Madden NFL 08 review (PlayStation 2)

I wasn’t sure we were going to see another Madden game on the PS2 after Madden 07. True the PS2 has an absolutely huge user-base and the decision could have meant the loss of quite a few thousand sales for EA, but I did wonder whether the temptation to concentrate solely on the next-gen might be too much for them. Going on some of the reviews for the next-gen release (especially with regards to the interception and fumbles issue that our very own Mike Bowden commented on) EA may wish that they had ploughed all of their resources into the one version. Still I’m sure a few hundred thousand sales will soon change their minds.

But did EA just regurgitate the 07 version or have we got a next-gen with last-gen visuals on our hands? It’s predictably a bit of both.

NFL Football with guns?

The main addition to all versions of Madden 08 is the new ‘weapons’ system. Before you start worrying that EA has gone futuristic on us and your quarterback now has a shield or laser targeted sighting, weapons are your star players and this new system highlights their key abilities. The icons that appear on-screen next to your players and the opposition are there to help you spot weaknesses; if the opposition has an agile quarterback, or they have a receiver with extreme pace, this new system is there to help you make some adjustments and solve any potential mismatches. It also helps you exploit mismatches, such as putting a hard-hitting cornerback on a weak receiver.

On the next-gen systems the weapons feature is a revelation. Due to the hardware capabilities available the difference between each type of ‘weapon’ is extremely noticeable and often makes for a butch game of chess at the scrimmage where you try to open up gaps in the opposition. However the PS2 simply can’t seem to cope with this, and the difference between players is as minimal as it has always been. Strong running backs and quick, agile running backs are completely different but they always have been, as have quarterbacks that can run with the ball and quarterbacks that can’t. Other than that there appears to be very little difference between the other players and you can comfortably beat the opposition on the default difficulty setting without even using the weapons system. Even taking the difficulty up a notch doesn’t require the use of the system; the same age-old Madden tactics will still get you victory more often than not, although victory comes slightly easier if you do use it. It really does feel like this year’s big addition to the PS2 version has always been there, just now you get fancy icons to make you think they’ve added something new.

Obviously the weapons system could have helped newcomers to Madden (and perhaps to NFL in general) understand the difference between the types of players, but without any on-screen guide as to what each icon means (and with the icons being hard to differentiate at times as well) the system is virtually redundant. Even when they have committed all of the icons to memory, how are they going to know what audibles to pull out and what lineshifts to use? Madden 08 doesn’t explain the basics at all and as such it’s moving further and further away from casual gamers even being able to play the game. Perhaps that’s where EA wants to take it, but surely some basic guidelines to help newcomers and multiplayer opponents ease into the game would open it up to a wider audience (and anybody I have available to me to play multiplayer with only has a basic interest at NFL at most and needs all the help they can get). In fact just bring back Madden 101! Newcomers will certainly struggle with all of the required button presses (a quick glance of the manual left my multiplayer opponent wishing that they hadn’t agreed to give me a game) and a little more help would have certainly gone a long way.

Fantasy Football…American style

But the weapons system isn’t the only new feature to creep in this year. There are some ‘Skill Drills’, which are basically mini-games that are meant to improve your game, and for the rushing and passing side of the game they do help a little. But the pre-snap controls mini-game is laughable at best. Instead of presenting you with a range of situations and instructing you to choose an option to counter a potential weakness or to exploit a weakness, it just gives you a list of button presses to make in quick succession. Whilst that’s all very good at teaching you where your L1 button is, it gives you zero insight into why you’re making those button presses and what that audible has just actually done. Why these mini-games are set against over-sized robots is also a baffling design issue.

Aside from the fairly lacklustre mini-games there is the new ‘Fantasy Franchise’ mode. Giving you a set number of roster points with which to build your own fantasy team (including NFL Hall of Famers) you start out in the lowest division of a four-tier league. From here you move up the leagues claiming championships along the way until you reach the crème-de-la-crème. The top league then becomes somewhat of a disappointment as it is full of Hall of Famers and fictional teams which all seem to have ridiculous (and somewhat magical) abilities, which feel completely out of place in what is otherwise a very serious sports simulation.

While you’re working your way up through the divisions you are given roster points with which you can trade for better players or opt to improve your own roster’s statistics. If you’re not careful with your points (and even if you are due to the odds being stacked firmly in the favour of the AI) your squad will be constantly plundered and your best players replaced with the worst player from the trading team, whether you want to do the trade or not. What started off as a very interesting new mode soon turned into a frustrating mess, leaving me with a team that was unrecognisable
to the one I started with and in most cases significantly inferior.

24, 47, 31, 22, 07, 18…that’s the lottery draw for tonight folks.

Other areas have seen the ‘create-a-player’ mode enhanced slightly and you now have the option to start off as one of the 2007 rookie draftees. Playing as an individual player throughout a career is very satisfying, but does often lack the thrill of playing the whole game. Camera angles aren’t always the most helpful either, especially when playing as a wide receiver. Elsewhere the ‘Franchise’ mode is still as involving as ever (although with a new menu system which feels very unintuitive when compared to last year’s) and you can easily sink days into this mode if NFL is your bag, but then this was the same for 07 and other than roster changes, there’s very little else different in 08

Old issues unfortunately still remain. The same graphical glitches still exist and the same AI issues remain (such as the AI opponent taking forever to make a play when they need to win the game and have only seconds remaining). Commentary is of its usual good standard with well spoken lines from Al Michaels and John Madden, but they are the same well spoken lines that were in Madden 07. Fortunately the fumbles and interceptions AI issue that has plagued the ‘next-gen’ version hasn’t found its way on to the PS2, but that’s hardly much of a plus-point.

Truth be told though, all quibbles aside, Madden 08 is still a lot of fun to play. On its own it is fully deserving of an eight, but if you’ve already got Madden 07 then there really is no need to upgrade. The new features just aren’t worth the asking price (and in some cases aren’t even worth bothering with) and for some Madden 08 will actually feel like a juke backwards, rather than a leap forwards. Extra point attempt denied!