Xbox

Arena Football

The huge expanse that is the time between the end of a football season (an end that is a painful one for the majority of fans) and the beginning of a new one can be a long road to travel. Once the Madden ship has sailed it should be comforting for football fans to know that they’ll have another football game coming their way after a few months. It may not be quite as fancy as its big brother, but Arena Football still does its job very nicely. It might be tough to pinpoint one single aspect of the game that shines above the rest, but it’s an overall functional package that will help the pain until the big show comes back in town next season.

Arena Football is a technically solid game overall, and its only major stumbling point is simply its subject matter. Arena Football – the sport – may be perfectly designed to emphasize high scoring and high action in real life, but on the gaming consoles it comes across as cramped and chaotic, yet strangely regimented.

Arena Football has the potential to be a nice counter to Madden, but as it stands now, is just a poorly thrown Hail Mary.

If this game sounds like it should be a freebie feature in Madden or if you're asking yourself why you don't just play NFL Street (which is more fun despite its faults), you're not wrong. I have no idea why this title was even made.

It captures the speed and offensive mindset of the game. Does it need more? There's a lot of room here for progress, and with an extra year of time to program with, Arena Football could be something special. Fans shouldn't wait, but the curious should.

Arena Football is perhaps best received as a football enthusiast's introduction to the rules of the AFL. It'll take some getting used to before you stop being penalized for simple mistakes, but the game does a good job of indoctrinating new players to the sport. As a stand-alone game of football, it doesn't quite compare to Tiburon's Madden games, or even Blitz: The League for that matter. We encountered a few animation bugs during online play, and duplicated players during the fantasy draft, questionable issues for the retail version of the game. Still, the solid online play saves Arena Football from being a dust-gatherer, as sometimes it can be fun to run up a high-scoring game against decent competition. Arena Football was released at a considerable price reduction compared to other Xbox games, debuting in stores at $29.99. While this may be a bargain for those without the highest standards, it's important to remember that with many video games, you get what you pay for.

Seeing as how they've already dominated the NFL football realm, EA Sports is going at it again, this time tackling the world of the AFL with Arena Football for the Xbox and PS2. Only problem is, this feels more like a rushed shovel pass than your glorified hail mary for the full-blown seven. Fans will find plenty to enjoy, as the frenetic, pounding action of the sport seems to be intact, but many might find themselves left out by the tacked-on presentation and season mode. Not even some sharp gameplay ideas can stop this game from going to the opposing team at Madden.