Madden NFL 08EA SportsPlaystation 2Rating – 2 out of 5 stars

Madden NFL has risen to the top of the video gaming world by constantly evolving. Every year brings a new change that makes the latest addition better than the last.

Gamers flock to stores at midnight every year to buy the new Madden title. They can’t even wait until the morning to see what the geniuses at EA Sports have added to the franchise.

They shell out $50 without even thinking about it because they need the game like a drug addict needs a hit. And ‘Madden’ never fails to give them their fix – at least not until this year.

The 2008 incarnation in the Madden franchise is nothing more than a $50 roster and graphics update. There’s nothing wrong with the game; it just has no major improvements from the previous installment. Gamers are guaranteed to be yearning for the old days when every game was distinctly different from previous years.

The 2004 game brought us ‘playmaker’ – possibly the single greatest upgrade in video game history – where gamers could change the play at the line at the flip of a joystick. It turned every armchair quarterback into Peyton Manning – or at least Trent Green – scanning the defense and adjusting the play accordingly.

In 2005 the defense returned to the forefront with thanks to the ‘hit stick.’ Not only was this feature fun because players could create their own version of Monday Night Countdown’s ‘Jacked Up,’ but it also put the defense on an even playing field by making it harder to hold onto the ball.

When the quarterback ‘vision cone’ was created in 2006, some users were skeptical. The game was all of a sudden much harder to play. But with a little practice, gamers could learn how to use the ‘passing cone’ to their advantage by looking off coverage and throwing to wide-open receivers.

Last year’s additions were quite modest in comparison, but they were still important. The ‘highlight stick’ allowed larger running backs to roll over their opponents while smaller backs would perform fancier moves to escape the tackles. The new blocking controls were not much of a success, as they seemed to make the game unnecessarily complicated, but at least the developers made an effort.

This year there was just no effort at all by the designers. The big reason to buy Madden NFL 08: the weapons system. Now when gamers zoom out to view the play, they can also see who the star players are on both sides of the ball. They can tell who is a deep threat and who is a dominating run stopper.

EA Sports is touting this upgrade for making Madden more of a thinking man’s game. So you’re saying Randy Moss is a big play receiver and Chad Pennington doesn’t have a particularly strong arm? That’s really enlightening material. Thank you, EA Sports, for opening my eyes to the mysteries of the sports world.

Perhaps this game shows us that the days of the old systems are coming to an end. More focus is being placed on Xbox 360 and the PS3, and the little guys with PS2 are being left behind. Developers are just starting to grasp what is possible on those more advanced systems, and as they gain more knowledge, the possibilities are nearly endless for the future.

Maybe it shows us that EA has finally realized that it doesn’t need to improve to sell games. Since EA owns exclusive rights to games involving NFL players, teams or logos, no one else can challenge Madden. The 2K series used to push football video games to new heights, but it has not been able to put out a game since 2004 because of EA’s copyright deal.

The lack of competition shows in the marketing. Last year, gamers were saturated with commercials emphasizing ‘Maddenoliday,’ trying to turn the launch date for the game into its own special day. This year, EA barely even advertised the game until the last two weeks before it came out.

I’m not saying Madden is doomed. However, the developers at EA seem to be getting a little cocky and overconfident, and often times, pride comes before the fall.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with Madden NFL 08, it is not worth buying for the first time in recent memory. Go online, update the rosters from last year’s game and use that $50 to buy a nice dinner. At least that will leave a good taste in your mouth when it’s over.

Published on August 28, 2007 at 12:00 pm