Home Page / psx / N / NFL GameDay 2000 / Review Listing / Review

There is no question as to what game convinced me to buy a Playstation-NFL GameDay. Everything about the game, from the graphics to the gameplay, was astounding for its time. Football games have come a long way in a short time. The AI of Playstation football games is much more sophisticated, the stat engines are more complex, there are a ton of new features, and the graphics are pretty much pushing the limits of the Playstation.

The traditional Playstation football war has officially started. For the past several years there has been a battle between the GameDay series and the Madden series. GameDay was winning this war up until the '99 series, when Madden flattened all comers. In fact, GameDay 99 disappointed me more than just about any game for the Playstation.

Upon initially playing GameDay 2000, I was sensing a repeat of GameDay 99. However, after spending considerable time with the game, I found otherwise. I am happy to report that GameDay 2000 is quite a bit better than its predecessor, and is the best GameDay ever. Sports gamers have a choice between two good Playstation football games this year. In fact, I will be playing more GameDay 2000 this season than NFL 2K (Dreamcast). Read on to find out the reasons.

The GameDay series has always offered the best in-game options of any football game. This year is no exception. Despite the fact that Madden NFL 2000 took a step in the right direction and offered some adjustable AI categories, GameDay 2000 still has the superior system. The cool thing is that the adjustable offensive, defensive, and IQ settings make a real difference in the gameplay. The modes of gameplay are practice, preseason, tournament, season, and general manager.

The difficulty levels of the game are Rookie, Veteran, All-Pro, and Hall of Fame. Also, within each level, the CPU IQ can be adjusted. GameDay 2000 can be made as difficult or easy as the user desires. The All-Pro level, with the IQ kicked all the way up, offers a nice challenge. Many of the money plays I used in GameDay 99 are absent from GameDay 2000. I was initially dismayed to find quite a few sure plays, but after boosting the IQ up to the max, those plays were shut down a great deal.

For reference, I played two full seasons, simmed a bunch of seasons in GM mode, and played exhibition games using a variety of teams. The fact that I played as many games as I did is a tribute to the fun factor of the game. The defensive players no longer stand around. The players now react to the ball, and move out of their "quadrants" to attack the ball. One gripe I had with previous GameDay titles was the reluctance of the defensive players away from the play to accurately attack the ball carrier. The defense still has some lapses, but so do real NFL defensive players.

On offense, the user will find that moving the ball is no piece of cake at the higher difficulty settings. While my interception totals were pretty realistic using Tim Couch, I had to be fairly selective about my passes. The defensive backs will pick off many of the errant passes. A good thing about the passing game is that players stay in bounds on screen and out passes. In Madden, the players go out of bounds on such plays. The players in GameDay 2000 have more realistic control over their bodies. The CPU offense will not destroy the user with the run, but can be potent if the settings are adjusted. Large runners such as Mike Alstott will amble down the field, shedding tacklers along the way. This point brings me to one problem I have with the gameplay. The stiff arm function is a little too effective. Some players can absolutely deck would-be tacklers with a well-executed stiff arm. Needless to say, this aspect is unrealistic. Another unrealistic aspect of the game is the clock management of the CPU offense. This problem has plagued the GameDay series from its inception. The CPU will throw the ball and not waste clock at inappropriate times. Running the ball is fun. Gamer's will appreciate the ability to run for realistic yards-per-rush averages.

Overall, the gameplay of GameDay 2000 is superb. Sure, the AI has a couple holes, but this is a darn fun game. Gamers who feel the gameplay of Madden 2000 is dull will appreciate the faster-paced style of GameDay 2000. While not as deep as Madden in some aspects, it is a game that exhibits arcade excitement, yet maintaining elements of a good sim.

GameDay 2000 gets a high score in this department due to its realistic season stats. It is fun to compete against the CPU players with realistic NFL stats. Since the user can adjust the clock speed, game speed, and quarter length, GameDay 2000 can be tweaked to yield realistic user stats. A welcomed addition to the GameDay series is the GM feature. The GM feature is not as detailed as that found in Madden 2000, but is fun nonetheless. Users have the ability to drop players, trade, offer contracts, and draft players. Players can even be imported from GameBreaker 2000 if so desired. If you enjoy the style of gameplay of GameDay 2000, then the longevity value will be good. The realistic season stats and GM mode are enough to hold the gamer's interest until next year's release. To top it all off, there is a good play editor that adds even more depth.

The control in GameDay 2000 is as good as ever. The dives are still exaggerated and take a little getting used to. Otherwise, the players are responsive to user input, and the gamer feels in complete control of the game. No other console football game comes close in terms of user control determining the outcome of a play. There are a ton of possible moves in GameDay 2000. On offense, the user can spin, juke, stiff arm, shoulder charge, speed burst, tell the running back to block, and hurdle. On defense, the user can jump, speed burst, do a swim move and forearm shiver, high tackle, shoulder charge, and deflect the ball with one hand.

After playing NFL Fever 2000 on the PC and NFL 2K on the Dreamcast, it took me a little time to adjust to the graphics of the Playstation. The graphics of GameDay 2000 are not that much different from GameDay 99. The players are a bit on the blocky side, but look nice. The players are scaled so that linemen are huge and cornerbacks are small. Several new animations have been added to an already impressive array of animations. The frame rate is good as always. The sky looks very good, the stadiums look average (many details are missing), and the crowd looks average. The fields and logos look good. One problem in GameDay 99 is that after a missed pass, the game would abruptly make a transition to the playbook screen, almost simultaneously with the miss. This still occurs in GameDay 2000 and should have been fixed. Also, the players still appear to skate on the playing surface, but I did not notice it that much after getting deep into the gameplay. Mention must be made of the FMV intro. It has a "NFL Films" flavor and is really sharp.

The menu screens are decent, but have a couple problems. First, the fonts can be a little tough to read in some areas of the menus. Second, the design of the stats screens is horrible. I griped about this aspect in my review of GameDay 99, and hoped it would be fixed. The stats are only viewable one category at a time. For example, you can only see pass completions, then have to press the directional button to see pass attempts. Both categories are not viewable at the same time.

The commentary of NFL GameDay 2000 is much better than last year. Last year, the commentary was horribly implemented, with quite a few miscalls. The commentators, Enberg and Simms, in GameDay 2000 keep up with the action, make interesting remarks, and add excitement to the game. As in most sports games, the commentary can get a bit on the repetitive side. The various elements of the sound can be turned off if one or all of them become annoying. GameDay 2000 features actual tunes that fans hear in stadiums. This music adds a nice flavor to the game. There is one problem with the music. It plays after the visiting and home teams score. There is about as much excitement after a visitor score as after a home team score. Perhaps 989 was trying to make the overall game more exciting, but the implementation of the music is a bit on the unrealistic side. Overall, though, the in-game sounds, commentary, and official's calls sound nice.

NFL GameDay 2000 is a very fun title that will appeal to a broad audience. Hardcore simmers will have some problems with the positioning of the defenders during some plays, the occurrence of near money plays, and the shallow GM feature. However, on the positive side, GameDay 2000 has an excellent stat engine and set of options. The process of the gameplay is sometimes fishy, but the end result is usually accurate. I mentioned earlier in this review that I will be playing GameDay 2000 more than Sega's NFL 2K. While this statement may surprise you, it is entirely true. Both GameDay 2000 and Madden 2000 offer superior accuracy in season stats, more realistic playbooks, faster gameplay, and a better overall representation of NFL football. It is a matter of substance over style. A word to the fans of the GameDay titles up until GameDay 99-GameDay is back, and better than ever.