November 20, 2006 - Two years ago, EA Sports Big took some liberties with the standard football experience by taking NFL players out of stadiums and putting them back onto the streets and vacant lots where they learned the game. The NFL Street series was about style as much as it was about substance, and showing up your opponents as you took the ball to the house was a key part of the game. But while the console version of the previous games often stretched the extreme football genre, the translation over to the PSP side of the ball wasn't as effective. The same could be said of the recent release of NFL Street 3, which demands that players Respect the Street, but still comes up a bit short in the gameplay department.
Take it to the Sandlot
The previous NFL Street titles focused on using stylish moves to show up your opponent on the football field. Whether you were performing no look passes with your QB or went high stepping into the end zone, every successful showboat move you pulled off added to your Gamebreaker meter. Once full, players could trigger this feature which would run a canned cinematic and give you either an automatic six points or a crushing defensive stop. However, in Street 3, Gamebreakers take place in real time, putting the success of the move squarely in your hands.
You're not guaranteed to be successful if you decide to pull off any one of these Gamebreakers, though, which is new to the series. For example, opposing defenders can time their tackles to hit you shortly after your offensive move has dissipated, and ball carriers can actually be far enough down the field that your homing tackle will miss its intended target. What's more, it's now possible to dynamically cancel out the other team's Gamebreaker if you pull off your move at the right time. The added risk or reward to using these actions during a game or racing to collect up to three of them for your team forces you to improve your strategy for these moves during each match up.