The game relies on an extensive logo editor and team builder that was called "one of its silver linings."

While it was praised for the Euphoria animation system, realistic physical gameplay, and the logo editor, it was criticized for its weak online play, poor passing game, and lack of depth in single-player modes.

[2] Due to this, developers pushed to advertise that "no two tackles are the same" in an attempt to draw players to what they called a more physically realistic football game than its competitors.

[3][5] Along with the Euphoria engine, Backbreaker also features a create-a-team tool and logo creator similar to the editor found in Forza Motorsport 2.

[6] Season mode features a scouting and drafting system, but lacks trades and free agent signings.

By winning games, the player earns credits, which can be used to purchase the contracts of free agents.

The player improves their team by periodically signing free agents, as the competition is tougher in each league.

Several game modes in Backbreaker can also be played as local or online multi-player over the Internet.

[3] This is due to Backbreaker's "on the field" camera angle, set close to the players, making it difficult for a single-camera two-player setup.

[2] Although this setup differs from most modern football games, the developers believe it would add realism to the player's experience.

"One of the benefits of having this down-on-the-field camera view is that it really makes playing as the quarterback like the passing mechanic feel really natural," said producer Rob Donald.

[2] NaturalMotion officially announced Backbreaker on August 22, 2007 with the release of a short video trailer showcasing some of the aspects of the Euphoria engine.

[11] Along with this, a press release from NaturalMotion CEO Torsten Reil stated "By utilizing our motion synthesis engine, Euphoria, players will never make the same tackle twice, giving them an intensely unique experience every time they play the game.

[14] However, communication errors with Sony's PlayStation Network caused the demo to be delayed until June 15, 2010, two weeks after the North American release.

Crowds will applaud your great plays and touchdowns, but the essence of a football game revolves around atmosphere.

[6] "There's no witty banter between a play-by-play announcer and color commentator (although some would argue that Madden's audio presentation's been seriously lacking the past few iterations), there's no stadium music aside from 'Boom' by P.O.D.

being played during kickoffs (it gets old pretty fast), and the stadium crowds are basically an afterthought," added Doug Aamoth of Techland.

"Because the camera places you right on the field, all of the hits carry even more weight than if you were zoomed farther back, but the positive aspects are overshadowed by an inability to see the entire field," said GameSpot's review of Backbreaker, while GameZone added that "Backbreaker uses a tight third-person view that brings the player closer to the action.

"[10][24] The game was nominated for Best New IP at the 2010 Develop Awards,[25] but lost to Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain.

"Backbreaker is a fun mini game with cool graphics and animations," said Eli Hodapp in his review of the application.

"There isn't anything overly technical about the gameplay, but it has a strangely compelling aspect to it, especially as you're high stepping to the end zone," he added.