IGN's Fever Review. Ouch!

[AlBoogy]

I think we all know IGN tends to overrate some XBox games (Wrecless, Raw and DOA:XBV come to mind). So after giving Fever this (http://xbox.ign.com/articles/435/435967p3.html) score, does it lower anyones expectations? Here are some direct quotes from the review:

"Fever 2004 seems up to its neck in quicksand, sinking deeper and deeper into mediocrity the more it struggles to fix what's wrong. "

"One can't help but wonder what would've happened if the original NFL Fever, the one that launched the Xbox, had been a better game. We probably wouldn't be in the situation we're in now with Fever 2004 because, in terms of gameplay and just overall football authenticity, the franchise hasn't gotten much better"

about read and lead passing "It's the type of new gameplay gimmick that could become a staple of football games in years to come if done right, but Fever's uneven animation sequences where players move quickly, then slowly, then quickly again in the same passing or running or receiving routine makes Read and Lead passing difficult to master"

And in the closing statements "Xbox owners have too many choices among football videogames for NFL Fever 2004 to have this many potholes three years into the franchise"

[Chaotic]

Play the game for youself. I personally think the game is great and im sure many others on this site who have played the game agree with me.

[Duke]

Gonna rent it today or tomorrow. This is the first bad review I've heard.

Kind of committed to 2k4, but I'm really interested in the whole XSN aspect.

[Dyslexic Chaos]

Man, don't listen to IGN, I LOVE this game. The Hot routes are AWESOME, and the gameplay is FUN. It took me a while to get used to the controls, especially the Trigger passing. Here is a quote from my games with stifler last night" Yes, an open man, A...A... A A A A A A!!!!!!!!!! *SACK* ARG!!! DAMN U TRIGGER PASSING!!!!!" Bth Stifler and I said that a few times last night, but we'll get used to it. oh, and the switch player and tackle buttons are reverse from NFL 2K/ESPN, so that screwed me up a few times as well... But, overall, AWESOME game, if you remotely like football, you should get it.

[dances with broom sticks]

Originally posted by Jerred B
Man, don't listen to IGN, I LOVE this game. The Hot routes are AWESOME, and the gameplay is FUN. It took me a while to get used to the controls, especially the Trigger passing. Here is a quote from my games with stifler last night" Yes, an open man, A...A... A A A A A A!!!!!!!!!! *SACK* ARG!!! DAMN U TRIGGER PASSING!!!!!" Bth Stifler and I said that a few times last night, but we'll get used to it. oh, and the switch player and tackle buttons are reverse from NFL 2K/ESPN, so that screwed me up a few times as well... But, overall, AWESOME game, if you remotely like football, you should get it.

Im with you, it is a great game. But if you are just using trigger passing, your missing 80% of the game. Play read and lead. It is soooooooo fun. you can change your guys route mid play, shake of defenders, it just seems so much more realistic to what the quaterback does.

Who is stifler? I saw him playin last night, and i couldnt figure out where i had him on my list from

[X-Fan]

dont believe and go buy the game and support microsoft.i mean these are the peeps who rated RAW!!! a whopping 9.something.

[Dyslexic Chaos]

Originally posted by dances with broom sticks




Who is stifler? I saw him playin last night, and i couldnt figure out where i had him on my list from

Probably RTCW, thats where i played him usually.

[Chaotic]

I have fever as well, anyone who want's to play add me to your list. :cheers:

[Dyslexic Chaos]

Originally posted by ChaoticMage
I have fever as well, anyone who want's to play add me to your list. :cheers:

I might just take you up on that my man...

[reyak]

I just got fever yesterday as well. If you want a practice squad to whoop up give me a hollar.

[dances with broom sticks]

Originally posted by reyak
I just got fever yesterday as well. If you want a practice squad to whoop up give me a hollar.

I sent you an friends invite

Along with you jerred chaotic and skoot

[Madonion]

The review is a joke. They trash everything about this game and it's sad. Ive got the game and I give it a 9.0 out of 10. I passed up on Fever 2003 for Sega's 2k3. Fever 2004 is by far the best of the 3 Fever games. Ive been using the read & lead passing which now I cant go back to the brainless one button push method. Ive been having alot of fun with this one. The sound in this game makes you feel like your at a real stadium. The DD 5.1 surround sound is awesome. The graphics are revamped and everything is alive. The animations can get a little jerky especially during replays and players walking into each other but it's fine during the actual gameplay.

Im glad I dont go by other peoples opinions on games. Hell I would have missed out on this game and also Amped which Gamespot descided not to learn the controls before reviewing. The IGN review sounds fishy to me because there are alot of things they comment on that isnt the case. I would'nt be surprise if EA did'nt make a visit to their offices. You know how much money football games bring in each year? EA could send one dude out and find the reviewer to pay them off. Would you pass up 1 million dollars to make one bad review of a game if your employer did'nt find out? I thought so.

[AlBoogy]

Originally posted by X-Fan
dont believe and go buy the game and support microsoft.i mean these are the peeps who rated RAW!!! a whopping 9.something.

I supported MS by purchasing an Xbox.

I pointed out the Raw review as proof that IGN tends to overrate Xbox games. So if Fever is getting a score like that then they must feel the game isnt up to par. Honestly, my biggest issue with Fever when I bought it the first year was the animations. And the review seemed to pick on that one thing the most. This is the third bad review Ive read about Fever.

[CrazyCougar]

I rented Fever 2004 tonight and have to totally agree with IGN type of review score. Its was a waste of a free rental. I couldnt give Fever much more then a 6 at the most an 7. (But the 7 is highly unlikely but would only be due to the graphics.)

Reasons it terrible:

1. Gameplay is so slow. (You have to jack the speed up to the fastest just to have a normal game speed.
2. Commentary is non existent. Its so bland its pathetic. Who are these guys!!! LOL! In exciting situations he has the same ring announcer tone in his voice as a 1st and 10 situation.
3. The deep threat is still there. You can still go over the top with success way to much.
4. The long lobs passes seem to hang in the air for hours (once again pertaining to slow gameplay.)
5. Suprisingly the stadium renditions are close but not right on. There are no tall buildings directly behind the scoreboard in Nashville. That just annoys the hell out of me.

Thats just a few of the major reasons.

Good things :
1. Graphics are stellar. The faces and uniforms are pretty.
2. Read and Lead passing. This is pretty kewl how you can throw behind in front of above, whatever you need to do. Tall receiver equals throw it high. Kewl feature. This is something you'll see ESPN and Madden duplicate next year.
3. Um.....XSN is a great feature.....But not worth playing fever for...lol. I'll waiting for Tennis and Golf.
4. Of course being on live is a great feature for any game, so this shouldnt even be listed.

Thats about it, dont waste your bucks unless you want a non-sim/non-arcade game. Wait for ESPN (next week) or get Madden (without online). Rent Fever, but thats about it.

[ARONO129]

Makes me wonder how good NHL Rivals will be.

Fever has had 3 years to fix the floater passes and 65 yard bombs. It gets old winning 55-17 all the time.

[borka105]

this really ticks me off.


I have put in over 20 hours in NCAA 2004 and probably 30 hours in Madden 2004 and both games have the deep ball as well. Infact, the deep ball can be executed in Madden way more than the deep ball in Fever.


If you know how to play defense, you won't allow one to happen on you.

It's that simple.................. You pick a bad defensive formation and you will get burned........ the good players know how to take advantage of mismatches.


-borka105

[CarGuy]

I dont like this game. Rarely do i rent a game and regret it, but unfortunatly this is one of those times where i regret it... I had SCII in my hand... ******! Now im stuck with a crappy football game for a week... I like the music though, better than listening to the crap on Madden.

[robnyack]

come on, the game is decent, man. It's not great, but it certainly does not suck either. It's a hell of alot better than last year's. The game has some real nice improvements, but there are still some nagging problems that make you shake your head in bewilderment wondering why MS has not yet fixed these problems.

Animations go wacky on you still though. One minute a guy is going in slow motion, the next he is flying across your screen at super-fast speed. The game has no "feel" or "look" to it. The game is in dire need of some atmosphere. It's just too generic looking and feeling. The commentary is decent, I think. Still needs alot more game specific and player specific commentary though. The crowd reaction is excellent. Might be the best I've seen in the game. The stadiums and crowd do not look as good as they should though.

DBs do a very good job now. They are no longer idiots. This is a major plus. Read and Lead passing is excellent. I think it may become a standard feature for all football games. It's that good.
graphics are also pretty nice.

The game play feels pretty good. I am having a pretty good exciting time playing games. I have yet to play live though.

If this were the only football game out there, I think we would play it and LOVE it. However, Fever is not put out in a vacuum....there are two other football games out there that simply outclass Fever.

NFL Fever 2004 has made some nice improvements. It has XSN tie-in. This is all very good news. However, there are still plenty of lingering problems out there that MS really needs to fix to bring this game into the top tier football games.

I'll keep Fever and play some XSN with it, but I am quite sure most my footballing will be done in ESPN Football.

[AlBoogy]

Alright, I went out and bought the game regardless of my bad feeling. Well, I must say, the game does suck.

I have been playing a lot of it and I figured out why most people like it. Its the online play. Playing online is fun but the game itself stinks. The animations are absolutely horrible, Ign hit it right on the head. Breakaway plays are damn near impossible because of the speed of the game. There has been a couple times where my CORNER was caught from behind by a O.Linman on an interception. WTF? My opponent was like, you used up all your speed. I was like I dont care if I had no "speed" and the Lineman had infinite, theres no way he should be able to catch him. There are so many other things that annoy me about this game but others have hit it right on the head. No need to beat a dead horse.