As soon you boot up the game from the main menu things look rather similar. There is a single match option as well as a training mode for those who are new to the AFL games. You can once again play through an entire season from the very beginning or the career mode also makes a return. The career mode is a little more extensive than the season mode with more options. Speaking of returns, the mission mode is back again with sixteen different missions; one for each team. This time it's also possible to choose your difficulty in the mission mode, so if you're having trouble on the medium difficulty setting then you can switch to easy mode until you start winning.
The ruck system hasn't changed
If you're jumping into a single match then there are a few options. There are nine stadiums to choose from and even though IR Gurus hasn't got the license to refer to them by their correct name, its bleedingly obvious that venues like Melbourne are the MCG. Stadiums in Perth and Launceston also appear. You can also choose whether you're playing in the daytime or the evening. The weather can be customised so you're either playing in the wet, dry or both. The weather does actually make a difference to how your players react and perform, so you'll have different strategies based on the conditions. Finally you can also choose to play either preseason rules (9 point goals) or season rules. One of the best new aspects of AFL Premiership 2007 is the ability to select your jumper. You can choose from the standard choices like the home or away jersey or the jersey for when your players clash. But, you can also choose from preseason jumpers, heritage jumpers and even the 1997 M&M blue jumper that Carlton wore for one match. This selection may only be a novel addition to the game but it's a great inclusion and AFL fans will get a kick out of seeing all of the old jumpers.
The features for the AFL titles are normally pretty solid and its the gameplay where the game generally falls apart. A few things have remained unchanged this year. The viewpoint (which is still the best way to play the game) is the same, so you're playing the game as if you're watching it on television; from the side. The kicking system is the same as well. Passing is as simple as pressing X but kicking for goal actually requires some skill. When you're in the 50 metre arc a mini goal appears down the bottom of the screen with a ball which moves side to side between the boundary line, the points post and the goal posts. The idea is to try and lineup the ball with the goal posts, compensate for the wind and then determine the right amount of power required to get the ball over the line. It's still a tricky system, there is a lot of skill required when it comes to kicking for goal. It's not confusing when you've got a free kick or when you're taking a set shot, but it is confusing when you're on the run and you want to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible. Team tactics are back as well, and for each of the scenarios (forward fifty, midfield, defensive fifty, centrebounce, kick in attack and kick in defence) it's possible to select three tactic styles; balanced, defensive or attacking. You can have tactics for each scenario active simultaneously and you can change tactics on the fly by using the directional pad on the PlayStation 2. The ruck system hasn't changed either, but works well so there was no real need to change it.
Alright, team huddle
A few things have changed though when it comes to the gameplay. The game is a little bit faster and responsive. If you mark the ball and play on immediately you can generally shrug off a player, this makes the game a little more fast paced. The responsiveness hasn't improved significantly but it has improved enough for us to notice that it's a lot easier to take the ball from half back, boot it inside the centre square then run towards the goals whilst handballing to a few players. A little box appears in the top left of the screen with a summary of which team is running hot or which team has had the most tackles. This is a good addition to the game and a quick way to track how well your team is going. The difficulty level has also been overhauled yet again and AFL Premiership 2007 features a dynamic difficulty system. This essentially means that if you get too far ahead or too far behind the game will allow the loser to catch up a little, it results in a closer game (the days of winning by 100 points in 2 minute quarters are over) but some people just don't like it when games allow catchup. Another good inclusion in the game is the ability to see where your handball or kick will go before you choose to pass the ball off. Little arrows appear on the screen which indicate where the ball will go if you kick or handball off. It's not always possible to look at where every player is on the field before you kick the ball off, so this inclusion results in more precise passing.
What stops AFL Premiership 2007 from scoring higher or being a highly recommended title is the unfinished feel of the game. There are still problems with the game that are just unforgivable because they've been happening for years. It's still possible to walk in between the man on the mark and the player kicking for goal without any kind of reprimand. You're also able to bump players whilst they're taking a free kick without any kind of penalty. Umpiring decisions are still frustratingly bad, there's nothing more annoying than winning a contest and then being punished for something that your player has supposedly done without any kind of direction from the player. Adding to the unfinished feel of the game is the fact that when you select the replay option from the main menu there is no sound. If you choose to replay a shot on goal or something you want to be able to hear the crowd cheering. There are also a few glitches that plague the game that will leave you scratching your head. It also appears to be easier to smother the ball, all you have to do is run in front of a player to stop the ball from traveling to its destination, which means it isn’t uncommon for there to be about twenty or more smothers per game.
Guess the ground
Graphically the game still looks like a barely upgraded PlayStation One title. We know there are a lot of players on the ground but the game really doesn't appear to be improving visually at all. Player's faces just look awful and even though the grounds look okay, the crowds are flat 2D images. Audio wise the commentary is provided by Dennis Cometti, Gerard Healy and Danny Frawley. Once again the commentary is poor with comments like "the home team played really well that quarter" and repetitive comments forcing you to press the mute button. The crowd is okay but still sounds more like people murmuring at a library rather than a crowd enjoying a game of AFL.
It's clear that IR Gurus is listening to fans when it comes to the AFL titles. The game is a little faster paced, it's easier to see where you're kicking this time and the difficulty system results in closer games. There are however, still problems with the games such as glitches and seemingly random umpiring decisions. As it stands AFL Premiership 2007 is a game that will please AFL fans after an AFL title, but the title is still only mediocre. If IR Gurus can keep improving the franchise then game will elevate above the status of average but at the moment, AFL Premiership 2007 is only an average game.
It's definitely improving
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