State of Sports Games: Madden 08

Millions sold. Iconic stature. Unofficial but exclusive game of the NFL. Part of the America lexicon. If you are Electronic Arts, you couldn’t ask for more from a game. If you are a fan you already feel a sense that Madden has become stale.

Madden NFL 08, post-patch, might be the game that most expected on your next-gen console. Two uninspiring releases led to a lot of disappointment by Madden fans. The first game wasn’t finished. The second game wasn’t tweaked properly. And the third was pretty good except that it needed a patch to get there.

But this isn’t an article on what Madden isn’t — let’s talk about what Madden did right this year. (Post-patch)

The view from the 50

You might think this is a curse but it’s been the calling card of EA Sports. If you want good, generally simple NFL gameplay, you can spend $60 and get it. And that’s what Madden 08 does extremely well.

For year’s Madden has struggled to get the core gameplay right. Each release was usually unbalanced to the point of creating a one dimensional Madden. Remember past Madden’s where you could pass 30 times, complete 10 and get 300 yards. There was no short or middle range passing game. The rushing game was impossible inside the tackles. And controls were unresponsive causing headaches playing defense. None of that is seen in this year’s Madden.

With Madden, I always look at the little things to see if it gets football right. Some of the things I look for are, rushing inside the tackles; quick slants; low percentage bombs; swarm defense; workable screens; smooth defensive controls. Madden isn’t a perfect all-around game but it gets the basics of football right. And just as equally important, most of the Madden quirks have been addressed. Dropping back and chucking it isn’t a tactic that works. Mario running is gone. And Madden feels very smooth to play.

The AI and gameplay is good enough to make the franchise playable this year. For Madden, that is a huge step forward because 16 games of Madden in years past was quite the accomplishment in futility.

On the field I want to talk about two of the most hyped features to see if they add real value to the game. There was much hype that we would see gang-tackling this year from Madden. The producers did their best to show 4-man tackles. Madden only allowed for two-man tackles and sometimes a 3rd man could make a tackle but it would interrupt the two-man tackle animation. Since tackling is the most dynamic aspect of the NFL, if Backbreaker is able to pull off a good football engine, it could show just how dated Madden’s mo-capped tackles really are.

The second most talked about feature was the weapons. It was touted to differentiate between average players and the true NFL Superstars but I don’t think it was anything more than graphical icons showing a player’s best attributes. Take Champ Bailey for instance, he had the shutdown corner ability but was he good because of his ratings or did being a shutdown corner give him a ratings boost? The idea was right but the execution was off because all it did was give the gamer a visual clue as to the type of players on the field, called Read and React.

Madden of the Future

The future of Madden is dependent on how much EA Sports wants to change its game. It has a product that prints money and they must fear any changes to the core gameplay is going to ruin Madden. Whereas, All-Pro Football could take a severe chance offering up new features or ideas and the risk might be minimal, Madden would never offer substantial changes if it spells doom to stock-holders.

What this means is the core of the gameplay will be untouched in Madden 09. I’m sure we’ll see more animations and the usual gameplay refinements. Weapons with return and they might take the shape of All-Pro Football 2k8 attributes. I think EA Sports will continue with Superstar mode, as this FPS modes are the trend in sports games.

On the field, if EA Sports and Tiburon wanted to send a message about their game to 2K Sports but more importantly NFL gamer fans, here’s what Madden needs to do.

Do something with your ESPN and NFL licenses!

This is a game about the NFL but you never get the sense the franchise game, you are currently playing, is a part of the NFL . Start with the in-game atmosphere and offer the first truly dynamic crowd reactions. When NCAA can have over 100 fight songs, couldn’t Madden offer team specific chants and basic football crowd reactions? In the booth, kick the radio announcer out and start over. Actors doing the voice work for games, while not the ideal situation, gives games the most dynamic feel in the booth. Ultimately, a game like Madden should offer multiple crews working games depending the importance of the game.

It’s also not too much to ask for a NFL game to have an NFL broadcast feel. I don’t know if just offering a CGI generated Bob Costas or James Brown doing a fake pre-game is enough — we had this in ESPN NFL 2k5.

The answer to the franchise staleness and game sterility is to blend the two into an interactive experience moving the gamer through the weeks of an NFL year. And it requires Madden to join the various appendages of their disjointed feature set. Currently, you play essentially four different game modes; 16 exhibitions on the road to the Super Bowl; with a free agency period; draft; and pre-season mini-games.

A true franchise mode means advancing through the year building a team, training them, and executing a gameplan towards winning everything, if you can.

On that first Sunday of the season, you are immersed in the NFL life. While your game is loading, you are given pre-game tasks that involve motivating your team or setting out keys to the game. You tell your team real simple goals, like establishing the run, bending not breaking against high-powered teams, or stopping NFL’s elites like Moss, Bush or Peterson. Conversely you could motivate individual players or have them key on specific players. Picking the wrong strategy or failing to execute causes more busted plays or having the breaks go against you. Pick the right strategy and you shut down or contain teams because your players seem to do everything right.

Use the coaches for the the pre-, half-, or post-game team talks. And on the other half of the screen, you see the CGI Bob Costas hold his show. Possibly even have post game press conferences where your pre-canned statements are analyzed by the sports media on Monday. Each response should affect your team negatively or positively.

During the week, players and coaches could hold press conferences to goat future opposition, single-out players to improve, or talk keys to winning. Again all would have an impact on the game-at-hand. All the while, CPU controlled teams and coaches are doing the same thing.

Two other areas of the game that needs work are the draft and free agency. It’s not acceptable that two enormous facets of the NFL are treated with such disregard in Madden. Both could steal a few ideas from the recruiting mode in NCAA Football 08. Breaking apart the stale stages of Madden’s off-season, allow the user to interact with free agents and draft propsects. Much like in NCAA, you select your targets for the season. Because this is a pro game, you wouldn’t be signing recruits to your team. Instead, Madden would let you track your targeted players stats and performances.

Once you get the FA and Draft portion of the game, Madden again needs to spruce up these two modes. And of course, they need to enhance the AI of both. Introduce real draft busts, that were pre-draft hype. Do away with the insane drafting AI like wasting the #1 pick on a linemen. Finally get rid of the magic price point for FAs and make FAs react dynamically to offers.

To sum up, even though Madden 08 patched is the same Madden we have been playing for years, it plays a good all-around game of football. EA Sports and Tiburon have an equation to please the company suits and stock-holders but seem to be lost on how to create a game