EA is trying to challenge us to think differently about fitness on the Wii with their new program, EA Sports Active. Complete with thigh strap and resistance band, the game gives us what other’s have tried, our own customizable fitness trainer in a box. So, how does EA Sports Active compare and is it worth your time?

Gameplay

Starting out, you’ll be asked to setup your profile that ignores the system’s cartoonish Mii’s for an avatar that you design to look more like yourself. Players input some of their primary stats, namely their age, weight and height, though this seems to only be important for the fitness advice. Once created, you’re given several options, start your Journal, take the 30 Day Challenge, or make your own exercise regimen.


The game strongly suggests starting with the Journal, where it tracks lifestyle, nutrition and additional activity. Users take a short survey covering daily lifestyle and nutrition questions which asks them to rate how often or how long they consumed or performed specific tasks. Additional activities are pre-listed and asks users to list how long they performed each activity and at what intensity. Still, these features feel thrown in at the last minute. A good portion of total screen time is spent telling you how many calories you’ve burned throughout your workout; yet, users can’t enter in their dietary intake, it’s not even an option. I was equally surprised that it didn’t even offer players their BMI.

There are two peripherals that come with EA Sports Active, the thigh strap and the resistance band, and while the strap surprised me with its high quality, the resistance band was a little disappointing. The band comes unassembled, and the idea is so that people of different height can adjust and readjust the band to fit the level of resistance they require. While I understand what they’re trying to achieve, I would have preferred something more professional rather than attempt to tie and untie knots, some of which get pulled very tightly after exercising. The thigh band comes packaged as one size fits most, and the fit comfortably; however, when attempting to fit over clothing, its neoprene covering had a tendency to slip.

Players can opt to take the 30 day challenge, which is endorsed by Oprah’s Trainer, Bob Greene. The 30 challenge sets up 20 minute workouts during a 7 day period, building in two days of rest. It’s very easy to follow, and you can do it whenever you want. The workout is adjustable to remove undesirable sets. Nevertheless, those 20 minutes will leave you sweating buckets, especially if you aren’t used to it. If you don’t want to commit to a 30 day regimen, then perhaps using one of the numerous preset workouts or create your own is best. This gears your routine towards your needs and gives the program a huge amount of flexibility. Overall, all workouts break down into four basic types: cardio, sports, upper and lower body. Players can do all this either alone or together with friend’s and family.


While Active is among the first of its kind, it’s far from perfect, but don’t worry, it doesn’t detract from the overall program. There’s specific points where players will lose positioning and the program fails to guide them back using the trainer’s avatar. This made me feel that I was being penalized for mistakes. The exercises also lack description causing you to go into them blindly based on their names with no way out until they have been completed. Many of the exercises are just longer versions or harder versions of the previous ones. I think a better customization would have helped the program out. Finding exercises that concentrate on specific muscle groups are difficult if you aren’t already very familiar with them all. Lastly, you can cheat most of the exercises if you really want to, though it offers no benefit to you.

One small note, if you have the Wii Fit balance board, it is compatible with Active. The only problem I ran into was that it really wasn’t needed; it was very difficult to discern when it was usable. I would have liked some more integration of the Balance Board like stair stepping exercises.

Graphics & Sound

The game uses a realistic looking avatar system opposed to the Mii’s. While it’s not anything stunning, it’s definitely a huge improvement for the Wii Fit mannequin looking avatars. You’re able to select from a variety of faces, hair styles, and clothing; though, at times, I felt like I was being given too much of one feature, and not enough of another. Videos are available for each exercise where they establish a baseline of how the exercise is performed. These were nice quality, especially for the Wii, we’re so accustomed to cartoon looking characters; it was a nice change to see these crisp videos.


Voice-over’s from your trainer never felt contrived or fake, but rather encouraging and genuine. I just wish when I made a mistake the voice over’s wouldn’t drop to the on screen text that reads like a technical manual. Still, even when I wasn’t performing as I should (it’s hard to power walk the run section) the trainer’s voice-over was still extremely encouraging.


Value

Trophies will challenge you to do better each time, ultimately the exercises are kept to a minimum repetitiveness keeping your attention despite the fact that you’re exercising! The program opts to give you the choice to increase resistance and difficulty to help keep momentum. The program also sets goals for you to help with encouragement; while I would have preferred the ability to set my own goals it is rewarding to surpass these by leaps and bounds. Don’t think you’ll get out of a workout and come back either, the calendar will track when you’ve exercised and when you’ve rested. Ultimately, the value here is in the money you’ll save over gym memberships and gas.

Conclusion

EA hasn’t marketed their new program for those looking to lose weight or get in shape; rather it’s been marketed to help keep people active, hence the name, EA Sports Active. Despite this, some will still add it as part of their weight loss program, some will still use it to help them get in shape (guilty as charged), other’s will see it as a good reason to stay fit. Whatever you’re reason, EA may have unlocked the way to get gamers’ off the couch and maybe, save us some money on gym fee’s during the current economy. I’m happy to trade a one-time fee of 60 dollars against my recurring monthly membership at the gym which comes in at around 90 dollars!

In the long run, it’s a cheap and fun alternative, the sports section lets you forget your working out. It might have some minor flaws, they do no detract from the game’s overall message, to get you active, and as of now, nothing else comes close to giving you a total gym workout than EA Sports Active.