Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl

Review

by Christopher Michael Baker

"Let's kick some butt," says Jerry Glanville's digitized voice in Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl. It is difficult to think of a better phrase than that to describe exactly what your main objective is in this game. Sure, you ultimately win by scoring the most points, but all of the fun in the game is completely reliant on all-out butt-kicking.

Pigskin is one of those games that gets dull after a while if you're playing it alone, but can be one of the most fun games in the world if you're playing with a friend. It's kind of a hybrid between football and rugby with a little bit of medieval warfare thrown in. Being a big fan of all three of those things, it is hard not to love this game.

This is a very violent game, but the violence is all rather comical. While there is a little bit of blood splattered here and there (and a whole lot of carnage if you're any good), it's not the Mortal Kombat type of violence that's there mostly for shock value. In other words, it's probably not a game that a mother is going to prohibit her eight-year-old from playing because of its excessive violence.

Still, it is the violence that makes this game so fun. As the only armored player on your team, you have the ability to pick up several weapons that can kill everyone on the other team except for the other armored guy and trolls. Adding to the comic effect, you'll get a rundown on how many "stabbings," "hangings," etc. each team has after each half. There's even a stat for "Elvis sightings," which anyone who knows anything about Jerry Glanville should find hilarious.

The trolls are another cool feature of this game. When a team is far behind in the second half, the crowd will call for them to help out the team that is losing. They're just as good as the armored players, even a little faster, which can make things a lot more interesting quickly.

If there are any faults with this game they are minor. As mentioned above, the game gets slightly repetitive if you're playing on your own for a while. All you need to fix that is a friend. Also, the incredible stupidity of your teammates can get frustrating. Often they'll just run straight into a tree or log that they could have easily avoided if they simply had gone up or down.

The game is very fast-paced and should hold the interest of even the shortest attention span. The only stoppages in play occur after a team has scored a touchdown. While there are several formations to choose from by pressing the A Button, you're not going to get the "realism" of selecting plays and calling audibles that you would in, say, a John Madden Football game. If realism is what you're after, in fact, don't even bother with this one. Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl is just all about fun.