Backbreaker for Xbox 360 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic

Backbreaker Xbox 360

Publisher: 505 Games
Release Date: Jun 1, 2010
Also On: PlayStation 3

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Metascore

54 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critics What's this?

User Score

7.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 60 Ratings

Your Score

10 out of 10

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Summary: It's tackle football like never before. Backbreaker is taking sports video games to a place where the action is never the same and every hit looks and feels as realistic as a Sunday afternoon. Utilizing NaturalMotion's euphoria motion synthesis engine, the same technology featured in "Grand Theft Auto IV" and "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed," you'll never see the same tackle again. For the first time in a sports game, this mix of technology, biology and tenacious attitude is turning the gridiron of past, full of canned animations and repetitious gameplay, into a dangerous form of self expression. Every unique tackle in the world of Backbreaker is an artistic exercise in hard hits and athletic skill. It's time to show your friends just how painful art can be. Through a combination of biology and robotics research, euphoria uses the CPU power of next-generation consoles to simulate the nervous system, muscles, and biomechanics of the football players in real-time. This is the first time this technology is being employed for a sports game. While conventional football games can only load a finite number of animations from a disc, Backbreaker's real-time technology will never allow the gameplay to become stale. Forget about prim and proper, Backbreaker presents a fast-paced, gritty gameplay experience that's more Burnout than Madden. [NaturalMotion]… Expand

Developer: NaturalMotion
Genre(s): Football
Cheats: On GameFAQs
Rating: E
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:

Positive: 2 out of 29
Mixed: 20 out of 29
Negative: 7 out of 29

GamingXP

87

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.

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games(TM)

70

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. [July 2010, p.122]

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Gaming Age

42

Overall, Backbreaker has a couple good things going for it with the physics of the Euphoria engine, the team customization, and the unique POV when on the field, but the actual gameplay really sets this one back.

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User Reviews

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Score distribution:

Positive: 20 out of 23
Mixed: 1 out of 23
Negative: 2 out of 23

Hobsie

10

The Graphics are far better than Madden, the game play is far more exciting than Madden, the entire feel of the game is far better than Madden. As long as you can look past the lack of licensing (which just isn't that important for me) then this is the best Football game on the market as far as I'm concerned. And yes, I am sick fed up of being drip fed a 'new' Madden each year. This game is is such a breath of fresh air!… Expand

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1 of 1 users said yes
[Anonymous]

5

Nice physics...nice custom team editor.... that's about it. Poor atmosphere, poor presentation, no fatigue, no injury, no NFL, no commentary, no referees, no trades during season, no individuality to the players, same playbook for all teams, no in game stats, generic overlays during games, long waits between plays watching animated scoreboard etc, no football AI, Too many bugs like 108 yard extra point attempts. In my opinion they needed another 6 months to 1 year of further developing before releasing this "game" Download the demo, if you like it then you will love it. If you say this seems very stripped down and surely the full game will be better you will be severely disappointed.… Expand

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0 of 0 users said yes
EmJayS

3

Is only worth anything at all because it displays to Electronic Arts the application of Euphoria physics in a football environment. Nothing else in this game comes close to a realistic, or even fun, football experience. Terrible game.… Expand

Helpful?

0 of 0 users said yes