Madden NFL 08

As the summer is winding down it’s that time again for America’s favorite sport, NFL football. The upcoming season, of course, means a new version of America’s favorite sports game and Madden, by EA Sports, has been released. Just to make sure no one is left out EA is releasing the game on all major formats including the PSP. While it might not compare to the versions on the next generation consoles the PSP game is still a solid football experience.

This year’s version of Madden contains all of the necessary game modes you would expect. Franchise mode, Mini Camp, Practice and Play Now are all available in Madden 08. Franchise mode includes a Fantasy Draft, Preseason, Season and Off-Season segments that you can play or simulate as you desire. One nice feature I enjoyed was a play-controlled simulation option which allows you to play a game without being down on the field controlling the players. You will see the progress of each play you’ve called by a short text message with the number of yards gained or lost. There is an Assistant Coach segment in the Franchise mode which allows you to increase player attributes of your players based upon the success of your season.

One new feature in the game that I really enjoyed was the Superstar Challenge. This mode allows you to re-create key plays of the 2006 season, such as the 60+ yard field goal made by Tampa Bay. The Superstar Challenge is broken up into several tiers to progress through. The lower tiers might offer a simple challenge such as scoring a touchdown with 1:43 left on the clock in the 4^th. The higher tiers will offer challenges such as stop the other team from scoring, score a touchdown to tie the game and then win the game in overtime. The game lets you decide how you’ll win the game, either by re-creating the exact play from 2006 or by performing a new play. It would have been nice if the game would have offered some type of extra bonus if you could accurately re-create some of those historic plays but it doesn’t.

Another new feature in Madden 08 is the Weapons indicators. Key players in the game are labeled with a skills icon to help you identify who is lined up where in the game. A quarterback could have four different icons while a safety will have three icons. For example, a QB could be ranked as a Cannon Arm, Scrambler, Precision Passer or Franchise Quarterback. A Defensive Lineman could be a Heavy Hitter, Run Stopper, Pass Rusher or Force of Nature. Every time you line up you can press the left shoulder button to view icons of the key players and where they are located on the line. This should allow you to adjust your play to an area not occupied by a key, icon player. Think of the icons as a way to identity a player without having to memorize his name on every play.

Gameplay wise Madden 08 performs very well without any noticeable slowdown or control issues during the majority of the game. You get all of the standard moves you would expect such as a spin, juke, sprint and dive. The game includes the Hit Stick option which is performed by pressing the triangle button and pushing the analog nub in various directions. On offense these combinations lets you perform highlight reel moves such as running a defender over.  

For me the only big issue I had was in the kicking game. Your kicks are performed by pressing down on the analog nub and then pressing up when you’ve reach the highest point of the power meter you want. But if happen to move the analog nub left or right during your up movement it could result in a kick from the side of your foot. It seems I would always have this problem occur at the wrong moments, usually when I was kicking deep within my field position. I probably should mention that the AI would still perform some miracle plays from time to time I guess in the hope of turning the tide or keeping the game close. 

Visually the game looks good, especially for a PSP football game. All of the players are on the field and the game keeps moving along at a solid framerate regardless of the action on the field. During the regular camera angle all of the characters look great but when you get a closer view you see the apparent PS2 visual look from years ago. Blocky character models, textures lacking detail and weird graphic effects such as balls floating off of the players hands. There are some nice character animations during certain tackles and receptions. My favorite is when the player has the ball stuck to his hand and he has to use his foot to remove the ball. 

Madden NFL 08 might not set the world on fire as the “Be all End all” portable football game but its still a top contender. The number of gameplay modes is sufficient and the controls are nicely done. Visually the game could use another coat of paint it still isn’t a complete eye sore. In the end Madden NFL 08 does what a good football should do, gets you into the game, enjoying the good plays, while cursing at the bad plays. While a few minor enhancements might be need the game still offers a fun and exciting portable football experience. Oh, the loadings times aren’t that bad either. The longest load time is at the main menu.

Gameplay: 8.0
Besides the kicking game the controls were tight and consistent throughout most of the game. At times the sprint feature did feel a little slow but usually when I was running from an angry lineman.

Graphics: 7.4
From the standard camera angle the game looked and ran very well. But once you got up close, such as replays, the characters turned into a blocky mess.

Sound: 7.7
Once again we get the standard EA tracks you hear in most of their sports games along with John Madden and Al Michaels.  The commentary from both announcers still works well but you hear the same comments repeated constantly.

Concept: 7.5
Sure this isn’t a revolutionary football game but for a portable game it sure packs a big hit full of features. Graphically it doesn’t come close to the 360 or PS3 version but most of the constant is still included.

Multiplayer: 7.8
The game features both local wireless play, Ad Hoc, and true wireless play, infrastructure mode. The infrastructure mode is always a blessing for PSP games and it works well with Madden NFL 08.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Madden is always one of those games that you can play but can take forever to really master. You can spend hours working on drills and practicing play after play just to get every route down perfectly. Then once you start playing the game the computer or your wireless opponent will throw you for a loop with an unexpected call.

Overall: 7.7
Some might say that Madden NFL 08 isn’t much different than Madden NFL 07. Well for me I cannot make that comparison since I passed on last year’s version for the PSP. With Madden 08 I enjoyed the Superstar Challenge the most since it allowed me to replay great games from last year in different ways. Visually the game is both solid and underwhelming at the same time. The controls were great except for my minor beef with the kicking game. If you’re looking for a portable football game I say Madden NFL 08 would make a worthy addition to your library. Just know the limitations of the portable system and you shouldn’t be disappointed.