Road To Sunday rips up the gridiron @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on April 27, 2005

News: Storyline based football is here.

After EA purchased the NFL license gamemakers were left with few options other than to make up their own leagues. 989 Studios has done just that by creating Road To Sunday, a football-fighting game hybrid with a corrupt Jamaican owner controlling everything. Read that sentence again.

Actually, just let Sony do the talking, this is too ridiculous even for me:

The storyline revolves around Blake Doogan, an affluent sports mogul who inherits a professional football team after his father dies in a suspicious explosion while vacationing in Jamaica. Blake learns his father borrowed large sums of capital from a Jamaican kingpin to purchase a professional team. Doogan's father's debt is now his debt. The gameplay follows the owner, his sidekick Harry and seven football players as they put it all on the line in order to accumulate enough money to pay off the Jamaican kingpin and win the championship.

Players not only compete on the gridiron but also gain exposure to an underworld of questionable characters, gambling, and an underground fighting league run by the corrupt Jamaican kingpin. The players' world off-the-field involves high-stakes fighting tournaments, betting, gambling, and training, all of which increase player attributes for future missions and football games.

The on-the-field experience is best characterized as mission-based football, in which the objective is to both win the game and achieve on-the-field goals related to the team or specific players. To enhance gameplay and provide gamers with an authentic yet unique experience, Road To Sunday introduces position specific gameplay, where, for the first time in a football videogame, gamers can play from the aspect of different positions. Position specific gameplay provides gamers with more position specific abilities and control then any other football experience before. From powering up a running back who hits the hole with authority, to enhancing a defensive back into a complete shut-down corner and forcing a QB into making costly mistakes, position specific gameplay delivers the ultimate in football control in order to get through the season.

"We're excited about creating a new gaming experience for both sports and entertainment video game fans," said Mark Meyers, co-director, sports product development, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "Road To Sunday creates a completely new genre that presents a unique action and story-driven gaming experience, while remaining true to our core of sports."

Road To Sunday ships this winter for the PS2. Be prepared.