Madden NFL 08
Rating:  -
ok well i had madden 06 then for xmas i got 08 MAJOR CHANGE! amazing graPHICS R 9 OF 10 GAMEPLAY IS 10 SOUND 10 its alot of fun i dont see y every1 is talkin bout all these bugs it dosnt relle affect the gameplay, theres not even that many at all franchise is actully fun now if u like football buy it ull be happy
Rating:  -
Overall this is a pretty good game. Good features and pretty good graphics
(you can only make them so good for a PSP). There are only two downsides to this game. One, there is no Superstar mode where you create a player and work with him to get better. Two, it is not very easy to run the ball but it is pretty easy to advance the ball by passing and the offensive lines on all of the teams are terrible as well. You have a maximum of about 3 seconds until there's a blitz or one of the linemen get through. Overall a pretty good game though. I would reccomend it.
Rating: -
For years we all have been waiting for a truly great football game for the PSP to come out. EA had a great offering with NCAA '07, once they re-released it without its original bugs, but it still lacked the depth of options that their franchise title, Madden, had always offered. Besides, NCAA '07 for PSP, which is undoubtedly a great game, left out so many features that the console versions contained, it still was a little disappointing.
Now, with the release of Madden 08, we really have some great football available in the palm of our hands. Graphics have been tweaked quite a bit, although close up replays can look a lot less impressive than they would on the PS3 or the XBox 360. Still they are a far cry from last years replays which sometimes seemed to be shot with the camera as far away from the action as possible.
Tackling is much improved, as is control, with the Hit Stick 2.0. As is almost every aspect of control regarding the players. Plays hit, run, and act a lot more like their real world counterparts in every expect. I see running backs flipped upside down sideways a bit too often to be realistic, but hey, at least different hits generate different tackles. Catching on the sidelines is great, as is the possibility of becoming a "possession" receiver with aggressive catches.
As is typical with Madden the difficulty levels are a bit dramatic, with the highest level, the All-Madden level, being similar to trying to move the ball against a hungry pack of wolves. However, the starting level, the Pro level, may find you with the Vikings ahead of the Packers in the 4th quarter with a lead of 70 to 10. Strangely enough the second highest level, the All-Pro level, seems to suit me just fine, making it difficult, but not impossible to win, and all my results seem to within the realm of normal game results (discounting the fact that I am only playing 5 minute quarters).
Everything like in most EA football games is customizable, from the degree of success of every type of player (catch success, run success, pass success, etc.), to the level of injuries, etc. I am quite thankful that the songs on the EA Trax can be shut off as well, as this years songs are quite more annoying than last years. I almost wish you could take the songs from last year and port them over to this year, but I don't know how. But, if you are a true NFL nut, they have the real NFL film songs on this disc, and you can turn all of them on if you want.
Perhaps, the best new feature is the area of coaching. When you prepare for your next game, you can really get an in depth look at the other team before you play them. You can look at each one of their personnel and look at their strengths and weaknesses. You can just get an overview of their key personnel and focus on their strengths. You can do an overall comparison of the two teams. And then, as if that wasn't enough, you can "develop" (actually the computer does it) a plan to counter their plays. Then you can practice three plays to counter three of their plays. Usually you practice offenses to counter their defense. But that may just be because I built up my teams defense really well at the start of the season. If your defense struggles you may see more defense plays to stop their offense. Either way, you get three plays to practice to help you overcome the other team. It is really a lot of fun to practice, and you get points for how well you do. It is nice to prepare for your game.
Practice options are not limited to game preparation, so you can try out ALL the plays if you want to. I would recommend this if you are new to your team, so that you might familiarize yourself with the playbook. Before you begin your next game, be sure to check out the 'assitant coach' and look at his goals for the upcoming contest. Make sure you remember them, and try to accomplish them, because if you get meet all 4 goals then you will get 5 assistant coach points to spend on your players.
After each game you get to spend your assistant coach points developing the attributes of your players. You can spend them to make great players legendary, or you can build up low salary players to be cheap depth for your depth chart. The number of attributes available on each player is quite in depth, from speed, acceleration, catching, awareness, tackling, break tackle, etc. The list is impressive. Your player might be rated 99 at his position, but you can keep customizing his attributes in areas where he is weakest, such as making your halfback a great receiver... Or your speed DB more balanced.
Player icons sounded cool, but they are just to difficult to figure out what each one stands for, and then what that means. The icon system might look and/or work better if you have an XBox 360, but why don't you just try to hit/throw to the open man, and he needs to make the play. Still, it is nice to see how you are 'stacked' before the play, even if you don't know exactly what the icons mean you are looking at.
Return coverage might leave you scratching your head at times. You can muff the return, but if you pick up the ball, head backwards for the end zone. Even if they tackle you there, it is a touchback (thought you had to run out the back of the endzone). If your opponent covers their own punt, they can also run into the end zone and put the ball on the one yard line. I guess punts aren't live balls in this game unless they force the fumble, in which case you are almost assured they will return it for a touchdown.
Other quirks have been reported, but I haven't run into them yet. Still, the major annoying ones are gone, and we can all enjoy the game a little more.
Despite all EA's fumbles in the past, this time they have come away with a big score. Madden '08 is great. It's the best. There is no other game like it. I guess if you keep making this game long enough, you might eventually squash all the bugs. Until then, this game can meet your basic football expectations and then some. Way to go Madden!
Rating: -
I have not played the 06 or 07 versions, but I am pleased with Madden 08 on the PSP. The animation is good, the controls are intuitive and responsive, and the amount of extras is welcome. Load times are not bad either.
My only complaint is that I find it very difficult to run the ball at the higher difficulty levels. A 14-10 game that ends with 200 passing yards and 10 rushing yards for both teams is not very realistic. If you play on the easier levels the stats even out but you'll easily spank the CPU opponent. I'm hoping that I just need more time with the game to run the ball more effectively.
Overall, if you want to play football on the go, I recommend this game.
Rating: -
Nice fluid game play and (as usually with madden) the controls are intuitive. The AI seems smarter than in the past and does a better job playing to the situation and/or counteracting what you are doing. The graphics are good for the psp screen. I don't think I want any more field clutter simply because of how small the screen is.
There are two issues I have had with the game so far:
1) When the offense is backed up on there own 2-3 yard line the camera can't go back any further so as soon as you snap the ball the QB runs out of view...frustrating for both sides.
2) One glitch I had. I threw a ball to my receiver in the end zone. He caught it, dropped it (while in the end zone) and the other team recovered. It was ruled a fumble. Maybe I'm wrong but if he had possession enough to fumble the td should have been awarded.
So over all I give this one a passing grade. Load times are a little on the long side.
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