerous leagues that you can set up at the xsnsports.com website. This is the future of online sports gaming Ц instead of countless and pointless exhibition contests, you can actually play games with meaning and organize leagues and tournaments with ease. Microsoft is to be commended for this great addition Ц but it's no excuse for not beefing up the offline modes as well Ц after all, not everyone (well, actually the majority of Xbox owners) even has Xbox Live. For those who do and play online exclusively, this is a big selling point, but for the rest of us, this game won't do the trick.

On the field, Fever's gameplay has been slowed quite a bit. No longer does it occasionally feel like NFL Blitz, but now resembles Madden in terms of pacing. This isn't bad, but it does feel a bit sluggish and plodding at first, especially in comparison to the first 2 Fever games on Xbox. Despite that gameplay tweak, not a whole lot has changed aside from some tricks on offense, with the Read & Lead passing being the most innovative. Read & Lead is pretty much what it says Ц you don't throw at a receiver, you throw to where you want the receiver to catch the ball and hope he gets there to catch it in stride and keep on running. It's very cool, though a tad complicated; especially when you have to press more than one button when the 350 lb linemen are chasing after you and attempting to introduce you to turf. For a first time effort though, it's a cool feature that will only be tweaked more and more to be more user-friendly.

It's just unfortunate that they did little to really recreate the game, leaving many of the same flaws and exploits in there. The playbooks have changed, but you can still easily find a play to chuck the ball deep and watch a receiver end up with it, and the running game maintains the same overpowering imbalance that makes breaking the rushing records mindlessly easy, no matter what the difficulty level. Granted, knowledge of the stiff arm, juke, and spin moves are key to toppling a slow defense, but Microsoft just failed to make the game challenging. Even against a human opponent, the AI exploits are there, as one player definitely cannot control all 11 defenders.

They did do some minor tweaking on human defense, making it a bit tougher. Last year, it was very easy to just hold down turbo, pull the right trigger, and spin by your blocker for a sack (35 sacks in one season by one guy is a wee bit too much). This year, it's not quite as easy, as the offensive line puts up a much better fight. This even affects the running game as well, since a good halfback can now make some yardage on you unless you have the right play picked or just are good enough to sneak up on someone to make the tackle. Despite this, the AI is still pretty much the same as the past 2 games, so veterans should be able to step in and dominate (which is not the case in either ESPN or Madden, which have vast, vast AI tweaks this year) with little trouble.

Unquestionably the game is still fun to play and the cool Dynasty options are nice touches for stat-heads (even if they've done nothing to it since Fever 2002), but it seems that in an attempt to make Fever more sim-like, they hampered down what made Fever a surprise back in 2001. The slow pace means less action and more time watching the clock tick. Madden is unquestionably a football simulation, but it runs at a very speedy clip and doesn't fall into this state of numbness. Obviously if you're using XSN Fever is a whole different game (or you're a hardcore Fever fan who won't really mind the slower pace), but if you're not on Xbox Live, you'd be better off buying Madden or ESPN NFL Football.

The one place Fever did get an overhaul is in the graphics department. 2003 was pretty much the same thing as 2002, so it's nice to see Microsoft decide to tweak things a bit, especially with the competition getting closer to making games that look better than an Xbox-only game. The biggest enhancement is the player faces Ц all right, sure, they're under a helmet throughout the game, but when they take their helmets off, the faces are uncanny in their realism, complete with accurate facial hair, hairstyles (if you want to call Ricky Williams' a hairstyle, or just bed-head), and fully moving eyes. It's a bit creepy, actually.

The player models have a touch more detail, and don't look quite as beefy (at least the smaller players), but the animations are the big change. There's simply more animations and they look pretty good even if they're a bit canned (mocapped). Running backs have more shifty moves dodging tacklers and the linemen battle and poke each other in the eyes and generally have a grand old time. It does finally look like real football down there Ц though the damned flaw of the defenders suddenly breaking a struggle to tackle you is still intact. Someone needs to fix that before someone gets hurt.

For the audio, Microsoft decided to do Ц pretty much nothing. The same awful team of Kevin Calabro and Ron Pitts returns, and both need to have their vocal cords ripped out. Actually, it's more about Pitts Ц he is annoying and a lame-ass, but Calabro needs to stick with hoops, given how good NBA Inside Drive is with commentary. Not only do 99% of the phrases come recycled from last year, they end up repeating them way too often, thus nerve grating is highly likely.

On the other hand, the same old dramatic NFL Films music returns for the menu screens and such, so you know what to expect there. The only real enhancement is the sounds on the field Ц players taunt and celebrate very audibly, making you actually feel like you're on the gridiron. It's one of the very few bright spots, even if it's quite often drowned out by Ron Pitts raving like a buffoon.