Cliffs:
- Better than 06, worse than 08.
Well, I got a chance to try Madden 07 out last night. Wow. What a mixed bag of results. Let's get started. I'm not going to give a detailed run-down of all the features in the game. There are a million other reviews that do that and it's a bore. The meat and guts of this - what people want to hear - is 'what's good and what's bad'. The stuff in between is of little consequence.
Gameplay
As far as Madden goes, this is the best gameplay I've seen hands down. As much as I hate to bring this up, I still have to say that 2k5 had the best on-field gameplay, but Madden 07 closes the gap a LOT. There's an actual running game - one that's FUN - in the game now, and it's much appreciated. I think Madden has passing down to a science, so no complaints there. I love what they've done with the kicking game (using the right analog stick for the entire kicking motion - think Tiger Woods PGA Tour). My only complaint regarding gameplay is that defense can be frustrating to play. I can't put my finger on why, it just is. Maybe I just suck at it, but it seems darn near impossible to get involved in a tackle. I'll leave it at that.
One thing that I do appreciate, however, is how accessible all of the moves in the game are. For a game with so many available options on the field (spinning, juking, etc etc etc), the controls are intuitive and easy to learn. I hope they don't fsck with this next year.
Visuals
Visually, it's everything you've heard. It looks great. I think people are being a little too critical with regard to player animations, because I think they look great. Yeah, there is a weird transition every now and then, but it didn't take anything away from the experience for me. The stadiums, turf, players, etc., all looked fantastic. There's some bizarre modeling here and there (if I were Peyton Manning I'd sue), but you get over it real quick. That's probably just one of those things that, as each release comes out, they're able to get a more complete set of true-to-life models. I just would have thought that Peyton Manning would have been a little higher on their list of priorities. That said, it really isn't much of a distraction.
Presentation
There's a lot of work to be done here. First the menu system. Truth be told, I prefer an unconvoluded, straightforward, unglitzed approach to menus. Madden delivers on that, for the most part. They take a menu/submenu approach, which is fine by me, except you can't tell which menu options have sub menus. A minor annoyance that is easily overcome as you play the game, but it makes it less approachable. Other than that, it's fine. It's bare bones stuff, but I don't buy games for their menu systems. Menus are a means to an end, and Tiburon apparently agrees.
Madden has done away with the broadcast approach to game presentation, however. Instead, they have tried to present the game as if you were actually on the field. It's a noble idea, but it just doesn't work very well - at least not as it's implemented. I suspect that the resources weren't available to get true commentating into the game, so instead, they took this approach. You hear on-field chatter and the stadium announcer, but that's it. It does give the experience a more authentic feel - which is nice - but it wears thin fast due to it's shallow/incomplete implementation. I'd either like to see this idea taken much further or I'd like to see them get back to a TV-style broadcast. Regardless, this area desperately needs more man hours devoted to it.
Basic auto-replays are there, but are largely uneventful. A 70-yard run might result in a replay, but with little fanfare. Short-yard runs for touchdowns result in jack squat and I don't understand why.
Sound
It sounds like football. It's good. Not much to say here.
Stability
Sucks, plain and simple. This would normally get lumped in with presentation, but it deserves it's own little rant. While on-field play is unhampered by hitching - thankfully - the rest of the game suffers from pauses and unresponsive controls. For instance, once a play is finished and you're taken back to the playbook, you'll experience a long drawn-out hitch/pause. This REALLY - I mean REALLY gets annoying, as it detracts from the natural flow of the game. Madden is all about adrenaline pumping blood rushing gameplay, and getting stopped in the middle of it all while transition loads take place SUCKS. Also frustrating is the occassional lock-up.
What's Missing
I want to see EA focus on what's missing for next year's title rather than looking for the next gameplay gimmick. I really think they've got gameplay where it needs to be. A few tweaks here and there will be nice, but there are other things that need attention now, such as:
- ONLINE LEAGUES
For fsck sakes where the hell are the online leagues? 2k had this down THREE YEARS AGO... how the hell does a AAA football title get released without this??? With the power of Xbox Live, there's no excuse for not having extremely robust, polished league management right in the game. Creating leagues, adding GM's, managing game rules, real-time ticker updates from throughout the league in-game, etc. Where is it all?! There should literally be a dedicated staff whose only job is to make this the best it can be. If Madden could only have 1 extra feature - screw all the minigames and Create-A-Grandparent - this should be it. And this is coming from someone who doesn't even play online. Why? BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE DOES!!!!!
- COOPERATIVE MULTIPLAYER
Again, just absolutely no excuse for not having this. As I stated in another thread, I think EA committed a cardinal sin by ommitting this. Madden is the definitive PARTY GAME. WTGDF?!?!?!
- Grass roots Madden needs to return. Give us the option to experience the game from "on the field", but the game really needs to have a more robust presentation Madden-style. In your face scoreboards, staffs, stupid on-screen diagrams from the man himself, etc. Getting Madden without this is like getting a Quarter-pounder without fries. It just doesn't work.
Summary
I hope that for next year's title, EA focuses on refining 07 rather than looking for that "breakthrough feature" in 08 (unless said breakthrough feature is online leagues and/or cooperative multiplay). Leave the core gameplay alone - you guys got it.
Get the Madden-style in-your-face TV broadcast presentation back in there, optimize the game's screen transitions, add a few more true-to-life player faces, make online leagues and cooperative multiplay THE priorities, and you've got Madden 08. Unfortunately, it should have been Madden 07, but you've trained us well.