Alright, boyz!! Here we go...Madden 08 First impressions

[Icy]

Ok, i didn't see any thread discussing it here so let's start with a copy&paste (beating jbmagic) from the sportsgamer.com admin that has the game already.

Everything can be read in the following url (I just copied it to discuss it here at FOFC):
http://www.sportsgamer.com/forums/forum508/

Thanks a lot to Fred for these reviews.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Fred from sportsgamer

Official Superstar Mode/Franchise Mode questions

Originally Posted by Fred from sportsgamer

---

Ok I simmed a season of franchise to give you guys some impressions and answer the questions you asked.

Franchise Mode Impressions:

• -can select every team to do a franchise
• -can load a team
• -fantasy draft is simple. just a screen where you pick. you can go to other teams or view all. its real basic.
• -option to turn off or on use of HOF players. doesnt give you an option to turn of HOF players during a franchise, but i didn't see any in there so im assuming they fixed that.
• -you can adjust your coaching schemes to your own philosphy
• -import draft classes before franchise starts.
• -ESPN radio plays in the background if you want
• -Each week you can play the game, train active team for this week (basically mini games), supersim. you can start the sim and then jump in whenever you want
• -no in game saves still. Crappy
• -YOu can scout players coming up in the draft. Gives you 40 times, bench, career game, and then general scouting of the player. 10 scouting reports
• -I think this finance stuff is just for show. you can't actually adjust anything like you could in owner mode on the old XBOX/PS2
• -didn't get any trade offers and i looked in the transactions and the CPU didn't do any trades in between them all year.
• -falcons made the wild card at 8-8. i think they had vick though. i just thought it was funny
• -Pats beat the GIants in the SB 28-21. Unrealistic that the Giants got there lol
• -real pics and names of assistant coaches and coordinators. I had to hire a special teams, training staff and scouting agency
• -Some notable retirees after year 1: Marvin Harrison, John Lynch, Joe horn, Joey Galloway, Rod Smith, Moose Muhammad
• -They show a Hall of Fame Screen after Retiring. Class of '08-Marvin Harrison, Trent Gree, Rod Smith, Brad Johnson, Morten Andersen
• -You can apply franchise tags. I put it on Lance Briggs lol
• -Cowboys didn't resign Roy Williams. He was a FA.
• -the signing FA period takes a while to sim, but by while i mean like 5 mins.
• -During the draft the teams actually take a sec to draft. There is a clock that give sthem 15 mins. You can either sit until they pick, or Sim it to your pick or the next pic.
• -Teams Trade in the draft. Jets Traded the 5th pick to the Bucs for the 11th pick overall adn 3rd round pick
• -Seems like a lot of speed in the draft. A wr from FSU ran a 4.28. Another rb ran a 4.35 A few CBs that ran 4.3 40s
• -no presentation or anything for the draft. Just the crappy soundtrack
• -they have NFL comparisons in the scouting at the draft.
• -I ended up drafting that wr who ran a 4.28 40. he was a 78 overall, 96 speed and 90 Acc, 73 awr, 90 catch, 82 SPC
• -A message popped up and said i got a tv contract awarded worth 2.20 mil over 1 year.
• -Hester went down in speed to a 99 and moved up to a 72 overall
• -can't edit players once in franchise. so whatever you bring in you're stuck with.
• -can't switch to another team after the year is over
• -no practice squads
• -this is nothing like owner mode from ps2/xbox 360. lacks a lot of that. its basically the same with some new graphs as far as that owners stuff goes. so those asking if you can turn it off, there is nothign to turn off. its pretty much all automatic. you dont set hotdog prices and stuff
• -the scouting seems to be the only real thing i'd say was a big addition. even then its nothign we haven't seen before
• -you can hire and fire assistants
• -signing FA seems easy if you just give them what they want. Nobody gets upset if you put the franchise tag on them either
• -stats after the first season seemed mixed. Some where high, at least for the superstars Manning won MVP with 4557 yds passing 51 TDs and 28 INTs. LT rushed for 1945, 725 Rec, 28 rushing TDs
• -I don't see spawn game/Live opponent this year. they must have taken it out.
• corections: you can edit players and there is relocation

Finance Mode options:
-See what players are in contract years
-a lot of graphs. They had a pie graph showing who are your highest paid players
-Team contracts-average your position players make in salary to the rest of the nfl
-Team Expense-where your money on staff, stadium etc.. is being allocated
-Team Income-how much your team is earning basically
you can't change or adjust anything. Its more comsmetic than anything else

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Fred from sportsgamer

Originally Posted by Fred from sportsgamer

Fred's First Impressions

---

Ok I'm taking questions from the gameplay thread and trying to answer them here. Here is what i have so far. I'll continuously update this thread, so keep reading.

New Features:

• Receiver Spotlight-How do you neutralize the threat of receivers that are dominating your defense? Spotlight them. REceiver spotlight places special coverage on WRs. This is a great way to gurantee solid coverage but paying too much attention to one reciever might leave someone else open
• WR Contorl-Want to go out for the pass on some plays? Now you can. WR control allow you to take control fo a WR before the ball is snaped. LB will activate it and you press A to call for the ball
• Possesion and Agreesive catches- Its time to put strategy back into catching. Thanks to the all new push and hold catch button. You decide the best catch for you WR.
• Strip Ball/Hurdle Control/Hit Stick 2.0-Strip Ball does what it says. HIt Stick 2.0 launches offensive players into the air with cut tackles
• Player Icons/Play Recognition-Know your players. WShat is a weapon? It's time to find out. THese players are the best of the best, the elite in the league. But each player is different. KNowing what each one does and how to use them effectively will put you on the path to being the best. Play recognition: It plays to study. Smart players offer you an advantage over the opponents if your oponent continues to run the same play, it wont be long until you can read their play. As a smart player read the field the light bulb below his feet fills, when the light bulb is full you can read their play. RT-Enters into coach cam. LB-Press to read the play
• Indivdual Defensive playmaker-Same as in old PS2/XBOX where you could assign individuals to certain plays.
• View Player Weapons/mismatches-Want to know quickly where your strengths lie on the filed? Hold the left trigger during the preplay to expose the strongest player weapons. Mismatches-These pinpoint the best player to use on the play. HOld the left trigger during the pre-play to reveal the mismatches. Identify a mismatch by looking for a pulsing icon underneath the player. On defense use this info to counter your opponent. Useing the correct counter neutralizes the thread.
• Precision passing-same as before

Franchise Mode UPdates:

• Front Office Mode-Here you will be able to keep record of your finances, staff stadium, and scout players all in an effort to improve your team into a championship contender.
• Scouting-First hire a scouting agency and make sure to scout players all season long leading up to the draft. A longer scouting period leads to a better indication of how a player will pan out for your team.
• Bust and Gems-Think you can find the next Tom Brady in the 6th round? Player will have potential that will be a good indicator of how the player will pan out. Do your homework and you will find a gem. Slack off and take that highly touted first rounder and you just might end up with a bust.
• Supersim-Don't want to play a full game? Sit back and watch the play by play simming in supersim. Available as a schedule option, you can simulate and jump into any game at any point. YOu can also jump out of a game and finish the game via simulation.

Superstar Mode Updates:

• Plays as Superstar-You will now be able to select a rookie from the 2007 draft class and determine the outcome of his career. Guide him through his first training camp to his first superbowl victory.
• Import NCAA Legend-Now that you legend has graduated from college does not mean his football career is over. Import him into madden's superstar mode and take him to the hall of fame.
• Off Season Workouts-Just because the season is over doesn't mean you take the summer off. You can take part in organized team activities. It is in yoru supersr's best interst to attend as many of these as possible as ratings and influence points are at stake.

General impressions so far:

• -intros cooler. show players with special abilities with graphic overlays. Bears defense intro got me hype
• -crappy radio announcer still
• -laterals in the game. i hit the wrong button and hester lateraled the hell out of the ball. it somehow managed to find the guy though even though it went across the field lol
• -feels slower than NCAA, its a good thing
• -running game feels different in a good way. almost like you have more control
• -playcalling same as NCAA
• -fatigue is defintely in full effect. thank god
• -NFL News from NFL NEtwork. You can read news, and watch videos news from NFL NEtwork. I watched a Vince Young fight at training camp. I might use this a lot. There was 14 videos already. Or you can read articles
• -Fantasy Draft in Franchise Mode. YOu can have the option to turn on or off HOF players being used in the draft as well.
• -Online has two new modes called Gamecast and EA Sports World. Can't report much about online since i was the only one on right now
• -No EA Locker from what I can tell
• -Alternate unis in the game. Bears had like 5 including the throwback and the orange and white pants
• -Supersim option is in the game
• -cant get rid of the weapons icons. so you're stuck with that
• -kicking same as last year
• -animations are definitely improved from last year, especially the tackling animations
• -computer did a fake punt pass on me and converted.
• -a lot of big hits in the game.
• -seems to be a lot of injuries. in the 1st quarter alone the packers had 2 guys injured and the bears had 2 guys
• -a lot harder to bring down RBs. The packers had morency and he was breaking tackles
• -no weather channel like ncaa
• -favre threw an INT in the redzone so that is realistic lol
• -WR respond so much better when you take control of it. People who are good on the sticks are going to have a field day

Thats all for now. I'll play more and just post more

------------------------------------Update 8/3-----------------------
Ya fellas, i'm at work during the day so thats why I didnt get a chance until now to post. More impressions from playing a bit more. Like I said I'll be getting into franchise/superstar mode this weekend but for now more general impressions

• Below is what I got from EA with the game. Like a new features writeup.
• All-New Read adn React System: New player skill icons identify on-field strengths and weakness, providing an immediate read on what your opoonent is giving you. Quickly react, create mismatches, and exploit opponent weakness before every play.
• All New Front OFfice Mode: Take full control of every aspect of an NFL Franchise. Construct a state of the art stadium, set concession prices, hire your coadching staff, draft players, and manage the entire operation from the top down to build your dynasty
• Your Ring of A Champion: Increase your Madden Gamer LEvel and earn in-game awards to help create and customize your own championship ring.
• Madden Unmatched: All new player moves, including auto motion, backward passes and low hitting tackles, plus ultra smooth gameply provied the most realistic NFL gaming experience ever. Control WRs and make spectacular catches or key possesions receptions, or roam the secondary and jar the ball loose with big hites and ball stripling tackles.

• -you can edit player ratings, info and equipment. i know a lot of people asked about that
• -co-op offline. at the very least two guys can play on the same team although it had 4 controllers. i dont have that many to test out unfortunately
• -ravens have black on black and eagles have black on white to the guy who asked. they have more too
• -something weird. I dont see a lateral button in the game. Yesterday as i posted i ran a kickoff with Hester and the ball flew across the screen like a lateral into the hands of another guy. Now im curious if that was even a lateral or a glitch? But im in the game control menu now and dont see "lateraL" as an option. Weird
• -a "zoom" feature is in the playcalling screen so you can zoom in an individual play for a closer look. you just hit the "Y" button
• -no refs on the field, only during the cutscene on a penalty
• -formation package subs like dual hb, etc... are in the game from the playcalling screen
• -you can change the button config to the dude who asked
• -Giants have Red on Grey jerseys
• -audibles on the right stick in the game
• -i dont see smart hot routes in the game
• -kickoffs dont automatically go into the endzone everytime, even on full meter
• -there are so many pre-snap options on Defense. i dont even have time to go through them all
• -no snapshot feature on replays like NCAA
• -one guy asked about camera angles, only one from what i can tell. no option for others
• -Vikings stadium (Metrodome) doesn't have it right. big viking in the middle of the field instead of V
• -marshall faulk does pre-game breakdown. Gives a prediction on the screen and says some generic stuff. You don't actually see Faulk though, you just hear his voice. Its nothign special.
• -LB seemed to do a good job of defending the flats from what i can tell
• -i played as Vince Young and wanted to see how fatigue factors into the mobile qb. 1. He did get tired after holding down turbo and just running around. 2. if you dropped back far enough the pocket would collapse pretty fast. 3. if you aren't set when you throw it wont come close to your WR. 4. I was successful on a few plays sprinting out ala NCAA and just jucking it up. WIth the way you can control your WRs now you can make some nice catches and probably catch balls the CPU wouldn't. Like i said guys who play manually are going to have a field day.
• -they seem to kick away from Devin Hester. I've only had 1 kickoff to him. The rest were to Davis. Crappy
• LT's celebration is in the game
• you can put hester at WR and or DB

----------------8/3 Gameplay Impresions-------------------------------
Ok went all-madden in the snow. Titans vs Falcons, two of the bigger cheesing teams in the game because of the mobile QB. Here is what I found

• -can change the camera angle on blocking so its normal or zoomed in.
• -vision cone can't be kept on as someone asked. you have to wiggle the stick for it to come on.
• -you'll really drop a lot of balls if you go over the middle with a WR or TE and get hit with the hit stick. They rarely catch it.
• -kicking is the same as last year.
• -you can call zones near sidelines, middle, show blitz, press coverage, play off, zone left, and zone right
• -new gang tackle is clear in the game. it'll really push the momentum of a player backwards if he gets hit by two guys.
• -there are new cutscenes where the NFL logo comes up and its hows and instant replay.
• -on kickoffs you can't return them as far and as easily as you could last year.
• -i ran 6 straight QB sneaks out of goaline with vince young. I got a first and then finally on the 6th time in a row he turned yellow fatigue. They did stop me a few times on the QB sneak. Still seems pretty easy to do though
• -on all madden if you try and drop back more than 10-15 yards the pocket collapses and the defenders come right at you. I tried this on PRo as well and he had all day to throw.
• -The dude who asked about the LBS keeping up with their Man and lining up right. The CPU seemed to. I'd motion Chris Brown out and try to throw a quick pass and the LB or DB was there everytime to cover him. He'd either bat it down or brown wouldn't catch it
• -it was hard to complete a lot of deep bombs on all-madden. The DB's played pretty well
• -On a few of the press coverages when the camera zoomed out you actually see the DB and WR fighting to get off the block. A couple of times the DB just knocks the WR down. It was pretty good.
• -overall i think people are going to be happy with the defensive play on all madden
• -Vince Young is so f'n fast. Plus he's so damn big he can truck people. People are goign to abuse him. its obvious.
• -the blocking on the running schemes seems improved from last year. I didn't notice too much of the "mario running" either.

---------------8/5 Supertar, and and Create-A -Team ------
Ok I got a little more into the game. Browsed some more menus, did a create-a-team and superstar mode.

-I didn't see this yesterday but you can adjust sliders to autosub certain position in and out of games based on fatigues. So you can have your RB be subbed out later than say your WRs. This is for offense and defense

Create-A-Team: You can edit the stadium, team data and uniform
Team Data Editor Options:

• -INfo Editor: Basic Team editor. Name, city, state, colors, etc...
• -Logos and Colors: About 39 different logogs/teams to choose from.
• -Team Type Editor: This is where you create what type of style your team is. The options are. air it out, all madden, balanced, cupcake, smashmouth, strong defense, strong offense, fantasy team. Each one has strengths and weakness except all-madden, they are maxed out. I went with Smashmouth as the test.

Uniform Editor:

• -Helmet: Just one helmet, and you can't edit facemask from this screen. I'm assuming you will if you edit guys on yoru team
• -Pants: You mess with stripe types and stuff like that
• -Jersey: Four different styles of jerseys to choose from for home and away

.

Stadium Editor:

• -Sidelines: Seating, dugout, Pillbox, Luxyr Box are the options you can turn on and off for the east and west sides.
• -Endzones: Scoreboards, glassboxes, Modern open, open corners, open mezzanine, mezzanine are the options for north and south. I thought Modern open looked cool. They had huge hammerhead sharks frot the tirburon team. Had that ALl-Pro 2k stadium feel.
• -Environment: The background of your stadium. Urban, Rural, Downtown, Mountains. This is basically if what you'll see outside of the stadium when the camera pans.
• -Lights and Roof: For lights you had 7 styles to choose from. They are just stadium lights. For roof they have dome, dome 2, full roof, partial roof, partial roof 2. Full roof had that Texas Stadium feel to it. I went with partial roof 2 because it looked like Soldier field

After I was done with I started another franchise to see how the import works.

• -IN order to load a created team you must replace an existed team. I replaced the Texans since they are horrible.
• -just because you load the team doesnt mean you have to play with them. you can still play as another team and from the looks of it you can just continue loading teams and replace all 32 teams if you wanted. so you could have a fake league.
• -in the franchise if you load a team its a team of all rookies. And they were all rated high. Kind of weird.
• -its like the texans players just disappeared from the game. They aren't in FA and aren't on my team.
• -i went in and changed my team to all-madden style to see what kind of players i'd get in franchise and started another one. Same thing all made up guys and all high rated rookies. The all-madden style the lowest rated guy was a 78. There were a ton of 99s.
• -Overall i'm not sure how many people are going to use this with a franchise. There seems to be too much of an advantage. I guess if you made them a cupcake and tried that way. Pretty weird though.

Superstar Mode with NFL rookies:

• -Three options: Create a new superstar, play as a rookie, or import ncaa legend.
• -I didnt want to create one so I wanted to play as someone from this past years draft class. I went with Calvin Johnson who is an 87 overall and 98 speed.
• -Calendar similar to NCAA Superstar mode. You start out in training camp and have the 3 events max per day.
• -One thing i never liked about Madden's superstar mode are all the damn messages you get. As soon as i start I have 5 new messages from people and they are just telling me generic stuff.
• -You have the agents. You can fire your agent, go to the agents office, the performance institute and the agen's directory
• -You can edit your superstar's equipment
• -CJ was the no.1 wr on the team ahead of Roy Will who was rated higher.
• -YOu can rotate the camera to look the QBs way before the snap sort of like you're the WR and you turn your head.
• -The blocking as a WR was pretty cool. CJ blew up the DBs on the Lions.
• -the camera on the wr takes some getting used to because its just the view on you. it doesn't zoom out to see the whole field. its not nearly as bad as last year though.
• -Because of how much manual control you have, i was able to do fairly well with CJ in the first game. I had 6 rec 95 yards and a TD. I loved blocking though almost as much as catching because if you clear the way the runner will follow you.
• -I wanted to test out how it was to play as a RB because I did a superstar last year as a RB and the camera was terrible. So I decided to play as Adrian Peterson
• -First the camera angle was MUCH better. I could actually see the field, even on pass plays it zoomed out. I'll enjoy playing RB this year for sure
• -Peterson is a complete beast. I trucked so many people, and he had to be taken down by 2 defenders a lot of times.

Created Superstar:

• -you do the drills like last year. 40 yard dash, bench press etc...
• -They have Mark Schlereth (sp?) explain the bench press and stuff. They show a tutorial video as you do it.
• -if you suck at the drills your guy will really suck. I did terrible on the 40 and on the bench press. I did 3 reps on the bench press on purpose and my guy ended up with an 8 in strength. An 8! lol. He was a 47 overall BTW.
• -I still managed to get drafted in the 3rd round, 67th overall by the packers, and i'm starting over Favre even though I'm a 47 overall.
• -I really like this camera angle on the QB. Its more of a "wire camera" view. Like the one they have on SNF.
• -First play my guy throws an INT. He has no arm lol.
• -This guy plays like a 47 overall with 8 power. He has no accuracy and can't throw quick slants with zip on the ball. I guess thats good because why would you want a guy who's 47 overall playing like the real Bret Favre?

-----8/5 More general gameplay impressions--------------------
More Impressions from a game I played on All-Madden. 6 mins quarters. Lions @ Bears in the heavy snow.

• -Bears throwback unis are ugly as hell. They are gold pants with navy jerseys and orange stripes going down the jersey.
• -Loving the animations on the juke stick. On a punt return with hester i jucked, but the defender still caught a piece of me. The animation that hester did was so realistic. I was impressed to say the least.
• -i've played with 3 bigger back snow (Benson, Peterson, and LJ) if they get passed the DL line and are one on one with a LB or DB its over. They are a load to bring down. It'll take more than one defender to tackle them.
• -FG still easy. I kicked a 57 yd FG with Robbie Gould with ease. Remember this was All-madden too
• -I challenged a play and didn't see that face that in the screens Pasta posted come up. I've played 4 full games now and haven't see that face either. Not sure what it is. Here is one thing I'm curious of...If that face is indeed an ad from that new deal MS struck with EA then would those ads be streamed from the EA server? I've noticed that as i'm playing every now and then it'll pop up saying i've been disconnected from the EA server. maybe when you're connected these ads will come up? Either way I haven't see that face yet.
• -Footprints dont stay in the snow
• -There was this nice play where Tommie Harris and Urlacher got throw the line on a blitz and they both gang tackled Kevin Jones. I mean completely blew him up in the backfield and he fumbled. That animation was pretty nice.
• -The DB play is pretty good on All Madden. More than a few times I had my DBs and safeties jump the ball to get an INT. Even the CPU does it. Watch throwing over the middle because LBs with stretch and jump to intercept the ball.
• -Bears have implemented a lot of shotgun in their playbook like they are going to do this year in real life.
• -saw a few times where the RB woudl get stuck behind a lineman. he would spin in place. like i said this was just a handful of times. not too much but its still in there.
• -these new cut tackles are hardcore. they produce some very big hits when you take out their legs.
• -someone asked about run/pass commit. its in there
• -Uh oh. Had like 2-3 QB fumbles in this game. you remember the irritating ones where you'd be pressing the button to pass and instead he'd get tackled and fumbled. probably the most frustrating part of the game.
• -UnderArmour "last result" overlay screen comes up to give details on the current drive or last play. It kind of caught me off guard. didnt know wtf it was.
• -On kickoffs I was still consistently making it to the 20-30 yd line even though the kickoff was deep in the endzone. Still doesnt seem to be fixed.
• -Greg Olsen is a beast in this game. He's so fast for a TE. He and Des Clark in TE sets are going to be killer.

------8/5 Online impressions--------------------------
Only so much to report after 1 game. and there is nobody else with the game right now so this is all i can report.

• -roster update when you start
• -no alternate jerseys online
• -you can play for a trophy. basically bet on trophy
• -rings transfer over online
• -i had a 3-7 record despite not playing a single game
• -something frustrating on 4th down it defaults to ask madden punt block and youd ont have time to get to regular punt return. so the play clock ends and it put me in dime.
• -hb pass in bears playbook. its not cheesy like in ps2/xbox. since your throwing with a rb it shows. I'd like to see how this works with LT and not Benson lol.
• -online challenge this year. CPU reviewed the fumble inside 2 mins. play reversed.
• -after the game it shows trophy history and how many times its been on the line. so if you played someone else, it'll show who else you played it against with it on the line
• -The game was laggy. But as a disclaimer ALL games i've ever played with rac on next gen have been laggy. I'll have to play someone else like Pasta who i've never had laggy games with before i say completely this game is laggy.
• -the weather was clear and sunny. not sure if it'll always be that way.
• -After the game went to check gamecast and still nothing in that menu. Not really sure what that is at this point.
• -Ranked games are only All-Pro 5 mins.

-------------------8/6 Gameplay Impressions----------------
Remedy and Clark Kent came over my place and we were able to really break down the game. Here are some more impressions.

• -Speed option in Atl playbook. ONly in single back big and single back twin TE, so you'll know its coming
• -Lateral button is in the game and so is fake pitch. Lateral is left trigger.
• -feel degradation, even in practice mode. The field was tore up bad.
• -the lateral feature kind of worries me. seems like its going to be exposed by non-sim players. Its too accurate it seems.
• -With the Pats the deep lob works if someone is in cover 1 all day because their WR are so damn fast. Stallworth and Moss are going to be so cheesy online. 6 in a row completed unless you get sacked. Again this is on someone who calls cover 1. So people who play the pats better have a safety help. One one one its over. And with Bump and run you get even more seperation lol.
• -Vision cone doesn't seem to add anymore accuracy than passing without it.
• -only 2 players per team in co-op. can't have 4. its 2 per team.
• -Gamecast is sort of like spectator mode but youc an't watch the game. you're watching the gamecast like on the website.

[Icy]

Reading the above, It seems that the superstar mode is going to be so fun, like the NCAA08 one but... that his 40's overall created rookie is already starting for the Packers...

I'll probably end buying this for the PS3 mainly to import my CL from NCAA08, but if the PC version has more features i'll probably play it more than the Ps3 one for full franchises.

[DaddyTorgo]

glad they have revamped scouting to get rid of that asinine "combine" bullshit. That was such an irritating feature that totally penalized you for not being a joystick-jockey

[Kodos]

I wish that guy would learn to spell.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I wish that guy would learn to spell.

Yeah, maybe I'm being an elitist, but I'm not very impressed with his style in reviewing his copy of the game and I find myself questioning some of his impressions as a result.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Yeah, maybe I'm being an elitist, but I'm not very impressed with his style in reviewing his copy of the game and I find myself questioning some of his impressions as a result.

(
Not as concerned with the spelling as you guys are, but am concerned about all the impressions of All Madden. That doesn't really relate to how I'll play the game.

Superstar mode looks like it could be a lot of fun. In NCAA it's almost the only way to play the game IMHO.

[Eaglesfan27]

For me, I'm not concerned with the spelling. It's the tone of some of his posts that bother me. From my understanding, he runs a site that is supposed to be a professional fan site (which is why he got the game so early I believe) for Madden/NCAA and the tone comes off as immature in a lot of his posts. I also agree that he is focused on All-Madden which I almost never play on, so that also is an issue I have with his impressions.

[MizzouRah]

Wait and see for sure. I'm thinking FOF 2k7 could once again be my "NFL" fix this year.

Waiting on EF and Troy for their impressions!

[Icy]

I would love a good franchise mode, but i'm sure it will come full of bugs, or broken players progression or any other stupid bug that will ruin again what could have been a great game, so i'll end playing superstar most of the time, it will be fun to run the career from high school to the pros with ncaa and madden (even with the stupid playcalling in the CL mode).

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Icy

I would love a good franchise mode, but i'm sure it will come full of bugs, or broken players progression or any other stupid bug that will ruin again what could have been a great game, so i'll end playing superstar most of the time, it will be fun to run the career from high school to the pros with ncaa and madden (even with the stupid playcalling in the CL mode).

If it does have any bugs, jb will be sure to copy and paste them for you!

[stevew]

when does this come out?

[Kodos]

Next Tuesday.

[RawIsDan]

You still can't play 15 minute QTR's right ?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by RawIsDan

You still can't play 15 minute QTR's right ?

You could, but you would get massively inflated stats. Accelerated clock still isn't in the game .

[Kodos]

Yeah, that sucks.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

You could, but you would get massively inflated stats. Accelerated clock still isn't in the game .

Wait, what, accelerated clock isn't in Madden 08? I haven't played the last couple years, but I remember it being on a PS1 release?

[Eaglesfan27]

It was in a few years ago (4 or 5?) on the PS2/Xbox, but it hasn't been in any of the next gen versions. I'm not sure if it is in recent versions on the PS2/Xbox or not. Instead, you have to play somewhere between 7-9 minute quarters to get semi-realistic stats.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

It was in a few years ago (4 or 5?) on the PS2/Xbox, but it hasn't been in any of the next gen versions. I'm not sure if it is in recent versions on the PS2/Xbox or not. Instead, you have to play somewhere between 7-9 minute quarters to get semi-realistic stats.

Wow, that's so weird.

[gstelmack]

Yeah, they keep taking out useful features, like save-in-the-middle. The lack of that feature is why CL mode in NCAA 08 is probably my only football game playing this round (and probably next).

[Richard Weed]

The Radio Announcer guy who sucks really sucks. I hate his false enthusiasm and wish I had Madden droning on about some inane bullshit instead.

[Eaglesfan27]

One good thing I've read from the early impressions on OS is that it is MUCH easier to throw a lob in Madden than NCAA. Just tap the button like previous years.

[Richard Weed]

Yeah, I can't throw a lob to save my life. JaMarcus with 99 THP baby!

[Eaglesfan27]

A guy on MaddenMania is posting a lot of franchise info. Looks like NCAA imported classes have some guys who come in inflated and at least with those classes, teams with promising QB's are still taking QB's in the 1st round. For example, the Titans took Colt McCoy (who came in as an 81 overall in talent already.) 8 QB's went in the 1st round in his draft including Colt Brennan, Booty, McCoy, Sam Kellar and a few others. He's going to run game generated drafts either tonight or tomorrow and comment on those.

[Big Fo]

I love how EA embargoed all reviews unless they were a 9 or above.

[Eaglesfan27]

The simmed interception glitch which doubles all interceptions in simmed games in franchise is still apparently in the game this year. It annoys me that it was there last year and wasn't fixed almost as much as the fact that it is there in the first place. Now, I'm back on the fence as to whether I'll buy it or not.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

The simmed interception glitch which doubles all interceptions in simmed games in franchise is still apparently in the game this year. It annoys me that it was there last year and wasn't fixed almost as much as the fact that it is there in the first place. Now, I'm back on the fence as to whether I'll buy it or not.

Agree, this kind of stuff is what really irritates me, it was there last year, and one year and version later is still there. I can underestand new bugs appearing in the code, but not fixing reported ones one year later? come on.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

The simmed interception glitch which doubles all interceptions in simmed games in franchise is still apparently in the game this year. It annoys me that it was there last year and wasn't fixed almost as much as the fact that it is there in the first place. Now, I'm back on the fence as to whether I'll buy it or not.

You're saying there was a glitch in last year's game that they didn't bother getting rid of this year?

[Eaglesfan27]

Yes.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Yes.

Wow....that's awful. Makes me have no desire to buy it despite what I've read so far.

[spleen1015]

That is sad.

[kingnebwsu]

But not unexpected.

[wade moore]

Looks like I can stall on the 360 until College Hoops 2k8 comes out, better on my pocket book..

Seriously, these little things point to bigger problems... I'm not a big EA Hater by any means, but they're gotten extra sloppy with Madden imo.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by wade moore

Looks like I can stall on the 360 until College Hoops 2k8 comes out, better on my pocket book..

Seriously, these little things point to bigger problems... I'm not a big EA Hater by any means, but they're gotten extra sloppy with Madden imo.

What's baffling to me is from what I've read both NHL and FIFA by EA are going to be amazing this year.

[bhlloy]

The only baffling thing is that people are still surprised that bugs don't get fixed. How many years have there been 10 ft high jumping linebackers who play the passing game perfectly in Madden now?

[bhlloy]

DOLA - if FIFA is supposed to be amazing, I'll be completely stoked but I suspect it will take a complete rewrite. Out of all their games, it's the one that plays least like the game it is supposed to simulate. The physics and strategy are absolutely horrible.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

DOLA - if FIFA is supposed to be amazing, I'll be completely stoked but I suspect it will take a complete rewrite. Out of all their games, it's the one that plays least like the game it is supposed to simulate. The physics and strategy are absolutely horrible.

I couldn't disagree more. It's far and away my favorite 360 sports game.

[DaddyTorgo]

I play fifa on my pc with a pretty deep AI mod (I forget the name of it) but it makes the game play a lot more realistic. Not to say it's perfect...but it's far from automatic that I trounce anyone. And i'll even tie and lose every so often.

I know you 360 guys don't have that advantage, but there is a decent community that mods fifa year by year

[dime]

fifa is an arcade game, basically...more like nfl street or something than an actual soccer game.

the winning eleven series has been outclassing fifa for years.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by dime

fifa is an arcade game, basically...more like nfl street or something than an actual soccer game.

the winning eleven series has been outclassing fifa for years.

I tried W11 and found it way more "arcadey looking" than fifa.

besides, for accuracy's sake I play FM. I fire up FIFA when I want to knock the ball around and make some crazy runs/score some pretty goals. I don't care if it's an "arcade game" at that point.

edit: ditto with Madden. If I want accuracy and depth I'll play FOF. If I want to zip an out pattern and hit a receiver in the chest and slip a tackle to run in for the winning score with 3 seconds on the clock, I'll play Madden.

Basically I'm just pissed that it seems like everyone is focused on the idea that there has to be one game that is everything to everyone. How about each game has their strength, and if you want to have access to all those strengths you buy multiple games? What's the big deal with that? Let each game do well what it does well and stop demanding that they push into areas where they don't do well.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I tried W11 and found it way more "arcadey looking" than fifa.

besides, for accuracy's sake I play FM. I fire up FIFA when I want to knock the ball around and make some crazy runs/score some pretty goals. I don't care if it's an "arcade game" at that point.

edit: ditto with Madden. If I want accuracy and depth I'll play FOF. If I want to zip an out pattern and hit a receiver in the chest and slip a tackle to run in for the winning score with 3 seconds on the clock, I'll play Madden.

Basically I'm just pissed that it seems like everyone is focused on the idea that there has to be one game that is everything to everyone. How about each game has their strength, and if you want to have access to all those strengths you buy multiple games? What's the big deal with that? Let each game do well what it does well and stop demanding that they push into areas where they don't do well.

I agree with you on the arcade game part...alas, as you said, to each his own. I'm tempted to give FM a try but it just seems to be TOO much.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

The simmed interception glitch which doubles all interceptions in simmed games in franchise is still apparently in the game this year. It annoys me that it was there last year and wasn't fixed almost as much as the fact that it is there in the first place. Now, I'm back on the fence as to whether I'll buy it or not.

I REALLY wish 2k sports could have released a complete NFL football game this year.

Unless something changes my mind, it looks like FOF 2k7 will be my NFL fix again this season.... and that's definitly NOT a bad thing.

Maybe Jim will release another update or something for the football season?

[rowech]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I REALLY wish 2k sports could have released a complete NFL football game this year.

Unless something changes my mind, it looks like FOF 2k7 will be my NFL fix again this season.... and that's definitly NOT a bad thing.

Maybe Jim will release another update or something for the football season?

I think I'm going to finally take the plunge on a computer game called Second and Ten for football. I like FOF for the franchise type stuff but not the in-game strategy.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by rowech

I think I'm going to finally take the plunge on a computer game called Second and Ten for football. I like FOF for the franchise type stuff but not the in-game strategy.

Game looks interesting, too bad it's replay only.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Game looks interesting, too bad it's replay only.

You can do draft leagues and the version coming out in August will have online league play, etc. The one thing it doesn't have (that it will next year) is continual league play.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by rowech

You can do draft leagues and the version coming out in August will have online league play, etc. The one thing it doesn't have (that it will next year) is continual league play.

Yeah, I don't have time for online leagues.. but when it has continual league play, I might check it out.

Let us know how you like it. Seems like it's the Diamond Mind of football.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Yeah, I don't have time for online leagues.. but when it has continual league play, I might check it out.

Let us know how you like it. Seems like it's the Diamond Mind of football.

That's pretty much what folks think of it to be honest. It's derived from a board game called First and Ten. It does actually have quite a following and getting all the seasons in NFL history and free updates is really worth a $50 price tag I think.

[Icy]

Keeping with my jbmagic style copy/paste here are some user reviews and questions/answers for the PC version:

http://football-freaks.com/forums/in...pic=20370&st=0

Resume from that thread (yeah i not only copy&pasting )

The good:
- Finally widescreen support.
- The SS mode has some things from the next gen version, like for example, apart from creating a new rookie, you can also play as any of the real rookies.
- Gameplay and controls feel a bit better.

The bad:
- It's madden 07 with some new faces and graphics updates, the old custom tools developed by the modders work perfectly.
- Simmed stats keep being as bad as in 07 (for example, Vince Young 1500 rushing yards in the first season)
- The new players ratings are not included, the ratings used are the same than past year or than current gen (like no new zone/m2m coverage ratings etc).
- A lot of the unis are wrong ( i don't care about this a lot, but some guys do).
- Still no next gen gang tackling.
- Rosters are not up to date (T.Green still in the Chiefs for example)

Hate to say this, but i'm going to purchase the Ps3 version (already preordered) just to continue my CL to the pros. The PC version... will just download it to see if the user mods are able to fix the franchise stats/bad draft AI etc as they did in 07. No way i'm going to pay for both versions seing the crap work they did (not that i'm surprissed).

I see myself this year playing mainly CL and SS modes from NCAA to Madden 08 in the PS3 as it's being really fun for me. I doubt i'll play franchise knowing all the bugs they have (like INT's counted twice as we talked before and really crap simmed stats).

[Balldog]

Originally Posted by wade moore

Looks like I can stall on the 360 until College Hoops 2k8 comes out, better on my pocket book..

Same here.