Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 9
Sound: 8
Replay: 8.5
Multiplayer: Yes, Offline (4) or LAN ( 8 )

Ubisoft has continued to awe us all with their most recent releases. From games like Ghost Recon to Splinter Cell, they have been spot on when it comes to making fun, addictive games. They have a way of mixing realism with good old arcade fun and mix that with rock solid gameplay and impressive visuals, and it all comes together to produce hot selling games. This game, however, did not get the attention of games like Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon. Why? Who knows. It's made by a big company, but it slid into shelves in late 2002 with no one even realizing it had arrived. There was no hype built up around this game, it has no name to live up to. But does hype mean everything? Can this game prove you don't need a big name to be successful?

I would quote something from the game, but then this review would have to be rated M by the ESRB. I'll just say a simple "Hell yes!". This game is easily the sleeper hit of the year 2010 for the Xbox. I'm still wondering how so few people knew it was coming and how horribly low the sales have been for this game. Well, it's not for kids to say the least, but I would have expected the teenage crowd to love it. However, I guess it makes sense, the teenage crowd only goes by what they see on TV. No matter how good the game is, teenagers will buy it as long as it has some good commercials on TV. That's sad really, as this game sneaks into the hearts of everyone who plays it and doesn't let go.

Well, when I say it sneaks into your hearts, it actually really only sneaks into those who get pleasure from pain, if you get my drift. Let me explain. Starting with the gameplay, this game is a fighter to the core. Think of it like a sports game you would see people playing illegally on the streets. It's a sports game on the outside, but the fighting is where the real fun is. Grabbing your opponents arm and breaking it in three places (and hearing it as well, mind you) before vaulting him over your shoulder is definately not for the faint of heart, but it is sadistically delightful for most of us. Or pulling the same guys arm around his back and then jamming your steel soled boots into his back and shattering the spine (ok, I'm exaggerating a little bit on the shattering of the spine part, but it sounds good). Then, finish him off by kicking him while he's on the ground just so he knows your the man.

Of course, this kind of gameplay bears consequences, mind you. If you decide to pick on one enemy and play dirty by hitting him while he's on the ground, when he gets up he won't be too happy. The opposition in this game was designed to remember you and let's just say you reap what you sow, and if you beat him while he's on the ground expect the same kind of punishment in return. Sure, on the easier difficulty levels you can beat the guy long enough so he is KO'd, but on the harder difficulties you could be spending the whole match trying to take out a guy simply by beating him when he's down. But anyway, you get my drift. You have a large arsenal of moves to unleash in this game varying from kicks to punches to grappling moves.

The other side to the gameplay, the one most obvious, is the sports part. The game centers around a blue glowing disk (just as how football centers around an oval shaped brown ball with white laces). This disk is very important if you plan on winning the match. There is one ring for each team that are at opposite sides of the arena and each guarded by a goalie or two (depending on your settings, you can even change your style of play so there isn't a goalie) and the objective is to get that disk through the ring. There are many way to go about doing this. Lucky for you, you don't have to aim it as it locks on once you get close enough. You can use many different types of shots once you do. A straight shot, a lob shot, or if you are strafing you can even try to hook it around the goalie. Also, you can charge the disk until it becomes green and lob it at the goalie (or anyone else for that matter) and it will explode on impact. Be careful not to hold it too long though as you will drop it and the first person to touch it on the ground will have a rude awakening. This is a very good tactic if someone is chasing you, however. Of course, there is another way to score. Taunt the goalie by flipping him off and calling him words that shouldn't be mentioned in this review until the goalie gets so angry that he charges you and then shooting the disc is relatively easy.

The game is played four on four. It may not seem like a lot but the arenas aren't overly big, they are just the right size for the amount of people. One of the better points in this game is being able to command your computer teammates. You can either tell them to be defensive (where there are two goalies watching your goal at all times), neutral (one goalie and two computers try to score alongside you), or aggressive where all of the computers not only try to score but try to KO the opponents as well. This isn't all that much in strategy, but the fact that it is their is helpful because certain opponents call for different strategies.

The graphics in this game are gorgeous. This game was released over a year and a half ago and it still looks good compared to newer games. Ubisoft really did a good job in designing this game so that it takes advantage of a lot of the Xbox's abilities. They aren't perfect by any means, but they are some of the best to be found on the Xbox. The lighting effects are good, not as good as Splinter Cell, but then again, what is? The environments are very well modeled and the bump mapping used in this game is superb. The characters are incredibly detailed. The faces look realistic and are the bodies are designed well. Most importantly, the characters actually have "bones" so that when performing moves the body actually reacts realistically. The arm will bend when it is pulled back rather than the character becoming out of proportion as happens in many games.

I don't even know if I should review the sound. Let's just say you'll have to hear it for yourself to understand what I am saying. This is by far the most vulgar game available for the Xbox. There are more obsceneties being thrown around in this game then you would hear in the hall of a high school (and that's saying a lot). For God's sake, there's even a button so you can make your character curse! The black button is the "Taunt" button and it will do various things such as giving the finger (and the words that match with it, of course). While playing this game, you will hear a curse word every five seconds or less, I guarantee you. Everytime you use a move on somebody they will start cussing you out, or sometimes they will just say something for the hell of it. This ain't the kind of game your parents used to play when they were kids, I can gaurantee you of that.

Moving on to other parts of the sound department, the rest of the sounds in this game are good. The explosion of the disc sounds pretty good. When you pull a move on somebody and break their arm in three places, you get to hear it break in three places and that is always a pleasant sound when you hate the guy because he has been following you around and kicking your ass the whole match. The music in this game isn't all that impressive, it doesn't seem to match the game. However, Ubisoft made a smart move and allowed for custom tracks to be loaded off the Xbox hard drive and be used in game. So instead of listening to some techno wannabe music you can put on some hard rock while bashing some heads in, awesome!

There is a lot of replay to be found in this game, but almost all of it comes from playing with friends. Playing by yourself isn't that fun, and you can do everything with friends that you can by yourself anyway. The Campaign type mode can be played with you and three of your friends. Playing this or any other mode is very rewarding as you earn points to unlock stuff including concept art, levels, new teams, and more players for the teams. Being able to unlock a lot of stuff definately adds good replay to this game. But the pure joy that comes from beating down on one of your friends is definately what makes this game so much fun.

This game is worth the purchase in my opinion. If you like fighting style games or extreme sports games and don't mind the vulgar language then this is your game. If you have a lot of friends who like the same stuff then this game will definately be worth the money. Since it didn't sell too well in stores it will be easy to pick this game up for cheap anywhere you look. The only disappointment with this game is that there is no Xbox Live play, which would have made this game a whole lot better. But overall Ubisoft did a great job with this game and I hope that there is a sequel in the works that improves on this game.