AFL Premiership 2007 (PlayStation 2)

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CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
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AFL Premiership 2007 features some marginal improvements over the 2006 version of the game, but unfortunately, it also has most of that game's faults.

Specifications: Genre: Sports; Number of players: 1-4 Players See full specs

Gamespot editors' review

Reviewed by: Randolph Ramsay
Reviewed on: 07/02/2007
Released on: 06/28/2007

Melbourne-based development house IR Gurus has been at the helm of the AFL Premiership series for quite some time now, pumping out a new game every year in much the same way that EA Sports cycles through a Madden or Tiger Woods title yearly. IR Gurus' latest--AFL Premiership 2007--comes less than 12 months after its 2006 effort. The quick turnaround is good, but the bad news for Aussie sports lovers is that AFL Premiership 2007 is, for the most part, the 2006 game with only minor additions and with most of the faults of its predecessors.

As with previous incarnations, AFL Premiership 2007 features all 16 teams, as well as the various pre- and full-season fixtures of the sport of Australian Rules Football. The series' trademark attention to statistical detail is well and truly present in AFL Premiership 2007. More than 900 players, a whole swathe of classic jerseys for each team, and an impressive list of real-life AFL awards, as well as achievements, (including Brownlow and Coleman medals) are included. Diehard AFL fanatics will no doubt appreciate the inclusion of up-to-the-minute team rosters, which includes all of 2007's new draftees and rookies.

Player models look blocky in AFL Premiership 2007.

Unfortunately, the updated roster is the most significant thing going for AFL Premiership 2007 over the 2006 offering. IR Gurus has added a new weekly training mode, as well as some control and graphical tweaks to 2007, but the game looks and plays almost identically to last year's game. If you've played 2006, then be prepared for the same clunky controls and blocky graphics in AFL 2007.

Let's begin with gameplay additions. AFL Premiership 2007 features new evasive maneuvers, such as the ability to spin out of a tackle, giving attacking players a chance to bust through tight opposition defense. While it's still far too easy to overpower a kick again, the game has completely removed the kick meter at the easy difficulty level for novice players. General gameplay also seems faster, with players moving quicker when running and finding space.

Most of the enhancements are small tweaks, and most of the same frustrations present in the last AFL Premiership game are still to be found here. Players still move sluggishly, particularly when it comes to maneuvering them around the field. Changing the direction in which a player is running, and player reactions to input commands are slower than they should be. Players once again take far too long to recover from bumps or even missed tackles, and it's still frustratingly difficult to tell when your player actually has possession of the ball in contested situations. That said, the overall level of player responsiveness in AFL Premiership 2007 is a step up from the 2006 version, although it's still far from being a smooth experience.

AFL Premiership's goal-kicking mechanic of a sliding meter that appears when players are within striking distance is as unwieldy to use as it was last year. The meter makes it difficult to pop a goal while on the run because players have to wait until the indicator is in the right position before unleashing a kick, regardless of their distance from goal. This extra waiting time usually results in your player getting tackled or stripped of the ball, particularly at higher difficulty levels. The in-game artificial intelligence is also still wonky. For example, umpiring decisions are wholly inconsistent (particularly with the hold-the-ball rule), and the game seems to feature a bug where players are never penalized for overstepping the mark.

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