Game Card
Madden NFL 08 (PS2)
- Publisher:
- Electronic Arts
- Developer:
- EA Tiburon
- US Release:
- 14.08.2007
- EU Release:
- n/a
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Football
- Sport Type:
- Traditional
- Sport Style:
- Contact
- Sport:
- Other
Review
We play Madden NFL 08...
Madden has been around since the days of the Sega Megadrive, and whilst the intervening years have meant that the 'John' (as in 'John Madden') was quickly dropped, a lot of the game continued unabated. This has been something of a mixed bag as much of the franchise was good from the start, but so many years without real competition unavoidably meant that the franchise started to stagnate. The more recent arrival of 2KSports onto the scene has meant that EA have now had to up their game and innovate like they did in the early years.
Having played the John Madden back on the Megadrive I then had something of a break from the series. Not being my home countries sport of choice meant that the names and roster refreshes didn't hold so much sway. Combine that with the increasing price of all sports games over the various console iterations and I pretty much saved my cash to spend on more traditional games genres. Then last year I again tried my hand at a bit of football. Once I had reminded myself of the language and pacing of the game, things started to click back into place for me. After a few hours I was glad I had made the effort to investigate the game further. Now a year later, I am truly won over the sport from the other side of the pond and was really looking forward to this next update from EA.
As alluded to above, many of us are already used to the annual release from EA. Those who are more cynical amongst us undoubtedly see this as simply crow baring the new player stats and line-up into the previous year's game. However, this time around, with the added competition from 2KSports, EA seem to have raised their game and realized that they need to offer more if punters are going to shell out for a new game each year. The most significant change this time around is the new weapons system. This is designed to help you quickly distinguish between your star players during the run of play. They have implemented a nice icon system that lets you identify particular types of players, which should help you adjust your plays and moves accordingly. Player types that receive this new feature include the possession or big-play receiver, the strong-arm or accurate quarterback and press-coverage or shutdown quarterback.
The Dual Shock controls have also received something of a make over. You are now able to focus your Defense on a particular receiver with a single button press. You can also control your big hits with the right analogue stick, a feature which becomes key as you place your blows carefully to take out different types of players. Hit high and you have a chance of knocking the ball free, whilst hitting low gives you better odds of bringing the player down. Apart from these tweaks, we really are getting a very similar control experience to that we have become familiar with from last year's game.
As an aside from the main action, EA have included some interesting additions in the form of the ever popular mini-game. These provide ample distraction from the main game, and provide some good clean fun when you don't feel like throwing down on the full game. These games still retain their football theme, but do so in situations that ranges from the ridiculous to the bizarre. One of our favorites was the fantasy challenge game which challenges you to build a dream team without needing to worry about the ins and outs of contracts injuries and the like. Once you have it all set up you can play through a Blitz: The League style offering in which you work your way through a four-tier league.
The game proper plays host to all the usual modes are there. An online mode is included for the ps2 that is not perfect but does offer some great connected game experiences. Visually, the PS2 game looks much the same as it did last time around. At the end of the day there is only so much horsepower you can squeeze out of these older systems. The character models retain their slightly squished appear and lack any true resemblance to their real world players. Frame rate on 360 and PS3 has obviously been something of a hot potatoes. On this front the PS2 comes out smelling of roses, things hold steady with no sign of slow down or juddering. Whilst the PS2 can't quite keep up with the next gen systems it certainly holds its own.
Audio wise, the background music and commentary voice work both play their part well. EA has refined this aspect of the game over the years and their steady hand in delivering solid voice work from TV presenter types is telling.
Madden 08 is a pretty competent game, delivered by a team that is rediscovering what made their games so popular all those years ago. It is great to see a bit more effort being made with not just the main game, but providing a whole package. To that end this represents better value for money than previous versions. Whilst owners of Madden 07 and before will obviously have less novelty in this release, it still provides enough to hook in the hardened fan for an upgrade. For those of us returning to the game and franchise for another look, it again delivers on EA's promise of challenging everything, rather than simply iterated the cash out of our pockets.
Top Game Moment: Using the weapons feature to adjust the play to the guy receiving the ball and managing to pull off an awesome catch. Madden just never felt better.
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| Home free! | Excuse me could I squeeze through, oh thanks! |
Having played the John Madden back on the Megadrive I then had something of a break from the series. Not being my home countries sport of choice meant that the names and roster refreshes didn't hold so much sway. Combine that with the increasing price of all sports games over the various console iterations and I pretty much saved my cash to spend on more traditional games genres. Then last year I again tried my hand at a bit of football. Once I had reminded myself of the language and pacing of the game, things started to click back into place for me. After a few hours I was glad I had made the effort to investigate the game further. Now a year later, I am truly won over the sport from the other side of the pond and was really looking forward to this next update from EA.
As alluded to above, many of us are already used to the annual release from EA. Those who are more cynical amongst us undoubtedly see this as simply crow baring the new player stats and line-up into the previous year's game. However, this time around, with the added competition from 2KSports, EA seem to have raised their game and realized that they need to offer more if punters are going to shell out for a new game each year. The most significant change this time around is the new weapons system. This is designed to help you quickly distinguish between your star players during the run of play. They have implemented a nice icon system that lets you identify particular types of players, which should help you adjust your plays and moves accordingly. Player types that receive this new feature include the possession or big-play receiver, the strong-arm or accurate quarterback and press-coverage or shutdown quarterback.
The Dual Shock controls have also received something of a make over. You are now able to focus your Defense on a particular receiver with a single button press. You can also control your big hits with the right analogue stick, a feature which becomes key as you place your blows carefully to take out different types of players. Hit high and you have a chance of knocking the ball free, whilst hitting low gives you better odds of bringing the player down. Apart from these tweaks, we really are getting a very similar control experience to that we have become familiar with from last year's game.
As an aside from the main action, EA have included some interesting additions in the form of the ever popular mini-game. These provide ample distraction from the main game, and provide some good clean fun when you don't feel like throwing down on the full game. These games still retain their football theme, but do so in situations that ranges from the ridiculous to the bizarre. One of our favorites was the fantasy challenge game which challenges you to build a dream team without needing to worry about the ins and outs of contracts injuries and the like. Once you have it all set up you can play through a Blitz: The League style offering in which you work your way through a four-tier league.
The game proper plays host to all the usual modes are there. An online mode is included for the ps2 that is not perfect but does offer some great connected game experiences. Visually, the PS2 game looks much the same as it did last time around. At the end of the day there is only so much horsepower you can squeeze out of these older systems. The character models retain their slightly squished appear and lack any true resemblance to their real world players. Frame rate on 360 and PS3 has obviously been something of a hot potatoes. On this front the PS2 comes out smelling of roses, things hold steady with no sign of slow down or juddering. Whilst the PS2 can't quite keep up with the next gen systems it certainly holds its own.
Audio wise, the background music and commentary voice work both play their part well. EA has refined this aspect of the game over the years and their steady hand in delivering solid voice work from TV presenter types is telling.
 |
 |
|
| Incoming | Thumble! |
Madden 08 is a pretty competent game, delivered by a team that is rediscovering what made their games so popular all those years ago. It is great to see a bit more effort being made with not just the main game, but providing a whole package. To that end this represents better value for money than previous versions. Whilst owners of Madden 07 and before will obviously have less novelty in this release, it still provides enough to hook in the hardened fan for an upgrade. For those of us returning to the game and franchise for another look, it again delivers on EA's promise of challenging everything, rather than simply iterated the cash out of our pockets.
Top Game Moment: Using the weapons feature to adjust the play to the guy receiving the ball and managing to pull off an awesome catch. Madden just never felt better.
