7.0

aussiegamer

AFL Live 2005

Honk! The siren blows and you are off and kicking the digital leather in another instalment of AFL where the men are big and the shorts are tight! 

After Acclaim kicking the bucket after the spectacular failure of Turok, it appeared that all was over for the AFL game and the fun that most of us had experienced playing Australia’s favourite game. This was not to be though. The title is back and and is a really nice gaming experience that should please most fans of previous versions of the title and also fans of the real life game. 

You know something? You can  look back at some of our older reviews and I am sure that some of you might have noticed that with the first version of the game I scored that bad boy a 9.9/10 

Well that is not happening with this game, remember that we’d been waiting for a long time for a good AFL title. 

The amount of stats on this game are incredible and once again this is a game that will have hardcore fans especially stoked. 

The gameplay itself though is gonna dog most people who are expecting greatness. I am not sure why but it looks as though the graphics and physics took a real back seat in this game which really offset how exciting the potential the game might have had if done properly. 

There were some really weird moments of play where the ball just decided that it would glue itself to the sky and not come back down. There are some moments also that collision detection gets the better of the game and things that simply should not happen occur, sometimes with frustrating frequency. 

The entire official player line up for the season is here and every player has a stat page showing you what they can and cant do. Absolutely crazy stuff if you are a nut for this kind of thing. 

The control system is an odd one and I think that some players are going to be annoyed when it turns out to be a hit and miss button mashing affair. The buttons simply are not as responsive as they need to be and when you really need your team to pull out the big guns, you will never be sure that they are going to be there for you. 

The graphical quality of the game isn’t much changed from what you got a couple of years ago and some will argue that it is worse. The players are blocky and lumpy, however the grounds are reproduced with fantastic detail. People will recognise the grounds immediately and I hope that that makes up somewhat for the overall gameplay experience. 

I think that some of you are going to be stoked with this game and others are not going to know what to make of it. It’s a shame that there is only one house putting out a footy title as then the bar would be raised somewhat. As it is, here is the game and if you want anything that resembles AFL then this is all you get! 

Possibly the only saving grace is the commentary team with Dermie, Dennis Cometti and Christie Malthouse however it may not be enough to guarantee your purchase.