Review: Madden '08 (Wii*)

Graphics- 7/10
Sound- 9/10
Gameplay- 7.5/10
Replay Value- 9/10
Overall- 7.5/10

I was in need of my yearly Madden fix, but this year all that happened was I became anxious for the Madden to loose its license agreement. In a hit or miss series of games, this year features lots of misses.

When I got home to start playing Madden '08 the first thing that I noticed was the much improved loading times. This year is a vast improvement over last years average load times, and much better than the PSP version that I had last year was. However my enthusiasm was short lived, because once I actually started to play the game, I realized I was in fact playing the Gamecube version. I can barely notice the difference between the current Gamecube version and the current Wii version, graphical speaking. I have only noticed minor things, like extra shiny helmets, and new player animations. To counter the negativity, there was something that I was very pleased at, and that was the controls. I have found them to be very responsive and easy. The first thing that I would recommend that you do, is go to "learn Madden," it teaches you what you need to do, and you can start playing rather quickly.

As far as actually playing the game goes - it isn't bad. Once you get used to using the Wiimote to throw a pass, it is all good. Especially once you learn to set a" primary receiver." Doing that is a fairly simple task, and can really help you out. Before you snap the ball - when you are surveying the field by holding down "B" - you hit the button of the receiver that you would like to throw the ball to. Now that you have done that, all you have to do is flick the Wiimote to throw the ball - you don't have to hold down a button. As far as running the ball, it is very fun - you use the Wiimote to stiff arm and the Nunchuck to juke. On top of that the power moves have improved, because you just have to shove the Wiimote forward, instead of last year where you had to shove both the Nunchuck and Wiimote forward. As for this years new feature (player weapons) it is all fine and dandy, but I honestly don't use it all that much. What the feature is supposed to do is help you identify superstars allowing super star players to be noticed. For example Randy Moss is a "spectacular catch" receiver, allowing him to make amazing one-handed grabs and Reggie Bush is an "elusive back," making him more agile then most players. The other way to play is superstar mode, and there is only one big change this year is the creation process. Gone are the days of randomly shifting through your parents "DNA," and it is instead replaced with a point system. You are assigned a certain amount of points which you can add to your players attributes.

The other big new feature on the Wii this year, is online capabilities, which flat out suck. It takes you way to long to find someone with a strong enough signal to play ( it has to be full, other wise you will not be able to get past three minutes without ramming your head through the wall.) Then once you find someone with a strong enough signal the game still has way to much lag. Not only that there are a lot of glitches with the scoring system. For example I was playing someone and I was winning, so they decided to be a little baby a quit, but hey what do I care I get the win and there DNF % goes up. Ha, I was wrong - we both got a win plus a DNF. Other times it has worked to perfection, making the system extremely hit and miss.

There are a few other problems that I have noticed, but the big one is freezing. It always seems to freeze whenever I go to team schedule in my franchise instead of weekly schedule. It is easy to avoid, I understand, but it is still something that I shouldn't have to deal with. The only other problem is that the Gamecube version is better. Yeah, thats right. The Gamecube version has a ton more options and ways to play. The Gamecube version contains certain options such as create-a-team, that are lacking in the Wii version. So, what am I trying to say? Buy the Gamecube version, seriously. Unless you need sucky online play, there is no reason for the Wii version. The only other feature, that the Wii version has is Party Mode, which is how your Miis are involved in this particular Wii game. Should I expect better from Madden, you ask? Well, probably not, but I do and this game has failed me in that regard.

Pros: Good controls, Load times, Got my yearly Madden fix.
Cons: Everything else.

Review: Dan

Available for many systems. Review for Wii version only.