EA Sports Active Review

Perfect fit?

Version tested: Wii

Something strange happened last April. I started running. Outside. Three times a week. Regular as clockwork. The same month, Nintendo launched Wii Fit. No coincidence. I've barely touched Wii Fit in the last year, but I'm still running.

However thick the layer of dust now on the balance boards of early adopters, if the continued soaraway success of Wii Fit tells us anything, it's that there is at the very least an appetite amongst Wii owners to be healthier. Of course, for others there remains an appetite to binge on KFC until chicken fat dribbles from their squinting, bloodshot eyes, but such is the nature of gaming's ever-broadening audience.

The genius of Wii Fit is that it made exercise fun, just as Brain Training did it for maths. Aside from all the yoga flailing and straight-faced routines, it was packed with charming, foolish, unmistakably Nintendo mini-games that were a lark to play, especially with others, and effectively tricked you into physical exertion without you thinking about it.

EA Sports Active wouldn't exist without Nintendo's prior success here. Wii Fit proved not just that there's an audience for virtual fitness (let's bury that dreadful 'exergaming' tag for good, please), but that it can also sell squillions. (Wii Fit is currently number 4 in the UK charts, over a year after release; two spots, incidentally, above EA Sports Active).

A PE teacher in a former life, this was an opportunity too good to miss for the newly installed overlord of EA Sports, Peter Moore. But the two products are vastly different. And before I get into a more detailed analysis, let me be clear: EA Sports Active won't have you grinning like an idiot (more likely crying); it won't be whipped out at parties for a laugh; and I certainly wouldn't play it with my mum; but, if your goal is fitness rather than pure fun, it's currently the best you can buy.

'EA Sports Active' Screenshot 1

EA Sport Active isn't 'fun' like Wii Fit is 'fun', but boxing's the best for larks.

EA's been keen to draw the distinction between Wii Fit's "eastern" approach to fitness, all holistic and yoga-fuelled, offering up an abstract "Fitness Age" to chart your progress. Active is much more targeted and goal-oriented. It's an interactive trainer that barks encouragement and advice at you through a routine, just as one would in a real gym. There are no hula hooping Miis; there's no penguin slide; there's no yoga. It is, as it says on the box, a "personal trainer".

Active doesn't have anything as fancy as a balance board to come bundled with (although it supports it), but it is packaged with a leg strap and a resistance band. The former is secured around your thigh and features a little pocket for the nunchuk, which measures leg movements during certain exercises. The latter is used for upper body training, the band placed under both feet, its ends gripped in either hand along with the nunchuk and Wiimote.

In general the exercises in Active are focused on increasing strength and stamina and promoting weight loss (performance is measured in calories burned rather than by an "age" marker). The best place to start, and a brilliant feature, is the 30-Day Challenge: a month-long workout programme designed to deliver real improvements while systematically introducing you to the various types of exercises on offer.

Already, I've stuck with this far longer than I remained regularly committed to Wii Fit, whose novelty wore off dramatically after the initial buzz. Each day you have the option to choose between a low, medium or high intensity workout and whether you want to use a balance board in certain exercises. Then your trainer (you can choose a bloke or a bird, real people, with wholesome, pearly white American grins) offers up info on today's list of exercises, how long the workout will take, and a projected calorie burn target (which seems set deliberately low to give you an extra smug bonus when you exceed it every time).

'EA Sports Active' Screenshot 2

She might look like she's enjoying it, but the resistance band that comes with the game is a bit rubbish.

You can easily remove any exercise you don't fancy. Since getting into the groove with it, I've taken to ditching the running-on-the-spot cardio in favour of going for an actual run around my local park first, then getting stuck into my Active session.

And your trainer is a surprisingly effective motivator. While I love scampering around the streets of W9, I wouldn't be caught dead doing lunges, squats and the like of my own accord. I simply lack the motivation. But when my TV is barking at me to push it harder, showering me with pre-recorded praise, it genuinely works. And that's exactly what people pay personal trainers to do.

Out of the box, Active's much better at lower-body workouts. Anyone unfortunate enough to follow me on Twitter [I'm not putting in a link - Ed] will have read frequent post-session updates on the burning pain searing through my thighs after another series of brutal leg drills. Inline Skating is a particular evil: starting from a squat position, the lower you are the faster you skate, and once you reach a ramp you have to jump in the air and immediately land back in the squat position. After my first 'high intensity' session, my legs were in agony for two days. There's just no way I'd push myself to complete 24 'stunt jumps' without either this game, a real trainer, or 10 pints of lager as a completion bonus.

By placing the nunchuk in the leg strap, Active is able to determine how low you are crouching, which is essential for squat- and lunge-based exercises, as it is for cardio-based routines like high knees.

The vast majority of upper-body exercises require the bundled, pilates-style resistance band, which is used for bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, shoulder raises, rows and the like, with the nunchuk and Wiimote measuring range of movement. I've never used a resistance band before, but I found the packaged one to be fairly useless - and no one could ever accuse me of being muscle-bound. It's even more pronounced during high-intensity workouts, where the leg exercises leave me wincing with exhaustion, while some of the extra-long arm routines end up more like lengthy stretching sessions.

You can, however, pick up stronger ones fairly cheaply, and it's something blokes in particular should consider if they really want to work it like Wolverine. The tutorial videos themselves are straightforward and easy to follow, and if you're mucking up a workout, you can skip out and check the video again with a single button press.

During exercises, Active also does a generally impressive job of monitoring your performance and letting you know if you're doing something wrong. It's limited, of course, to measuring movement either in one hand or both, and one leg, but unless out of some perverse vendetta against your terminally grinning trainer you are deliberately trying to cheat it, it works just fine. There are exceptions - I've had frequent issues registering side lunges, and occasionally it will lose track of what you're doing.

A further problem is with the connecting cord between nunchuk and Wiimote, which can reach its limit all too easily during certain upper body exercises, unless you're cursed with t-rex arms. One exercise requires you to raise alternate knees while snapping both arms down around it. Frankly, I'm too worried about snapping the cord to concentrate properly. But this is a minor bugbear in the grand scheme of things.

'EA Sports Active' Screenshot 3

More lifestyle photography. There's nothing 'aspirational' about those shorts.

Outside of the gym, Active has a bunch of mini-games to mix things up. I've already mentioned Inline Skating, which should be called 'lacticacidboarding'. Elsewhere there are variations on boxing, tennis, baseball and basketball. Boxing's the most fun, a lively cardio workout where you punch specific targets, before switching to the bag for a frantic pummel.

As noted, you can enjoy a perfectly good workout with Active without ever needing the balance board, but if you have one buried in the back of a cupboard, it can be used to add an extra dimension to certain exercises. In boxing, for instance, kicking the heavy bag is added; while in tennis, by moving alternate legs off the board, lunges are worked into the routine.

It's also worth adding that you can workout with a friend, although to take full advantage of this you'll need to shell out another GBP 15 for an extra leg strap and resistance band. You'll know if that appeals to you.

Beyond the 30-Day Challenge there's a sizeable list of pre-set workouts of varying intensity, length and focus, and you have the option to create custom workouts incorporating as many or as few exercises as you like. There's a decent number of exercises in there, and you can mix and match easily enough, but it's a shame there's no option to download new workout plans and routines. No doubt EA will flood the market with billions of standalone spin-offs, but the option for more modest updates would have been welcome.

Once you've created a fitness profile, and chosen a blandly designed, lifeless avatar (it won't win any awards for art, and if you want something to stare at I'd suggest The Girls From Liberty X Toned), you're given a journal which records your fitness regime and offers up basic graphs to track performance.

'EA Sports Active' Screenshot 4

Just a few more years of gaming and we'll all look like this.

Here you can also add in additional physical activities (like walking, swimming, yoga etc.), and fill out a 'lifestyle survey', which asks you routine questions about how many meals you've scoffed, how many glasses of water you've sloshed down, how stressed you feel and so on, then shares vapid nuggets of feelgood philosophy about how you should probably sleep more. Sadly, there's no check box for "I would have, but I decided to neck a bottle of vodka and play OutRun until 4am"). It's there if you want to use it, but I'm not convinced it's a great deal of use in its present form.

It should be obvious that Active, like any other fitness title, isn't a miraculous shortcut to marathon-smashing superfitness. And, far more than the charmingly diverting Wii Fit, you really have to want to get fit for it to work for you. But a little will can go a long way in Active. As it stands Active is better on legs than arms, you'll probably need to buy another band if you want to take it seriously, and it's more about gurning than grinning. And that's the point. This is even less a 'game', than Wii Fit. It is, as we've established, an interactive 'personal trainer'.

Should you buy it if you already own Wii Fit? Should you buy it instead of Wii Fit? Mileage always varies, and existing Wii Fit owners will know whether that's working for you. But if you're too poor/lazy/ashamed to join a gym and want to start burning calories while reducing your legs to melting jelly, Active wins hands down.

Wii Fit Plus is coming, with the promise of a bigger focus on targeted fitness. I tried it out earlier this week (check out next Monday's EGTV Show to see it in action), but only mini-games were available which, while undeniably entertaining, offered zero insight into its more serious fitness credentials.

So for now, while there's plenty of scope for performance enhancements, Active's the best there is. I'm still running. But, unlike the weeks after Wii Fit arrived, I'm also still playing.

8 / 10

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Comments (36) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • mingster #1 3 years ago

    any chance EG can review the DS Walk with Me please..
  • stevetuck #2 3 years ago

    As good as MGS4 then? ..... ohhh yeah i went there :p
  • Physically_Insane #3 3 years ago

    I don't think Active counts as a 'game'.
    Edited by 1 at 19/06/09 @ 12:01
  • penhalion #4 3 years ago

    I got active.....er for research purposes obviously........
  • matrim83 #5 3 years ago

    Whats with the last screenshot? You ran out of press screenies for the game didnt you? :p
  • _Price_ #6 3 years ago

    And as EG proceeds to dump over David Braben....
  • CallousB #7 3 years ago

    Pretty shoddy to review it so late in the day Eurogamer...it was released a month ago and has been in the UK top 10 since then.

    I guess you're proving Peter Moore right when he says Wii software is reviewed late or not at all.
  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #8 3 years ago

  • Zomoniac #9 3 years ago

    Oh well. Just ordered it based on this review. £34.99 on Play, cheapest I've seen it.
  • Xerx3s #10 3 years ago

    I like how the 'screenshots' show perfect people being happy instead of the game.
  • oerhoert #11 3 years ago

    Good review, I think I'll pick this up at some point.
  • BraveArse #12 3 years ago

    Spot on review. Agree with every word of it. I got it out of curiousity as Wii Fit last year had helped enormously with rehabilitation from badly torn achilles tendons ( ie. all but snapped ). It is far more about explosive exercise and cardio training whereas I found wii fit to be generally more successful in the balance and flexibilty arena. The resistance band is indeed shit, probably only taxing for the weaker toddlers out there. I got myself a pair of 3 kg wristweights which I use for everything including tennis and boxing and they do the trick but I think i'll want more resistance than that pretty soon. A colleague of mine has swapped the original resistance band out for a heavy duty reebok one and says he now finds the upper body stuff pretty taxing, and he's not exactly twig-armed.

    One of the great things about it is that you can specify beforehand that you want to avoid doing certain exercises in the playlist. eg. the running exercises, high-stepping, kickbacks etc all go for my tendons so I block them before i start and get an uninterupted injury free workout every time. I have to say I have a full gym membership ( have been going regularly 3 times a week for months now ) and I'm now tempted to stop that membership and go with this... it really does give a decent workout, gives great feedback and bizarrely enough it really does motivate well. Most importantly though... you don't have to wait for some musclebound twonk to stop just sitting at the next weight station in your workout for 5 minutes chatting while he "recovers".

    Johnny, that inline skating thing is indeed a complete bastard ... it's a very clever way of getting plyometrics into your workout without even realising it. That said the alternating lunge jumps are pretty close to injury central for me. Have to avoid them for the time being.

    One thing, though, I think if there's one area where Natal will excel it's "games" like this. I can easily imagine just being able to stand in front of an Xbox Natal simply holding a set of weights instead of having to use wristweights/resistance bands AND hold the wimmote and 'chuck. For now though, the Wii is turning into a decent fitness machine.
  • rhubarbandcustard #13 3 years ago

    As Wii Fit has been available for a year and the number of obese in the UK has, if anything, increased...and as EA Sports Active appears to be a better product than Wii Fit... should I finally expect to see a marked decrease in tubbies this time next year?

    or will that tide only turn when Natal is released so that the Michelin men and women of Britain, officially the fattest island in Europe, can fling themselves around the room, flailing and wailing like the herd of elephants they so uncannily resemble.

    By the way fatties...[link url=http://www.da ilymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1194024/STEPHEN-FRY-How-I-lo st-stones-just-months.html
    ]http://ww w.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/art...[/link]

    If Stephen Fry can make the effort, so can you.
  • scarabium #14 3 years ago

    @CallousB

    To be fair to the reviewer, it makes very good sense to review it after a few weeks of using it. That way you can tell if the product is any good.

    I've been using it for three weeks and it comes highly recommended. Wii Fit is a joke really, but if its aim is to get people healthy and interested in fitness then it deserves some accolades. Active does require some dedication to use it. I get up at 6.30am to do the 30-day challenge - that's at the weekends as well. It definitely gives you a proper workout. Yes, it makes you sweat and it makes your muscles ache. It will certainly give you some kind of definition after repeated use - especially around the legs and arms. It won't turn you into Daniel Craig but it will give you the motiviation to build up a body shape that you feel happy in.

    However, it must be mentioned that you MUST follow a healthy diet alongside Active. It's no good doing the exercise and then wolfing down a bargain bucket in the evening. All your hard work will be lost. ALWAYS make sure you have a glass of water or diluted juice nearby to keep you hydrated while you exercise.

    Active won't be enjoyable at the beginning because, if you're unfit, you will find it hard going. However, don't lose heart. The results will be worth it, you'll be feeling better for it, and it does get easier over time. When it does use ankle and wrist weights to up your game.

    Years ago I would have been crucified for saying so, but well done EA and well done Eurogamer for a VERY good and thoughtful review.
  • Widge #15 3 years ago

    Good to hear some feedback in here. Was interested if it was minigames in the guise of fitness, or actual fitness.
  • Number1Laing #16 3 years ago

    The genius of Wii Fit is that it made exercise fun

    No, the genius of Wii Fit is that Nintendo realized that Americans will spare no expense when it comes to gimmicky, flavor-of-the-month fitness/weight loss/exercise crap. I don't quite know how it is "across the pond" (though I'm sure it's not too different), but here, every fad weight loss thing gets its 15 minutes. Wii Fit is no different. It had about the same effect on waistlines (and taking-up-closet-space) as Atkins, Zone, Buns of Steel, Ab Roller, Thighmaster, South Beach Diet, etc. etc. etc. fucking etc. forever.
  • scarabium #17 3 years ago

    @Widge

    It's a proper fitness tool. It is not a "fun" minigame compilation unlike Wii Fit.

    It's ideal for people of all types and you can make it as easy or as hard as you feel comfortable with. Most of the 30-day challenges take between 20-30 minutes. Also buy some decent exercise clothes. It's worth buying good stuff like shorts with anti-bacterial linings. There's nothing worse than crotch rot!
  • frycrayola #18 3 years ago

    With Wii Fit, I found that it was a pretty good motivator initially but once I'd unlocked most exercises, I had to make time for it all. One missed workout thanks to not being home all day, and next thing I knew I was out of the routine.

    I still use it these days as a motivation tool, but I find walking four miles daily does a decent job of helping me lose weight, and because I'm walking home, it's kinda necessary too. There's no need to force myself into it.

    Active looks like it'll require that sort of effort on my part, that will power to make the time. Not surprising really, considering it takes place in your living room. I envy the folk who can keep it up, but still - I am losing weight, so things are going well regardless.
  • BabyJesus #19 3 years ago

    I've actually been contemplating getting a Wii just for this(Is that a sign of how little the Wii means to me in terms of 'core' games?), after that review its pretty much made my mind up for me, I thought it sounded good and it's reviewed well pretty much everywhere.

    Going to get this.
  • scarabium #20 3 years ago

    @Number1Laing

    I agree to a point. People want a quick and effortless solution to losing weight. Even the new Alli pill has side effects like anal leakage. That kind of thing could ruin a romantic moment.

    Motivation is the hardest thing to come by but a healthy diet and exercise is a winner every time. If a person is serious about losing weight and getting fit then they will. It's always easier to make excuses than to make an effort.

    Just stick to the old tried and tested methods. You get fads in every walk of life.

    I will be interested in Wii Fit Plus but it looks like it will be aimed at the elderly and unfit. Which is not a bad thing, mind. There's room in the market for both hard and gentle workouts.
  • Doctor_What #21 3 years ago

    I'm seriously considering moving the Wii into the bedroom because there's more space up there to exercise and it never gets used for actual games any more.

    I think I was in the minority when I said this sounded good in the preview, so it's nice to see people are less mocking now.

    It's allos good to see a considered review that's taken the time to really test the software. I will likely pick this up at some point, but it's a bit depressing that this is yet another Wii game that requires the purchase of extra add-ons.
  • jonsaan #22 3 years ago

    How does this compare to my fitness coach which was widely reviewed as being a better fitness tool that wii fit as well?
  • FogHeart #23 3 years ago

    Kudos to Mr Minkley for working with a 'game' for so long to give us a good review....

    I was burgled, they took my Wii and the Wii Fit disk (but not the balance board???) and after replacing the Wii I've kept meaning to do something about getting an alternative disk somehow. Maybe I should get this instead.....if I can stomach the personal trainers who look like Nietschian Supermen. The whole "Haha, I'm what you wanna be and may never be" thing puts you off.

    Can anyone suggest where to get a better Giant Rubber Band than that provided?
  • smugla #24 3 years ago

    I started a thread about this game they wanted to kill me lol
    Edited by 1 at 19/06/09 @ 14:07
  • Cannibal #25 3 years ago

    8/10? When did Eurogamer become a "mommy blogger"? :p
  • chrisjm #26 3 years ago

    was cheap(er) in argos last week 'i heard'... not sure if offer still on but was like 32 instead of 45 everywhere else on high street.
  • spekkeh #27 3 years ago

    I found some of the exercises to register the poorest of any motion based wii game I've played thus far, the sports minigames are pretty toss and the trainer looks more like a scheming psychopath (with a huge ass) than a Nietzschean ubermensch, but it's true that my inner thighs still hurt three days on, and I cycle about an hour every day. It also makes you sweat, quite a lot, but it could be due to the fact that homes are generally less airconditioned than gyms. So until now I'm pretty much agreeing with the 8/10.
  • Genji #28 3 years ago

    "I like how the 'screenshots' show perfect people being happy instead of the game."

    Why should they show screenshots of the game display? You're not buying the game to look at pretty pictures - you're buying it (presumably) because you want to use it for exercise. Seems fairly elementary that pictures of that exercise actually happening would be more useful to show what it's about. No?

    And mate... if they showed screenshots of fat, sweaty neckbeards to promote it, I'm pretty sure that would make me *less* likely to buy it. Evidently, you think that the shots of people playing it should reflect their neckbeardiness. And the people playing it should be sad, to reflect what it is really like to do exercise.
    Edited by 2 at 19/06/09 @ 16:43
  • TOOTR #29 3 years ago

    That was a great review and might well be worth a look.

    I recently bought a 'recumbent' exercise bike which is, for those who don't know, one of those very comftable 'sit-down - legs a t 90 degrees - high back' bikes.

    I read a book while exercising - didn't grab me.
    I watched some tv/movies while exercising - didn't grab me.
    THEN I tried playing the 360 while exercising and after some initial wobbles (Halo and geometry wars - the accuracy while cycling wasn't the best...) discovered that playing a turn-based game - especially the digi-crack that is Civilisation Revolution is PERFECT.

    I cycle for at least an hour ( built up over a week or so from 10 -20 mins) and I actuallly look forward to coming home and exercising. I'm making sure I'm going for all the achievements on Deity to prolong the experience but I highly recommend for , at least, starting a fitness program.

    Cheers,
    TOOTR
  • FogHeart #30 3 years ago

    Not referring to adverts, rather the in-game images.

    I'm not looking for sweaty fat trainers, just someone I can identify with a bit better. Someone who isn't unfit, but isn't fit, just looks like they would get there with you. Like maybe an avatar rather than an actual person, whose body shape improves as your BMI does.

    Maybe that's why Wii Fit didn't use actual video footage - an abstract-looking trainer is less threatening.
    Edited by 1 at 19/06/09 @ 16:59
  • FogHeart #31 3 years ago

    @TOOTR

    I reckon there are still exercise bikes that you can plug your console into and play a race game. The Reebok Cyberrider came first for the Playstation 2, probably there are ones for the 360. 'Cycling' Burnout 2 was lots of fun but really intense.
  • malteaserhead #32 3 years ago

    @ jonsaan "How does this compare to my fitness coach which was widely reviewed as being a better fitness tool that wii fit as well?"______________________________
    My fitness coach doesn't use the wiimote, nunchuck or balance board at al during the exercises as far as i can tell from wot the gf saysl. It's like watching a fitness dvd and dancing along to it. It's pretty rough too. Imo Ea Active> MFC by a factor of 6
    Edited by 2 at 19/06/09 @ 17:16
  • WJF #33 3 years ago

    That was an excellent review. Almost tempted to get a Wii just for this (currently nursing a broken ankle though, so it might be some time...)
  • Hicksy #34 3 years ago

    I'm 22 days into the 30 day workout after buying this on launch weekend and it's a big step forward from Wii Fit as an active (yes you will sweat) game. Wii Fit does mini games and yoga/pilates type stretching better but other than balance and supleness does not do much for calory burining.

    I think 8/10 is a fair and decent score. I'm going to buy a proper resitance band for month 2 and keep going to complement the odd session of football/golf/jogging/long walking.
  • Rack #35 3 years ago

    Okay that's it, I officially no longer trust Eurogamer as far as I can throw Manhattan. This abominable thing doesn't work, all it does is scrape razor blades against your ears then throw up a system of meaningless gibberish in an annoying accent. If it were up to me it would get a minus 5.
  • LiamK #36 3 years ago

    I'm on my second day, my legs are sore, and I've managed to break my resistance band. Bugger. Any suggestions for a cheap replacement, preferably a heavier duty one?