Madden 08 Preview

Thanks to loyal Arrowhead Addict and Kansas City Chiefs Fan Tim Cudmore’s suggestion, I have decided to give you the best and most Madden 08 information that I can deliver. This game is apparently tons better than the recent releases on the next gen systems. Since all the systems (Wii, 360, and P3) have been out for over a year it seems like the companies are more comfortable developing games. I hope this is true for Madden and it’s not over-hyped like it tends to be every year. Don’t get me wrong, I love beating up my thumbs more than anyone, but the last two years (on the 360, at least) I’ve been disappointed. Supposedly a couple of key highlights:

• Franchise Mode is back and in business. They revamped last year’s and it is back to having a strong franchise mode. Lets just hope revamped doesn’t mean they just added a feature to increase hot dog prices.

• Fantasy Draft is back. I remember when my six college roommates and I drafted teams on Madden then had a Madden tournament. I don’t believe we ever finished because the games got so ugly we thought someone might end up in the hospital.

• WR and RBs are more like their real-life counterparts. Check out the full review.

There’s no more running in place like the Wiley Coyote when you hit the back of your O-lineman. The highlight stick has also been redefined to utilize player specific abilities. A smaller back won’t be able to truck over a safety, so flicking up on the right analog will now allow him to break off a nasty little juke move, while bigger backs will still lower the boom.

Receivers have also been retooled to allow for several different situations that were previously impossible. Now balls over the middle are genuine health. In past years jumping catches over the middle granted your wideouts invincibility, but this year they can get popped like never before. Now you’ll get up-ended if the hit lands just right, knocking the ball out of your hands in the process. Also, like we said before, there’s no more getting caught in a catch animation, so as soon as the ball hits your hands the receiver is in your control, and the added responsiveness of the controls really helps in this regard.

• Marshall Faulk gives pre-game commentary a feature that was not in last year’s game. I am just glad that I don’t have to hear Madden ramble on especially with his counterpart, the little troll on NBC.

• EA has focused the majority of the overhaul on gameplay. So if you plan on buying the game expect that to be better than any Madden version before.

Here are a couple of quick hits:

Larry Johnson Madden image preview (I love that he is the example for the truck stick)

Players that will have a rating of 99:

Champ Bailey
Steve Smith
Peyton Manning
LaDainian Tomlinson
Walter Jones
Steve Hutchinson
Troy Polamalu
Ed Reed
Brian Urlacher

(I guess I can agree with this list, except Jason Taylor probably should be on there as well after winning DPOTY)

You can check all the Madden info you want at MaddenPlanet.com.

I have yet to find the full ratings of all the players within the Madden game. When I get that I will post all the Chiefs Players ratings for you.

UPDATED 7/2/2007

***Here is another addition to this piece. This is a link to an interview with the developer on new features.***

• This has Ty Law featured as a play-maker labeled “Smart Corner.” If he could just work on his not falling down.

• Play-maker feature is added to separate the men from the boys, good from average.

• Finally, they have ADDED GANG TACKLING. (Thanks Chris for asking that question)