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Developer: EA Tiburon
Publisher: EA Sports
Genre: Sports
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 22 Aug 06
User Rating
9.5 (2 votes) -
- Another season, and yet again another Madden title. EA continues to refine the franchise, with some neat touches here and there.
Overview
Well it is that time of year again, the days are becoming shorter, kids are going back to school, and the NFL season is right around the corner. And that means it is time for this year's version of Madden NFL 07, the latest edition of the award winning Madden series. Every year thousands of fans go out the morning of the launch and await the new release, hoping for another great football experience. Last year proved to be an off year for Madden, especially for its first try on the 360, so fans are hoping that 2007 proves to change the series back to its winning ways. How do the guys at EA do? Read our full review to find out!
Gameplay
Each and every year the guys over at Tiburon try to impress the faithful followers with new features, new gameplay elements, and just an overall better Madden experience than ever before. Beginning in 2005 Madden essentially has no direct competitors due to the exclusive licensing deal that EA struck with the NFL. So any fan of football was really left with one choice for football, which in my opinion put even more pressure on EA to come through with their Madden franchise.
So what have they added to Madden NFL 07 this year? Well first off, making its first appearance on the next generation consoles is the highly praised superstar mode. The premise behind the mode is you taking the role of one athlete who plays one position, and you control this player throughout his career. Sounds interesting right? I mean who wouldn't love to create a character and take them through a career? So now the guys and gals at Tiburon have given you a mode specifically for that purpose. Unfortunately however the actual execution of this mode is not as fantastic as some might hope for.
For starters, the camera angle of the action changes to a much closer view, which limits your view of the field and makes playing a bit more of a challenge than necessary. Also there is way too much downtime in between the time you're on the field. For example my first player was a QB, and sure it was nice playing as the QB during the offensive stands, but when the defense gets the ball you will be sitting and waiting and that's not the best thing in the gaming industry. The developers do try to make the downtime shorter by having the times where you're not playing go on fast forward, but even that is still too much downtime. The mode is structured well enough and anyone with a good deal of patience can find some things to appreciate in this mode, however I just felt they could have deepened the experience and given less downtime.
One of the additions that really caught my attention in Madden 07 is the new rushing mechanics that add a great deal to the game. I say this because now they have this lead blocking feature, which allows you to take the role of any player on the field before and after the snap to help block for your running back. This new feature definitely adds a lot more appeal to running the back, something that has been overshadowed by the passing attack for years now. The new feature works beautifully, and I have to say it made me much more likely to run the football than ever before.
Not going into every little detail of the game, there have been some other additions to the game, including the Hall of Fame Mode, Mini Games, and finally the ability to challenge calls on the field. The franchise mode hasn't been altered all that much, just some very small changes here and there to the structure of the mode. Some may be thinking that these additions don't sound all that impressive, but instead I say that in all actuality these little additions make a big improvement on last year's game.
What impresses me about Madden 07 is that it takes the game leaps and bounds above where it was on its first outing on the 360. In fact this game really feels like a true deep Madden experience, where 06 felt extremely rushed and underwhelming. Madden 07 is not the best game the series has seen, but it is well enough developed in all areas that it is definitely a great football experience.
Graphics
Visually I still believe that the best is still to come from the Madden series, as I just didn't feel like there was enough done to Madden 07 to make it all that much better then in 2006. The one aspect that has been improved is the stadiums, which are given a lot more detail and a lot more life brought into them. The character models don't look all that different this year, with just a sprinkle of more detail thrown in. There have been some huge strides to bring in more animations in the game, which does help the realism quite a bit. In the end, they are going in the right direction with the game's visuals, just not enough to take it to the next level.
Fun Factor
I am what you would consider the average Madden player. I am not one that would be waiting outside in the cold to pick up a copy, but most years I am out there picking up the latest copy. Some years the games just seem more enjoyable then others, and with some of the new additions in this version this game is definitely one to enjoy. I have to say with the exception of the lackluster Superstar Mode, I found myself enjoying the new mini games, the hall of fame mode, and even the franchise mode. I would have loved to see a fantasy draft instituted back in the game and some more work on the off season play of the franchise mode, but with all that being said Madden 07 is a very enjoyable game to play.
Overall
You can see that after Madden 06 which was somewhat of a disappointment, Madden 07 is a game that is taking the series in the right direction. For those fans that just love Madden and are wondering if this version is worth picking up, I would say that the answer to that is yes. There is plenty of depth in Madden 07 to make this game a good solid purchase.
- Gameplay
8.0 - Graphics
8.0 - Fun Factor
8.0 - Overall
8.0
