I
don't know why, but I love the Arena Football League. I find it
so much more exciting than "real" stadium football.
Why? I guess because it's even more fast paced than the average
football game. For those of you unfamiliar with the sport, it's
almost like watching NFL Blitz but with real people. The rules
are different and make the game a bit more out there and "extreme"
if I can borrow that tired buzz word. The game of Arena football
is played on a 50 yard field, which is half the size of Stadium
football, the sides of the arena are cement and if the ball bounces
off of it, it is still in play before it hits the ground, no punting
is allowed and the ball is still "live" once it comes
out of the net after a field goal. So there is a lot of action
going on.
"You've
played better versions of this game engine already."
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Kurt
Warner who used to play with the Iowa Barnstomers before going
up to the "big leagues" and joining the St. Louis Rams
(earning them the Superbowl and him MVP) is your main man who
actually doesn't even play Arena Football anymore. Hmmm... "Is
this dump truck filled with enough money, Mr. Warner, and if so
should we just dump it on the lawn?" Now I'm not chastising
Kurt for selling out and putting his now recognizable name on
a license of a game he doesn't even play any more, but, hey wait
a minute, I guess I am. Anyway, he actually got lucky (not Tony
Hawk lucky) but definitely more lucky than if he would have slapped
his name on an NFL Arena game using the NFL Extreme engine from
989 Studios. Shudder...You see, this little Arena Football game
uses the NFL Blitz engine, which in it's own right, is pretty
good. However, the graphics took a bit of a beating for some reason
as the look of the game isn't as sharp as recent Blitz games on
the PSX.
There
are a ton of plays and the gameplay is fast and exciting expecially
if you actually understand and enjoy Arena Football. There is
some definite gameplay glitches and the CPU does some odd things
over and over especially when on Offense. My concern is that if
you are a Blitz fan there may not be all that much here to entice
you, that you haven't already experienced. As in the Blitz games
everything is over the top: violence, commentary, music and speed.
But you've played better versions of this game engine already
and with it's lack of visual polish and AI troubles, you might
just want to sit on the bench with this one.
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