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Ever since its debut 1990, Madden has been the premiere football game, but all of their next gen versions have been – well -- lazy. Fortunately, Madden NFL 08 is righting many of their wrongs and looking to broaden their audience even more.

Let’s get Physic-al

Player animations have always left something to be desired. Watching your running back do the same spin move on every play can become tedious to say the least. This is because collision detection has always been a joke in Madden.  Thanks to a new branching system that determines how one animation transition into another, you’ll finally be seeing life like animations that come as close as ever to matching the real thing. You can now stack the line to try and gang tackle LaDainian Tomlinson, or you can have your offensive lineman give your running back push to try and get him over the goal line. A great touch that makes the game feels more controlled by the user than ever before.

In addition, players finally have more control over the tackles thanks to the hit stick 2.0. Aim high to try and bring down an elusive back like Reggie Bush, or aim low to take out the knees of a powerback like Mike Alstott. It’s a nice added tactic to gameplay that has been lacking in subtly for years.

Same as it ever was

Even with the more fluid animations the graphics still fill stuck in the mud. There really isn’t that much of an improvement from last year despite the fact that it’s running at 60 frames a second on the 360. They’ve toned down the steroid induced, bulky look in favor of a more realistic model for the players, but they are still far behind the target renders they showed two years ago.

Big plays are still treated the same way the have in games past. The camera will either do a simple replay or zoom up the score board to say ‘First down’. Remember when Tecmo Bowl would bring out the yardsticks to see if you made the first down? That is more exciting than what Madden NFL 08 offers in the way of tension.

The ability to challenge plays is again here, but much like Madden 07 you’ll be curious what the ref was looking at when you look at the instant replay. And speaking of instant replay, Madden NFL 08 offers the chance to look at all of the games big plays not just the last play. It’s another nice feature when playing a friend, as you can go over and over again how you smoked them on play after play.
 
More than a Roster Update

Madden NFL 08 is at least offering gamers more some new tricks and thank God it’s not QB Vision 2.0. Instead gamers will be greeted with a Weapons Feature that helps distinguish the premiere players from the average. The light bulb icon under Payton Manning lets you know he’s a smart Quarterback. See the “ball and chain” icon on Champ Bailey, it means he’s a shut down corner.

Hardcore Madden and football fans may find this feature redundant. Anyone that’s watched a football game or owns a TV knows Payton Manning is a good QB. Why not just make him better without the use of an icon? If the attempt is to help the casual fan define who is great and who is not, I doubt this feature will help them play the game. Football strategy is far too complicated to simply point out who is good and expect someone to enjoy the experience of playing Madden because they now know who they should pass the ball to. As for the really hardcore Madden fan, they may only appreciate the Smart QB and Smart Defender’s ability to recognize plays.

A more useful addition to the Madden gameplay is Receiver Spotlight. Want to play extra attention to Terrell Owens? You can spotlight him to prevent the big play; however this means you’re taking attention from elsewhere. It’s a small feature but a nice one.

Outside the lines

Franchise mode has gotten an upgrade or two as well. You can now build your own team, although the options are limited to say the least. There are far too few designs to choose from. Basically if you want to be a shark, you’re in luck. Fans of NCAA Football 08 will be pleased to know that they can import their ‘Campus Legend’ and watch him turn into a star in the NFL.

Superstar mode has been improved as well. The camera angles are better making possible to play a receiver this year. You’ll be able to watch your player grow from a modest draft pick to a superstar with power agents or you can choose a draft pick from this year and control his destiny in the NFL. While this is a nice attempt, it still falls short of anything worthwhile. The mini-games of bench pressing and drills become tedious quickly. If they would more of an RPG element to leveling up stats beyond this, it could be its own game. Right now, it’s just a couple days distraction.

Getting Stronger

Madden NFL 08 has finally brought the franchise into the next gen world. The branching animations and 60 fps make the game feel smoother than ever before. However, it hard to get excited by the fact that EA has finally put in all the features that should have been there last year, if not the year before. When a franchise is racking in as much money as Madden, they should at the very least be able to give us what we expect. They’ve finally done that, now with better animation and more player controls they seem to be going in the right directions. Maybe next year will bring us that much closer to having a Madden game like never before. It’s still a good game, slightly above average, but not as great as it should be.

Article by: Paul Bonanno
Video produced by: Paul Bonanno