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The NFL's little brother grows up
With Arena Football, EA has produced a game that I enjoy more than this year's Madden. Before you tear up the paper, yelling, "Blasphemer!" take an honest look back at this year's Madden 2006. The bottom line was that "QB Vision" did not shed light on any extra cash in my wallet to justify the purchase. Madden was a victim of its own ability to always raise the bar. At least there was the Hall of Fame this year, John. Join those Cleveland Browns fans whose catch phrase is the perennial, "Maybe next year." I'm still relatively new to the AFL and learning all of the rules of the game (the game does a great job filling you in with in-game lessons), but what I've got so far is that Arena Football is all about the pass. The Mac and Jack linebackers are under strict orders about when and how they can attack. It takes some practice to put that Polamalu instinct on the backburner. The fact that these players play on both sides of the ball is cool and it underscores the fact that many of them hold down "day jobs." There's something about a blue collar football player that's much more interesting than the current collective bargaining agreement battle between NFL owners (billionaires) and NFL players (millionaires). Arena Football has this "All Time Quarterback" feel that makes it vaguely reminiscent of the backyard football we all played as kids. The game is sort of NFL Street-ish without the street and the cartoon-like players with Romanowski-esque charm. Visually, the game is full of great animations. It's an absolute blast to crush someone into the field's walls or to be crushed and keep on running. Before you know it you'll be launching bombs down the 50-yard field or kicking powerhouse field goals through those narrow uprights. I'm getting better at letting my running game atrophy a bit, in favor of the pass. All in all, Arena Football is a great value at $29.99. It will definitely get plenty of airplay this spring; for me its heaviest competition for game system time is EA's third incarnation of the Fight Night series. There's a purity at the heart of EA's first foray into the AFL. Get into it, while fans like you are still the most important part of the game. In the Game: Arena Football Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox Sick features: While pro football sims stretch to impress with phat graphics and slick new camera angles, Arena Football charms with an old-school style of play hearkening back to those famed backyard clashes and street-corner pass routes. You know, run a go pattern to the broken-down Chevy, fake the post at the stop sign and come back on a buttonhook. If that doesn't work, just go deep. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com |
Arena football is lame and cheesy. Arena football is NFL
light—half the field, half the talent, etc. These are just a few of the
preconceptions I had about the indoor, spring football league. Hell, whenever
Jon Bon Jovi is involved you can rest assured there's Velveeta nearby, or so I
thought. I was confident; my case against Arena football was airtight. But I
soon realized that I was wrong.
