“Arena Football”

Electronic Arts

Stars: 4 1/2 out of 5

Platforms: PS2, Xbox

The fast-paced, hard-hitting, offense-accelerated entity that encompasses the arena football experience has finally sacked store shelves (and hopefully video game consoles) throughout the nation, thanks to the sports game masterminds at Electronic Arts.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Arena Football League, “Arena Football” would seem similar to America’s pigskin pastime on the surface, but there are several differences. Games are played indoors with eight-man teams, 50-yard fields and a surrounding wall that will make any player look like a stud for taking a spill over it in the middle of a tough catch.

EA Sports has done a stellar job capturing the general experience of arena football with all of its unique rules and style of play. The most crucial aspect was capturing the insanely fast-paced, offense-oriented atmosphere, while still putting emphasis on the defensive rules that give arena football its unique flavor. They also had to incorporate the concept that players in arena football play on both sides of the ball during games.

The tackles in this game are very brutal and NFL Blitz-like in nature, and even a little extreme compared to the real-life sport, but this makes the game more appealing.

EA Sports also did gamers a service by making the controls and general game play mechanics similar to the Madden NFL games; learning the functions of what certain buttons do is relatively simple.

Although “Arena Football” is a spectacular title for a first try in the AFL market, there are a few things that could be changed. Perhaps the most frustrating is the rule that the mac linebacker can only pass rush between defensive linemen and not around the end, and the jack linebacker can only rush under even more restricting circumstances.

This sometimes makes the linebackers a liability to control because it is easy for players to get “offside” and have a penalty called against them.

Another frustrating feature is the kicking controls.

Kicks are made by pulling back on the right analog stick for power, then pushing it forward for accuracy.

Although realistic, the sensitivity of the analog stick and the lack of human coordination make kicking the ball out of bounds, and thus earning a penalty, a common occurrence that would drive one to utter four-letter words.

The game has some fun extras with it, such as the create-a-team mode, in which players can build their own franchise and take the team from pathetic to powerhouse.

The only thing that should be fixed about this mode is the depth. Players must choose from extremely cheesy preset team logos, and the editing mode won’t allow enough letters to be entered for players to create a team from Cedar Rapids, so one might have to settle for a team from Ames instead.

Perhaps the coolest feature in “Arena Football” is the ability to control the game as both the quarterback or a wide receiver. Controlling a receiver means gamers can run their own passing routes and not have to follow whatever play has been called. This would seem like a one-way ticket to chaotic confusion and missed plays, but the artificial intelligence seems to have no trouble adjusting and throwing a pass to the stray receiver anyway.

EA Sports has delivered yet another solid sports franchise with its first serving of “Arena Football.” Anyone can get “in the game” with this title, even those who get bored watching the NFL.