Articles
By Diresim
Published: Mar. 18, 2007 2:33 PM
The hit stick is a new addition to Madden this year, and allows you to smack the living &#^* out of someone with a flick of the right stick. Whilst little additions like this have often been poorly thought out in other EA Sports games recently, in Madden 07 it works an absolute treat, and it is one of those rare opportunities to live out in a believable way those bone-crunching collisions that are so hard to reproduce in a sports video game. What’s more, you have never heard collisions till you’ve heard them in Madden 07. The sickening sounds of body on body are recreated in cringe inducing glory here.
As always seems to the case these days in EA Sports games, the presentation, options, and unlockables are top notch. The actual menu screens don’t work that well, unfortunately, and you’ll find yourself lost in there for a while stuck amongst the clutter and a silly tiered system, but once you know your way around it won’t be an issue. The solid licensed menu music is here too, which is pleasant.
The online side of this year’s Madden will be a disappointment for many Australian gamers though. Although the features are there, including the new ‘Live Opponent’ option, which allows you to find a human online to play as your opponent during franchise matches, the lag is juicy on your average connection. Hooking up a few locals to play with is the key, but the performance is still not going to be perfect.
Overall, Madden is a disappointment for me because I’ve been waiting for the next level of immersivity in football games. Where’s the stable net code? Where’s the online leagues? Nevertheless, it’s still as enjoyable as the best versions of years past and is a big improvement on last year’s shocking effort. The new superstar mode introduces a real fresh approach that you may just find to your liking. If you’re a fan, you’ll enjoy this title (but then you already know that don’t you?). If you’re not, be prepared for a steep learning curve, followed by a quick upswing toward enjoyable gaming, followed by a plateau that never really gets you inside the game, excited and enthused by what is happening on the field. All along though, you’re going to have a heck of a lot of fun smacking the crap out of everyone you can.
Xboxzone Score: 7.9 Discuss this Review in our Forums
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