Silkroad Online Forums

im thinking of getting the new Madden 08, but im not sure. can anybody give me an idea; is it worth the money, how's the gameplay and new features etc.

any type of comments responses to the game would be appreciated (any system even thought ill be playing on regular old xbox)

**** madden, down with the series, after 07, I'll never buy it again.

plz elaborate, and possibly explaining wat system you are using will help.

You play one Madden game you've played them all.

well i have madden 2000 on N64 and madden 07 on xbox, and yeaaaa. unless u are exagerrating that statement is not true IMO.

im just looking for some guidance/suggestions for this little problem i have.

Madden 08 for 360 is pure own.

Trust me.


Madden 07... down the drain.

Madden 06... down the drain.


Madden 2008 forevah! Mainly because my spread offense works REALLY well. Realistic defensive scheming and offensive scheming. For example:


My friend Steven plays as Dallas. He uses the 3-4 defense.
I play as Jacksonville Jaguars or the St Louis Rams. I use my own spread playbook.

In Madden 07, Steven had no problem stopping my quick passing routes even though his linebackers were constantly outmatched by my tall and quick wide recievers. I normally run 4 to 5 wide recievers in my spread attack. While I do run the ball, running against a 3-4 is hard out of the shotgun. At best I could gain 200 passing yards with an INT or two on a good night.

In Madden 08, you really notice the mismatches. I was able to pick apart his weak 3-4 defense and force him into running a Dime Cover-2 Under just to slow me down. By then it was too late and I had already racked up 500 yards through the air with 5 scores. When I used the Rams, it was the same story. He played nickel this time, but I still found my back open in the flats or over the middle and constantly had a slot reciever in a mismatch with a slow linebacker. Another 400 yard passing game.

Madden 08 is great. I haven't found anything that I don't like about it. You have no idea how great it feels to compliment EA Sports for once.. because I'm normally the one bashing them.

And yes, I know a lot about football. I love to scheme an offense and create mismatches. My defense can be very confusing because it's non-scripted and very improv'd. But sadly, my defense is not my strong point. It's non consistent. While I can get in the backfield and hit you for a loss, or create a lot of turnovers by throwing wacky coverages at you, I still give up a lot of chunk plays because I take so many chances on defense. I'm a blitz machine

2001 and after.

I think he wanted opinions from people who actually know what they're talking about when it comes to football.

i guess i see wat u are saying now...

@ Colb: very nice review.
are all/most of the 360 features in regular xbox? if not is it still worth the money to buy it

wat do u think about the whole hit stick 2.0 thing and the playmakers thing? (or watever the icon under certain players is called....)

thank u all for the responses

Most of the actual FEATURES are. However, you're still dealing with the old game engine which isn't a bad engine. It just has it's bullshit flaws like always. I've played it on PS2 (same as XBOX) and on 360. The 360 version is definately better. But as for the features that are in all versions:


SMART PLAYERS

This feature simply Farking rules. Let's say you're playing online against a cheeser who keeps running the same Farking retarded play over and over but you're defensive AI won't stop it (only so much you can do by controlling one player). Well there are smart players (the veterans on the team that are marked) that will start to recognize a play after it's been run over and over. They start to learn different parts of the play and before long they recognize it before the snap and they can make a jump on the pass and pick it off or stuff the run even though they should be dropping back to cover. It's pretty bad ass.

You also have player weapons now. Instead of having just a bunch of wide receivers out there, each one has a special ability depending on his attributes and the game takes advantage of that more than in the past. For example, one receiver might have a hand logo beneath him that signifies this, or another one might have a shoe icon with a wing on it that means he is very fast.

QB stamina is new. If you use Vince Young and you get chased out of the pocket and run all the way to one sideline, then back to the other sideline and stuff like cheesers do, then he'll get winded and out of breath and start running slower. The more you run the more fatigued a player gets DURING THE PLAY. Fatigue has always been in the game but it has never had a player go from 100% to 70% or anything like that while you're still running. Winded players make bad throws or bad cuts, or maybe they just can't catch a ball.

Hit Stick/Highlight Stick 2.0 is pretty cool. I haven't gotten used to it yet. But it really takes advantage of the players skills. If you're a big chunky fullback you're not gonna be making ankle breaking jukes, rather you'll be stiffarming like a freight train. And if you're like Reggie Bush you won't be running over people but around them and you'll be very Farking elusive (I got burned by Bush a lot and they were some sweet moves that weren't basic jukes).

But that's just offense. On defense it's a lot of the same thing. It takes advantage of the type of player you're using. If you're using Roy Williams from Dallas, then you're gonna jar some people and knock the ball loose a lot. If you're using someone like Champ Bailey, you're gonna be making helmet hits that don't do much. But you'll be flying through the air for the ball more with him than with Williams. Also new to the hit stick is the fact you can press down on it to hit them below the knees (good for taking down those bruising fullbacks).

Overall I'd give it an 8/10 compared to my 5/10 last year for madden 07.

so far sounds good i think im gonna go out and buy it when i get a chance. if anybody wants to make some input it would be greatly appreciated (this includes in-game vids, screenshots experiences etc.)

thank you all for responding

Because knowing about football makes you a master at knowing a digital version as well.

Just curious, how old were you when the 2000 version was released? Before the 2001+ clones?

ummm, good question; i was probably 7-8? not sure tbh. why do u ask

and yes (at least i think) u gotta have some knowledge of (american) football and the NFL to be a decent player at this game. u cant just pick up a controller and start playing w/o any sort or kind of guidance.

Vandall, I was asking colb.

Doesn't make anyone a master. But having good knowledge of how the game is played from a scheming standpoint, and knowing more about the deep in game adjustments would be something nice to know before he rips off a comment like that. If all you do is jump on and play for a few minutes a day and just play it like it's an arcade game, then no, you won't notice a difference. But if you've played real organized football (high school or college), or you have played enough console football / watched enough on TV to know how to run an offense, then the games are extremely different. It's not like I blurbed out a comment without thinking.




Not that age matters, but I was 16. I have Madden 2000 - 2008 on PC. I have madden 2001 - 2008 on PS2. And I have Madden 2007-2008 on XBOX 360. Madden 2000 was very bare bones. When 2001 was released, it was released on a new game engine. It had a lot of "new" features which are your basic features in todays game. When 2005 came out, it featured a game engine overhaul with "better gameplay". Although that engine resulted in a lot of b.s. plays or "cheese" plays.

So what... I know a lot about football. That doesn't automatically make me good at the console game. I'm decent at best. But I do know how to scheme an offense on the thing. And knowing about football is a requirement to be good at Madden 08 or NCAA 08. I don't care how you slice it. It's not like the old days where you can line up and run the same 2 plays over and over or just throw a hail mary. Knowledge of the game of football (not just Madden) will carry you very far.

sorry lol
but i still stand by the statement i meant earlier about knoweldge of football and such

The more knowledge that you have on the game of football and how it is played, the better you will understand a video game like Madden or NCAA. If you play against someone using Nebraska and a T-wing option offense or wishbone option, and you come out in a nickel package, you will be dominated. If you come out in a 3-4 you will get dominated... unless you know how to make a scheme that can counter the effects of the option so that your linebackers will respond as they should.

4-3 Under or 4-3 Over? WTF DO I CHOOSE? Again. Knowledge of the game. What package do I run at the goalline when I'm facing the best defensive interior in the NFL? Miami? Jumbo? WR-Wing? If you know the answers to these questions, then you'd know that all of those were options that have been added over the years. I tried loading up Madden 2002 on my PS2 just a few minutes ago because of this post, and I cannot stand to play it because of the lack of adjustments. The game is crap.

2001 - 2002 : Small difference.

2001 - 2008 : Huge difference.

one last question to those who own/have played this game; do u think the different on-field personalities of players was well portaryed in this version?

I guess wat i mean is: if u play with someone like T.O. or Chad Johnson and then play with a different (more suttle) reciever like Amani Toomer, will u notice a difference in the gaming style/ techniques of these certain players? Because i've always been interested in that little detail of gameplay, and would be great if they somehow included that in the gameplay.

Not that I've noticed on PS2 (which is same as regular XBOX) aside from their physical play style like I said earlier, however on XBOX 360, players like T.O. do have their own personality and even dance (you should see the T.O. dance).

thank you Colb and all others for this info