So I went ahead and picked up Madden 08 for my XBox 360 yesterday. I skipped 07 because it was a horrendous piece of crap (the PC version had a habit of locking up on game winning or halftime ended fieldgoals). But the reviews for 08 have been coming in pretty good and I was missing pro football on my console.

The Good

• The “weapon” system is really very solid. It takes some getting used to but trucking a back over a linebacker or seeing Dwight Freeney do a lightning quick spin move to hammer a QB is a very nice addition indeed. My only complaint is that a few too many players are weapons and for someone who has never been good at playing the defensive side of the ball most of the weapons become useless froma player perspective so you just have to hope the CPU uses them effectively.
• The game presentation is the best in a long time for the franchise. Player intros highlight your team weapons and it feels more like the beginning of a real NFL game
• The new animations enhance the gameplay a ton. Gang tackling looks amazing, and offensive players have more little moves and turns than they used to. The Weapon animations are pretty cool too. Love seeing a Marvin Harrison one handed catch in the end zone.
• New mini games. They’ve polished up some of the mini games (especially WR/CB mini games) and added a 40-yard dash and bench press mini game. They can also be used during a season to train up to three players before a game and work on their ratings.
• Franchise mode is back with owner mode. Although you still can’t move teams like you could 3 or 4 years ago. Franchise mode is my bread and butter in Madden. Once I get more tired of playing the games I go into team management mode.
• Hall Of Famers. There’s a great Hall Of Fame section, with video highlights of select HOFers and you can start a franchise with a fantasy draft and include 100+ HOFers in the draft.
• Overall improved gameplay. The game just plays smoother.
• This seems to be the first Madden to really take advantage of the power of the next-gen consoles. Amazing frame rates and you can tell they pot more into 08 in this regard than 07.
• Update: I almost forgot! One of the coolest new features is you can set up the game so that whenever there is a new ESPN Radio SportsCenter update, it will automatically pipe it in and play it (as long as you are not in a game). This goes along with the sports news ticker at the bottom of the screen.

The Bad

• While it’s cool they added in more depth perspective by blurring far off objects and players sometimes it gives the impression that the field is the size of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metro Area.
• No team movement in franchise/owner mode
• I usually play on Pro level and the difficulty at that level does seem to have increased. The weapons make it much tougher to play in a way that someone has gotten used to in the franchise.
• The stupid “ring” thing where as you do more in the game your “ring” is built. You can even order an actual ring from Jostens! No really. I’m not kidding.

The Ugly

• All of the in-game advertising. The Spring halftime roundup. Spring postgame. Jostens ring of a champion. etc etc. But the absolute WORST is the Under Armor Protect This House. When you get in the red zone (offensively or defensivel) this horrifying graphic pops up telling you what happened the last time in the red zone, complete with a picture of Annoying Screaming Under Armor Guy. I want to stab my eyes out every time I see it.
• The music. Okay so it’s got an Ozzy song and a Queens of the Stoneage song but for the most part the soundtrack is decidedly BLEH. That’s why I turn off all the songs except the NFL Films music (non-remixed, damnit). It’s instrumental, it screams football and it doesn’t get so annoying on repeat after months of gaming that you hate whatever bands are associated with the soundtrack.
• Update: How could I have forgotten the horrible in-game commentary. Gone are Madden and whoever else they can match him up with. In is a lone voice representing “ESPN Radio”. it’s wholly uninspired and uninteresting commentary to go along with the game and takes away from the presentation improvements that make the game feel more like a TV broadcast. Yeah, the Madden commentary got repetitive and annoying but that’s Madden in real life too!

Overall it’s certainly a better title than I’ve played in a couple years. It’s still probably only worth picking up to the real Madden junkies and people who want the up to date rosters or the first Madden title to really take advantage of the next-gen systems.