Participant Observations 7/2/18 - AFL Evolution

A few weeks ago, before the AFLW started, and before AFLX had debuted, I decided I needed to get my AFL fix on.

With little else to turn to, and now that gaming has become a regular part of my entertainment, I decided to get the only recently available AFL game, AFL Evolution.

Firstly, the game is NOT cheap. It was US$50, so about $70 Australian.

The game obviously lacks the polish of many sports sims made in the US or Europe, such as NBA 2K, F1, FIFA, golf, rally, etc. The music soundtrack is VERY limited, and the menus are not as slick as other games. The commentary is sub-par, and the graphics are ok without being wildly exceptional.

But...

I fucking love it. I admit, the game-play has some quirks. It's really hard to mark, playing on can be a problem, as can getting the right camera angles. But as I texted to my friend when I told him about it, I still shout at the TV when I'm controlling Buddy Franklin and he dobs one on the run from outside 50!!

I haven't tried the online options yet - mostly I've just played single games against shitty opponents while I get used to the controls. But I've found that if you set the camera to end-to-end, and get a knack for stringing together handballs and kicking to leads, it's really good fun.

One other feature I've explored for the first time last night as the career mode. So I created a player vicariously in my image in the game that I control:

It's hilarious. My first game, I was best on ground with 22 disposals and a goal, but I then was suspended for 2 games after I cleaned up an opponent in the game, and my appeal against the suspension was unsuccessful...

And of course I embellished my players characteristics. He's a rover, like me, but he's the maximum size (215cms) and built like a truck.

I guess, during all of this, the process reminded me of a question I had from someone at the CSAA Fan Studies Conference in Wollongong late last year. After my presentation, they asked me what fans do during the off-season - do they create fan fiction, or anything similar. At the time I spoke about how the AFL attempts to stretch the season out over 12 months to cater for these fans, but I think this is more in line with the type of questions she was asking.

This game is more for the hard-core fans - the lack of polish and difficulty in playing the game will not attract the casual fan - in fact, while researching the game, many reviews said much the same thing - that the game will only appeal to the rusted-on fans because of the flaws.

But I really like the game.