Deathrow is an amazing futuristic look at a gritty no holds barred sports game from Ubisoft. This title totally surprised me and now is one of my best picks on the Xbox platform. Deathrow is a quality game that wasn't afraid to go after something new.

Deathrow is a alternative sports game that consists of two teams in an arena throwing discs through a small hole. The game is similar to lacrosse, rugby and basketball combined, but with full combat. The combat plays like a mini fighting game and you can injure you opponents until they are limping or totally knocked out so and cannot compete anymore. Beware! The AI does get mad and it can hold a grudge, so if you whooped someone down in the first round they might be after you for revenge in round 2. The premise of the game sounds simple, but like all sports games you will have to use a number of different strategies to come out on top. During the action you have the ability to control your team which can be a little daunting given the speed of the action in Deathrow. It was good idea to give the player more control because it adds a nice touch of realism to this unrealistic world of death sports.

Just like a real sports the league is made up of different divisions and different teams. With 18 teams and 150 players this game can never grow stale. You can also train your players to have better skills, and you can draft new players. The game has an element of role playing also with the season mode. You can even step up to the task of managing other teams. There are allot of un lockable players, teams and arenas to keep you busy returning more and more for some action.

The graphics are also quite good with realistic animation that ties in 55 bones in their wiremesh underlay. Expressions add a lot of extra touches to the action, and yo u can actually see all this happening during the game. The design of each team is interesting along with their associated maps. The Xbox is looking better and better and it seems like Southend and Ubisoft have the drop on some impressive graphical technology. This one of the best looking games that I have played. You need to check this baby out!

This game is like no other before... well kind like Speedball for the PC about 8 years ago :) The graphics are spectacular; the gameplay is fast and intense.. The whole design and concept is easily one of the most innovative games of 2002. Give yourself a few hours to get the controls down and you'll never look back.

"Pick This Sucka Up!"

Gameplay: 9, Graphics/Sound: 9, Innovation: 9, Mojo: 9. Final: 9

FEATURES:

• Multiplayer support for up to 8 players.
• Realistic, mature language.
• Highly detailed characters, modeled using more than 55 bones each for life-like movement, and up to 7,000 polygons each for a realistic character shape.
• Facial animation capable of blinking and talking, and expressing pain, anger, happiness, and other moods.
• 32 combat sports arena locations, each with their own unique architecture and game-play elements.
• 18 playable teams, each with their own background, special abilities, and motivation for competing.
• Automatic victory if you remove all of your opponent's players from the field of combat.
• Team management component allowing you to customize your own team according to your style of play. Build your players' statistics from match to match while gaining speed and power bonuses.
• Injured players can be healed between rounds if you have enough money, or you must save your winnings to buy them back.
• 150 unique characters.
• Dozens of holds, Over 800 base animations.
• Xbox effects such as bump-mapping, spectacular lighting, and bumped reflection mapping.
• The ability of users to import their own music.