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American Football players have never been so ugly. The teams in Grave Yardage have a variety of foul monsters playing for them, including ogres, trolls, ghouls and zombies. Astroturf is obviously too nice for such players so matches are played on a minefield! In this one- or two-player game, the basic aim is to earn points by hacking as many of the opposing team as possible.

A secondary objective is to move the ball down the field using running and passing plays under the normal 'four downs to gain ten yards' system. Here, though, the ball carrier runs until he's killed by the defence! Carry theball into the opposing endzone and you score a 'smashdown' worth 100 points.

Both offence and defence get to choose their plays from scrolling menus. The team line-ups can also be altered to suit the favoured type of tactics. Just remember, you can never be too offensive!

The best aspect of Grave Yardage is undoubtedly its sick humour with the defence attempting to 'hack' the quarterback!

You even get a bonus for massacring all the opposing team members. With so much fighting going on, it's like a Leeds away match wth football secondary to outright thuggery.

Still, it's all done in a fun, light-hearted way. The fairly lengthy disk accessing between plays is irritating though, and the game's a bit pricey.

Any American Football game following the excellent TV Sports Football would have to be pretty different to hold my attention. Different Grave Yardage most certainly is with a ball sprouting wings, minefields and some very weird tactics.

The multi-load is surprisingly heavy - between every play! - but the game is good fun with a definite Blood Bowl influence. If you want a serious, authentic, American Football game, then you'll be disappointed with this one. If, on the other hand, you're a Blood Bowl fan and cant wait for the Tynesoft official game then give Grave Yardage a whirl.

Presentation 67%
Attractive intro screens but irritating multi-load

Graphics 62%
Okay characters one a bland pitch

Sound 59%
Limited FX and end-of-game tune

Hookability 70%
Tricky to start with but violent fun

Lastability 57%
Lack of a league and different teams limits appeal

Overall 64%
A novel sports sim!