Madden 08 is the second installment of EA’s successful football franchise for the Nintendo Wii. The game succeeds in translating motions and mechanics of NFL football into motion-based Wii controls. Madden offers a franchise mode, superstar mode, minigames and online play, which combined will assure longevity.
Madden 08 is the first title to feature EA Sports new “Family Play” option. Family Play is a new way to play that enables players of all abilities to play with their friends and family. In Family Play, players can pass, swat, deliver big hits, stiff arms, and kick while the computer AI does the rest. The player does not have control over character movement (running game). Experienced Madden players will definitely want to stick with the Nunchuk attachment and the Advanced controls. However we found Family Play to be very useful for young family members and Madden newbie’s. Madden 08 allows players with advanced controls and players using Family Play to play on the same team or against each other, resulting in instant gratification and great fun for everyone. Madden (and sports games in general) are best enjoyed with family and friends. A new Party Mode, Telestrator Mode for TV Broadcast-like replays (pen that writes on the screen), mini-game tournaments, Mii integration, online gaming, a trivia mode as well as multiple save profiles for family and friends leave little to be desired. The games graphics are far from spectacular, but considering the stick-man like animations players have to put up with in other Wii games, Madden does not look too bad. Also the graphics basically remained unchanged from Madden 07.
Hard-core football fans and graphic fanatics are strongly advised to play Madden 08 on the Xbox 360, which outperforms even Sony’s PS3 by running on 60 frames per second.
Overall, Madden 08 for the Wii is a great Football game for the whole family. The game makes great use of the motion controls and the new “Family Play” lets everyone join in on the fun. More modes, more multiplayer both off- and online, and an overall more polished game play make Madden 08 a great buy even for those owning last years edition.
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