Score
Gameplay:	9
Graphics:	9
Sound:	4
FunFactor:	8
PlasmaFactor:	10
Overall:	8

Madden NFL 08 Review
August 14, 2007 by Bryant Crawley

The King of the Sports Universe is back in this year's Madden NFL 08. Tiburon has been listening to the positive and negative comments made about the 07 version of the game and they are here to correct their wrongs. Does this game live up to the hype and finally deliver the next generation experience that we have been craving since the much-hyped video during the 2005 NFL draft, or does it fall by the waste side of broken promises and dreams? Come find out.

 

 

NFL

 

This year it seems like 2004 all over again. EA finally has a bit of competition, not only from there rivals at 2K with All Pro Football 2K8, but also with their own studio and NCAA Football 2008. EA stepped up their game (no pun intended) and exceeded the competition with Madden 08. The one of the first things you will notice about Madden this year its sense of speed and how things move so smoothly. This is brought on by the fact that the Xbox 360 version of Madden, unlike the PS3 version, is running at a solid 60 FPS. I can’t tell you how much of a difference this makes when playing this game. Juking and faking out defenders has never been easier.

The newest addition this year is the option for player weapons. Adding this feature was pure genius. The player weapons help to make your "superstar" type players exactly what they are…superstars. Each position has a "weapon" and these weapons are broken down into different categories (like for instance, some of the categories for quarterbacks are precision passing and cannon arm). These categories determine how to best utilize each player on your team. This is a very viable option and a well-added addition to the Madden franchise. Another new feature added to gameplay is the Hit Stick 2.0, which was also added to NCAA 08. The interesting thing about this year's version is the fact that now players on defense can hit players high and low (taking their legs out from under them). This also helps causing fumbles as well as dropped passes.

 

Monday Night Football!

 

Madden’s presentation has gone through somewhat of an overhaul but honestly, I feel that it could have been done a little better. With having the ESPN license as well as the NFL license, why isn’t EA doing anything with them? When ESPN NFL 2K5 came out a couple years ago they used the license to its fullest, having pre, halftime and post game presentations with Chris Bermen. EA has had the license for 3 years and have not done anything with it. I mean this year they have Marshall Fault doing the pre game show but at the same time I feel that EA isn’t really pushing the envelope. This is a definite negative and needs to be fixed in 09.

 

Sound 08!

 

The sound quality in Madden is average. The pre-game show hosted by Marshall Faulk is a pretty nice feature. Having him go over the statistics and the run before the game is kind of refreshing but during the game, EA choose to once again use the radio announcer instead of commentary by John Madden and Al Michaels. I never thought I would say this but I really do miss hearing Madden calling the games. It just fits. Hearing the radio announcer again this year makes me want to mute the TV while playing and that's what I usually do.

 

Fundown!

 

This year's modes have been slightly tweaked, achieving better results than the previous years. The superstar mode is pretty much the same except you can now control the player you created in NCAA 08 or use/guide one of the rookies from the 2007 NFL draft to the Hall of Fame. The Dynasty mode has added Finance Mode which is not a complete "Owners Mode" that people were looking for but at the same time it adds a little mix off new goodies for this generation. One of the things I loved about this was the fact that you can relocate a team to a different city and change everything about them (like the way the team looks, build a new stadium, change the uniforms, etc). One thing I didn’t like was that you couldn’t move teams anywhere or anytime you wanted. There are only select cities you can choose from and before moving, you’d have to build up some funding and create a buzz before you can pull a Baltimore…err… I mean Indianapolis Colts move. The online modes in the game are pretty standard which include ranked and unranked games. The main problem is that once again, there are no online leagues. NHL 08 is coming out and going to be the first game with this implemented in it. Why doesn't the almighty Madden have this feature built in? This is a serious negative in my book and inexcusable. Other then the missing online leagues the online portion of the game is up to par. The game runs with no lag what so ever and you cant really tell the difference between playing the game online and offline.

 

Plasma 08!

 

The main draw of Madden NFL 08 is the fact that this version finally feels like it was built first for the 360 and then ported to everything else. It finally has that next gen feel that people have been craving since the very beginning. The way the game moves, the way it looks, the modes that finally include and exceed the current gen versions.

 

 

...and it's Good!

 

EA has improved Madden greatly and actually brought some new things to the table. This year, with actual competition, Madden has stepped up to the plate and hit a triple. With just a few more touches i.e. (ONLINE LEAGUES) the game would be a walk off home run. I definitely recommend this game to any one who is a sports fan and non-sports gamers alike.