52 On any given Sunday you're gonna win or you're gonna lose
MADDEN NFL 08 A
merican Football and Britons, there isn't much love in that relationship. Those of us ignorant to the sport may think that it’s just rugby with guys in armour, some of us may have even watched the Super Bowl into the early hours of the morning just to see what the fuss was about, only to find a sixty minute game lasting around three hours. At least by the end of it you'll have learnt the rules even if you didn't find the stop/start play engaging. But does Madden NFL 08 fare any better?
FORMAT REVIEWED Wii OTHER FORMATS 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, DS, PC PUBLISHER EA Sports DEVELOPER EA Tiburon REVIEWED BY Richard Rohani
Fortunately, much like last year’s Wii outing, the game is actually rather good. Controlling Madden 08 with the Wii-mote feels completely natural and uses gestures to great effect; literally throwing, catching, pushing and tackling with the remote whilst controlling movement through the analogue stick of the Nunchuk. If you’d prefer, you can simplify matters further by turning off Nunchuk control so that all movement is taken care of for you, allowing you to concentrate on the gesture controls. The first and biggest hurdle to jumping into Madden however is learning the rules of the game. Thankfully there are tutorials and written explanations included within Madden 08, although there is a lot of jargon to get your head around and not every nuance is covered. What’s there though will be of great use to the NFL amateurs among us. In brief the game is basically set piece after set piece with the aim to grab yards. Each 'play' is selected and your teammates are given routes to run. You spike the ball, pick a
route on the d-pad and then throw. Hopefully you'll catch it and if you’re lucky get it all the way to the touchdown line.
The two main modes within Madden 08 are the Franchise and Superstar modes where you take control of a team or rookie player over the seasons. Both of these modes can be a touch too confusing for the new player to get into, but for NFL pros they’re deep and engaging. Sure they have their faults and attending the same training session over and over each day gets tiresome, but if you’re an NFL fan and looking to get your teeth stuck into something, nothing beats it. It’s quite surprising however that 08 doesn’t include a standard Season mode for those just looking to play game after game. There are also a couple of features that were present in 07 seemingly ditched for 08, such as create-a-team, create-a-superstar and the ability to edit equipment on existing players. Madden 08 for Wii also includes a new feature entitled ‘Family Mode’, where much more accessible mini-game tournaments can be played and also act as a good way to learn each mechanic. If your friends won't go through the rigmarole of learning to play the game, then this is where you'll spend most of your multiplayer time. For those of you who are fans of the sport, this year’s updates are all you’ll really care about. As standard the new roster is present, and the Party mode includes a trivia contest for die-hard fans and a Telestrator to doodle on your replays mid-game. It’s a shame that the Telestrator didn’t make it into the main game, but heck,
there’s always next year. Player Weapons are one of the biggest additions to 08, illustrating the major threats on the field and allowing the player to make better judgement as to which play to make. It’s a useful addition for any seasoned player. Most importantly though is the online mode with lobby play and no friend codes. Yes, you read that correctly, Wii online and no friend codes. Unfortunately all these nice new features are killed dead with some noticeable lag and only a handful of users online. The stop/start gameplay tilts even more into 'stop' territory here, but it’s good to see the Wii finally receiving increasing online support. If watching the Super Bowl was interesting but ultimately left you feeling cold, then Madden NFL 08 will have a similar effect. The game is clearly split between the newcomer and pro, but without middle ground modes those of us that know the rules but aren’t akin to the tactical play will only ever really enjoy half the game, even if you wanted to love it. Ultimately, Madden NFL 08 does a brilliant job of marrying the Wii to the sport, only let down by the lack of basic modes, the under-performing promise of online play and the uneasy relationship between American Football and the rest of the world.
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