Arena Football Review (no fat)

Game Description

There are a few things for which America has always been recognized. Coca-Cola, Microsoft, McDonald's, bad beer, even worse tea and so on. They're also recognized for baseball and football (well, their football), probably because they're the only ones playing it. Still, it seems like every once in a while, they get tired of the same rules, and twist them a bit, bringing out strange things like arena football. They even make computer games with these twists

Arena Football - The Twist

It's quite possible that many of you are not quite familiar with what is known as arena football. Many Americans don't appreciate that sport too much in fact, but that's not to say it's not a popular sport, with regular TV broadcasts. Basically, it's almost like football, except that it's played on a smaller field. This has a significant impact over the way everything plays: the match is an 8-on-8 game, and most players have to run both in defense and offense. The linebackers have less freedom though, and can only move in a strict area of the field.

All these make out a pretty different sports. Arena football is probably more accessible to those outside the US, since the game is fairly more dynamic, more offensive and at a faster pace than the usual football. And EA's game does a good job at rendering this in a video game.

The Arena

EA Sports Arena Football boosts a quick and dynamic gameplay from the very beginning. Drawing its roots from the otherwise excellent Madden NFL and NCAA football games, AF comes with a familiar gameplay style for anyone who has played EA's football-related titles. You'll have no problems getting familiar with the game, and, once you get used to the rules, it's going to come along smoothly. The game features all the team you are used to (or aren't used to, but that's another story) from the TV shows.

The game is played in the same manner: you can call players, use various passing plays and change tactics as they are needed. Passing plays have the decisive role here, because passing is something you will do much more than in traditional football games. You can pick your own passing plays, or let the coach decide one for you, although you will immediately feel like the coach should be doing something else. The truth is, he often picks up some rather weird plays, as if he didn't quite know the players, often ending up asking a mammoth quarterback to run like hell.

The defense plays an equally important role in the game. However, the defense line is in clear disadvantage when playing arena football, due to the limitations defenders have to cope with. It's not like saying you don't stand a chance, but do expect to end up having a lot of points scored against you. Nevertheless, you will have some satisfaction when you knock down your opponents.

Playing around is otherwise quite fun. The controls deserve an important note here. Not just because they are responsive and flexible, but also because they are well matched with the way arena football is played. The controls are rather stripped down compared to FA's big-field brothers, but it's not like they don't offer enough possibilities. Worth of an important note is the new aiming system. It makes use of the right analog stick for, making it quite intuitive and allowing some neat shots if used correctly.

Although most of you will like the overall impression of the gameplay, some may feel a little bit bothered by the way the game plays. Arena football is more dynamic than usual football, so the natural trend would be to give the game a more arcade-ish twist. Unfortunately, the developers weren't quite able to make up their minds whether they wanted a simulation or an arcade. Some features are exaggerated and some of the player stats don't make too much of an impact. For example, the players do get tired during the game (and you can have an overall view of this by using the right analog stick during gameplay), but a tired player feels just as fit as one who just entered the game. Besides, some features don't work as expected; you can take control of a receiver while the ball is tossed, but your team mates will often send the ball miles away from you.

Arena Football - Over and under

EA's Arena Football offers only a few game modes. You can take some basic practice sessions, play a quick match in quickplay mode, or take over a team for up to 20 seasons and lead it to glory in the Season mode. There's also a multiplayer mode, allowing you to play over Xbox Live, allowing the usual EA features. The season mode, which should offer you the height of the gaming experience, but it's not always too heated up. It's unclear whether this is because the AI is not amazingly bright, or because the management tasks involved are very few. You'll hardly feel the need to do anything but sign new players as old players retire. Most of you will probably feel better playing multiplayer matches, especially as EA features the whole range of game modes you were used to: head-to-head matches, quick tournaments, online leader boards and detailed stats. The game itself is lag-free enough to be interesting.

The atmosphere is also quite nicely rendered. The arenas look realistic (although the crowd is not too detailed and rather dark), and the players are nicely rendered. You can even knock some players over the margin, and you can sometimes bump into the refreshments table. Which is very, well, refreshing.

What the game doesn't have is commentary, which is quite unfortunate. Maybe not because the commentary itself is nonexistent, but because it's replaced by a stupid announcer and an annoying soundtrack which makes listening to the game quite a pain. Most of you will be able to live with that though.

Arena Football Price

At the time of writing, Amazon.com lists Arena Football at a price of 19.98