Ted's Corner

I left off with the preparations you make prior to the match. From there you are treated to a short pregame intro which allows you to see each side running onto the field and hear the sometimes hilarious commentary by two unseen men in the booth. I'm usually irritated by sports game commentary, but these two keep their conversation pertinent to the on field action while expressing opinions about your play and occasionally being funny (fighting with each other, etc) and I tend to enjoy hearing them. After a couple of games you won't hear anything new, but at least they are unobtrusive.

After that you have thirty seconds to place your starting nine on your side of the pitch. If they aren't in position when the pig (did I mention there is an exploding pig that signifies the kickoff?) is released then too bad. Play does not stop until one side scores a touchdown (like american football), which is worth one point (like soccer) and the matches last ten minutes. The clock only stops when someone scores a touchdown and starts again at the next whistle. There is no out of bounds (a magic force field keeps the ball on the playing field at all times) and the game just continues to flow through possession changes, injuries, deaths, red cards, and anything else that may happen on this chaotic field. Once a side scores a touchdown, the other side is given possession of the ball and allowed fifteen seconds to set up their positions. It is at this point that you can sub in any amount of players from your bench (which may be up to six more players) to rest those that have been abused on the pitch. Bench depth appears to really matter in the higher divisions of the league. In 3rd division I sometimes played against teams that only had ten or eleven players (like myself), but now that I'm in 2nd division every team has fifteen. It takes awhile to earn the money to build a full complement of fifteen. If you don't spend money on anything else (cheerleaders, cream, slo-mos) it usually takes at least two games to purchase one low ranking player like a lineman.

Back to substitutions.....the players get beat up pretty bad as the game goes on. A player can heal himself, but this takes a lot of breath (think mana) and will negate that player's ability to cast other spells for a long duration. Breath becomes vitally important as you advance in the league and you need to learn how to use it and conserve it. By subbing in players from the bench it allows your players to replenish their health and breath.

Once the pig explodes the ball is loose and the first player that picks it up takes possession. Now the game becomes an RTS and it is a mixture of fluid movements, savage beatings, chaotic clicking and quickened pulse. When a player has possession he can choose to run in any direction, throw to any teammate in any direction, or hold the ball and attempt to fight his tackler (always a last resort). A defender without the ball may choose to chase the ball carrier and tackle him or go to any other opponent and savagely beat him to take him out of the game, either temporarily (knockout) or permanently (injury and death). When a ball carrier is tackled he loses possession of the ball and anyone can pick it up. Thus there are tons of possession changes between whistles. The ball can change hands back and forth (or sometimes not at all) until one team puts enough players down to build up a defense and make a run for the endzone. The game really shines here because the scoring is so varied. There are lots of smashmouth teams that pummel you and pick up the loose ball two yards from the endzone to score. Then there are teams that make fifty yard (I'm assuming the pitch is one hundred yards) passes to an open receiver that just got done concussing your safety, and everything in between. The scores vary from low 1-1 draws, to 5-5 pass fests, to 8-0 blowouts.

I'm not going to go into a great deal of detail about the different tactics used, but imagine playing a football or soccer game where your team did nothing (except engage an opponent in a fight) without you first commanding it. Your players will not execute set plays or make runs to open area. You must command them to do it. It took me awhile to adjust to the hectic nature of the play, but I'm getting used to it now and the game is slowing down for me somewhat (thank God for rookie level). It is during the course of several games that you start to learn what you are capable of as an RTS player and what your players strengths are and how to exploit them. The absolute worst feeling is when you are caught up in the chaos and neglect to see one of your players being thrashed while the opponent bribes the referee repeatedly to look away. Then you hear the commentators mention a horrible death on the pitch and you see a grave marker (yes they are buried where they fall) and the ghost of your player on the sideline doing situps as if he only needs to work on his abs to get back in the game. I've lost two players this way. Zehnder a decent lineman and Abner (sorry Bill) a real savage runningback. It hurts more when they are players that you have spent game after game getting their stats up to earn new abilities. Not only do they cost serious coin to replace, but Abner was a thirteen game veteran. You can't replace that!

After the match you are treated to a "player of the game" screen and some statistical screens. You also see how much money you earned (by fan support of one team over another) and it is possible to earn more money than your opponent even if you lose. If they earned enough experience points to purchase new abilities you can do that after the game as well. The player development is fun and since there are no free agents or transfers every player that enters your team is young and dumb. You decide how to mold that player by where he plays on the pitch and what abilities you buy for him post game. Players earn points for passing, receiving, interceptions, touchdowns, tackles, knockouts, injuries and deaths. You can develop savage brutes (like Mosley) who love to fight and injure opponents, fast safeties (like Bekowitz) that are great tacklers and have good hands to pick up loose balls, fast receivers (like Simpson) who dart down the field and have good vision or blocking receivers (like Calvert) who have high fighting abilities as well as good hands to catch the ball. You can develop a passing quarterback (like Leiker) who can throw long, hard and accurately or running quarterbacks (like Mirdala) who can run the ball, pass the ball, or tackle and stomp an opponent. The choices are yours as to what kind of team you want.

After you play ten regular season games the top team from each group of the division (each division has 20 teams divisions split into two groups) play each other in a one game playoff. The winner is promoted (unless already in Premiership) to the next division. The bottom team from the division is also demoted (unless already in 3rd division). The goal is to earn enough money match by match to build a team that can win match after match to work your way up to and win the Premiership Championship. There is also a cup round after each season (like soccer). While you are working your way towards these goals the game keeps total statistics for all of your players careers and their statistics for the current season. It also tracks your yearly finishes year by year. For example in Year 1 I finished first in 3rd division with a record of 8-2. I beat (insert name here) in the playoff and was promoted to 2nd division. I was also eliminated in the 2nd round of the Cup tournament.

Chaos League strikes a good balance between gameplay and management depth to provide a fun gaming experience. If any of you out there find the game and want to try multiplayer online then drop me a comment or an email.

# posted by Ted @ 3:31 PM