Seeing as how we can't turn to the XFL anymore for hardcore football entertainment (and I was just getting used to the cheerleader locker room camera, too), and how I absolutely refuse to play the crapfest that was Kurt Warner's Arena Football Unleashed for PlayStation, I found my football-playing options outside of the NFL to be very, very limited. Of course, there's always the AFL, an arena football league that uses a smaller field, definitely smaller goal posts (we're talking maybe the width of a friggin' person), and more intensity, as there are no wussy sidelines to run out on, just walls to collide into. I figured it would be a matter of time before EA tried to tackle (ahem) this sport in a video game, and the result has arrived.

Arena Football attempts to bring forth the action of the AFL, with all the teams, the players, the arenas, and the plays that the thunderous sport is known for. Want to do a match-up with San Diego taking on the world champion Colorado Crush? Even John Elway has to be smirking at that possibility. Fans are sure to eat up the opportunities that this game provides.

But notice that I lean heavily on the term "attempts". That's because, despite EA Tiburon's best effort to deliver a fresh approach to their football engine, something just doesn't click with it. That's not to say that the game is a suck-fest like that aforementioned Kurt Warner-licensed abomination. It's certainly better than that. But those expecting the kind of sheer volume to their sport that the Madden games gave to the NFL will find themselves a bit empty-handed.

Probably the main thing that sticks out in this product over Madden is the slightly revamped gameplay system. There's still offensive and defensive plays aplenty, but the energy of the action is a little more pumped-up. A ball can bounce off the wall and still stay live, working its way into the hands of a waiting player or just waiting to be intercepted. Tackles also get more vicious, almost on the level of the Midway series NFL Blitz, where you're knocking some poor schlep off the field and into a waiting refreshment table of Gatorade products. (Or whatever happens to be served the time...I'd prefer beer.)

With this gameplay system comes an awesome new feature called the "telemetry system". By making a quick tap on the right analog stick, you can actually read the fatigue on players, seeing who's at full energy and who's rather weakened, and help set up a big play that will bring forth a huge scoring drive. This is a great system and it really works well for such a formula, and I hope it sticks around for future installments.