Troy Aikman Football by Williams

Overview:

TAF succeeds in mixing the IMPORTANT real life aspects of football, with a few video-game influenced oddities to produce a satisfying gaming experience. Having played a variety of football games (John Madden, Mike Ditka, Joe Montana for the Geniss, Unnecceary Roughness and John Madden for the PC), I have this list as to what is needed to make a computer football game worth playing:

- You must be able to run the ball a little bit. You shouldn't be able to run 80 yards on every play, and you shouldn't get sacked for a 3 yard loss on every run. There should be a nice mix. This especially means you should not get Tackled every time you get touched. Your back has to be able to break tackles.

- Passing should be easy to do, but not 100% successful. You should not be able to call a hail mary every time its 4th and 20 and get a 40 yard completion.

- The plays in the playbook should have variety and the plays should WORK. (If you have a quick out called against a blitz, it should work)

- Playing the game should be FAST. It shouldn't take 2 hours to play a game. The machine should catch up to however fast you can play.

- You should be able to do SOMETHING with the main defensive player. He should be able to either put pressure on the QB, get back and cover the receivers, etc.

- Instant reply. You have to have this to relive you great plays.

In all these areas, TAF is solid. Running the ball is fun and realistic. One particular thing that is REALLY fun is running the option. You take a chance injuring your QB or fumbling a lot, but the mechanics of running the option are PERFECT. IT makes the game a little more like college football, but its pure fun to have 4th and 5, call the option, and try to decide whether to pitch the ball or dive for the first down yourself. Passing the ball is also solid. Here one of the oddities sneaks in as there are a million TIPPED Balls when you pass the ball, but really they mostly end up being incomplete. And there are a fair amount of interceptions. I have heard people complain about there being too many interceptions, but those are the same people that want the bomb to work on 4th and 20. The playbook is solid and you can create your own plays (even though you cant save them for reuse). Unlike other games where 90% of the plays are never called of used, I find that I use 80% of the plays and they work if called in the right situation. Gameplay is fast, and you can finish a 5 minute per quarter game in 20 minutes. The clock even speeds up to simulate that time has passed for you. You are not helpless on defense. Especially since a lot of teams like to throw to their tight end. You can lay in waiting and smash him or try to intercept. Or you can blitz. And again the key is that the control is solid and you CAN MAKE a PLAY. Finally the Instant replay is adequate. It lets you track and celebrate your great plays. Here is a breakdown the way you rate games:

Graphics-6

Gameplay graphics are adequate. Yeah the numbers on the field are blocky, and the players don't have numbers on their uniforms, and the colors are a little drab, but the field changes from artificial to grass, to snow, to rain, etc. and looks cool.

Sound/music-4

Lets face it, the sound and music are average at best. The grunts and FX are ok, but the Organ music is dumb. Fortunately it doesn't affect the playability of the game.

Control-10

Easy and intuitive to call plays. Easy and intuitive to pass and run and kick. Excellent.

Power - 6

Nothing spectacular, but solid. You get instant reply, play designing, statistics, field conditions, etc.

Gameplay: 8

Running the ball is doable. There are a lot of fumbles but they usually happen for both teams and even out. Clock management is fun and accurate. Kicking the ball is challenging but rewarding.

Fun factor-10

Take one of the weaker teams and play REAL football, and its WAY fun. Punt when you are supposed to, play for field position. run the ball. Try to win 24-23 instead of 80 to 0. Run the option. Excellent.

Overall- 80% Well worth it if you can get the game for under 20 bucks.

Scott Bradley