Customer Reviews

Madden NFL 08 DVD

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

You may by now have heard that EA has killed Madden for the PC, and you are looking to buy a copy before it goes completely extinct. I'll keep this short and mildly enraged- Madden 2008 is the same program, but somehow with MORE bugs than 2007. How they did that I don't know. They clearly never cared about the PC game. The same stupid bugs appeared year after year, like a department store Santa with syphillus. But I bought both programs and compared them and Madden 2008 is now in the garbage.

For what it's worth.

After watching all the hype, I eagerly awaited the August 14th release of Madden 08. I bought the game for PC the day it was released and right away I had problems with it. The installation went well, but then '08 would not run ("Security Module could not be activated:7001"). After an hour I finally found a fix by deleting some registry files. Expecting something close to the XBox 360 or PS3 version of '08, I was saddened to see the same menu screen as last year's Madden 07 PC version. I played several games and noticed very few differences from last year's PC version. Like anothre review said, the roster s were updated and there were 1 or 2 new graphical tweaks, but for the most part I felt like was playing Madden 07. Player movements are still slightly awkward and there are some clipping issues. A lot of hyped features like gang-tackling are noticeably absent from Madden 08 PC. I've played Madden 08 on the XBox360 and I gotta say the console version is way smoother and much more entertaining. If you have an option, skip the PC version of Madden 08 and go with the Xbox 360 or PS3 version.

I've gotten used to being dissapointed by recent Madden releases but 08 was supposed to be different, right?....Wrong, dead wrong for the PC version. Other than a couple mediocre graphic additions it is essentially just a roster update. If you've heard about changes to franchise mode, player weapons, etc. forget about them, because absolutely nothing changes from the 07 version. I'm especially dissapointed by franchise mode...in my opinion the only aspect of the game worth playing more than a couple hours. For some reason Madden thinks players improve by playing on winning teams...rather than teams win because players improve. Four years into the season every player on the saints, rams, patriots, colts and any other team with a couple playoff appearances has awareness ratings of 99. The salary cap is so high you never need to cut a player, and while drafting the CPU teams still offer ridiculous trades every 30 seconds. Screens are still ineffective, defenders turn into blockers, receivers can't stay in bounds, quarterbacks can't evade rushers, and don't even think about the tuck rule. I'm definitely not buying another madden for PC until they make some major changes. If you have the option, the PS3 gameplay is probably tops (in the next generation systems 08 is a decent improvement).

I buy the new version of Madden for PC just about every year. I wish they would expand/ enhance the scouting drills for the draft, but I have greatly enjoyed this game, as always. It's th only way I can get my favorite team to win the Super Bowl.

I have enjoyed the PC version of Madden NFL for many years. I am quite disappointed they have discontinued the PC version.

Madden NFL 08 is very fun to play. Play calling is simple and direct. Game play is smooth and fast. Both offensively and defensively there are multiple audible options after a play has been called. The playbooks and audibles are highly customizable.

The graphics are nice at the highest settings. There are multiple graphics levels which helps improve game speed if you have a slower PC.

Owner mode is fun as well. Building and improving a team through the draft and free agency is entertaining. One complaint about the draft - you have a limited number of scouting attempts. So you can't gain much information about any of the available players pre-draft. This does not seem right considering how much time and money real NFL teams spend analyzing players before the draft.

I shoulda followed my gut instinct and boycotted Madden 08. First of all it's 98% percent the same as last year, and the much Hyped Player abilities wich they claim are new... are just last years player roles with new icons and you can see them on the field of play.

though being able to see them on the field has made making adjustments easier as you can see who's covering who, or wich members of your O-line are gonna plow threw the D easier, it still doesn't justify the price nor the Hype generated for this game.

The rosters are soarly wrong, The Bears still have Tank Johnson, who was released months ago, and replaced by Darwin Walker months ago, and yet this simple fix was not made, i am sure there are other holes in this roster as well.

The menu's and over lays are reused from last year, they just made them bigger and a black, When you score and are about to kick a field goal, you see 1st and 10 at the top in white, over Field Goal in orange, wich was last years lettering at the top.

AI and animations have been improved slightly, not as vastly as EA would lead you to believe, some of the new animations actualy cause gameplay problems where the animation was inapropriat at the time. Some players still walk through others, the running back still stubbornly runs into the o-line untill he trips.

The graphix are tweaked, colors and edges do seem more refigned, but given the Hardware out for PC's, there is no reason why PC gamers are stuck with Ps2/Xbox graphics. easpecialy since even mid range budget cards these days are equal or even better than xbox 360 and ps3.

One bright spot is the hall of fame mode, You can now play as one of the players from this years draft, including this actualy makes me play this aspect now. Though the layout of the appartment is troublesome in some spots as clickable items are too close and with a mouse you tend to click the wrong thing half the time.

Sound....OMG, this is the same dreary commentation as last year, nothing new was added, heck, they still call Devin Hester " number 23" ... this guy broke an NFL record and a Super Bowl record, and is the first player to ever have the ingame Speed of 100, and you can't even say his name....

Again, i shoulda knew better, though shame on me, this is the last madden i am gonna buy for a few years, always happens, play a few years, get tired of minor tweaks every year and basicly paying for a $40 roster update.

I will say the game is fun... but as i notice every minor detail and it sinks in, i get the feeling i am playing last years game, and am already starting to get burnt out.

I love it, although we had trouble when the disk broke. It rocks, although the graphics are a little cheep.

This was cheaper than the EA download and I now have a hard copy of the game. My first Madden 08 DVD cracked from a lot of playing. I was playing Madden NFL 05 before this and decided to shop for the most recent PC Madden NFL game. I really wish EA continued with the PC version. I only have played an old Playstation (90's) Madden game a couple of times. So I have little to compare this to. Each game is a variation of the others and for me, I got each one for the new/updated player rosters. I tried keeping up with the technology, but the timing of the game issues to when Microsoft put out new platforms was terrible. Tech support must have been hopping, which I imagine was a major contributor of why EA discontinued the PC version. I have had a few crashes, but I am not sure if it was the game or compatability issues. (08 is made for Vista and I am playing it on Windows 7.) I get skipping, especially playing HOF mode. I again am not sure if it is my graphics settings/hardware or the game itself. All I can say for sure is that, I play the Madden more than any of the other games that I have. If I get bored, I may have to buy a console game to continue the fun. I hope that doesn't happen!

I'm a novice game player and did not feel the need for the latest & greatest version of the game. That said, the game is very challenging, has excellent graphics, and good practice drills. To play the game, you have to have the game-DVD inserted because all of the program files are not loaded onto your hard-drive, which is a good thing. I'm also getting used to a new gamepad, so my learning & skill curve are coming along slow but that's Ok. For me it was $$ well spent. I don't have a single complaint about the ordering processing, delivery, or the game.

If I hadn't seen previous Madden games, I'd say this is a very good game. However, when you look at what EA has done so far, it's very obvious that they have not been very diligent in working on the latest PC football game. This game is almost exactly identical to Madden 07 and 06. The menus are even very close. The graphics are still mediocre and no better than before. The presentation is boring and Al Michaels and John Madden are still saying the same things they've been saying for years.

Although the game is pretty much average, there are some new good things about it. The gameplay has improved slightly, and the AI and game engine have been tweaked a little. There are new animations for tackles, which make the game feel a lot more realistic.

The way to get the best out of this game is to go to www.football-freaks.com and check out the mods they have there. You can get the latest rosters as well as their total conversion mod which features new portraits and other things. They have some hi-resolution uniforms there too, but modding Madden is still in the early stages, so they don't have any real graphical updates just yet.

Overall, this is a very good game which any football fan will enjoy. However, if you're upgrading from a previous version of Madden, don't expect too many new features.