The distinction between football and full-blown war has never grown any blurrier than it does in developer Digital Dreams Entertainment’s Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition. Instead of producing a virtual facsimile of the NFL similar to that found in Electronic Arts’ popular Madden series, Digital Dreams Entertainment pushes players onto the gridiron in a post-apocalyptic world where violence and bloodshed are par for the course. With athletes unafraid to outright murder their adversaries on the playing field, it’s not wild to say that the brand of football played in Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition can get downright chaotic.
Mutant Football League originally came out in October 2017. Players were presented with options to immediately start a match, play online, engage in a season-long endeavor, or work through the playoffs. However, the game lacked a full-fledged dynasty mode. But now, with the release of Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition, this no longer the case.
In the new Dynasty Mode, players can choose to manage any of the over 20 teams in the MFL. The teams and athletes in the game are, for the most part, modeled on the NFL. The Nuked London Hatriots (with Bomb Shady at the helm) are based on the New England Patriots, the Grim Bay Attackers (led by Airborne Dodgers) are meant to be the Green Bay Packers, and so on. The game is pretty witty with its athletes’ names, which does contribute to the fun that can be had from the game. Athletes will appear as werewolves, robots, super-humans, orcs, aliens, deadheads, or demons, which also gives a fine variety in terms of character models.
No matter which team players decide to manage, all of the athletes on their roster will start out with a low rating of 40/100. Players can upgrade their athletes by winning games and achieving certain goals in each individual matchup. However, considering that the athletes on all other teams keep their normal ratings, players will face a steep climb to build their squad into a contender for the Mayhem Bowl.
To improve their teams, players are able to sign free agents and trade athletes with the CPU. These aspects of the Dynasty Mode feel lacking – players can sign top free agents immediately and get the CPU to accept outrageously lopsided trades. Additionally, when considering that athletes on other teams in the league generally are paid more than free agents and the athletes on player-controlled teams, trades can also be difficult to execute from a monetary perspective after a while.
The on-field play in Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition suffers from many of the issues found in the original version of Mutant Football League. The aforementioned chaotic nature of the gameplay ultimately serves as a double-edged sword, making the game distinct from other football sims but also tempering the its playability. One of Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition’s biggest features is its “Dirty Tricks,” which enable players to call plays to bribe refs, strike opposing athletes down with lightning, turn athletes into giants, and more. While this initially seems like a fun concept, the CPU can and will use it against players at every conceivable moment. It’s not out of the realm of possibility to have a touchdown revoked for a bogus call due to a Dirty Trick. And then, on the next play, the CPU may kill the ball-holding athlete, return the inevitable fumble for a touchdown, and completely alter the flow of the game. Needless to say, this aspect of the game can get beyond frustrating.
When Dirty Tricks are not utilized during a given play, the gameplay can be pretty decent. Rushing the ball feels a bit overpowered and passing can seem somewhat underpowered, but these facts are nothing that would ruin Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition as a game. All in all, sans Dirty Tricks, Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition plays pretty smoothly as a football simulator.
The fact that MFL is replete with gore the likes of which the NFL never will see gives it a unique identity. This fact works very much in the game’s favor, since it cannot stack up against Madden from a pure gameplay perspective. Thanks primarily to Dirty Tricks, gameplay ultimately falls short in Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition and hinders what could have been a fulfilling football experience. Expect Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition to make a much larger impact on the Nintendo Switch (where it is the only American football game on the market) than on PlayStation or Xbox.
Rating: 6.8/10
Check Out the Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition Trailer:
Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition is available for $29.99 digitally on PC/Steam, and both digitally and at North American retail for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 system, and Xbox One. Pricing includes DLC content for all platforms. Players who already own the game can pick up the Dynasty Fully Loaded Bundle for $10.99. The game is rated M for Violence, Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Strong Language and Mature Humor.
PlayStation 4 Review
I'm a recent graduate of Columbia University. Gaming has been a passion of mine my entire life; I enjoy everything from RPGs and FPSs to stealth and narrative-driven games. I love the deeply immersive quality that good video games inherently possess, and am looking forward to highlighting games worthy of acclaim. When I'm not studying or reading, you can catch me playing games like Uncharted, Dishonored, The Witcher 3, and Far Cry.
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