NFL Flick QB - Part 2

Playmaker game mode is perhaps what one would call regular play. You are given three lives and have to score as many points as possible. If you lose a life you can get an extra one by throwing 5 complete passes for touchdowns. There is only one receiver and more defenders are added as the game progresses. The wind speed starts out a 3 mph, which doesn’t affect throwing at all but will eventually increase to 30 mph where it becomes such a big factor that you must pay attention and think about how to throw the ball.

Quick Fire is basically the same exact thing except of three lives the player has 60 seconds. If a throw results in a touchdown the player is awarded with extra seconds, 3 seconds or so, and if they throw an interception they lose seconds. This the “Arcade” version of the game, while you are only given 60 seconds to start with you can keep the game going for several minutes if you are doing well enough. Like Playmaker more defenders and higher wind speeds occur after playing for a while making it harder and harder.

Both modes are quite well done but are very similar, and that is a problem. This game lacks variety and change and after a few games it just feel catchy or interesting anymore. If some of the things I’ve mentioned, more receivers and more defenders, were added this might improve gameplay slightly. Overall the game just runs out of steam, it is too flat and one-dimensional.

Trick Shot and Trick Shot XL are slightly misleading names. In fact they should be called something like Practice. The modes teach you how to be better at playing Playmaker and Quick Fire rather than being a separate game mode. Trick shots often imply some sort of extraordinary skill with a ball but the trick shots here simply imply that you are throwing it with great accuracy down a bucket. The two modes, Trick Shot and Trick Shot XL, could easily be combined into one mode. While I don’t have any real suggestions for how to improve this part of the game something needs to be fixed.

Although it is only a iPhone game and perhaps comparing it to console games that I cannot compete against but there are some issues that really take away from the pleasure of the game. For example each time you successfully throw a pass you automatically score a touchdown. Defenders don’t even try to tackle your player and the receiver just waltzes into the endzone. While they’re bad at tackling the defenders are perhaps some of the most athletic players in this game. Several times you will see a defender jump 5 yards vertically and then grab a ball one-handed without any problems. If this was to be a realistic game the defenders wouldn’t always catch passes that easy. Their main job is to tackle and defend and not to catch balls. On that note the receivers are also too good at their job. They never drop a pass and will often catch balls that are thrown too much to side. While it does happen in the NFL these catches are rare and few in between. If a ball isn’t thrown almost perfectly there is a high probability that the receiver won’t catch it. And sometimes they drop passes they shouldn’t be dropping.

A much more successful game than it’s kicker counterpart NFL Flick QB still feels like a lite version of a Madden game. I guess it’s the game equivalent of methadone. A quick fix that just doesn’t cut it. It is a good game with multiple strong suits but some of it’s flaws overshadow the good sides of it. Once again I’d recommend American football fans to buy Madden instead of these mobile games. One thing I do hope will happen is that Madden will incorporate features like the ones used in these mobile games with swiping and flicking using the touchscreen to throw passes instead of pressing buttons on a controller or keyboard.