Madden 07 Review - 8/10
Madden 07 is the newest and only EA sports offering on the Nintendo Wii available at the moment. For those who are unfamiliar with Madden, Madden is an American Football simulator named after the legendary John Madden. Prior to the Wii’s launch, many in the media said that sports titles would be the Wii’s ticket to major success, with the Wii’s controls potentially allowing users to play their favourite video game sports like never before. Is Madden the next step forward in American Football games and sports games in general?
Controls
Madden 07 on the Wii features a vastly different control scheme compared to other platforms, with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck adding a new dimension of difficulty to the game. The new controls mean that the game becomes that much more “stressful” as you now have to ensure that even in the heat of the moment, your gestures remain accurate, especially when it comes to passing and kicking, where inaccurate movements can lead to interceptions and skewed kicks.
However, the new controls are not without their flaws. Certain gestures, especially those that require players to move both the Wii remote and Nunchuck together, rarely ever work. This becomes a great annoyance when you’re desperately trying to perform a move in a pressure situation or mini game, only to find that it doesn’t work.
The other problem with the controls is that some of them are direction specific, requiring a player to flick the Wii remote or Nunchuck in a particular direction. Whether players realise it or not, most have a tendency of moving it slightly in the opposite direction before flicking the controller toward the intended direction. Unfortunately, Madden recognizes the FIRST, not the second movement. Again, in a high pressure situation, this can make people very…very “angwii”. (apparently this is a new term which means “to have possess anger for the Wii”)
Overall though, Madden’s controls make the game both amazingly fun and challenging. Nothing feels better than gesturing a snap and throwing that perfect lobbed pass into triple coverage for big gain. (For all you NFL fans out there who understand this) This new system also makes you feel skilful when you execute those perfect runs and throws.
The big question of course is “Are the controls BETTER than on the other platforms?” I think that whilst they are a lot more difficult to master and may present a real challenge to those new to the Madden series, they help to immerse the player fully into the riveting game that is American Football.
Gameplay
Madden features the standard American football gameplay you would expect from any game from the series. The game contains a Franchise mode, where players can manage an entire team, Superstar mode, where they can focus on a single player as well as the Madden Mini Camp mode, where players can work on their skills in various aspects of the game.
The game’s tutorial, Learn Madden, helps ease players into the new controls through a series of mini games. Be warned though, it hardly covers enough for you to play a proper game of football. My advice is: Read the Manual. It may save your life.
For people entirely new to American football, Madden’s NFL Network helps explain all the ins and outs of the game, describing how offensive and defensive plays should be run. For long time veterans of the series, the All-Madden difficult will definitely challenge you, with gestures required for all aspects of the game. (ie. Catching)
The actual football experience is excellent, with the game creating fast paced, exciting atmosphere which accurately simulates the tension and speed of American football. The game rarely ever feels slow or boring and John Madden’s commentary makes it feel just like a television broadcast.
Visuals
This is where Madden 07 is weakest. The graphics are noticeably blurry on the Wii on Composite video, whether or not Component cables will help is yet to be determined. (I don’t have any, if you want to donate some =), Email me!) Small on screen details, such passing assignments (which button to press to throw to which receiver) are virtually impossible to see, due to the blurriness as well as the poor colour scheme chosen to indicate which direction on the D-pad to press. (light orange on white…what were they thinking…)
The players look half decent, but the fans look downright terrible. Think Sega Saturn quality graphics for the fans. The graphics are probably on par with Xbox version at best and it would definitely have been nice if EA put a little more effort into making Madden look better on the Wii.
Final Word
Madden 07 is a pretty good game across all the platforms, but the innovative new control scheme make this Wii version that much better than the competition. Playing sports simulators will never be the same again.
Unfortunately, this added immersion means that Madden is now harder to play on the Wii, but it is definitely worthwhile. The game features a fairly steep learning curve, (About 2.5 hours) but for the most part, the learning is fairly fun thanks to the Mini games.
I would recommend Madden 07 to all American football fans and fans of the Madden series. If you aren’t familiar with American football and have no interest in the sport, this game is not for you.
Submitted by sezza
12/13/2006
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Comments
jackoltene
says:
great review
01/28/2007
sydney
dazbug
says:
Ecxellent review. Sezza, see your inbox 
12/20/2006
Melbourne
whisk
says:
Strangely there are moments in this game in which the graphics look really nice. And no its not a prerendered scene. Some time if you doing something really well like sack the QB it will show an instant replay that looks awsome. You can see the grass blades for godsakes.
12/18/2006
US Texas (Wish I was in Australia)
yippy
says:
I just got NFL, it's a really tough game to learn to play in my opinion. All the different plays and moves are quite confusing. I think it's a fun game though. Good review too
12/16/2006
melbourne, victoria
sezza
says:
With my last comment, what i meant to say was that if NFL interests you as much as those Wilderbeast Docos on national geographic, chances are, you wont enjoy the subtleties of NFL, and hence the game. At least, not as much as an NFL fan will.
12/15/2006
Melbourne, Victoria
Rhapsody
says:
My brother bought this game.
But he couldn't be bothered l2ping with the wii controllers and returned it 
idiot imo
12/15/2006
location
Rizza
says:
good review i only just got this game i needed a sports game.
your last comment on not being a fan of nfl is not what i want to hear but il give it a crack tonight and see how we go
12/15/2006
Perth
piti01
says:
kool review man
12/15/2006
sydney
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