Madden NFL 08

"Madden returns as the best football game of this generation, and one of the better ones in the series."

One of the longest running and most successful video game franchises of all time makes its return here for the 2007-2008 NFL football season. The game needs no introduction, it's Madden NFL 08. You know Madden, your friends know Madden, your parents know Madden, even the ninety year old man living across the street knows Madden. The name Madden has become a household name across the country during the past decade, and it's not because of the legendary coach and broadcaster John Madden either. Games like this don't become this popular overnight, but after a while Madden was the only game people thought of when discussing football video games. This led to, as the game's front cover will tell you, the series becoming the number one selling football franchise of all time. The series rose to it's eventual nirvana in 2004, and even bought the NFL license during this time to prevent any form of competition. Since then the series has seen a steady decline in quality, eventually leading them to release quite possibly the worst installment in 2005 on the Xbox 360. Unfamiliarity of the new console was to blame, and to be fair, we can understand. Although a lot of the problems were addressed in the next installment, Madden NFL 07 still failed to deliver what fans of the series had hoped to see again. So after three years of practice on the new hardware, EA Tiburon has finally hit the sweet spot. Madden NFL 08 is most certainly the best football game of this generation, and one of the better ones in EA's long running series.

One of the most immediate things you will notice upon playing your first game is the new player weapon system. This is a way of letting players easily decipher who the playmakers are on the team, as well as which ones are good in certain situations. There are twenty weapons in all, ranging from an accurate quarterback to a press coverage defensive back, and cover all facets of the game. Not all players are a weapon of course, thus giving the honor of being one a pretty big deal. Before the ball is snapped, the weapons on the field are displayed for each team. This is done with an icon that appears under each impact player. By seeing these playmakers before the snap, you are given the chance to adjust your defense or offense to prevent or exploit mismatches. If you're playing defense and see a big weapon on the other team's offense, you might want to set an extra defender to pay a little more attention to that player. Once the ball is snapped however, all of the icons disappear and the play resumes as usual. The individual ratings of each player are what denotes them as weapons or not. If a quarterback has a high rating in throwing power, then they are labeled as a Cannon Arm QB. Every single weapon has it's own set of strengths and weaknesses. The aforementioned quarterback skill is very good at launching the deep ball or throwing a bullet pass over the middle before the defenders can react, but on the other hand, the same quarterback may not be able to always put the ball where he wants it to go. Thus resulting in an array of off passes, sometimes sailing over the receivers head or in the arms of a defensive back. The game has information on each and every weapon class, as well as tips on how to counter them while on the field.

The weapons system isn't the only thing new to Madden NFL 08, as the entire interface and menu system have been seemingly hacked and built from the ground up. The first thing you will encounter once the game is up and running is the new showcase feature. This is a 3D environment that displays trophies you earn while playing the game, as well as your ring progress. The rings are basically the new version of the Madden gamer level that was in 07. It works pretty much the same way as the aforementioned system. You earn points after every game that correspond to your performance during that game. Once the game is over you are shown the progress you are making towards your next ring as well as how many trophies you unlocked. There are six rings in all, with the last one resembling a Super Bowl championship ring with your team's logo on it. You can also order any of these rings from Jostens if you are so inclined, but it does get kind of pricey. You can also view replays of any play that occurred during the game, this is a first for any football game. Most of the other “new” features in this year's Madden are things that were new four years ago but have eluded the series ever since it entered the new generation.

When it comes to gameplay, Madden has been historically great, but not always the best. Although fun, the series hasn't really been known for the realistic gameplay that we see in other football games. This was especially evident in 2004 when ESPN NFL 2k5 took on Madden NFL 2005. The differences were enormous and most people thought that 2k5 was the superior product. It seemed like EA were ignoring the critics and gamers on this subject for the past few years, until now. Madden NFL 08 is quite possibly the most satisfying and enjoyable game of football the series has ever seen, with tons of new animations and player specific play styles. And yes, the long overdue gang tackles are finally here! Even with these improvements however, the gameplay is still not as good as you would have hoped it to be. It still feels more arcadey than the other big football game on the market, All Pro Football 2k8(could you make that a hyperlink to the review?), and there are still things they can improve upon for next year's release.

Much has been said about the PlayStation 3's version having half the frames that the Xbox 360 version has, and yes you can definitely tell the difference. The 360 version runs at a smooth sixty frames per second, whereas the PS3's game runs at thirty, and sometimes dips below that and chops up a bit. So if you own both consoles and are trying to decide which is the right one to buy, the Xbox 360 version is without a doubt the way to go. If you only own a PlayStation 3 however, don't let this prevent you from getting this game because it is still a very fine product.

When EA made it to the next generation, their one goal was to bring the HD experience into all of their sports titles. This somehow effected all of the games features and left many people thinking they spent a little too much time on those high definition graphics. Well now that they have brought back most of the features that made the series so great in the first place, we can finally feel good about the graphics. Madden NFL 08 looks just as sharp as you would expect, and looks stunning on either an HD or SD television. The grass behaves as you'd expect it to, and gets messed up from constant play. The same goes for the players jerseys, and they might even get torn after constant bashing. But like all Madden games, this one ultimately looks just like the other current generation games in the series, with some nice improvements of course.

John Madden and Al Michaels do not announce the games like in years past, instead 08 has the same EA radio announcer that has been used in the previous two installments, and does a pretty good job overall. The audio bits are pretty much the same as the last two years, and this can get tiresome after long play sessions. John still shows up when you select ask Madden when picking plays, so he's not completely gone just yet. One thing that is new to the series is Marshall's Minute, which is just a small segment before and after each game where Marshall Faulk tells you his predictions and some other random tidbits that are hardly worth mentioning. Needless to say this is a pretty terrible feature that adds nothing to the game has a whole, except comedy because it‘s so bad. The crowd noise is pretty unpredictable because they don't seem to know which team to root for at times. Sometimes they will even cheer an away team's touchdown, it's really puzzling. Like all Madden games there is a wide variety of music to be heard while surfing the menus, almost too wide in fact. There's even a new Ozzy tune in the mix, it's not Crazy Train but it's good none the less.

The one remarkable thing about this year's Madden is its incredible depth in comparison to the previous games in the series. This is the first time this generation that we've seen any kind of owner mode, create-a-team, create-a-stadium, or even mini games. All of these features are a sight for sore eyes, as it's been three long years since we‘ve seen them. Like I mentioned before, the rings system is the new Madden Gamer level, so if you're into that kind of thing it will keep you playing for a while. As far as multiplayer goes, it's pretty much untouched from last year's game. There are still no online leagues or tournaments, so all you can really do are one on one matches. It really is quite puzzling because other football games have had these features for quite some time now. With the multi-player aside however, this is most definitely the deepest game of football on the market today.

With 2K's return to the football world, EA responds with one of its better efforts in recent memory. Some people might say that 2K's return is the sole reason, but I think this would have happened eventually. They were close in 2006, and are there now in 2007. This game is perfect for anyone who enjoys the sport of football, as well as people who are new to the game. It's easy for just about anyone to pick up and play, and still stays true to the hardcore Madden gamers out there. Madden NFL 08 brings back everything you remember from the glory days and even adds some new twists here and there. All together this title is the best football game of this year. It's fun to play, great to look at, and it has tons of content for you to enjoy until next year. Madden Nation is still as strong as ever.

~Mike Pelletier

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/17/07