Customer Reviews

Madden NFL 08

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was hesitant to buy this game after reading of the glitches and about how EA really didn't seem to put enough effort into making it work well and look good on the Wii.

Well, I haven't had it long and maybe my opinion will change, but for now I'm very glad that I bought it.

The online mode is really a blast. It is a MUCH different feeling for me to know that I'm playing against another human instead of the CPU. The fact that you can play in games that affect your ranking adds to the thrill/pressure. It's nice too that you can specify that you only want to play people who are at your same skill level.

I guess I could have just been lucky so far, but the online mode has worked very well and I didn't notice any lag.

As for the rest of the game, yes it would be nice if EA would make the graphics look as good as they can on a Wii, but my old fashioned non-HD TV isn't going to do it much justice anyway, so I don't worry too much about that.

The glitches are at least rare enough that I've played several games so far (offline and online) and haven't seen any. Perhaps the first time I do I'll change my opinion of the game. For now, though, the few games I've played online have realy made the purchase worth it.

I've owned every Madden since the beginning and I wanted to cry when I started to see all the flaws these people put into this game. A very lazy job by everyone who was involved. You can't sort STATS, it doesn't record broken records, the Newspaper section doesn't show the cool pictures anymore, no freakin CELEBRATION WHEN YOU WIN THE SUPERBOWL, give me a break. All the cool little things that made Madden more that just a game are gone. They took what was suppose to be the greatest game off the year (In my opinion Madden is always the greatest game of the year) and went backwards like 4 years. This game would be pretty cool if it came out in the year 2000. It's like they thought if you own a Wii you must hate Madden. I couldn't be more disappointed.

The control scheme on the Wii makes this the most enjoyable football game out there, and you'll have a fun time playing the offline mode with friends. The online mode, however, is terrible, and brings the entire game down.

The online mode is plauged with bugs that make the game a remarkably frustrating experience. Remember those pictures of broken TV screens that popped up every other day when the Wii was first released? Unless you have the patience of a saint, you'll be intentionally duplicating that expereince in your home, throwing your Wii remote at the TV in helpless anger.

As others have mentioned, setting up a match can be a pain. I wouldn't put the failure rate I've experienced as high as others here, but I'd say at about 30% of the matches fail to start for me. I can live with that. The real problems begin when the game starts.

1. False start penalty any time you try a 'no huddle' in online mode except during the final seconds of a quarter. This might be part of EA's obnoxious 'Fair Play' system where they try to keep you from running 'unrealistic' plays, but 'no huddle' offenses are used frequently enough under normal circumstances in the NFL that it's absurd to prevent them. Again, this is something you could probably live with, except that the 'no huddle' option is mapped to the 'B' button, which also sprints. So if you happened to be sprinting when the last play ended and don't *immediately* let go of the button, your offense will rush to the line and automatically trigger a 5 yard penalty.

2. Random audibles. Multiple times I've lined up to kick a field goal or punt, and notice my formation change right before I hike the ball. It costs a time-out to get back to play-book and reselect a kicking play, unless you give up two of your audibles to be punt/field goal.

3. Disconnecting players. This is hardly exclusive Madden on Wii, but the treatment is. Rather than letting you complete the game against the PC, the game will freeze for about 10 seconds, tell you the connection was lost, and force you back to the menu. Even worse, it will actually increase your "Did Not Finish" percentage, even if you're not the one that disconnected. When you play a close game for 45 minutes to an hour and are seconds away from winning, this is infuriating.

4. Fair Play restrictions. As in #1, except these aren't exclusive to the Wii version and have been around for a while. With all of the other problems though, it really starts to get annoying. Online, the game will prevent you from doing anything except kicking if it's 4th and 1 unless you're down and it's near the end of the game.

If you plan on only playing this game offline with local friends, then I could recommend it when the price drops a bit. You should definitely stay away from this if you have any intention of playing online though. Visit the EA forums for the Wii version of the game to get an idea for the scope of the problems; they extend well beyond online play, and even include errors with autosaving the game. When a major feature of the game is as broken as online play is, I cannot justify paying full price for the game. Wait until next year's version if you can, or if you don't care about the roster updates, pick up last year's Wii version. The game is nearly identical and in some ways better than this year's, and you can pick it up used for a few dollars.

First of all, let it be said firmly and with finality that the much complained about "glitches" in other reviews are either exclusive to online play, outright fabrication, or due to user unintelligence.

Secondly, the controls are fine. Most criticism of Wii controls are from individuals who apparently don't understand said controls and are inexplicably unwilling to learn them (and how the Wii sensor works: don't work right? BACK UP, maybe!).

Two other rubbish items broadcast in other Amazon reviews that bear debunking:

-- All players are the same height and look the same (they're not and don't).

-- The 1 & 2 buttons are out or reach during play (they're not- unless some Amazon customers are artiodactyls, then that may be problematic).

All that said, this game is good, but has the typical rushed feel common in most- if not all- EA games. The presentation is very poor and playbooks are practically unintelligble on smaller sized televisions.

Additionally, the tutorial mode is also poorly done and rather sparse. At least one other EA Sports title- FIFA 08- contains voice-over for the tutorial, whereas Madden does not. Nor does the tutorial get into more advanced concepts. The designers (perhaps rightfully) assume the player already knows quite a bit about football, so- as far as can be gleaned- audibles, no huddle offense, et cetera are not part of the tutorial. I'd prefer they had specific entries in this mode, but at the same time anything can be practiced in practice mode or just by playing a game and fiddling around. It is a video game, after all.

To conclude: again- this is a game. Its not a simulator nor a prognosticator of what might happen between two teams. Its supposed to be fun. So long as you're willing to spend the arduous, torturous, near impossible two to five minutes to learn how Wii controls work- it is! Though bear in mind it helps to have a decent TV. And a reasonable intellect. That certainly helps, too.

As an editorial postscript, I'd like to say to anyone out there reading this- its fine to dislike the Wii. Enjoy the consoles you do like. But it doesn't help anyone to lie about how things work or look in a given Wii game. What on earth is the point? Madden 08 does not have glitches in normal play, period. Unless of course you count the presence of Michael Vick as Falcons QB.

I was really excited to get this game and found myself to be VERY dissapointed with the product. I've played Madden through the years, although I'm not one who buys a new version each year.
I had high hopes of being able to use many of the family friendly features with my family, and thus I went out and bought this game for our Wii (which we love).

Content
I found the content to be relatively similar to older versions of Madden I had played in years past. Within a day I was bored with the offline gameplay, as it was relatively the same as I had seen over years past. Training camp, challenges, practice, league games, all just updated versions of what I'd seen in previous years. There are many new smaller features that looked interesting when I stumbled upon them (rookie mode or Hall of Fame mode), but the documentation did a poor job of giving me detailed info on how they worked. If you are new to Madden or have been away from it for more than a few years, I think a lot of the content will be fun. But I found myself asking why I was completing the exact same challenges I had worked through 2-3 years ago. As always, the updated rosters and playbooks are nice to have.

Wii Controls
These bring some freshness to the game. The sensitivity of the wiimote and the nunchuck left a bit to be desired when it came to makeing jukes and stiffarms. One really needs to be conscious of how the remote will interpret your action. This can also affect snapping and passing. I never thought I'd desire to have a big complex controller back, but I found myself desiring the consistent accuracy it provided.

Online gamplay.
FAIL. Just a fat failure. One of the major reasons this game appealed to me. I thought I would be able to play with family and get real competition online. When I actually did connect so I could play a game it lagged badly. One finds themselves disconnected regularly when attempting to start a game. Over 50+ attempts to start a game, I was able to start a game (see a field with players on it) twice. I monitored my router and packet speed while experiencing my online difficulties, and found my end of the network was working fine.

Conclusion
Man I wanted this game to work. I read the official reviews with high hopes, and thought this was something I wanted. Nevertheless, I was underwhelmed or dissapointed at almost every turn.

I want to start by saying I am a huge fan of Madden Football and I love '07 for its fun mini games especially 2 on 2 which I played all the time. Thus I was super excited for 08 with the addition of many more mini games, cool elite players, and ofcourse online play.

However it falls short b/c:

1) The extra mini games you will play maybe once and you might quit in the middle of those....they are pathetic and EA definitely went for quantity over quality.
2) The graphics look worse. I know its a wii but comon! After playing mario striker this is patheic. I think this is due to the closer camera angle.
3) online play?? if your lucky
4) main controls have changed! Turbo and dive have been switched around so that turbo is "b button" and dive is "c button" This feels so unintuitive! The numchuck remote is used to move so it makes sense to have turbo on that remote as well.

If you already have 07 I see no reason to buy this. all the features that have been added either don't work properly or have zero replay value. Here is hoping for next year.

Just got the game on Tuesday. Next to Wii Play, this was the only sports game I've been looking into with respect to Wii functionality. Here are my thoughts:
The graphics: really good. Maybe not XBOX quality, but really good. The component cables help.
The controls: I've only played a few practice drills and am about a month into the season. Rushing is pretty straight-forward(both with the RB and QB scramble), while passing does require some timing. Even on rookie level, you still to put some effort! Definitely start with the practice drills.
The main part is learning how to do audibles and changes in the defense. This does take some practice, not to mention learning how to tackle. Kicking is pretty steady so it's not an issue.
The playability: really good! You'll get addicted in a hurry. And they have a party-mode which can get more folks into the game even if they're not too Madden-savvy. The telestrator is a fun tool. And with the playbook, you can view plays either by the formation or by general play(run, pass, short yardarge, deep pass, etc.)
The sound: your updated Madden and Michaels commentary, not to mention the EA tracks. Solid.
Overall: Solid game, great way to begin the NFL season. You get to see the rookies on the roster and about 99% of updated roster(Vick update pending). Madden fans should be happy as well as Wii owners!

I really wanted to love this game. The controls are awesome...when they work.

The instant pass after hiking the ball is just stupid. Yes, you can prevent that from happening, but you shouldn't have to think about how to snap the ball in order to not throw an instant incomplete pass. It's really great to explain to your friends how to carefully handle the controls in order to prevent a lost play...

The graphics are awful. Feels like one of the early PS2 versions.

The game play can be really fun, but I finally gave up on it because the glitches are too frustrating. Maybe EA will figure out how to design for the Wii by next year.

i got this game back in August, and right now it still is very fun to play. The graphics are one of the best I've seen. There are a lot of modes to play like creating your rookie, franchise, multi player mini games etc. The rookie schedule is exactly the same in real life. In the franchise mode, you are the owner of your selected football team. I think the mini games are fun, and most of the time, I play them. They are also a perfect pass time. The roster changes wouldn't make a difference at all. The game still gets your attention for a long time. If you are a football fan like I am, you wouldn't get enough of it. The controls are easy and is very similar to real life. All the features in this game has very clear instructions to enjoy this game. It is equally fun to play all positions. You wouldn't really get bored of it unless it is almost probably a year after you bought this. I would recommend this game for anyone who likes a game that interests you for a long time.

In my opinion, the revolutionary gameplay does not make up for the last-gen graphics. I was pumped for the motion controls, but in reality, after a few hours, the hand motions soon feel like just another button. The gameplay is like every other Madden game you've played. However, the features are plentiful.
I have to say though that Madden 08 for the Wii did not live up to its hype.
Maybe, maybe not $50... Madden needs more competition for their games. I don't think they have a big enough development crew for all of the consoles, it seems like this is way under EA Sport's potential.

edit-
Following up on another reviewer's comment about the blurriness after plays, it is defective on my copy too. Initially I thought this was some sort of realistic thing where the QB got sacked and he was disillusioned or something. It is really blurry and I would suggest you audible to a running play because it's hard to see and pass.
Online play is in shambles, it's impossible to get into a game and when you do it lags like crazy.
Also I can't figure out how to hide your cursor when you're selecting plays so the opponent can't see what play you're doing.

Overall, this game is very entertaining but EA Sports seemed to neglect certain small things, BECAUSE THEY CAN. They have no competition which is bad for us.

Other Notes:
I cannot find out how to use the Telestrator. I know it's Party-Mode exclusive but I cannot find it. If someone could tell me via comment it'd be Fantastic.