Monster Football League is an homage to the classic 16-bit era Mutant League Football. That game was simply the Madden series with a crazy skin on top and almost no rules. It was fun, fresh and a bloody good time, especially for someone like me that has always found traditional football games utterly boring.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”12″]Developer: Night Hawk Interactive

Platform: PS4, Xbox One [reviewed], Nintendo Switch

Style: Sports

Release: Oct 31[/perfectpullquote]

Monster Football League is its own thing with no ties to that original 16-bit series as far as I cant tell, but you’d be forgiven for thinking so with how closely it nails the aesthetic. The games tries to be a blend of arcade football (think NFL Blitz), ultra-violence (Gears of War) and the depth of something like Madden. It’s a great mix of styles but one of those fails to deliver and unfortunately it’s the one that matters most –the depth.

On the surface there is a lot to love about Monster Football League Dynasty Edition. The game is well animated, runs silky smooth on the Xbox One and has a look that draws attention to itself from across the room. And when you take a deeper look you find the game oozes charm along with those silly visuals. The commentary is a lot of fun to hear and each monster team is based on a real NFL team, only twisted and mutilated in some way like the Croakland Invaders (Oakland Raiders).

This goes for the players as well! You’ll know the major NFL stars by their twisted monster names like Rave Scar for the Croakland Invaders and Sven Rottenburger for the Blitzburg Steelheads. And since this is the Dynasty Edition you get the extra teams that were added via DLC as well as the extra goodies. The teams are so funny that I spent far more time than I should have just exploring them and their players before ever playing my first game.

Monster Football League Dynasty Edition knows how to bring you in with all the little details, but when you get to the actual playing you find that the game is fairly broken in terms of actual football. Look, I understand that this is an arcade-like experience, which is why I mentioned NFL Blitz earlier, but where that game kept things quick and loose, Monster Football League Dynasty Edition tries to be more Madden in terms of implementation and design.

The playbook is pretty nice and the game seems like it wants you to play it more like Madden, but it just always ends up turning into NFL Blitz. Neither of these things would be a problem on their own, but when they are constantly fighting each other to dominance the game feels more than a bit disjointed. Monster Football League Dynasty Edition just doesn’t really know what sort of football game it wants to be at any given moment.

When playing you’ll quickly find that there are only a few plays that you’ll actually be running because they almost always work for major yardage no matter the team. Sure, you can unlock deeper plays for you playbook, but why would you do that when the few you start with are more than enough to crush the opposition? Much like everyone did in NFL Blitz, you simply pull off a run to the outside and you’ll almost always gain major yards, with a first down every other play.

And running the ball is going to be your go-to play because passing just does not work. Passing is part of any football game no matter the style, but Monster Football League Dynasty Edition has a system that almost never works or explains itself. When you throw a pass, even if the player is open, you’ll essentially be flipping a coin on if they will catch it. I figured I was doing something wrong but after practice and research I’ve come to the realization that the passing is just borked. And imagine an open receiver and a lizard man rolls across the field at the last second like Randy Orton out of nowhere.

You also have access to a “trick plays” section of your playbook that, while a lot of fun, also breaks the games depth in many respects. At any given time you can activate “Beast Mode” and become nearly unstoppable down the field. You can active “Chainsaw” and, well, get a chainsaw to murder everyone in your way. There are others like and exploding ball and all of them break the experience for the other team/player.

Add in the fact that teams can bribe the ref and you’ll find yourself throwing the controller across the room when a spectacular play that led to a touchdown gets reversed because the ref says your team is a bunch of dicks, or that your teams hates (insert random thing here). It’s funny and maddening at the same time. And look, these things in the quick play section are all fine for that wild arcade experience and some online fun. Where the real problem lies is in the “Dynasty” mode this version of the game focuses on.

This mode serves as a “Career Mode” for the game that gives you a couple of years to turn a crappy team into a bunch of winners. It’s a pretty standard idea but one that falls apart because the gameplay isn’t designed for this type of deeper experience. You start with a team ranked about 40 out of 100 and take on teams floating at 90 and up until you earn those victories and your players gain experience.

But performing well isn’t all there is as you can also make trades during the season and sign free agents just like actual football. This is essential as you need those top players if you even want a chance to compete in this league. On top of that you’ll be able complete goals during a match that certain players have. The idea is fine but the gameplay makes a lot of this nearly impossible and not very fun to do.

Because this is a career mode with goals to gain XP, you’ll have to play Monster Football League Dynasty Edition more like Madden which it isn’t designed to be played like. Playing an arcade game like a simulation is just asking for problems –and boy, are there problems. And since the game plays the same the system works against you even more so here and the A.I. spikes at random. Players still take damage at random, or even be killed while playing, making the experience much more a chore than fun.

All this means you’ll need to trade and buy players to fill your ranks because it’s game over if all your Quarterbacks are killed in a single game. And they will die as targeting the fragile QB’s is part of how you play to cheese the broken system. One of the abilities you have even involves killing the QB! In fact, there are times where you’re better off trying to kill off the entire team to advance and win a match. Add in the “Trick Plays” and any strategy you have laid out is nearly mute at any given time.

I can’t tell you how many times I advanced the ball down the field and made a great play that lead to a first down or touchdown only to have it reversed because the other team either: bribed the ref, hit their rewind play special, or activated some random ability that you can’t counter in any way. I even had this happen and then the following play get zapped by lighting, cause a fumble, and have the other team recover for a touchdown. I can’t tell you how many times I had to just put the controller down and walk away from the game in utter frustration.

After each game you will have the chance to spend your money to revive players and deal with salary caps, but all of this feels more like a slightly more exciting Excel spreadsheet than a fun football game simulation. Monster Football League Dynasty Edition isn’t a bad game, it just isn’t quite as well put together as it should be and lacks a firm idea on what sort of game it wants to be and feels like its added needless modes to justify it’s very basic gameplay.

Monster Football League Dynasty Edition isn’t going to break the bank at $30 butjust  don’t come here looking for a deep experience. And if you have a Nintendo Switch this is the only football experience you have at the moment. I’d say wait for a sale before jumping into this one on PS4 and Xbox One, but if you have a Nintendo Switch I can recommend it for the amount of content and fun gameplay in quick play it offers.

Final Score:

3/5

“Okay”

*Copy provided for review*

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