Backbreaker Critic Reviews

Backbreaker can‘t reach the likes of the Madden series because of the missing licenses and some minor gameplay glitches. Newcomers and fans alike may take a look or two.

To be honest there is very little that Backbreaker does wrong. Its only real drawback is that it is not an official NFL licensed game and misses out on the major draw of taking a team to the Super Bowl.

Although it can’t be defined as an absolute masterpiece, Backbreaker proves to be a well crafted game, capable of assuring a fun and engaging experience to both fans of the genre and potential newcomers. If you’re looking for some hardcore action and you’re not afraid to get hurt, this is surely the game for you.

Backbreaker brings the fun first and opens up a door for the future. For a freshman effort, the final result isn’t perfect but it’s far from being boring. And please, don’t get this game with the intention of skipping Madden. This isn’t a Madden killer…at least, not yet.

A triumph in its own right and, on a wider scale, a huge step forward for sports games. If NaturalMotion decides to work on a sequel, there's a great chance that all the niggles can be ironed out and a true competitor will emerge.

Physics to die for, gameplay to kill someone.

Backbreaker is an attempt to simulate real professional football from the player's perspective, but due to its lack of balance, constant turnovers, and brain dead AI, it feels more like a game of junior high school ball.

Nice animation - shame we can't always tell what's happening on the rest of the field.

The cold, harsh truth is that Backbreaker feels like a Euphoria tech demo. It comes as no surprise to learn that the game was once designed as a downloadable title to showcase NaturalMotion's clever physics skills. Perhaps it should have remained as such.

In its current state, Backbreaker neither matches Madden's polish nor overcomes its monopoly on the NFL license; in fact, its shortcomings highlight several reasons why Madden remains so appealing.

A fresh, action-packed take on football that makes you feel like one of the players pounding the gridiron. A fantastic team creation mode, intense, urgent action and great-looking tackles are dragged down by a shallow single-player mode, sloppy interpretation of football rules, and characters that all look the same.

While fun at first, Backbreaker has got problems on the long run, due to its limits and the absence of official licenses and making Madden the best choice for NFL fans.

It is hard to recommend Backbreaker since there are so many problems with it, but dig deep enough and you may find a fun gridiron game at its core.

If the thought of making another Madden zombie-walk to the store this year makes you heave, Backbreaker might be the palate-cleanser you need.

Even if it has a great number of interesting game modes, Backbreaker simply does not work. The gameplay has some interesting ideas, but most of them are not appropriately used, while the graphical engine is barely sufficient.

That doesn't mean it is completely unrewarding, it just can't hang with the competition. In the end, this is a distinct take on football that is worth playing as a rental, but even at its discounted retail price isn't worth the price of admission.

Realistic animations can only hide the sloppy foundation of this football game for so long.

The Tackle Alley mini-game is fun.

Natural Motion’s Euphoria technology is a great building block for a football game, but Backbreaker suffers from too many rookie mistakes. Only the most hardcore gridiron fans dying for an alternative to the EA Sports offerings should bother bringing this one in for a look.

As it stands, this game feels more like a beefy Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network release searching for its identity than something that belongs on retail store shelves.