The gameplay itself is as solid as you remember it from 2K. First time 2K gamers may be taken aback by the game's use of physics; unlike Madden, your feet need to be planted to accurately pass. Longtime Madden fans will find a steep learning curve, as dropping back and throwing the ball off your back foot will have repercussions; including, but not limited to under throwing your receiver by about five yards and having your lame-duck throw intercepted. Running the ball handles well, as solid running backs seem well equipped to find the hole and twist through it quickly as in real life.
Defensively, 2K includes a slight innovation in 'reach tackling'. As a player starts to get past your selected defender, rather than hitting 'X' to leap at them for the tackle, gamers have the option to flick the right-stick in their direction to reach out an arm to pull them down by the jersey or shoe. The same concept works if gamers choose to attempt to drop back into coverage. Defenders can slow a fast-speeding wide receiver with a quick flick of the right-stick in their direction to impede their progress. It is better as a concept than in execution, as players will typically flail an arm or two, reach out for them with legs still in the same spot.
Also slightly better in concept is the new form of kicking, for field goals, kick-offs, and punts. Rather than the tried and true system of using a meter and two-hit button timing, 2K attempted to change things up by incorporating a clunky system using only the right-stick. Pulling back on the right-stick starts the play, regardless of the type of kick. As the kicker begins to swing his leg forward to strike the ball, gamers must push up on the right-stick in time with the kicker's foot making contact with the ball. After a few tries, it is easy to achieve 'perfect' timing; but that never seems nearly as important as how hard you thrust the right-stick forward for power. Like the 'reach tackle', it is an awkward system that never quite feels right, although both systems would be welcome inclusions to next year's version if tweaked slightly.
The return of 2K's football franchise also means the return of the great fictional play-by-play team of Dan Stevens and Peter O'Keefe. The game does an excellent job of making the two sound as though they are doing the broadcast live. Only rarely in a single game will the two repeat themselves, and even more rarely will they make a call that does not make sense; explaining that "Dick Butkus has a torn hamstring, but should be back in soon" after seeing he is out for seven weeks is a little odd.
The biggest issue with the game is the limited gameplay modes. Gamers have come to expect the chance to run a team through multiple seasons, make trades, draft, and the like. Unfortunately, none of these 'standard' options exist on All Pro Football. The 'ageless' classic players do likely pose a problem for running multiple seasons, but 2K could have come up with some way to compensate for that. Why not have legends mentor the random-named scrubs into becoming pro-bowlers? Why not pick an age for each legend, or even make them all rookies and allow gamers to sculpt their careers? Instead, players get a bare-bones season mode where trades and free agent pick-ups (even in the event of an injury) are out of the question. The season ends, and player must start the process all over again as if the season never happened.
Even when playing through the season, there is the odd feeling of deja vu from week to week. None of the individual teams seems to play any differently from one another, despite each having unique legendary players. The defenses, regardless of where their stars line up on the field, seem to play the same, making playing through a season a bit of a bore. The game's AI is decent most of the time, rarely making on-field mistakes allowing receivers to get too wide open or leaving wide-open spaces for your running backs to slice through; forcing you to earn your yardage most of the time. Run the same play twice, and pay the price with a blitzing linebacker stopping the play in the backfield for a loss.
