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OverviewThere have been so many attempts to recreate the success of the NFL (National Football League), but none have really succeeded. It wasn’t long ago we saw the XFL, which failed miserably within a year, and the AFL went away pretty quick as well. The Arena Football League (AFL) however has been around for over ten years, and although it hasn’t grabbed a massive national audience, it does have a following as being a very high scoring and fast paced football experience. EA tried out their luck with the league last year and had moderate success, can their second try in Arena Football: Road to Glory for the PS2 continue down the right path?
Read our full review to find out! GameplayThere are some key differences that you need to understand that differentiates the game of football in the NFL to what you see in the AFL. First off, the AFL field is half the size of the NFL field, and has walls on all four sides making the sidelines enclosed, which by the way mean the walls do come into play. Nets also back the field; so on kick offs the ball can hit the net and be fair game. These two things are probably the two significant aspects that differ the AFL from the NFL, which in essence incorporate the much faster pace and the lack of a running game.EA had some interesting choices made when they were creating an Arena Football game, and for the most part they decided to go for a Madden-clone with some arcade like elements.
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The game functions almost identical to what you see in both the Madden and NCAA Football franchises, however like Arena football it does move a bit quicker than most will be used to. Also the game does take on some more arcade qualities than a typical Madden experience with some crazy catches and bigger than normal hits.The biggest problem that I and most people who pick up this game will have is that it lacks any sort of depth.
The game has the standard modes, none of which have been upgraded all that much. In fact, one of the most ridiculous upgrades I think is the AF2 league, which is the minor league for the Arena Football League.
Ok so if the AFL is the minor leagues for the NFL than what does that make the AF2? There are so many areas in which more time and detail could have been spent that would have far outweighed the benefit of having the AF2 teams in them. Heck, the average person will likely not know any of the AFL teams, why would they care about the AF2?With that being said, the game does have this quality to it that comes from playing an Arena Football style game. For those who are offensive hungry like myself will love the deep play ball that this game is set up for. The running game in Road to Glory is all but forgotten, and the few runs that you will run are usually some sorts of trick play. The passing is the key component of the game and works just like Madden. The only difference is it seems that in Road to Glory you get many more catches that otherwise would be interceptions or incompletion in other games.
The other big gameplay aspect to arena football are the walls, which EA has done a fantastic job of incorporating some great in the wall tackles that make the experience feel a bit more realistic.The final product for Road to Glory finds itself getting off the wrong way, as much of this game had the potential to be fantastic but there wasn’t enough done to bring this game to the next level. The gameplay does feel a bit rough around the edges, the modes are lackluster, and the overall experience could use a lot of improvement. GraphicsWhat were they thinking? That is all I have to say about the visuals in Arena Football: Road to Glory, which has some of the ugliest menus and play calling screens I have seen since the SNES. I understand the need to make this game feel a bit more of an 'arcade' experience, however the visuals of Road to Glory take that a step too far in the wrong direction. The animation in the game is also disappointing as it has some serious slowdown at times and unfortunately never seems to manage to stay all that consistent.
The visuals for Road to Glory definitely don’t seem like they got a lot of attention in the off-season that is really a bit letdown. Fun FactorLast year I played Arena Football and said that it had a lot of potential, and I come back to you this year and say once again that this game proves to have a lot of potential, unfortunately it was not tapped into very well in this game. The fact that EA has decided to use the AFL license to me seems like a brilliant move, because this could be the most entertaining game of football out there.
Who doesn’t like throwing for 400 yards and 6 touchdowns and still lose the game? Road to Glory has all the right ideas, but not all of the them are executed well enough for it to be a compelling and entertaining game to play. OverallI think the first bad sign for Road to Glory was that it was made for the PS2, that showed to me that EA still wasn’t sold enough on this product to bring it to the next generation consoles. However this time next year I would think that if EA puts the time in that a true Arena Football game needs, then we could see fantastic results.
Unfortunately, Road to Glory feels to much like last year’s game with the improvements only doing so much.
Submitted on: Mar 26, 2007 by Clay Shaver
The Arena Football League is scrappy. For 20 years now, it has fought tooth and nail to become a popular sport in the US. It never tried to compete with the NFL, or any of the other major sports for that matter. It never tried to be a mainstream event. The AFL knows what it is. It’s an exciting and action-packed version of football that is played by big strong men that were mere fractions of a second too slow or a half a dozen pounds too light to make it on Sundays. Professional athletes being paid to play a game, in front of fans willing to pay to see the product that they produce.
Over the past few years, the AFL has begun popping up more and more. You’d hear the stories about the celebrity owners like Jon Bon Jovi and John Elway. You’d turn on NBC on a spring Saturday and catch a game that you didn’t even know was on. You’d even catch the occasional highlight on your local news. You even heard about that big sports gaming developer that dropped an Arena Football title to, generally, pretty good reviews. With a new pact in place with minority shareholder ESPN, the AFL is teetering dangerously close to legitimacy. Well, at least as much as the NHL has these days.
With all of that, it’s no surprise that EA Sports decided to drop a second installment in their new AFL franchise with the release of Arena Football: Road to Glory on the PS2. As I said last year when I took a look at the debut version, I won’t get into the X’s and O’s of Arena Football. There are websites out there that can explain it a lot better than I can. Or, my suggestion: simply watch a game one afternoon and you’ll pick it up rather quickly. In a nutshell, the sports of Arena Football is a fast-paced, pass-heavy, high-scoring competition where combined scores are far more often over 100 than under. It’s kind of like playing Madden with your 12-year old cousin.
The nicest thing that I can tell you about Arena Football: Road to Glory is that it is just as good as last year’s version. The worst thing that I can tell you about it is that it is just as good as last year’s version. In fact, it is pretty darn close to being last year’s version.
Try as I might, I was only able to uncover a few notable changes when compared to the 2006 release. Unlike last year, you will find some creation function for players and teams that were not in before. It’s hard to call that an enhancement when it’s something that is so elementary in today’s sports gaming genre, that it should really be an a given.
Controls on the field are the same, with the game still slanted heavily towards the passing game (as they should be). They did add the ability to control both the QB and the receiver at the same time during a sequence. I thought that was a rock-solid idea even though it did add to the learning curve to the offensive controls, but I did find it difficult at times to not lose focus on my QB or instinctively force them into some strange synchronized swimming maneuver.
The Telemetry system is back and, to me, it's still the best part of Arena Football: Road to Glory. If you’re not familiar with last year’s game, this system basically keeps you updated on the condition of the players on the field, the situations and tendencies; all in real-time. When I first encountered the system, I was sure they were using this franchise to test the feature for Madden or NCAA releases. I still wouldn’t be surprised to see a migration.
Arena Football junkies will be happy to know that they have also included the AF2 in Arena Football: Road to Glory. For the novices out there, the AF2 is essentially the minor leagues of the AFL. If you thought the Chicago Rush and Grand Rapids Rampage were obscure, wait till you meet the Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings.
The sensory experience goes largely unchanged this year as well. While there appeared to be a few new animations, there was no significant improvement in how the players looked or moves. There really isn’t any personality to the arenas and you don’t feel drawn into the action like you can in other sports titles. I know the AFL is trying to add more flash to their broadcasts since joining ESPN, including hiring ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike as their #1 play-by-play team. On a bright note, I thought the soundtrack was full of a pretty good, yet predictable, collection of hard rock tracks. Not to sound like a broken record, but there’s so much that could have been done here that just simply wasn’t.
I had high hopes for this new franchise when it made its debut last year. EA Sports does not help the sports gaming industry's (usually untrue) stigma of the 'roster upgrade release' by putting out a product like this. With only a few minor changes, most of which should have been in the game last year, it would be impossible for me to recommend this game to anyone who still owns the previous release. Die-hard Arena Football fans may buy it simply for the inclusion of the AF2 players, but, even at the $29.99 price point, it is not worth a purchase for most returning players.
I still believe that this is a franchise that has legs and with the right dedication to improvement, can be a legitimate hit series. If you passed on last year’s version, it is certainly worth a look. It would be a shame if the decision on whether to continue with the franchise into the next-gen were based on the improvements from last year's product to this.
Over the past few years, the AFL has begun popping up more and more. You’d hear the stories about the celebrity owners like Jon Bon Jovi and John Elway. You’d turn on NBC on a spring Saturday and catch a game that you didn’t even know was on. You’d even catch the occasional highlight on your local news. You even heard about that big sports gaming developer that dropped an Arena Football title to, generally, pretty good reviews. With a new pact in place with minority shareholder ESPN, the AFL is teetering dangerously close to legitimacy. Well, at least as much as the NHL has these days.
With all of that, it’s no surprise that EA Sports decided to drop a second installment in their new AFL franchise with the release of Arena Football: Road to Glory on the PS2. As I said last year when I took a look at the debut version, I won’t get into the X’s and O’s of Arena Football. There are websites out there that can explain it a lot better than I can. Or, my suggestion: simply watch a game one afternoon and you’ll pick it up rather quickly. In a nutshell, the sports of Arena Football is a fast-paced, pass-heavy, high-scoring competition where combined scores are far more often over 100 than under. It’s kind of like playing Madden with your 12-year old cousin.
The nicest thing that I can tell you about Arena Football: Road to Glory is that it is just as good as last year’s version. The worst thing that I can tell you about it is that it is just as good as last year’s version. In fact, it is pretty darn close to being last year’s version.
Try as I might, I was only able to uncover a few notable changes when compared to the 2006 release. Unlike last year, you will find some creation function for players and teams that were not in before. It’s hard to call that an enhancement when it’s something that is so elementary in today’s sports gaming genre, that it should really be an a given.
Controls on the field are the same, with the game still slanted heavily towards the passing game (as they should be). They did add the ability to control both the QB and the receiver at the same time during a sequence. I thought that was a rock-solid idea even though it did add to the learning curve to the offensive controls, but I did find it difficult at times to not lose focus on my QB or instinctively force them into some strange synchronized swimming maneuver.
The Telemetry system is back and, to me, it's still the best part of Arena Football: Road to Glory. If you’re not familiar with last year’s game, this system basically keeps you updated on the condition of the players on the field, the situations and tendencies; all in real-time. When I first encountered the system, I was sure they were using this franchise to test the feature for Madden or NCAA releases. I still wouldn’t be surprised to see a migration.
Arena Football junkies will be happy to know that they have also included the AF2 in Arena Football: Road to Glory. For the novices out there, the AF2 is essentially the minor leagues of the AFL. If you thought the Chicago Rush and Grand Rapids Rampage were obscure, wait till you meet the Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings.
The sensory experience goes largely unchanged this year as well. While there appeared to be a few new animations, there was no significant improvement in how the players looked or moves. There really isn’t any personality to the arenas and you don’t feel drawn into the action like you can in other sports titles. I know the AFL is trying to add more flash to their broadcasts since joining ESPN, including hiring ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike as their #1 play-by-play team. On a bright note, I thought the soundtrack was full of a pretty good, yet predictable, collection of hard rock tracks. Not to sound like a broken record, but there’s so much that could have been done here that just simply wasn’t.
I had high hopes for this new franchise when it made its debut last year. EA Sports does not help the sports gaming industry's (usually untrue) stigma of the 'roster upgrade release' by putting out a product like this. With only a few minor changes, most of which should have been in the game last year, it would be impossible for me to recommend this game to anyone who still owns the previous release. Die-hard Arena Football fans may buy it simply for the inclusion of the AF2 players, but, even at the $29.99 price point, it is not worth a purchase for most returning players.
I still believe that this is a franchise that has legs and with the right dedication to improvement, can be a legitimate hit series. If you passed on last year’s version, it is certainly worth a look. It would be a shame if the decision on whether to continue with the franchise into the next-gen were based on the improvements from last year's product to this.
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out of 10
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