PlayStation 2
Released in 2007 by EA Sports
Grade: A
At this point in Madden’s PS2/Xbox lifecycle, we’re firmly in the “roster update” phase. Luckily, Madden 08 is a roster update with one of the best sports engines ever, so it’s excellent in a vacuum.
Where it falls in the series
Madden on PS2 goes from Madden 2001 to Madden 12. My favorite in the series is Madden 2005. The PS3 run starts with Madden 07.
Praises and gripes
The core gameplay is almost completely unchanged from previous versions. EA seemed to retain the increased speed of Madden 07 but returned to the superior crispness of Madden 06.
That means that it’s very intuitive to control and that the logic is extremely fair and consistent. While it might lack football’s unpredictability, it captures the chess match of football well.
That also means you’ve got the same exact graphics, animations, pre-snap adjustments, camera views, and commentary. While there might be some small changes in the playbooks, they’re basically the same.
There are minor control changes, like using X for a QB scramble instead of L2, and a new kick meter that uses the analog stick. The manual blocking from Madden 07 is still there, just an option you probably won’t use. The annoying “QB Vision” cone is also optional, but your CPU opponent always has it on, which I don’t like.
There’s a new “Commit” feature, where you instruct your entire defense to commit to the run or pass following the snap, and it’s pretty fishy. I checked online forums and savvy gamers discovered you can commit to the pass on every play with no drawback.
The on-screen displays give you more assistance with pre-snap adjustments, but all the controls are the same as before. In the same spirit, you can quickly view icons that indicate certain players’ strengths, like speed or tackling power, but I’m not big on that either.
Also new is an early attempt at a single player career mode, where you do silly interviews, hire an agent, get drafted, and work to improve your attributes, but it’s all pretty stupid considering you have to sit through all the portions of the game that you’re not involved in. Again, no added value on that for me.
The strength of the game is of course its well-engineered gameplay, and that’s intact in Madden 08. In fact, some people call this the best in the PS2/Xbox generation, and I wouldn’t vehemently disagree. The game has a smooth engine, great controls, gigantic playbooks, solid graphics, and solid sound.
If, back in the day, you were buying every yearly installment and expecting transformative enhancements, you would have been pretty disappointed. But if you just want to play Madden on PS2 or Xbox, when the game was better than ever, then Madden 08 is a solid purchase.