Parents' Guide to Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition

"Full contact sports" takes on a whole new meaning when you're dealing with booby traps and bloodthirsty creatures itching to win at any cost. At least, that's the premise behind the over-the-top, postapocalyptic arcade football game Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition. Right off the bat, it needs to be said that this isn't exactly a wholesome, family-friendly take on football night. At its default settings, the game features more profanity, lewd jokes, and bloody violence than a cheesy '80s horror flick. That being said, most of the mature content can be either muted or cranked up to 11 in the game's settings. Of course, even on the lower maturity settings, it's still going to be more gladiatorial than gridiron.

No matter which way you choose to watch the action in Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition, you're in for a fast-paced and fun arcade experience. With a reduced 7-on-7 lineup, the pace of the game is nonstop. The controls are straightforward and effective, and working the field is relatively easy, especially with the newly included custom playbooks to fit your personal offensive or defensive schemes. The one drawback is that your AI teammates sometimes charge blindly into traps and hazards, especially during big plays. There's nothing more frustrating than running down the field for a touchdown, only to learn four of your players are six feet under. But this can happen on both sides of the match, so it generally balances out. The same thing applies to the game's various dirty tricks. These game-changing plays can drive you nuts when they're used against you, but you can't help relishing when you successfully pull one off for your team. Even better now is the inclusion of a Dynasty mode, giving you the reins of your team as you try to build a misfit bunch of monsters into a multiple year contender for the Mayhem Bowl. That means signing free agents, balancing your salary cap with resurrecting dead players or boosting their stats, and trading players that just don't hold their weight. It works very well, and adds so much more depth to the gameplay. As insane, as brutal, and as dirty as Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition can be, it's still surprisingly balanced and just a heck of a lot of fun.