Backbreaker Vengeance Review

[ChaseB]

Jayson Young celebrates Independence Day with a gushing review about Backbreaker Vengeance.

Rushing in, you boldly take the ball. Defenders are everywhere, but somehow your body and this ball have to get around the wet mulch pile, over the wooden bench, through the foursquare area and finally into the clear. You turn around, taunt the panting defenders by holding the ball just out of their grasp, and then you flex your muscles just like Hulk Hogan.

Playing Backbreaker Vengeance's centerpiece mode, Tackle Alley, is like reliving a childhood game of recess.

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[jaosming]

nice review man

[Spin]

Re: Backbreaker Vengeance Review

Good review

[Sublime12089]

I disagree, but then again, arcade games aren't my cup of tea. At the same time, I do not understand how it receives the same rating as The Show. From what I played of the demo, despite nice animations, vengeance was shallow, repetitive, and overpriced. I, for one, will pass.

[EUBlink]

Although 8.5 seems a little high, this is the most realistic review I've seen yet for this game. All other reviewers seem to have played five minutes of the demo, and jumped on the hatred bandwagon without seeing its true depth and beauty in the animations.

Again, excellent review. So glad I ignored the initial reviews and bought this game anyway.

[jyoung]

Re: Backbreaker Vengeance Review

The depth in this game comes from the scoring system and figuring out the optimal path in each level that will produce the most points.

It takes a lot of thought, practice, and trial-and-error to find the right paths, and in the later levels, a whole lot of precision to pull off the moves in sequence on the sticks.

Definitely not for all sports fans, but if you love challenging, arcade style games, this is the best one to come along since Trials HD in 2009.

[StL_RamZ]

Luv this game and great write up...they should have a DLC that includes "free for all" or as others call it "kill a man" they could have frm 4-10 players it will really use the engine to the fullest...and I will pay for it...

[ChaseB]

I disagree, but then again, arcade games aren't my cup of tea. At the same time, I do not understand how it receives the same rating as The Show. From what I played of the demo, despite nice animations, vengeance was shallow, repetitive, and overpriced. I, for one, will pass.

You're comparing a downloadable arcade football game to a full-priced baseball game, that's your first mistake.

[mestevo]

Re: Backbreaker Vengeance Review

I disagree, but then again, arcade games aren't my cup of tea. At the same time, I do not understand how it receives the same rating as The Show. From what I played of the demo, despite nice animations, vengeance was shallow, repetitive, and overpriced. I, for one, will pass.

Agree, I don't think this game is 1.5 away from perfect, and surprised it's an 8.5 with comments like 'but you have to take some narrative leaps in your mind when it comes to Backbreaker' and half the online section dedicated to awful lag (taking an hour to complete 5 waves... ) concluding it's a boom or bust mode... so bad that the online leader boards are characterized as worthless.

The links in this review referring to the review criteria and the Tecmo Bowl Impressions (which was kinda made fun of in this review... also was rated an 8.5...) are broken and just take you to the reviews list.

Also, there's this line:

There is a two-console online limit, meaning the only way to have four human players in an online game is to add a split-screen player on each console.

I am pretty sure there's no 4-player under any circumstances... was this written when this was still vague and then impressions were filled in? I can only imagine how bad the game would be with 4 players, given the near universal complaints about lag so far with just 1v1.

[Sublime12089]

Re: Backbreaker Vengeance Review

You're comparing a downloadable arcade football game to a full-priced baseball game, that's your first mistake.

Agreed, but even with the price difference, I do not see it being as worthy of such a score as the show, or within .5 of NCAA 11 and NBA 2k11, especially with the strides those latter franchises made in one cycle.

Again, arcade games like this are not really my thing (Although I did enjoy Trials HD), but I just don't see an 8.5 even through a different lens. I would put it somewhere between the abysmal scores it has received from other publications.

All that said, I sincerely hope everyone who purchases it has a great time with it and is happy with their decision!

[Kevin26385]

Re: Backbreaker Vengeance Review

Agreed, but even with the price difference, I do not see it being as worthy of such a score as the show, or within .5 of NCAA 11 and NBA 2k11, especially with the strides those latter franchises made in one cycle.

Again, arcade games like this are not really my thing (Although I did enjoy Trials HD), but I just don't see an 8.5 even through a different lens. I would put it somewhere between the abysmal scores it has received from other publications.

All that said, I sincerely hope everyone who purchases it has a great time with it and is happy with their decision!

He is reviewing it as an arcade title though...Not a retail game.

[Sublime12089]

Re: Backbreaker Vengeance Review

He is reviewing it as an arcade title though...Not a retail game.

Again, I understand that and still respectfully disagree with the score.

[jyoung]

Re: Backbreaker Vengeance Review

I am having more fun with this $15 arcade game than any $60 retail sports game to come out this year.

To each his/her own.

Personally, I miss the days when games could just be fun and we didn't automatically have to qualify everything as "sim" or "arcade" like one was a part of a bourgeoisie class and the other was doodoo for simpleton groundlings.

You will not lose IQ any points if you happen to have fun with this game. Heck, you might even have to strap on your thinking cap on to beat some of the later levels, as they are grueling tests of skill and creativity.

Each level in this game is like a puzzle you have to solve, and even after you find the answer, you still have to go out on the field and perform the solution under pressure from a frothing mad defense and a ticking clock.

[LingeringRegime]

Too bad this isn't coming out for PS3 users. That's a shame.

[Tatguy80]

Just letting everyone know, that Backbreaker Vengeance is free right now, in the Apps store.