Madden NFL 2008- Another Year, Another Madden but this one...
One of the big new features in this year's tile is the weapons. No not guns and knives but certain types of players. For example Terrell Owens is a stiff-arm receiver and a quick receiver while Peyton Manning is a smart-QB and an accurate quarterback. Basically the best players in the league are weapons and they'll be the guys to make the big plays on offense, defense, or special teams. It also makes it easy to let you know which players you want to get the ball to or which players can cause the turnover.
Another nice little feature is certain players have their own celebrations like Clinton Portis or Michael Strahan. This year they wanted to put more emotion into the game like the opening cut scene with Brian Dawkins. But they still don't make it very rewarding when you when the super bowl. It's just a 10 second celebration and that's all you get. They still don't have John Madden and Al Michaels calling plays, it's just a radio announcer, which I guess can be a good thing since John Madden kind of gets on your nerves after awhile.
One huge improvement in this game is the AI. In older versions a play-action pass would nearly guarantee you a touchdown because the DB's would fall for it. You can't just toss up a Hail Mary every play and get a touchdown it will most likely be an interception. The quarterbacks will scramble if they see open field or if they are under pressure. Wide receivers will continue making blocks up the field which is something that didn't happen in other versions.
All of the other features are back in the game. You got the superstar mode which really isn't all that great. You start out as a rookie and eventually try to get into the hall of fame. In this mode if you're a wide receiver that's the only position you get to be and the camera can be aggravating at times. Franchise mode is back. That of course is where you pick a team and control all the things that come along with owning a team. For the first time in the Xbox 360 version you can create a team. There are a few problems with that such as not a lot of customization with what you can do and choosing the teams roster gets complicated.
The online play is similar to last years. No notable differences from last year. It's still five minute quarters, virtually no lag and the all-pro difficulty. One feature a lot of folks wanted was online leagues which are still not in this year's version for some reason. If you're connected to Xbox live you can listen to ESPN radio and get updates for the NFL or any other kind of sport which is a nice addition. Also this year EA is putting out more roster updates which is something you didn't see a lot of last year.
The Xbox 360 version is definitely the one to go with. It runs at 60 frames per second while the Playstation 3 version only runs at 30 frames. You can still pick up Madden on the Wii, Playstation 2, PSP, Xbox, DS, and even the Gamecube. Overall though the games a lot of fun and still addicting as ever. It's still not quite the greatest football game ever but it's the best on Xbox 360. I'm giving this year's version for the Xbox 360 8.5 out of 10. The only thing you got to wonder is if the "Madden curse" will strike this year put Vince Young on the sidelines?