In many ways, Arena Football makes for the ideal videogame. It's heavily slanted toward scoring; it's extremely fast paced; easy to learn, and there's an ample amount of smack talk thrown in for good measure. This is not a game to get all riled up about a lack of realism. It's all about offense. Think of it as a more toned down and "realistic" version of NFL Blitz, only with Arena League rules and players. The problem is that Arena Football is like a big heaping serving of cotton candy – there just isn't much to it after you take a bite.

Part of the problem is in the design but there's also an issue with the subject matter itself. While many of the different rules, such as the 50 yard field, the fact that the game is 8-on-8 and in Iron Man style (players play both ways), the extra thin goal posts, and the hockey style sideline boards that are in play all fit perfectly into a videogame, other rules don't mesh too well. Take defense, for example. In the arena game, only one linebacker may blitz, and he has to blitz inside the tackles; if you blitz off the edge it's a penalty. There's also no defensive line stunting or defensive shifting. As a result, controlling a linebacker or defensive lineman is about as much fun as watching paint dry. Controlling a defensive back definitely keeps you more on your toes (because teams pass roughly 80 percent of the time) but it's extremely difficult to play this role and is more frustrating than fun.

Aside from a few rules that don't translate too well, there are the usual AI holes and gameplay issues that mar many games in the EA Sports retinue of football games. It doesn't matter if the game is NCAA Football or Arena League football – there's no excuse for non-existent deep pass secondary AI. It is way too easy to just sit back and heave a bomb to a receiver 40 yards downfield – all game long. The only way to combat this AI hole is to play on the hardest level of difficulty and tweak the in-game sliders so that it's dreadfully difficult to pass on any route other than a deep ball. You can avoid this little snag by not calling fly patterns, but where's the fun in that? With the limited playbooks available in the game, if you take away the streak patterns you are really limiting yourself. It's a shame that EA Sports simply cannot (or will not) fix this issue as it continues to plague every game that uses this engine.

The graphics are also a step behind other games in the EA Sports line. That's not too surprising as the game undoubtedly received less financial backing compared to Madden and NCAA Football. Still, the crowds are nearly opaque and the uniforms a tad on the muddy side. The animations aren't too bad, though; in fact there are some bone shattering hits delivered in the game – much more violent than anything you'll see in Madden. The sound is a huge letdown, however. You get a lot of stadium music, noise, and some smack talking (and the ever annoying EA Trax) but there is literally no play by play –none. All you get is the same PA announcer that is in every EA football game. For a game that is trying to be new and exciting, the lack of a high energy play by play announcer is a bit of a shock.

So there are a lot of problems with the game, but it's not a complete lost cause. Arena Football is a highly entertaining two-player game. When you take the AI out of the equation, the flaws as masked a bit. Of course this doesn't make playing defense any more fun. There are also a few innovations worth mentioning. The kick meter is a nice twist as it uses a rocking motion like a golf swing rather than the usual tri-click method. Also, the Telemetry system of checking player fatigue is a fantastic addition and will hopefully be brought over to Madden and NCAA. You can see the fatigue level of your entire team with a flick of the analog stick and certain actions performed on the field have a direct impact of the level of fatigue – it is not just limited to sprinting too much.

Still, there is a question of longevity with Arena Football. Despite the fact that the game has a franchise mode of sorts (you sign free agents in the off season rather than holding a draft), this isn't the kind of game that you'll most likely play multiple seasons as you would Madden or NCAA unless you're simply a die-hard Arena League fan. The game simply doesn't have the legs for it. You could use the argument that the game is only $30 and that you can't ask for too much with such a reduced price point. The problem is that EA Sports recently released MVP NCAA 06 for the same amount, and it's a much better baseball game than Arena Football is a football game. In the case of the latter you are getting what you pay for. - William Abner