Pro Strategy Football 2021
- September 7, 2020
- Kerry Batts
- 14h median play time
"Pro Strategy Football 2021" is a football simulation game that offers a deep probabilistic game engine for realistic gameplay. It features detailed stats, playbooks, and season modes for an engaging experience. Players can control every aspect of their team, from trades and drafts to play-calling and strategy. However, the graphics and presentation may be less polished compared to other modern sports games.
Reviews
- The game offers a lot of fun and is highly customizable, allowing players to create their own leagues and teams.
- It features a solid simulation engine that produces realistic gameplay and statistics, making it enjoyable for fans of strategy and coaching.
- The developer is very responsive to community feedback and continuously improves the game with new features and mods.
- The game lacks depth in management features, such as contracts and detailed player attributes, which may disappoint those looking for a comprehensive simulation.
- Graphics are dated and may not appeal to players accustomed to modern visuals, which can detract from the overall experience.
- The playcalling system is overly simplistic, limiting the complexity of offensive and defensive strategies available to players.
- graphics62 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 79 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are largely described as retro and reminiscent of 1990s visuals, which some players find charming while others see as dated. While the graphics may not be the main focus of the game, they are customizable and offer a simplistic yet effective aesthetic that appeals to fans of classic titles like Tecmo Bowl. Overall, the visuals are functional but leave room for improvement in future iterations, with many players appreciating the balance between graphics and gameplay management.
“The graphics are, of course, right out of the 1990s, but for me, that just adds to its charm.”
“With that said, this game is incredibly fun to play and the graphics are the best that I've seen in a sports management-style game.”
“I also dig the old school graphics and the ability to easily import your own uniforms/logos/fields.”
“Nothing near the detailed stats and management level of the Front Office Football or Football Mogul series, and the graphics, by themselves, remind me of Atari football of the '80s.”
“The visuals of the game being played out can be very awkward sometimes.”
“The graphics are like Tecmo Bowl, which is fine, but frankly they just don't seem to add much to the experience.”
- gameplay16 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The gameplay is praised for its retro feel and realistic mechanics, providing an engaging match day coaching experience with solid on-field action. While the game features basic management elements, players express a desire for more depth, such as mid-season trades and roster changes. Overall, it stands out for its realistic statistics and minimal glitches, making it a compelling alternative to other football games like Madden.
“I also love games like Madden (even in this year's game which was rated very poorly by critics I've racked up over 150 hours) where you directly control the on-field action with great gameplay where I actually feel like a wiz QB or a stud running back or a killer safety with stunning realistic graphics.”
“I would love to see more management mechanics introduced, such as mid-season trading, roster changes, etc. I believe there are discussion threads saying new things will be looked at for the next version of the game.”
“This game actually produces realistic gameplay and generates realistic statistics (oh, it also includes a whole host of stat tracking and histories) - unlike Madden, which requires a whole lot of slider tweaking to attempt to get things remotely 'reasonable' or Axis (which really doesn't have the on-field gameplay solved whatsoever yet).”
“Tldr: excellent match day coach simulator, with basic management mechanics; this is not Football Manager 21: NFL edition, and nor is it trying to be; for what it is, it is brilliant with a dev that obviously loves his game.”
- stability6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, users report mixed experiences with stability; while some glitches do not impact gameplay significantly, issues such as freezing between plays and problems with editing features detract from the overall experience. These concerns lead some reviewers to advise against purchasing the game.
“Buggy editing helmets and uniforms don't work; I strongly recommend not to buy.”
“So far I love this game, but I am having an issue where the game freezes for almost a minute between each play, which makes for a very long game when watching.”
“Fortunately, the glitches don't affect gameplay.”
- music6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game has drawn criticism for allegedly borrowing the theme from Blood Bowl without proper licensing, which has left some players feeling uneasy despite their appreciation for the original track. The loudness of the borrowed music further contributed to the negative reception among users.
“On top of that, there was the fact it 'borrowed' the theme music from Blood Bowl and played it pretty loudly.”
“While I do like the music from Blood Bowl, I was a bit off-put by this as, knowing Games Workshop from personal experience, it's unlikely that they licensed the use of the music!”
“While I do like the music from Blood Bowl, I was a bit off-put by this as, knowing Games Workshop from personal experience, it's unlikely that they licensed the use of the music!”