Get ready to go head-to-head on Xbox. Get the scoop on the best sports games from Operation Sports Managing Editor Shawn Drotar. In addition to writing previews, reviews, and the site's blog, "Splinters From The Pine," Shawn is proud to provide exclusive coverage for Xbox.com. He can be contacted at shawn@operationsports.com.

Operation Sports:

NFL Street 2: Football with an Attitude

By Shawn Drotar, Managing Editor, OperationSports.com

The NFL's Competition Committee would throw a hysterical fit and hand out fines like Halloween candy if they ever saw a football game with NFL players acting anything like they do in Electronic Arts' NFL Street 2. Fortunately for you, they aren't looking—so feel free to hit like the Broncos' John Lynch, dance like the Vikings' Randy Moss, and make the Eagles' Terrell Owens' antics look positively tame, in the wildest gridiron game ever made for your Xbox®.

NFL Street 2 isn't your standard football game. Sure, it's got all the trappings—the basic rules, the real NFL players and teams, and Xbox Live® online play—but that's where the similarities end. While NFL Street 2 is at heart a football game, it's also a fast, furious, over-the-top riot, and one of the most unique sports games that you'll ever play.

Shirts vs. skins, with insane maneuvers.

Style is the main ingredient, and the title simply oozes with it. The look of the game itself is a big draw, with the players looking like they stepped off the pages of a comic book, and a collection of wild and colorful locales to play the game in. Like any football game, the purpose of NFL Street 2 is to outscore the opposition, but it's not enough just to score points on them—you need to rub it in their faces as well. By holding the left trigger during gameplay, you do everything with style, and that means doing the outrageous—like throwing behind-the-back passes, spinning the football on your fingertip in the open field, and catching passes between your legs. The more stylish you are, the more style points you rack up, and these can be used to earn "Gamebreakers"—nearly unstoppable plays and player boosts that can change the outcome of any game. Each game is a two-pronged race: one for style points, and one for touchdowns. You have to keep your eye on both to win.

In NFL Street 2, players play five-on-five, and they play on both sides of the ball. So building your team with balance is critical to success. You may decide to forgo a quarterback in lieu of two solid runners, and run the option offense instead of leaving a hole in your defense with the Seahawks' Matt Hasselbeck alone to cover your opponent's best receiver. There's strategy here, too, and the flexibility to play any way you want to.

You need to think quickly and act fast with your controller as you learn to roll out your quarterback, have him hop two steps up the wall, throw an underhanded pass ten feet off the ground, have your wide receiver climb the wall to make the one-handed grab, then pitch it to your running back, who pitches it one more time to the trailing quarterback as he gets tackled falling into the end zone. That's no exaggeration: This kind of play happens all the time in NFL Street 2.

Yes, that carrier is on the wall.

The game's animations are fast, smooth, and often cringe-inducing, and you're likely to find yourself laughing out loud watching the havoc that the players wreak upon the field and each other throughout the game. Outrageous and often hilarious cut-scenes appear after big plays, and they certainly help add to the manic energy of the proceedings. Despite the sensational level of direction you have over your player, the game's controls are simple to master, and virtually anyone can pick up the game and feel comfortable with it within one or two matches.

New to the series this time around are style catches, "hotspots", wall moves, and all-new ways to play—including online matches via Xbox Live. The game's new modes make for a quick and fun introduction for those new to such wild pigskin antics. Crush the Carrier is an elementary school classic, along with Jump Ball Battle—which we used to call "500" back on the playground. The Open Field Showdown is a great way to practice your offensive and defensive skills, while "4 on 4" takes one man off the field while speeding the game up to ridiculous levels. All of these additions do exactly what they're intended to; give the game more depth, more excitement and more fun.

NFL Street 2 might be the greatest sports party game ever created, and if you're up for some high-speed mayhem on the gridiron—well, not exactly on the gridiron—then you'll find that NFL Street 2 is right up your alley. What are you waiting for?

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