Rating: 5 Pulses

Genre: Sports

Football season is back and that means another year of Madden for all us football fanatics. But since acquiring the exclusive rights to the National Football League licensing two years ago, the previous two Maddens haven’t been all that great.

Will Madden NFL 08 finally exceed our expectations as a great and tightly polished football game on next-gen platforms? I sure was hoping so.

The newest addition to this year’s Madden is the Read and React System which gives skilled players on the field icons representing their individual strengths and abilities. Also know as “weapons”, these icon players will allow opponents to “read and react” to different mismatches on the field.

For example, a quarterback like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady will have the “light bulb” icon that will eventually fill up as a game goes on. That player will eventually be able to read the defense better and help you get a better read on what your opponent is doing. Just like a smart quarterback, there is also a player on defense that can also help read the offense as the game progresses.

Madden NFL 08 also introduces a new “Rings of a Champion” feature which represents your overall gamer level. You can collect rings by playing games and completing different tasks. A cool thing about these rings is that you can actually put them on the line in a game against a friend and play to win the other’s trophy.

Not too bad for new additions, but Madden NFL 08 also has a revamped Superstar mode and franchise mode.

In Superstar mode you can either create a character from scratch or choose a rookie from the 2007 draft class and play as them from pre-draft workouts and through their entire career. You’ll go through interviews, to practices, to games and you’ll even go through the draft early on. You can go through all the events if you want or you could just simulate through some. And now the camera isn’t just position-specific but is now zoomed out so you’ll be able see your player no matter what position you play. Of course there are still the mini-games you can play throughout Superstar mode.

The franchise mode now allows you to take control of the front office in which you take care of the organization’s finances, staff, stadium and scouting players. A sweet addition to an already in-depth franchise mode.

Online play is still my favorite part about playing Madden, but EA still hasn’t included any sort of online leagues or tournaments, which is sad, so sad. But it’s still easy to hookup with a friend through the Internet lag-free for the most part.

It took EA almost three years to finally deliver a next-gen worthy Madden, not only with gorgeous graphics but also excellent game play and smooth control. And when I mean smooth, I mean the smoothest we’ve ever seen on a console at 60 frames per second (but only on the Xbox 360, sorry PS3 owners). This is one of the best Maddens in a long time, but I’m kinda wishing Vince Young wasn’t on the cover. Y’all do know about the curse right? Sorry, Titans fans.