I am a football fan. There is no denying that, so I have been a little biased with my opinions of recent Madden games for next gen. I was never that upset with the past two installments but basically everyone outside of EA Sports disagreed with me. Well, this time, they got it right. Madden 2008 kicks some serious ass and here is why.
First, the Xbox 360 version runs at a smooth as a baby’s ass 60 fps and looks glorious on my 46′ LCD TV. The game runs at 1080i, which is still pretty impressive. The commentary is a little beat with the radio broadcast style from a no name announcer, but when my friends play, we just blast the classic rock station on Sirius so it doesn’t matter to me. The game really excels in the gameplay. This is not your little brother’s Madden. Forcing throws into double coverage or running with LT all game will lead to you one place: turnover country. Having 7-10 TO’s in a game is not out of the question. The defensive AI has finally caught up to the player. I would consider myself a very good Madden player and putting up 50 points on All Madden level got old real fast. I don’t foresee this happening.
A new feature is the player icons that make the standout players, well, standout. These vary from elusive backs, big play receivers, brick wall defensive players as well as steamrolling blockers. There are a skill for every position and this makes a challenge into itself to get your playmakers involved as much as possible. Players do tire quickly so throwing to the same receiver will make him sub out before the drive is over. Hit stick 2.0 is also improved. You can take a runners legs out as well as lay the hammer on them, but this is equalized by the ability to juke. This is the overall theme in Madden. There is no lobsided areas anymore. Every Neo has its Smith so to speak.
I have not played much of the franchise or superstar modes yet, so they will be touched on when a full review is coming later this week.
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Write a Comment»Can’t wait for the review. So far, the game is sounding really good.
I’m still undecided about this one, but these impressions definitely sound good.
I love football, and imo All Pro isn’t that great, so I’m just praying that Madden 08 will be a nice improvement over last years.
I’ll be checking back for the review!
I think if they tone down the turnovers, the game would be almost perfect. Put in decent commentary and they’ve got it on lock
I’m getting REALLY fucking sick of madden. I just played an exhibition game on Pro as the Pats vs the Browns. In the 3 quarters before I turned it off and threw my controller across the room, I had 10 interceptions and 2 fumbles with Tom Brady, 6 fumbles with Randy Moss, and 4 fumbles with Lawrence Maroney. Seriously, that’s more than season numbers. And it was the fucking Browns. The INT’s I threw… the safeties came flying from midfield over to the lines and picked the ball out of nowhere (I didn’t lob them either).
I’m honestly debating selling the game. I’ve never wanted to throw a controller so bad in my life.
Hey pandas, maybe you should try a calmer game, like Viva Pinata.
…..before I turned it off and threw my controller across the room…..
man I thought I was the only one that did that rofl…it takes a LOT to get me that riled up though. I can empathize.
I played Viva Pinata, that game is even more frustrating. What the hell do you even do in the game, I couldn’t figure it out. It was like… Okay, this is really really bad. How did this even sell more then 100 copies.
I couldn’t figure it out, maybe I was doing something wrong.
wait I just looked at this pic again. WALTER PAYTON!? How?
I liked Viva Pinata. And I’m nowhere against EA making the game harder. Hell, I encourage it. But when my players are breaking their season records in turnovers in 3 quarters of football, on Pro difficulty (which is level 2 of 4), there’s seriously something wrong.
Throwing controllers is a sign of a great game… hehhehehe at least thats what I tell myself when I play Super Contra.
Also yeha why is Walter Payton in the game? hehehe