Arena Football Road to Glory: What’s The Difference?
Jason Lucas
Sunday February 25, 2007
The first glaring problem with this video game is the exact same problem everyone complained about with the first game. The one minute timing rules are very flawed in that the clock does not stop after passing touchdowns. My question is this, who dropped the ball here? The AFL who should have had specialists testing the game to make sure all of the unique rules of the AFL were preserved? Can we blame EA Sports for not realizing they had made a mistake last season by not having these rules correct in the first place?
Whatever the case, someone should be held accountable and a change should be made. Especially now that the play clock counts down from 35 seconds, this can be a real big advantage for the player with the lead. With the rules being so misconstrued like this a player is nearly forced to save all three of their timeouts if they plan on making a comeback. Not only that, but you have to try and score rushing touchdowns to stop the clock if you are down by more than one score or else you are scoring and quickly calling timeout.
There are a few differences in the game, but they are very subtle. A little bit bigger of a deal is made about touchdowns by the PA announcer Gene Deckerhoff. Also you can hear the fans reactions to plays a lot louder than you could in last year’s game. The players have not changed their celebrations they do in the end zones and they still get hit by the opposing player during nearly every one of them.
The one timing rule change they did get right is changing the play clock from 25 seconds to 35 seconds. This change will allow a lesser player who likes to drive the ball stay in the game longer against a better player and definitely limit possessions. For those types of players who like to grind out the clock it will be important for you to find different ways to run the ball and different short passes you can complete at a high percentage.
The newest feature is a kicking competition in which the ball is placed in different spots on the field and you have to make all of your field goals in a row or you will be eliminated. This mode allows you to show off your field goal kicking skills against some of the other kickers in the league. The best I have done so far is six in a row in two tries. Field goal kicking woes caused me a lot of trouble in last year’s video game challenge in Las Vegas so that is something I will really be working on this year.
The most realistic part of the game is how difficult it is to play defense in the AFL. Your best bet at being successful defensively is putting pressure on the opposing quarterback often. Forcing fumbles and interceptions is just as key to winning in a video game as it is in a real game. The game has built in controls for you to cover the different receivers with double and even triple coverage. The only time you would use this control is if a receiver is really killing you and you are playing against a player who is forcing the ball to the same receiver on every play. The words to live by when playing defense is always bend, but don’t break. Where your defense has to be at its very best is inside the red zone. When an opposing team gets down there you have to try and control your speediest linebacker or your best tackling defensive back so you can get extra run support.
Defense wins championships, but the reason we are fans of the AFL is the high scoring offenses. The biggest thing to playing offense in this game is reading the coverage of the defense and adjusting your receivers' routes to get them as open as possible. The defense playing press coverage will usually tip off a man-to-man coverage. When that happens you want to try and get your receiver who is in motion to run straight down the field and beat his defender. More often than not a defense giving a receiver a cushion is playing some fashion of a zone defense. A zone defense lends itself to post routes and your shorter hammer routes.
The game also features an option to select a receiver and change his route at the line. Struggling to get open? Look no further than picking a receiver and controlling what route he runs. As an offense it’s very important to vary your play calling to keep the defense guessing. That is when you run your sweeps, dives, sneaks, and screens to your fullbacks, receivers, and tight ends. Sometimes the best defense is a good and time consuming offense. After years and years of watching Jay Gruden offenses in Orlando one thing I have learned is short passes and a good running game can set up the deeper fly and post routes.
Overall I cannot be too disappointed with the new game. While the one minute timing rules are screwed up again, it does give more incentive to being ahead when those rules take effect. Once you learn how to massage those rules to your advantage you too will be winning the close games like I do. If you did not buy the game last year I especially recommend you go out and buy this game if for no other reason than it could be your last chance to get an AFL video game made by EA Sports.
Jason Lucas is a part-time freelance writer based in the Orlando, Florida area. A former director of media relations with the Orlando Predators, Jason is making his return to Arenafan.com after a short stint as a public relations assistant with the UFL‘s Florida Tuskers in 2010. Lucas has followed the AFL since 1992 and began covering the Predators for Arenafan during the 2004 season. He held that position until being picked up by the Preds front office after the 2007 season. Jason‘s knowledge of arena football and love of the game is what drives him to continue covering the sport.
