Offensive Prehike Options

For many, the bulk of their football strategy lies on the play selection screen. However, against experienced NFL Fever 2004 players, this can be a fatal mistake. Understanding the many options available at the line of scrimmage—before the hike—is crucial. There are so many options here, in fact, that they can become overwhelming. Let’s take a look at the quick-and-easy changes you can make at the line of scrimmage, and then we’ll focus on the more complex options (i.e. audibles and hot-routes).

Motion
Putting a receiver in motion is particularly effective if your opponent is playing zone defense instead of man-to-man. You can start this action by pressing the X button at the line of scrimmage. Note: This only works when “motion” is written into the play. (Motion is shown as a blue line in the play.)

Hut (Fake Snap)
This is less of a strategic decision and more of a surprise tactic to try to draw an opposing lineman or linebacker off-sides. It works especially well when playing a human opponent who’s taking control of a ready-to-blitz linebacker. Hit the B button to fake snap, and watch your friends quiver with frustration as they accidentally cross the line. It’s simply delicious.

Preview Play
Using the Y button, you can preview the play you’re about to run. The “camera” will pull up to give you a full view of your formation, and you’ll see arrows (colored to correspond to the buttons) showing your receiver routes. For running plays, you’ll see an arrow showing the path the running back should take on the current play.

All eyes on the ACL!

Beyond the above three examples, there are two other prehike options that really get into the nitty-gritty tactical mentality so loved by the hardcore football fan. They are the audible (fully customizable) and hot routes.

Audible
The Black button on the controller brings up an Audibles menu. Using the Left Analog Thumbstick, you can scroll through your available plays. Initially, these plays default to a batch of pre-selected plays picked by NFL Fever 2004 experts, but you can alter your User Profile to reflect your own personally-selected audibles.

Hot Routes
I like to call hot routes the “mini-audible.” These don’t change the entire play; instead, they alter individual facets of the play you’ve already called. In short, not only can you change your receiver’s routes right before the snap, but in NFL Fever 2004, you can use hot routes to change a running back’s path on running plays. Finally! You can also use the hot route option to put a receiver into a motion that the play didn’t necessarily call for. Use the following process to utilize the hot route options.

1.From the line of scrimmage, press the White button to bring up the Hot Route menu, which appears at the bottom of the screen.
2.Select the receiver (or running back) you want by pressing their corresponding button on the controller.
3.Then, press the A button to select a hot route or the Y button to put the receiver or running back in motion. Note: For tight ends, you will also have the option to set them to block, instead of running their route (X button), or you can set them to “read” (B button). If you set your tight end to read, they will watch the defense unfold; if there’s a blitz, they’ll block, if not, they’ll run their assigned route.

• If you select the hot route option, you can choose from four available hot routes (also customizable in your User Profile). Use either the Left Analog Stick or the Directional Pad to choose your desired route.
• If you select the Motion option, you simply need to move the Left Analog Stick or Directional Pad left or right (the line will move in small segments) until you reach your desired spot. Then, press the A button to accept, and your receiver will move to the designated area.

My kingdom for a block ...

The above changes and line-of-scrimmage options help to keep the game true to the sport as well as create the tension that one should feel when sizing up the opposition and making decisions on the fly.

See also “Defensive Prehike Options.”

By Alex McLain