Arena Football is something a bit different than your usual sports game, and it will entertain you for a while.

User Rating: 7.5 | Arena Football PS2
By DeathStar17 | Review Date:
GAMEPLAY: Arena Football appears to be a mix between NFL Blitz and Madden, but it winds up feeling like something entirely different. Arena Football has only a 50 yard field, and only allows 8 players on the field at a time. Players play offense and defense which certainly mixes things up, and Arena Football has its own set of rules and regulations. Even with those changes though, Arena Football isn’t revolutionary because it simply feels like a variation of your standard football game. The A.I. in Arena Football were a bit disappointing due to the fact that on defense you will feel like they are glued to your receivers. And on offense they won’t do anything out of the ordinary to make a play. It’s odd that it can be very difficult to complete a pass due to the crazy defenders, but I found my blowing out everyone because of my defense. Eventually you learn what passes work and which don’t, from the rather small and generic playbook. I found running the ball to be entirely worthless in Arena Football because you can never seem to get anywhere, so I just stuck to passing. Overall, the gameplay is pretty good because of the things that make Arena Football different such as: hitting people over the walls, being able to play the ball of the nets and walls, and being able to kick a field goal from anywhere (although the kicking system may take you a while to get used to).

GRAPHICS: The graphics are nothing new, but they due the job pretty well most of the time (although there is some occasional slowdown). An interesting idea that the developers incorporated into Arena Football was the use of cutscenes during the game. Most of them are just players being mean to each other, beating each other up and such. To me the cutscenes felt kind of cheesy because they were trying to be serious, and I actually laughed at a few of them.

SOUND: Arena Football has a large soundtrack and it consists of almost entirely all rock music, so if you like rock music then you may enjoy this soundtrack. Some of the bands in the game are: Korn, Thousand Foot Krutch, Under Oath, Avenged SevenFold, and British Beef, just to name a few. Also, the in game sounds are pretty well done.

VALUE: Arena Football is rather lacking in the gameplay modes department, it has quickplay, exhibition, season, online, tutorial, and challenge mode. I do not have online, so I cannot comment about that mode, but I did complete my first season and challenge mode. Season mode is just a standard season mode, where you pick your team and take them all the way to the Arena Bowl. Challenge mode gives you specific objectives to accomplish, and every time you complete one you unlock a bonus team. I enjoyed challenge mode, but I found it to be too short. Note: The starting price for Arena Football is $29.99.

TILT: Overall, Arena Football is something a bit different than your usual sports game, and it will entertain you for a while. Some people may find it better to just rent this one to play with some friends, but for $30 it’s not a bad alternative to Madden or NCAA football.

Other Helpful Reviews for Arena Football

  • Rating:8.2

    Great Potential!

    By BlackLaser2 | Review Date: Feb 26, 2006 | PS2

    I played the heck out of this one and i got to say it was not nearly as addicting as Madden or NFL Street, but it could be an amazing game in a year or two with the sport's growing popularity. It is definitely a challeng... Read Full Review

    4 of 4 users found the following review helpful
  • Rating:8.7

    Fun, and entertaining

    By fishzone | Review Date: Mar 26, 2006 | PS2

    I was slightly skeptical when I picked this game up. I needed a new game to play and I figured I'd give Arena Football a try. Coming into the game with lower expectations than normal, I was very impressed with the gamepl... Read Full Review

    3 of 3 users found the following review helpful
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