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NFL Street 3 Review / Preview for the PlayStation Portable (PSP)

NFL Street 3 Review / Preview for the PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Cheat Code Central tackles Nick Laing and insults his masculinity. Oh, there’s an interview there too.

Description: With NFL Street 3 you can play your style of football both on the ground and in the air in this newest iteration of the popular NFL Street franchise. Show off your style and boost your score by performing stunning aerial moves, jumping into the air and collecting special items and game modifiers that hover above the playing field. You will also have the ability to control your Gamebreaker and pull off new Power moves that are available to both the offense and the defense. Developed by EA Tiburon, NFL Street 3 will be available for the PlayStation2 console and PSP system.

CCC: What are the biggest additions to NFL Street 3 from titles before?

Laing: Without a doubt it’s two-fold, the collectibles and the Game Breakers. There are two kinds of collectibles. There are the “football collectibles” that unlock custom footballs to play with. They are like bragging rights achievements – “Oh, you don’t have the alien head ball like me? Too bad, keep trying, I’m sure you’ll catch up. It’s alright buddy.” Then there are the Game Modifiers and they are out over the field like the others, but these can give you the edge or an opportunity you might not otherwise have had. If you grab a certain one and score on the same drive, your touchdown could be worth double points. Other versions will give you full Game Breaker tokens. Game Modifiers really change the game.

NFL Street 3 screenshot

For Game Breakers, it’s the new Game Breaker system. You are still proving yourself on the field and collecting style points while playing the game, but this time the points will earn you tokens and the tokens can be used any time during a play to unleash a number of powerful offensive or defensive moves.

CCC: Gamebreakers have been revamped and will work a little differently this time around. Can you describe this in detail?

Laing: I like to think of it like super-charged versions of the football moves you already know. You have control to execute the Game Breakers when and how you want to. Once you’ve collected enough “style points” you get a token and it lets you fire off a number of moves in a new spectacular fashion. Jukes, spins, interceptions and even tackles have a Game Breaker version. We don’t want to change the way you play, we just want to give you more tools.

CCC: In Street 2, you guys extended the field by allowing players to run on the walls. What other fancy moves are going in to give defenders fits as they try and tackle a ball-carrier?

Laing: This time we’ve opened the space up between the walls. In NFL Street 1 you played on the street and by the time Street 2 came around, a leap in Gameplay was added. In specific situations we got you up on the walls and you could make style jukes. All of that is still available to you, but with our new Jump Mechanic, we’re opening the whole field to you. You can jump anywhere you want or need to. You are now able to get up on objects that are out on the field that you weren’t allowed to before. Once you get up there, a whole new world of styling is open to you. 20-foot aerial moves in the air bring in even more style points and are amazing to see.

NFL Street 3 screenshot

CCC: Screenshots show icons hovering in the air above the “field.” What are these and how do they affect gameplay?

Laing: These are the collectibles, which give you access football collectibles and Game modifiers. They are spaced around the field in such a way that you can only get them by using the environment. These collectibles can be pretty powerful, so we don’t want to just give ’em away! They are not always in the same spot and at times after a play the position of the collectible moves. This way you won’t benefit by running one play to the same side every down. We still want you to play football.

CCC: There were a couple of modes in Street 2 for players to tackle, including a mode that allowed them to battle other street players to assemble the best street crew in town. What will this year’s “Season” or Single-player mode look like?

Laing: Our single season game is a “back-to-basics” approach. When we considered the principle of NFL Street Football we realized it’s all about respect. The only thing you are really trying to prove in a setting like this is, “How good are you? How good is your team? How much respect can you earn?”. This is reflected in our game, from our new look to our aggressive soundtrack. That’s why the name of our single player game is called “Respect The Street”. In this mode you work your way up the chain with the team you have. First you play amateur teams and then move on to play teams led by superstar NFL players, and finally making it up to playing full NFL teams. Throughout this whole process you’re earning respect – the more respect you earn, you increase the likelihood of a higher ranking team giving you shot. Along the way, if your respect is high enough, other teams will give you props and you are given the chance to pick the rules of your next game. Other times it will inspire NFL players and legends to join your team. You can even put your reputation on the line by spotting points.

CCC: What kind of multiplayer modes will we see in Street 3?

Laing: Two of the more exciting modes are Playbook Elimination and Defensive Scoring. With Playbook Elimination, plays are actually removed form your playbook every time they are unsuccessful. So you in order to to keep your favorite plays you need to move the ball. Also, Defensive Scoring is a hit here. I’m big into playing defense and I’ve always wanted to be rewarded for it. Now, I can be. When I’m dominant on defense I will collect points. When you can score on both sides of the ball it can really change the game.

Bank is fun because it’s all about style with the added pressure of having to score to get what you’ve earned. All the style points during a drive go into a “bank” and are only rewarded to the player that scores. So, if you eat up all your downs showing off and building style points but fail to finish up with touchdown you’ll have nothing to show for it, therefore giving your opponent a chance to win big on all the points you rang up. Time attack has you trying to score ASAP – the amount of time left on the clock is the amount of points the touchdown will be worth.

Yards for points is another game in which you will have to work hard on both sides of the ball. Chew up the field and get a point for every yard. Stuff your opponent’s drive with four and out, and you’ll keep them from scoring.

NFL Street 3 screenshot

CCC: What are some of the “fields” that players can expect to see in Street 3? What are some of the more interesting obstacles on these fields?

Laing: New fields will include an abandoned aircraft hanger in the Southwest, a rainy night game on a loading dock in the South, a snow-covered street up North. Obstacles are relative to the environment and may include boxes and barrels.

CCC: Street 3 has been announced for the PSP and PS2 only. Is there any particular reason that you guys decided to stick with Sony on this release instead of taking it across more platforms?

Laing: The installed base of the Sony products helped us make this decision during development. It has been almost two years since we’ve put out an NFL Street title and we would rather not keep a game from the fans because of the current transition year. But not to worry! We feel this is a great addition to the EA Sports Big and Street franchises, as well as a great follow-up to the NFL Street line.

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