I have been following this thread since page 1, I did similar for AFL Live 1 and have played AFL games since AFL 99 when I was a kid, where you could make the players mini!
Anyway after seeing the trailer, I like the rest of you had reservations. The graphics especially reminded me of AFL 07 on the ps2, which isnt great for a next gen console in 2013. Many people mentioned that it looked very similar to the Wii game, so I investigated, borrowing a mates copy and giving it a brief (all I could tolerate) play.
The following two images are the key images from playing it that will have relevance to the new game, which seems to be an upgrade on the wii engine of AFL live.View attachment 28709View attachment 28710
I will comment on the aspects of the wii game that have relevance to the new game:
- Crowd sizes: as seen in the picture you can decide the size of the crowd. it was obvious when playing but due to the sketchy graphics and iphone camera, the pictures I took showed no obvious difference. The differences were evident when playing, and to be honest the crowd looked good in the new trailer so I am optimistic about this feature. Hopefully you have some say during season & career modes so we dont see a full MCG for gws v melbourne.
- The teams: The picture above shows the best team (All Aus) and worst (Western Jets) in the Wii Game. This is a two edged sword, it is realistic how there is such a significant difference in stats. However I could literally run the entire field with gary ablett without getting caught, simply due to his superior stats. I know it was impossible to get away at all in AFL Live 1, but to never get caught is on the other end of the spectrum, hopefully in Live 2 it is somewhere in between.
- The team selection menu is exactly the same as that seen in the trailer. It is an improvement on the lists of 3 per position in Live 1, but still is a list where you can see about a third of the team before needing to scroll down. The list is on the left of the exact field view seen in the trailer. An improvement on Live 1, but they should have taken note of the effectiveness of the full field view from AFL 2007 etc.
- Career mode was pretty good! Hopefully the gameplay is good enough to tolerate as this feature will maintain the longevity of this game. The Wii version had all the features mentioned for the new game, including tribunal (Some long 6 week suspensions..) and injury (hospital/physio - Dale Morris was out 42 weeks with a knee, realistic I guess..). On this version you don't recieve trade offers, however you can make them, with a 2 way, or 3 way trade. Draft picks can be included. The draft was VERY similar to that in AFL 07. Players were random names (I noticed both AFL names and non - TAC teams seemed to have some new names), and players potential was there. What was a worry was that Eddie Prato (On dogs list in 2011 when the game came out), had the highest potential of anyone in the draft, 99.. Wikipedia him to see if that is realistic.
Of course all of this is presuming the new version is similar to the Wii game. Overall after seeing the advertised new features and buildup for the new game, it to me seems to be simply the Wii version adapted to 360/Ps3. They have improved graphics (Still seems inferior to Live 1), and will have to have created new gameplay, as the Wii version is absolute rubbish, relying on the motion control and poor mini games. All in all, I will be purchasing as the career mode and 4 leagues worth of teams will justify the $65 for me. Heres hoping for good gameplay
Wii graphics were rubbish. But i've got to say, AFL Live 2 looks more realistic just a bit, it looks more rougher in texture almost like in real life.
