You just finished watching the Super Bowl and pretty much played out your latest version of Madden. You’re all pumped up and want to release your energy somewhere. Well, that’s where Arena Football comes in. This is a game with exactly what you’re looking for, points and pain. EA went ahead and got the exclusive license to create Arena Football from the AFL with their Madden / NCAA football development team creating it, EA Tiburon. The game consists of everything Arena Football is including the glory of giving hard hits, high scoring points, and more brutal tackling with smack talk sweetening the pot. If you want something to get rid of all that energy boiling in your veins after the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl or just for fun, this the game your looking for.
The Features
• Feel the Rumble – Pulverize the competition and wreak havoc as you hand out huge hits that crush players into and over the walls!
• High-Octane Gameplay – Fast-paced, high-scoring offenses dominate the league—light up the scoreboard with an all-out aerial assault using playbooks created by actual Arena coaches.
• All-New Telemetry – For the first time ever in sports gaming, instantly get real-time information about your opponent. An in-game telemetry system provides an immediate review of scoring history, passing tendencies, and player health allowing you to capitalize on your opponent’s weaknesses.
• Ironman Football – This is old-school football … six of eight players are on both sides of the ball. Use the telemetry system to identify and replace tired players before they give up a big play.
• Experience the Excitement – The arena comes alive with fans, fireworks, and a rock-concert atmosphere.
• Revolutionary Kicking Game – Split the uprights from any location on the Arena field with the all-new analog kicking controls that give you total command over every kick.
• Become an Arena Great – Build an Arena powerhouse and take it to the promise land in Season mode or challenge the best players in the nation with head-to-head online play.
• Personalize Your Game – Create a dominant player and a customized team then take the league by storm.
This is the first game consisting of the AFL franchise. At first glance, Arena Football may look like a rundown version of Madden or even a shiny version of Blitz. It’s actually a fast paced football game consisting of a 50 yard long field barricaded with walls like a hockey rink. It’s its own kind of game with its own kind of rules. 8 on 8 players going for the gold, to win! You have all the teams available in the AFL from the Las Vegas Gladiators to the New York Dragons. The game includes Season Mode, Practice Mode, Xbox Live, and Exhibition. You can also create your very own player and customize your own team to dominate the season. The plays are even replicated with the real plays the teams would face in choosing in their own big games. They might not be much, but their enough to show the opposing team what you are made of.
If you looking for a game with plenty of running plays, then you’re in for a surprise. You mostly will be throwing the ball rather then running it. It’s more efficient for scoring. You can run the ball, but you’ll notice very soon your better off throwing it. The best thing about it though, it’s actually much easier to make a catch controlling the receiver. You’ll notice right away that you will be catching the ball while you are controlling the receiver rather then the computer doing so. The feeling of catching the ball on your own while diving is quite the adrenaline. This shows what Arena Football really is. You could also control the receiver before the snap and let the quarterback be controlled by the computer. It’s a cool, tricky feature especially when playing online with other players or against a friend.
Now let’s get to the part everyone loves, the tackling. The tackling is great. The animations used are even better then the ones in Blitz and there are plenty of them. Think of football with hockey. You can literally knock the player out right over the wall as much as you want throughout the game. You and another teammate can annihilate the opposing player with the ball with devastating tackles that will send the player spinning out of control in the air. Coaches even tend to stay on the field near the line of scrimmage so if you feel like taking the opposing teams coach or even your own out, go for it!
It might take many players who have never watched AFL to get used to the rules. At first you’ll be called on a few penalties, but in time you will understand the scheme. Also, between every loading screen, all the rules are shown to you so within a few games, you’ll totally understand the game.
The kicking is different then what most people are used to nowadays. It’s nothing like Madden, but more like when you are swinging the club in Tiger Woods PGA Tour. You aim where you want to kick the ball, press back on the analog stick to start the power meter and push forward to unleash it. It’s easy once you get used to it. In general, the controls are pretty straight forward, they are not much different from other football game. For the first time ever, EA Tiburon added in a telemetry system. Throughout the game, you can see how your players are doing with scoring, passing, and health. All of it is real time. If they are tired and all, you can easily switch them out before you give up a hefty amount of points because of them.
The season mode is nothing like the franchise mode in Madden. It’s very empty. You can’t do much and there is no draft. You’re left with nothing but to keep playing and winning through 20 seasons. It’s very simple. There is no development for your team. You simple resign your players or hire free agents. Exhibition and Online play is pure fun though. Playing with another player makes the game what many consumers want, fun! In online play, you have ranked games, leader boards, with four and eight player tournaments. This game is meant to be played with someone else.
The visuals are sharp and intact. The player models are well done, and the fields are accurate. The crowd is very dull. EA could of at least given them sort of personality rather then a boring cheer and boo every now and then. Instead of including a broadcasting team, there is a PA announcer instead. He is very boring and makes John Madden look like a hero in broadcasting. The nice part though is when you are hitting other players on the field or getting hit, a ton of smack talk is thrown around even from the coaches. It’s very entertaining and comical at times especially when someone is asking you who’s your daddy.
Arena Football is something new, something fresh, and something that can bring you some joy in mere minutes. Its fun, it’s fast paced, it’s hard hitting, and it’s got the smack talk to back it all up. If you’re the kind of person who wants to show others what you’re made of through power and glory, then this is the game for you. It’s the first outing of Arena Football and so far it shows some great promise for future ones. For $29.99, you really can’t go wrong. Don’t go running for your mommy if you can’t handle it though.
