NFL 2010
Gameloft
98.1 MB
$4.99
NFL 2010 is the very first fully licensed football game on the iPhone and iPod Touch and it doesn't disappoint. The game starts with a great video, as does a lot of Gameloft games. You are greeted with a loading screen and when loaded it asks you to “touch screen to continue.” From there you are given a basic menu with options for: Quick Play, Game Modes, and Settings. You can play a “Quick Play” game, which chooses two random NFL teams for you to play with or go into “Game Modes” an
d play an Exhibition game (like Quick Play, but you choose the team to play with and against), Season (Franchise Mode), or Playoff games. In “Season Mode”, you get to chose the team to play a whole season with. After you choose your team you are greeted with a screen that shows your schedule, stats, team roster, standings, settings, save & quit, and play your next game. When you start your next game, you are greeted with a screen that tells you what team you are playing and at who’s stadium it is at. After that it loads the game and you are greeted with two helmets of both teams clashing against each other with the announcer talking about the game. The stadium’s fan’s can be heard cheering, but they do not move at all. After the introduction you are greeted with the coin toss. If you win you get to choose whether to receive or kick the ball. If you lose, the other team chooses what they want to do.
I will begin with the offensive part of the game. When you start your offense you are greeted to choose from basic plays or advanced plays in the play book. In the basic play’s you can choose to run the ball or throw/pass the ball. There is an option for special teams, but you use that for 4 down situations. In running you have three offensive play options. You can run straight forward, run wide to the outside, or make a fake run and throw the ball. In throwing/passing you also have three offensive play options. You can pass the ball for a short gain, medium gain, or a longer gain. After you have chosen a play to go with, whether it is to run the ball or throw the ball, you are brought into the formation to hike the ball. When you have hiked the ball and you are going to throw it you are given symbols over the receivers names. They can be stars, squares, circles, or diamonds for the receivers. A symbol with the color red means that its going to be very hard for the receiver to catch it, yellow means that its going to be a 50-50 shot, and green means that its going to be a very good chance that it will be caught. If you have run the ball you have to use an analog stick located on the screen to control your player. When a defender is in front of you, you are given three options to try to avoid a defender. 
The game pauses for you to choose what you want to do. You can spin, fake them, or truck them. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, so it’s all chance to avoid a defender. Kickoff’s and field goals are done the same way. On the left there is a cursor that moves around and you have to try to get it near or on the center for it to go straight into the goal or for it not to go out of bounds during kickoff. The right is the power meter. The higher the power, the farther the ball will go to the receiving team or the farther the ball will be hit for a field goal. After you have won or lost the game, you are greeted with the stats of the game. It shows you the final score, total yards gained, passing yards gained, rushing yards gained, how many first downs you got, how many sacks/interceptions you made, and your possession time with the ball. If you have won the game you are sent back to the main screen where you can see your stats, standings, and what your next game is.
The controls in NFL 2010 are decent for a football game. You use the joystick to move the player that you are controlling and there are buttons that allow you to change who you are controlling. When there is a defender in front of you, the game pauses and allows you to chose a move to dodge. This disturbs the free flow of sports games, as other football games don’t just pause in the middle of the play for you to dodge the defender. This might appeal to some, but for others it might not. Defending the other team’s offense is very simple. If they are throwing it is quite easy to intercept the ball or throw the ball down before the receiver can grab it. If they are running it is also simple to tackle the runner before they can get away from you. Overall game play is well done, but the pauses might not bode well with some fans.
The sound in the game is basic. There is one announcer and after a couple of games it is just the same thing being repeated over and over again. If you are expecting very thorough comments, then you may be disappointed. There is the basic noise of football going on and with the crowd’s cheers in the background.
The graphics for the game very good for a full football sim on the iPhone and iPod Touch. The games menus are easy to navigate, simple, and to the point. The game does not integrate weather effects into the game, which would have been a nice option. The crowd just makes noise and does not move at all, which is unrealistic, but it is a mobile game, which means less resources available to use. This is the first game on the iPhone/iPod Touch that uses official NFL team names and player names. That gives the player a better feel for the game that they are playing. Overall it has a good NFL football vibe, which Gameloft was going for.
All in all the game is not perfect, but good. It provides a very fun time while playing and will keep you interested for a long time. Everything in the game looks and feels good, however the game may be lacking in some areas. There is currently no multiplayer, which is a must-have in any football sim. However Gameloft has already announced that in the next update there will be: The official NFL RSS feed integrated into the main menu to get all the news about your favorite team, Online, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Multiplayer mode, Upload your best replays directly to YouTube, Special match: Zombies vs. Skeletons, and Gameloft Live compatibility. The new features will make this game even better than it is (which sounds impossible) and will make the game appeal to a larger football audience. NFL 2010 is definitely worth the $4.99 being asked and will not disappoint anyone looking for a great game with a ton of features.
9/10 - For a lack of multiplayer.
