Australian Gamer Review :: Madden NFL 08

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Madden NFL 08

Reviewed on: Xbox 360
Available on: Playstation 3, Xbox 360

It�s not to say that I can�t play the game; More that my lack of knowledge on the sport makes trying to play the game a touch more difficult.

Players: 1 - 2 Players
Genre:
Release: 2007-08-30

Developer: EA
Distributor: EA

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Madden NFL 08

News from Starks - November 13th @ 7:14pm

When people think EA, they tend to think of a bland and repetitive developer; One that sucks the creativity out of the game companies it buys and a company that makes its money from selling yearly franchises.

As bland and repetitive as they may seem, EA still do a fantastic job creating sports simulators that allow the spectator to take control of their favourite team or athlete. As far as simulators go for games such as Basketball, Hockey, Golf and Soccer go, EA has a solid record for producing not only enjoyable titles, but accurate representations of the sports themselves.

One of the strongest franchises for EA in their sports simulators has been Madden; The NFL title that takes its name from legendary commentator John Madden who is a giant of the game.

As a fan of movies such as The Replacements, Friday Night Lights and a personal favourite of mine being Any Given Sunday, I�ve always been intrigued by the NFL if simply for the exuberance and passion the players and supporters show towards the game. As a keen NRL supporter, I see similarities between the bright Friday lights of a League game and a Gridiron match.

I think the one negative of my position is my complete and utter lack of knowledge of the technicalities Gridiron has. The tactical moves, the terminology, and more importantly the roles of certain players. As such, I�ve tried to focus as much on the game itself, how it plays and what it offers rather than trying to understand what a Linebacker is as opposed to a Quarterback.

Lets see them play some football without the pads and helmets, bunch of pansies

Graphically, the game is rather impressive. The players look reasonably close to... people. You can�t quite tell if they�re representatives of the players they�re designed after, as you don�t get close ups that often, they�ve got those ridiculous helmets on and I�ve never seen any pictures of the NFL players either. But they look real, they act real, and they do quirky things that make me chuckle such as flipping the finger or getting into brawls and the like.

The crowd, however, leaves a lot to be desired. For a game that is supposedly on a �Next Gen� console, it really did look like something mocked up right at the end. Flat, generic and just plain boring, the crowds let down the graphical side of things quite a lot.

The crux of the title, and indeed the way it should be, is in the game play itself. And, in some ways, this is where I began to realise that I might be a little ill equipped to actually review this game. It�s not to say that I can�t play the game; More that my lack of knowledge on the sport makes trying to play the game a touch more difficult.

Nevertheless, I pressed ahead.

Adopting the Miami Dolphins as my team of choice � I was given a hat by a friend with them on it as a child years ago and cherished it until I lost it � I started a new season in the hope to win my first NFL ring.

To me, Gridiron is a fairly simply game in concept. Get the ball into the end zone, and you score. The complications arise in how to get the ball into the end zone, and this is where I encountered my problem. I have no clue what so ever what each play does. And there were about 120 bloody plays to choose from! What makes it even worse is I couldn�t for the life of me find the Statue of Liberty play I hear so much about.

Still, I persevered and after working out a few pet plays, found that this was quite an enjoyable game. Offence is obviously my preference, as I love the whole �Go long!� thing, and there�s nothing more satisfying than flying the leather skin 50 yards to the receiver who then runs another 25 yards for a �TOUCH DOWN!�

"Touchdown" yells Mark Holden

The mechanics of the game itself are quite clean. To alter a play is as simple as a few quick button punches, the players move and react very naturally, especially when you come in for the big hit with a defender and cream the quarter back on a blitz. The players move in an accurate human fashion, the set plays run like a well oiled machine, and the general game looks and feels like the real article.

Online play is an option that has plagued EA games, especially with the Live service for X-Box. With EA being the only company wishing to have their games use their own Live servers, most multiplayer games by EA have suffered from horrendous lag (At least to anyone outside of the States) and just the terrible set up of the network. So you can understand both my apprehension at trying the online component, and then the absolute shock I received when I played a lag free game against an American.

When flipping through the options, the game offers quite a lot to lure people back to play again. Training options (A very good inclusion for those who have never played a Madden before) give you the ability to run through both offensive and defensive plays, kicking plays and the like. This grants the player the ability to try new things, learn what they�re doing wrong, and understand the button functions so you can better play the game.

The campaign mode (Or �Franchise� as it�s called) gives you various options that increase the difficulty, alter the simulation aspects of the game, many more options of which I only understood a few. The ability to download current rosters for the teams on X-Box Live at no cost means you able to keep up to date with the real life version of the game which will no doubt appeal to the hardcore fans.

In game, you often hear John Madden give his input depending on where you are on the field. Whilst I would imagine this would get old if you already know what you�re doing

Add to this the tutorials that can be run from the menu and the learning curve is made much easier to climb. They give the player the ability to understand the new features and options available to them that were not in the previous Madden. Literally hours of tutorial information can be gathered from these videos and audio tapes and after listening to some of them, you do begin to understand how the game should be played.

C'mere, I want to give you a hug.

Customisation of teams, line ups, and creation of NFL franchises mean those who wish to do their own thing are given the option to craft their own team, with their own players, and do so in their own fashion. The ability to create your own stadium is a great option and for a while even distracted me from playing the game. I�m honestly impressed with how much attention to detail has been given to the overall game, and not just the game play itself.

In terms of negatives, there are very few to mention. Graphically, I believe they could have probably offered more, but then again the game play itself more than makes up for this. The sound track to the game is a little too heavy for my liking, and made up of terrible R�n�B or a lot of unknown hard rock. It does suit the game itself, and the odd good song I�ve never heard before comes on, but if they�d just put the entire Appetite for Destruction album on by Guns �n Roses, mixed it up with some Prodigy and complimented it with Foo Fighters then at least you could say the game had excellent musical taste.

All in all, the game itself is a good buy if you�re into American Gridiron. I believe it to be an accurate and realistic simulation of NFL and I don�t think there�s many who would argue that. However, the learning curve and level of understanding required to play the game proficiently could put people off in the first half hour of putting the disc in.

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Final Verdict

Excellent NFL simulator with very little to criticise. Solid game mechanics, fantastic ability to customise and easy controls get a handle on. Without playing Madden 07, I�d definitely say it�s a must for any Gridiron fan.

Pros
Game play is faultless, Great online component
Cons
No cheerleaders, Camera angles could be improved a little