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Madden NFL 08 Review (continued)
More User Submitted Madden NFL 08 Reviews
Date: 2007-10-15
Best madden 08 out there!
This Madden NFL 08 is, to me, everything that made it great. It has so many features, it can keep even the most dedicated game entertained for weeks with all the possbilities. I played both the PS3 and 360 versions, and the 360 is the only way to go. The PS3 version was slow, glitchy, locked up, and the graphics just looked inferior to the 360 version. I strongly recommend that you get this game on the 360 version if you can. It's a lot better on the 360 than anything else. About the gameplay, haven't you ever wanted to take your fav team, add a few players of your own that look like giants on the defensive line, and go and sack the quarterback? How about making your own quarerback, and receivers, and pasting the team you dislike the most by 60 points? Yep, you can do it here, and it's a whole load of fun. Get this one for the 360, it's a lot better than any other one out there.
Date: 2007-10-13
With Alex Smith playing like Tom Brady and Niners playing like the Patriots, something is wrong with the A.I. of this game
I've played this game for 2 weeks now and it's fun when you play online or against another human being. It's the same 'ol Madden formula that you're used to seeing in previous installments with a tad more detail and a few neat features but it's the same stuff. Playing against the computer however is a DIFFERENT story. Playing under ROOKIE difficulty makes the game just that, but ridiculously easy. When you set the game to PRO which is a step above ROOKIE, the A.I. is ridiculously too good! You can tinker with the A.I. settings so that the computer plays terribly, but it doesn't seem to do anything. I was using the Patriots and played against the CPU 49ers. Now, Alex Smith isn't exactly the best quarterback in the world, but with all the A.I. set to bare minimum, Smith consistently passed for 400 yards regardless of how well I played defense! Also, the 49ers were unstoppable and made my Patriots look like an NCAA team! I thought it was a glitch and just the 49ers in this game, so I picked Detroit. Same thing, Jon Kitna was passing on my Baltimore Ravens defense for almost 300+ yards and were unstoppable at PRO level. Of all the Madden games I've played, the A.I. is incredibly inaccurate and makes any team you pick for the CPU become very invincible. It's what made me sell my copy back to an outside vendor.
Date: 2007-10-09
Gamers Irate Over NFL Madden 2008 Glitches
Gamers Irate Over NFL Madden 2008 Glitches
Bugs make nation's most popular video game "unplayable," fans complain
By Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.Com
September 19, 2007
NFL Madden 2008, the nation's most popular video game, has so many glitches that consumers are saying the Electronic Arts game is "unplayable."
"After purchasing a video game produced by EA Sports titled Madden NFL 2008, and playing the game, I came across many problems in the programming which resulted in the inability to continue gameplay," wrote Paul of Wildomar, Calif.
The game, which is available for almost every game console, freezes, miscalculates statistics and suffers enormous amounts of lag during online play, consumers say. For the Nintendo Wii version of the game, consumers on EA's forums page have listed over 50 glitches.
Although every system including Sony's PSP and PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox, PC and Nintendo's DS appear to have glitches, it is the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ports of the game that have engendered the most angst.
The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, which cost $60, were created by the same studio, said EA spokesman Tyrone Miller. So many of the problems with those versions, are found in both systems.
The major complaint from Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consumers is that in Franchise mode, when a team drops a player for whatever reason, he does not reenter the game through free agency, but rather, disappears. Over the period of two or three seasons, which amounts to playing about 40 games, the player pool becomes so slim that the mode can no longer continue.
In an e-mail yesterday afternoon, Miller wrote that EA was aware of the problem and that a patch would be available for the PlayStation 3 this morning to fix it. On EA's forums, consumers said that their systems did download the new patch, which in turn, completely froze their consoles.
By 1:20 p.m. all the complaints on EA's forum in regard to the patch's error, were removed.
EA has issued a release warning consumers not to go online with the game and to delete the patch if it has already been downloaded.
Miller said it is OK to get back online now, but that there will be no "fixed" patch available until "maybe another week."
Xbox 360 consumers can expect a patch later today, he said.
On the Wii, consumers say that in SuperStar mode, kickers only make about a third of their kicks, including extra points, while the computer they play against makes nearly all of them, like in real life. Because of this glitch, consumers say it is almost impossible to win a game.
Wii consumers also say the system frequently freezes and that the game often confuses the system's unique motion controls.
Chris Faylor, a reporter for Shacknews.com, an online gaming publication, said he's not surprised the game has so many errors.
"Word of glitches and problems in the game does not surprise me at all, as its development is constrained by the yearly release schedule and will be pushed out the door when that time comes, regardless of its state," Faylor said.
He said that while later prints of the game can be fixed, many consumers who own the game now may be stuck with a broken product.
"It's not that uncommon for games to be fixed in later pressings and shipments after their initial release," Faylor said. "Most companies do this silently -- a minor bug is discovered and resolved before the next batch of manufacturing."
Sending out downloadable patches is the easiest way for EA to fix the game, but that may not fix everything and will probably only work for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 users, Faylor said.
The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have hard drives that can load some of the data and initiate a patch. But because most of the data is still loaded directly from a DVD, it's difficult to patch everything, Faylor said. For the other systems, which do not have hard drives, it is nearly impossible to offer patches. Miller said it's impossible to patch the Wii version.
The other problem is that in order to fix the game through a patch, a user's console must have a broadband Internet connection. Miller said about 80 percent of Xbox 360 owners have a broadband connection.
The only option for consumers, whose systems cannot be patched and for those without broadband Internet, would be if EA would offer consumers an exchange for a later, "fixed" print of the game's DVD.
"A disc exchange is definitely possible," Faylor said. "It's been done before, but it's costly and time-consuming."
Electronic Arts offered a disc exchange last year for its NCAA Football game for the PSP and for the 2006 version of Madden, again on the PSP. Miller said the game would spot the ball at wrong points on the field.
"That made the game unplayable," Miller said.
"What it comes down to, as always, is the relationship between how much of this will actually affect their sales and reputation," Faylor said.
While consumers have filed complaints with ConsumerAffairs.Com and on message boards, the Better Business Bureau in California's Bay Area, where EA is headquartered, has received 443 complaints in the last 36 months regarding EA, and the company has an "unsatisfactory" rating.
Here's a list of a few of the problems consumers say they've encountered on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ports:
* Players disappearing from free agent pool in franchise mode
* Connection problems during online play
* Substantial lag during online play
* System freezes
* Changing a player's uniform number changes his age
* Yearly player statistics are greatly inflated, sometimes giving a quarterback 50 or more touchdowns in a year
For the Wii:
* Kickers missing many of their field goal attempts in SuperStar mode
* Regular system freezes
* Connection problems during online play
* Substantial lag during online play
* Offensive players, including quarterbacks, being placed on special teams plays
* Quarterbacks often don't hand off the ball as they are supposed to during running plays
* 'No huddles' occur at random
* "No huddles' result in offsides penalties
* Quarterbacks automatically throwing the ball as soon as it is hiked
Many disgruntled consumers have posted videos of the above glitches, and others, on YouTube. One video shows the ball soaring through the air and then making a 90 degree turn, midair, into the stands.
Miller said consumers should expect some glitches.
"The nature of games is there are always bugs," he said. "We try to minimize them and make sure they don't interfere with gameplay."
For those consumers who cannot receive patches, their only defense is to complain, Faylor said.
"Make a big fuss about it," Faylor advised. "Complain on their forums. E-mail them. Call their customer service department. Companies, especially those as big as EA, have people reading forums and e-mails all over the internet. They are definitely aware of the issue."
Many consumers say they wish EA would have shipped a working game, even at the expense of extending the deadline.
"I am positive that EA is aware of the issues with their products," Jonathon of Independence, Mo. wrote to ConsumerAffairs.Com. "But a combination of greed, laziness, and poor product testing results in continually releasing sub-par and beta-like games,"
Link:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/09/ea_games.html
Date: 2007-09-26
Best Madden since 2000..
+excellent graphics, the uniforms are nicely colored to depict their real life counterparts uniforms, the SHINYNESS of the uniforms is a bitt too much but that doesnt matter.
+excellent overall presentation, period. the menu's are easy to navigate, the team select screen is Very Attractive and everything is candy for the eyes.
+the running game is great, its like real football when the RB pounds it up the middle for a pickup of 5, excellent job...
-half the time i hiked the ball, i was tackled by 3 defensive linemen within a half of a second, it was as if my offensive line was not there at all :l
-there is a glitch where if you throw the ball to a reciever and a defender sticks his hands infront of the ball to intercept it, the ball will GO THROUGH BOTH OF HIS HANDS AND WRISTS and into the hands of the reciever...and iv watched the replay and slowed it down enough to see the ball travel through both of the defenders hands/wrists....terrible. this glitch is actually in NCAA Football 2008 as well...but that glitch is farrr worse than this one.
-some of the players movements are not realistic at all, they run like theyve got something stuck in their butts, very mechanical movement.
-the sideline players and the crowd look terrible...especially for the 360, they could have done better than that...
-as well as the faces of the players, theyre very Rock-like and do a poor job of capturing emotion. All-Pro 2k8 did an EXCELLENT job at this...
this was a great rental but because of the ball traveling through hands glitch..and for the fact that im STILL playing NFL2K5 Religiously...and tampering with the idea of purchasing all pro 2k8 now that its only 30 bucks at wal-mart :l this game is an easy skip over. NOT THAT ITS NOT FUN...if youv got two players and you want to get a game going, this game is great for that...but in my opinion all-pro is graphicly and gameplay-wise a better game...as well as nfl2k5...
great looking game though :)
iLL .
Date: 2007-09-25
The first "good" next-gen Madden
This iteration of Madden marks the first good, solid Madden game on the new consoles. The last two were just downright terrible, and thankfully the folks at EA seem to have heard the criticism. Either that or the return of 2K football (in the guise of the new All Pro football) had them worried.
This game is good, though it is still not as good, deep or smooth as Madden games from the previous era (see 2004, 2005). The good news is that developers focused on playability instead of idiotic and useless gimmicks (passing cone anyone?).
The GOOD: The graphics are quite good, and the animations are the best they've ever been- the players have weight to them, and move very realistically. The sound on the field is well done also. The franchise mode is deep (though has its flaws, see below) and the superstar mode is more playable than before. There are some cool features, such as a cleaner stats menu, and hall of fame content. That said, the biggest improvement is the game-play itself. For the first time in ages, I have been challenged by a Madden game. The running game feels right, and some of the superpowers have been turned down (looking at you, Mr. Vick). Overall, it's a very satisfying football simulation.
The BAD: The presentation is awful. The announcer is terrible; it's not Madden, which could be both good or bad, but instead we get some high school announcer reject. The menus and the interface are not well designed, and are buggy and laggy. The game also lacks customizability when it comes to formations and playbooks. There is no designing your own play (a feature that was in Maddens past), and it isn't as deep with respect to substitutions. The AI, though much better, still comes from the era of old-school Nintendo games: it will cheat shamelessly to get back into the game, turning Rex Grossman into Peyton Manning's long-lost brother if it has to. The linebacker and their amazing jetpacks are still around to pick your passes off 25 feet in the air, though they are not as bad on lower difficulty levels.
The UGLY: Special teams play. This is just deplorable. Any kicker can get a touch-back every single time, and the lack of depth or realism on special teams is shocking for such a high-profile game. Punt-returns are a bit more realistic (ie: feasible) than last year, but that's about it.
Bottom Line: A fun game that should bode well for future Maddens. Let's just hope that EA doesn't rest on its laurels and give us their patented "roster-update-with-a-crappy-new-feature" and call it Madden 09.
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