If you had any doubts about this game, let me start by saying you should throw those out the door now!
Once you've figured out how to put the resistance band together (Took me about 5 minutes to get it right) then you're pretty much ready to go. The game will let you create your personal profile where you can customize your character and input some small stats like your weight, height, and age. After all that's done your profile is complete and it will show you your personal diary. This is a nice little feature as it shows you the preset goals the game gives you, plus a calendar and a to-do list for the day.
From here the fun can finally begin. You can start off with the 30 Day Challenge like I did, or you can mess around with preset works outs. If you don't like that then you can create one as well. You can also view all the video tutorials the game has to offer although it isn't exactly needed since you can view them again before each exercise. Personally I thought this game could not be that hard since I'm a goaltender and I thought I had relatively strong legs even though I'm over wait a bit. So I put it on medium intensity to start and away I went.
First exercise it put me through was a simple walk and then run. It did actually get me going since I hate running, I'm more of an elliptical machine kinda guy. It then started putting me through some squats, lunges, arm curls and the sort. Let me tell you this, half way through the exercise I was really doubting what I thought was good on me, my leg strength. This game brought me to my knees and it became quite clear, I was not ready to do medium intensity for my first workout.
The game did not even put me through half of the 50 some odd exercises they offer, and not to mention how many different variations to each exercise there is. Regardless even though I was struggling towards the end I knew right away what this game could do. I sorta was mad at the game but at the same time I was like this game is awesome to make me sweat and hurt this much. Make no mistake this game will get you into better shape if you stick with it and eat a decent diet.
I truly believe this game has something to offer for every body type and fitness level. Sure if you're a super sports guru you won't get as much out of it as somebody needing to ton up or is overweight, but regardless it will keep you in shape. The game offers excellent exercises and even though the game does not make you do sit ups for more targeted ab workouts, a lot of the workouts make you use your abs, even if you don't feel it.
After your workout is complete it shows you the amount of calories you burned on a nice neat graph. You can also view any trophies you might of unlocked as well as see when your next workout is on your calendar. It's really a nice little way to end your workout while you're relaxing since you can do the little survey that comes each day as well as filling out what other activities you may have done that day.
The only issues I can see with this game is that customization isn't what I thought it would be. I'm worried about the resistance band a bit, even though it seemed fine for the first workout, I'm always worried that it would snap since to me it's a bit thin but only time will tell if it holds up or not.
There are options with your character and such, but you can only enter in a max weight of 300 pounds (I'm not over 270) and there is no way to measure body weight each day, even if you have the Wii Balance Board. Speaking of the balance board, it's not really needed with this game. It takes about 6 or 7 of the regular exercises and changes them up slightly so you can use the balance board. Although you can say it does enhance your EA Sports Active experience, it truly isn't necessary if you want to get a complete workout with this game.
In the end this game will do wonders for your body, especially if you're not used to a lot of these exercises already. With the personal trainer constantly giving you feed back, tutorials showing you how to perform each exercise properly, and the well balanced workout routines already in the game, you should be feeling the burn all the way to a new you in 2009.
Have fun folks, this is game is a keeper.