Common Sense Media Review
By Marc Saltzman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Latest Madden delivers the goods best on Xbox 360.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
What's It About?
MADDEN NFL 08 introduces a new gameplay feature called "weapons," which are special skills assigned to elite players to reinforce what makes them great. For example, when activated, LaDainian Tomlinson becomes a truck who plows through defenders, whereas a smart quarterback, like Peyton Manning, can read the field and expose players who simply stick to their money plays. As introduced in the 2007 version, NFL Superstar: Hall of Fame mode is back, where you create a player from scratch and then work your way up from a nobody to an NFL star to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But your actions on and off the field will have an impact on your career: Should you take that endorsement deal or movie role?
Is It Any Good?
Madden NFL 08 is packed with new features and improvements over past iterations, and it's gorgeous to boot -- especially on the Xbox 360. Just be forewarned that the PlayStation 3 version has some well-publicized kinks -- including a frame-rate considerably slower than its Xbox 360 counterpart. The running, passing, and defensive game is top-notch, plus veteran gamers will notice some tweaks to the already solid control. Add multiple game modes such as the Mini-Camp skill-based games and head-to-head Internet support and you've got promising pigskin, once again.
Too bad the same can't be said for the PS3 version, which has some gamers up in arms over its relatively slow performance. The Wii version lacks some of the slick production values found in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, but younger players will enjoy the motion-sensing remote as an alternative control mechanism (this is improved over last year as well).
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the advantages and disadvantages of a company like EA paying for exclusivity with the NFL and ESPN. Should more companies be able to create NFL games? Does playing this game help you to understand and appreciate football more?
Game Details
- Platforms : Xbox 360 , PlayStation 3 , PSP , Nintendo Wii , Nintendo DS , Windows , Mac , PlayStation 2 , Nintendo GameCube , Xbox
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Available online
- Publisher : EA Sports
- Release date : August 14, 2007
- Genre : Sports
- ESRB rating :
- Award : Kids' Choice Award
- Last updated : September 26, 2024
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