"Arena Football gets a huge boost with a nice showing despite a few flaws"

Arena Football has been around for 20 years but has only recently come into the spotlight of American sports with their recent television contract with NBC. While Arena Football is a distinct and different brand of football than the NFL or even the CFL, the quirks and rule difference make the game a breath of fresh air for those who are burned out from a long NFL and College football season.

Gameplay - 8/10

The gameplay is where it is at in this game. Many of the rule changes and differences are included in this game. You can throw passes off the net for them to be caught by your receiver or even an opposing player. There are no punts so you must either kick a field goal or go for the 4th down conversion. A 50 yard playing field means 11 men to a side at any given time is out. Instead, we see an 8 on 8 battle where 6 of those 8 play offense and defense. A telemetry system was implemented for you to be able to find and exploit matchups with tired opposing players. While this is a new element to gameplay that is different from other NFL or College franchises, it seems to not make much of a difference in the clearly offensive minded Arena League where scores often get into the 60s by the end of the game.

The running game is true to life. That is to say, it is nearly nonexistent. You can mix in an occasional run to your Fullback for a short yardage gain or even a sweep to a speedy wide receiver to catch the defense napping. Running plays really never work for a tremendous yardage amount and like the real Arena Football League, are used mainly in short yardage or goaline situations.

The AI in this game is downright bad at times. Instead of finding a soft spot when your opponent does play a zone, your receiver will happily run into the vicinity of defenders if thats where his route takes him. I've also seen offensive lineman ignore the defensive lineman lined up directly in front of them to take on the blitzing linebacker, giving the defensive lineman an unimpeded path to ending the quarterback's day. I've knocked a few starting quarterbacks out of the game this way. Something so obvious, glaring, and altogether unrealistic for any football league should have been fixed before this game hit the shelves.

Another complaint is the flipping over the walls as well as the NFL blitz like late hits and hits while celebrating a touchdown. Players go over the wall once or twice in a game if they are lucky. In this game, any pass thrown near the sidelines has the chance of going over the wall. The late hits are just ridiculous considering all the things that could have been in this game. There already is a Blitz game on the playstation 2. Things like that should have been nowhere near the final product in this case. It is disappointing as a long time Arena Football fan to see things like this in a game when in reality they rarely happen.

Another small gripe I have is with the plays. I understand that on defense, you are limited in the things you can and can't do because linebackers for the most part are stationary on the field until the play actually happens. But on offense, the plays are recylced and used over and over again until it almost becomes implanted in your head what play will work in what down and distance. A lot more variety could have been added to the play selection including a play creator. Since every team uses the same playbook, jumping routes as a defensive back will only become easier with time. Jumping routes and making a play happens in real life, but not with the frequency that is possible with the limited play selection here. For what its worth, the implementation of the man in forward motion before the play (either the yo-yo or the loop) were a lot better than I expected. The opposing defenders do react to these situations well.

Graphics - 5/10

The player models look alright. Nothing too bad here. The uniforms, helmets, and menu screens are all crisp and easily navigable. The only glaring hole here is the crowd.

To be blunt, I've seen a better graphically represented crowd on NBA 2K of the dreamcast than I saw on this game. It is absolutely pitiful that EA could not take the time to at least give us something. Instead we get a dark blue or black mist over the crowd. This looks awful and really detracts from the experience. The crowd is a huge part of Arena Football. After a big play, instead of panning to the crowd to see people with their faces painted and team merchandise on, we see a shot of the scoreboard showing a crowd cheering. This pathetic attempt only makes things worse. If they took the time to implement an animation like that, why not just have a half decent looking crowd? This is the major reason why the graphics got such a low score.

Many stadiums and playing fields were also just forgotten about. The endzone of the Orlando Predators, for example, is not a rectangle at all but a trapezoid that eliminates the back corners of the end zone. I was hoping that would make it into this game but was sadly disappointed when I realized that all the stadiums and playing fields feel exactly the same. The only difference is the crowd reactions and the name in the endzones.

Sound - 6/10

As I stated before, the wall plays too much of a role in this game. The walls in the Arena League are somewhat padded to avoid injury. In this game, it sounds like you are running over sheet metal that was propped up to signify that the field of play has ended. There are no announcers but a PA system makes up for that somewhat. There are a few voiceovers of a coach talking to a player after a big defensive play or a turnover on offense. If you pause during the game, there are also segments thanking you for your support or explaining the rules. These all sound good but the lack of actual play by play gives me a bad taste in my mouth.

Lasting Appeal - 8/10

There is a season mode that is comparable to franchise mode in Madden or dynasty mode in the NCAA series by EA. You play 20 seasons, sign free agents, and try to win the Arena Bowl. It doesn't have the depth that Madden's franchise mode has, but this is still the first installment. The Arena League has no draft but relies on an influx of talent from other leagues. Undrafted college players and NFL players who sit the bench often make up the talent pool the Arena League has to work with.

There are also a lot of unlockable classic teams for use in exhibition mode. You unlock them by completing tasks such as kicking a 40 yard field goal or winning the Arena Bowl during season mode. Various other challenges in the Arena Football 101 section also unlock classic teams. Nearly all teams are included with the exception of the Detroit Fury and Miami Hooters. The New Orleans Voo Doo, who were sent to play in Kansas City because of circumstances surrounding Hurricane Katrina, are considered a classic team. The only complaint with this classic team system I have is that these teams are unusable in season mode and not able to be edited to name the players. While I really think the feature of unlocking past teams is a great idea for a league that has had many relocated or folded franchises, including them in season mode and allowing their rosters to be edited would have made the lasting appeal soar. The inclusion of teams from the Arena Football League's minor league affiliate the AF2 would have been a nice touch as well.

Overall - 7/10 (not an average)

This game has a lot of appeal. It is a fun, fast paced football game. With a price tag of only $30, many more people will be able to experience this game. While it does contain a few flaws in terms of graphics and gameplay, it retains that charm and mystique of Arena Football and is a huge upgrade from the similar game featuring Kurt Warner in the title.

Rent or Buy?

If you like football games then you would probably like this game. If you are a fan of the Arena Football League then this is a definite buy. Since this is the only game of its kind other than a several year old game with outdated teams and rosters, I would recommend people give this game a look even if they don't follow the Arena Football league.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/14/06