Is Madden 2008 a Sure Buy This Year?

Madden fans for the past two years now have been let down by lackluster versions of their favorite football game. I personally liked them but agree there was tons of room to improve on them. Well finally with Madden 2008, it looks like EA Sports has finally gotten their stuff together and delivered one of the best Madden games to date. It was released on Tuesday the 14^th and people everywhere were lined up to get it at midnight. I live in a small town and even here there were dozens of people waiting to get their hands on the newest madden.

The game play this year has taken a giant step forward. One of the nicest areas of this game are the new animations this year. Tackles, catches and everything in between look all so natural this year. One of my favorite experiences was having my safety pick off a pass by Peyton Manning and as he ran it back, I performed this amazing looking chop block on Manning in which he rolled onto my back as I took his legs out and as he fell, he landed on my leg as I was trying to keep running but it actually tripped me up. The animation from all of that was just amazing and smooth looking. It's the small things like this that keep the game more realistic.

A lot of people have been complaining that there are tons of fumbles but honestly I have yet to see more than a couple and I've played maybe a 12-15 games at least. Running this year feels a lot nicer and actually feels fast. For some reason I felt last year that the running backs had kind of a slow feeling to them but that's probably just me. Jukes, stiff-arms, and spins all play out nicely and realistically. The truck stick this year really lets you feel the power of plowing over a defender in your way and its pretty satisfying too.

Hit stick this year has been upgraded for newer tackles on your opponents. Say if a receiver jumps up for a catch and you pull the hit stick down, then you will take his feet out from under him and most likely twirl him around. You can choose for upper body hits or choose to take their legs out instead.

The new weapon system this year takes a while to get use to but it's a very good feature. Weapons will vary by position and can prove very useful in certain match ups. You have QB's that have rocket arms and accuracy, running backs that have speed and finesse, and receivers that are spectacular catchers and speed as well just to name a few. With the new weapon system this year, it really makes you think twice about the plays you choose based on knowing who's on the other teams offense or defense.

Franchise mode this year has gotten a new lift as well by adding some much-missed features. Owner mode is back but its called finance mode now; give you the option for ticket pricing, salary options and all that jazz. You can also have fantasy drafts again and I've been waiting for this for a few years now. Create a team is back and even has a cool little tool where you can create your own stadium. You can choose to move your team in franchise mode if you want as well. Don't like the Lions in Detroit? Move them to Las Vegas if you choose to. Certain cities will be more eager for a NFL team than others. Superstar mode is pretty much the same but the camera angle this year is much better. Its not stamped to the back of your helmet and now you can pan the camera out for better views of the field. In my linebacker position, it's a much-welcomed upgrade.

Online portion of this game really has not changed since last year. I've only gone through a couple of games online and they were pretty laggy for the most part. The game is playable online but sometimes you will get the joy of having the ball and getting sacked ridiculously fast if your QB lags at all. The ESPN integration isn't all it can be but adds a cool feature where there's actually a live ticker at the bottom of the screen showing live scores in baseball, football, basketball and more. You get news updates and radio clips as well that will periodically play through out the hour when you are in the main menu. EA Sports should have other ways of putting ESPN actually into the game itself instead of just some live sports updates but its still a cool feature.

Graphically the game is awesome and like I said, it's a very smooth running game on single player. The XBOX360 this year is sporting a smooth 60 Frames Per Second while the PS3 is stuck at a mere 30FPS. The difference here is noticeable but doesn't make the PS3 version bad. The 360 version just looks a lot smoother and more natural but graphically both versions are pretty good. Obviously the Nintendo Wii, PS2 and XBOX versions will not look anywhere as good but they all play just as well. There have only been minor instances of glitches or bugs but it doesn't hinder the game. If your punting out of the end zone, you will most likely have the camera dip into the crowd and you can't really see that well but like I said, it doesn't really affect the game all that much.

Overall, Madden 08 is definitely one of the best Madden games ever. The realism from the graphics and game play make incredibly fun to play. The game play itself very well done again and it just truly feels like I'm playing football again. It's the closest thing to a simulation that we've ever had and it shows this year with Madden 08. Hopefully EA Sports will put out an update soon for roster updates and maybe fix some lag online. Downloadable content should be coming for the 360 pretty soon as well. If you're a football fan and enjoy video games, Madden 08 is a sure buy for you. You can buy it on the Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox, PS2, PC and probably cell phones too at some point.