Madden NFL 08
by Electronic Arts
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Video Game Reviews of Madden NFL 08
Customer Review: The Best Sport Game Ever!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
XBox Madden has got to be one of the best video games on the market. I have been a Playstion fan for a long time and I just purchased the XBox premium system and I have been blown away. The graphics and game play makes playing a sport game unlike anything else. The best ever and I am really feeling that Playstation will never get a chance to really compete with Xbox games.Customer Review: Overall, a disappointment
Summary: 3 Stars
First let me start by saying I've been playing Madden for years now, since '92 in fact, so I do know a thing or two about my beloved football series. One particular thing I've always loved about Madden was its accessibility, its customization. Pretty much anything I wanted to do with it, I could. It was 'My Madden' in the truest sense. If I wanted to edit every team, every player in the league, I could. I could look at my roster breakdown as I searched the free agent list for replacments. Its the little things that made Madden great. They, like many things of past Maddens, are now gone. But, I'm rambling. Those things don't mean anything, absolutely nothing, if the game doesn't play right. Has it ever played right? I'm tired of year after year tweaking and tinkering with the A.I. settings. Why aren't these set correctly when the game is shipped? Maybe I would forgive this if not for the huge oversight of this year's Madden, its fumbling. Even with A.I. motification this cannot be completely fixed. I've heard some reviewers say that its not a big deal, others fail to mention it at all. Well it is a problem. Turnovers in general get outta hand too often. This upsets me most of all because as a gamer and a Madden lover, I could tell EA exactly whats wrong with this game. So why don't they know? Bottom line: The fumbling in Madden '08 wrecks the gameplay. And I promise you this: EA will admit it, not now, but right before Madden '09 shipps.
Customer Review: Madden is fun again
Summary: 4 Stars
I was pretty disenchanted with the last few versions of Madden, and I probably would've passed on the game this year if I didn't recently upgrade to an Xbox 360 (I wanted to try a football game on a next-gen console). I've had the game for a couple weeks now, and I'm happy with my purchase.
On the offensive side of the ball, the game challenges you to read the defense and make quick, smart decisions. Using the default settings, the pocket collapses a lot sooner than previous versions of the game, and the defensive backfield AI is much improved - if you try to force a pass into double coverage, there's a very strong chance of a turnover. I've had to tinker with the CPU's defensive sliders just to give myself a fair chance of scoring. The challenge is much appreciated though, as I prefer playing a competitive game rather than continually blowing out the CPU.
Playing defense is fun and realistic this year. If you're controlling a safety with an average speed rating and you're faced with the task of running down a quick WR, you won't catch him, even while holding the sprint button. Defensive tackles will frequently jump and bat down a low pass, a feature which I was lucky to see once a year in past Madden games.
Special teams is the same as always, though you'll want to lower the kickoff slider, since seemingly any kicker can boot the ball through the end zone at will.
If you're on the fence about this game, give it a shot for a good challenge. It still needs some work, but the future looks bright again for the franchise.
Customer Review: Madden NFL 08
Summary: 2 Stars
I hate this game.
Someday I will learn that the professional reviewers are nothing but shills for EA sports and the NFL.
Now I have reverted back to playing Madden NFL 06 on my trusty Xbox, which is a far superior product to either Madden NFL 07 or Madden NFL 08 Xbox 360 versions.
My review will be a comparison between Xbox NFL06 and NFL 08 Xbox 360.
Features Xbox NFL 06 has that Xbox 360 doesn't have: Substitutions for each formation. This means I can put a player like Reggie Bush into the slot formation for Xbox, but not for Xbox 360.
Can adjust camera view for Xbox. Not only that, but camera view can be adjusted independently for run plays versus passes.
Can edit created team uniform any time.
Can assign linebackers and Dbacks to individual receivers on man coverages.
Xbox 360 has to many interceptions and fumbles compared to the earlier version Xbox. Similarly, the field is too narrow as the receivers continually catch passes out of bounds in Madden 08.
Because I can't adjust the camera view, it is difficult to see sideline receivers.
Special capability icons do not make sense, as one cannot assign Dback for one on one receiver coverage unless one makes changes to the depth chart.
Madden 08 has an incomplete set of plays. Many of my favorite plays for Madden 06 Xbox are not included.
The announcer makes repetitive comments.
While the graphics are outstanding on Xbox 360, too much focus is spent on individual players between plays before the play calling screen comes up. Further, the play calling screen is difficult to use compared to Xbox version 06.
Question: why does EA always change the gameplay button controls? Is it asking too much for more consistency among NFL games for each platform?
It would seem with the power of the Xbox 360 that EA would have come up with a version of Madden NFL superior to a two year old Xbox version, but it is not to be. Maybe next year, huh?
I won't waste any more money on these duds.
Customer Review: Uh NFL? Can we have competion please?
Summary: 3 Stars
I won't rant and rave about how we need the NFL to grant competition between companies again, but I will say that people need to stop buying this game and then complaining about how bad it sucks year in and year out. So, now that I've said that, onward with the review.
Plain and simple, this game is fun. If you're a big football fan, and you need your video game version of a NFL fix, well, then you must buy this game.
PROS:
Running the ball is actually difficult in this game. You really have to work throughout the entire game before you are rewarded with that big run in the end.
The weapon system is also a nice touch, and really adds to the depth of the game.
Passing the ball and getting rid of it in time are also realistic for a change. You don't have 5 to 10 seconds to throw anymore. Depending on how good your O-line is on pass protection you'll have a good 2-3 seconds in the pocket before you need to make your mind up.
I also really like the new control scheme. I really hated it at first, but after a few hours, I came to appreciate it. Your jukes, cuts, and bull dozing forward are all done with your right control stick. Your sprinting is done with the right trigger. Stiff arms are done with just the press of one button instead of trying to figure out at the last second which trigger to push.
The preplay snap controls take a lot of learning, but once you get them down, you can shut the annoying menu off that so many people have grown to hate. They work great, too, and it's easy to tweek your defense before the snap. The only thing that makes the preplay snap controls a likely con as well, is that there is a HIGH learning curve for them.
Oh, and all those wonderful features that come year in and year out. No more mini-camp though. :( (I haven't owned a copy of Madden since 05 ... well the PC version of 07, too, but does that really count?)
CONS:
Right away the menu system actually confused me. It took me a couple minutes to realize I had to press start to bring up the main menu, because I was staring at the vast hallway thing on the startup screen wondering "where's the menu?". So, I'm probably dumb. However, after that, I got used to how the menu system works, and I didn't really care after that. Still, though, a mild annoyance.
The announcing, er radio announcing ... yeah it's that bad. I had to shut it off. My wife said she could do better announcing than that. Ooooh, BURN!
The graphics .... "GRAPHICS?!" you say? Yeah, it's a con, and I'll tell you why. The players look TOO shiny. They don't get roughed up or messed up as the game goes on. They look the same they did coming out of the tunnel as they go back in it. Go through a game of All-Pro 2k8 and tell me what the players look like 1/4 of the way into it. Yeah, that's what I mean. The field looks great, but that's about it. The coaches are designed and move just badly. I've seen better animations done by Madden games in the past. What's with the step back here? Players on the side line are too generic for a next-gen console game. Once again, look at what APF2K8 has done with the side line ambiance, then look at Madden NFL 08. It's a pathetic comparison. There aren't too many player animations either, which 2K8 has also done better. My other little thing, is that there are less accessories on the players. No mouth pieces or tattoos. Other Madden games had this, so why did they remove that stuff? Seeing Larry Johnson run the football without his mouth piece on kind of erks me. Call me picky, but when you spend $400 on a next gen console, and another $60 (I rented this, so I only spent $5) you tend to get picky about the performance of your games.
One game play thing that in my opinion has yet to be fixed with any Madden NFL game is how accurate the QBs are in this game. Yes, even Peyton Manning throws overthrows and underthrows in real life. So why does my second string quarterback with an overall rating of 75 throw passes dead on 100% of the time? Well, lets just say that I'm glad there's a way to modify the AI or I'd go crazy.
Just a side note thing, but does anyone really care about User trophies and points? After the game is over, Marshal Faulk comes on and talks about how many more points I earned. I don't care! Can I just get back to playing football? What's with the silly rings on the side of the teams' names before each game? Can't I have a television style of commentary during the game instead of this hybrid EA/radio crap? I'll tell you what, EA. If you really don't want Madden in your game anymore, than go grab some competent announcers from, oh I don't know, ESPN! (since you kind of bought the license out for that for the next 15 years), and call your game EA Sports/ESPN NFL 09 for next year.
Overall, this really is a good game. I haven't enjoyed any Madden football games since 05, but this one, 08, really is better. There are just a few minor annoyances that keep this game from being great. Is APF2k8 better? No, it's just different. That game has it's own annoying quirks as well. As far as Madden 08 goes, I think it just needs a little competition to push it over the envelope to make it a great game. Until then, here's Madden 08, which should provide you with a good solid year of fun.