Madden 07
Posted September 5, 2006
Coming off the massive disappointment of last year's rendition, Electronic Arts had much work to do in creating a version of Madden which contained the same level of gameplay that's seen in the previous generation of Madden versions. They succeeded in a number of ways, but still failed to improve in others. What's left is a NFL football game that's moderately fun to play if you don't mind the a few flaws and a couple absent gameplay modes. 
Gameplay:
The Play now mode is pretty standard. The same options (Stadium, weather, time of day, etc.) are available to setup a quick round. Dynasty mode seems a bit more expansive this year, as it takes longer to complete an entire season. The season is split into four sections; pre-season games, regular season, playoffs, and the off-season. Unfortunately, the franchise mode still lacks the presentation qualities that other console versions contain. Even NCAA 2007 had more panache than this year's Madden.
The big ballyhoo for Madden this year is the Superstar mode, which is enjoyable if you can exceed the steep learning curve. At the start, the player has the opportunity to randomly select a superstar and begin their fledging career. Activities such as an IQ test, publicity interviews, and training sessions populate your time before the draft. After being drafted, training camps litter the schedule until the main season begins. Now the greatest challenge in adapting to the superstar mode is using the camera angle. Instead of the distant overhead view, the camera hovers a few feet above the superstar to provide the allusion of singularity. While very realistic, this view makes quarterback control extremely difficult as well as the rest of the offensive and defensive positions. Additionally, plays are chosen for your team by the 360 rather than your decision. Leading a player to superstar greatness becomes an arduous task, more challenging than it should be. I applaud EA's effort, but providing an alternate camera mode or play control would have made the superstar mode much more entertaining.
Madden mini-games are an interesting mode of play that incorporates the training camp from Superstar into a point based competition. The various types of mini-games include weight-lifting, timed sprints, and offensive / defensive play practice. Each game flashes up a short tutorial on the controls and the method to winning previous to each game as it loads. The games are quant distractions to the main game modes, but offer little satisfaction to the player. If anything, they provide a slight warm-up to the Superstar mode.
EA is attempting to introduce a point system within Madden 07 called Gamer Level, but it's not very structured. Points are earned by completing certain goals in the various modes such as passing for 500 yards or scoring a high point score in a mini-game. Additionally, the level of difficulty raises or lowers the number of gamerpoints awarded. The main problem with Gamer Level points has to do with simming. Points can be easily racked up by simming out a season. Also, they don't seem to hold any personal value beyond the occasional online gamble of points. It's seems like a pointless feature.
I wanted to like the online multiplayer, but certain negative aspects hampered my attempts. Within my various games over Xbox Live, I experienced occasionally lag, connection drops, and an extensive quantity of sore losers. That being said, the game was enjoyable when working correctly. I'm actually shocked EA hasn't upped their interest in pushing online tournaments as a feature online tool. The basic online modes are still available, but nothing expanding beyond that. Game lobbies are similar to the 06 version as well as issuing and accepting challenges. Also, standard leaderboard populate the online domain if competition is your interest.
The achievements are split up into 46 tasks worth a total of 1000 gamerscore points. Single player achievements dominate the point structure at a 99 percentage rate. The bulk of the tasks are contained within the dynasty and the superstar modes. While the developers at EA have exceeding increased the number of achievements and the time required to gather them, the same glaring flaw exists with these points as existed in last year's version; they can all be simulated. For instance, simming the 30 year achievement in dynasty mode with take about five hours and net your point total with about 700 points. Simming the superstar achievements take considerable longer, but still without any requirement of skill. Once again, EA's lack of interest in creating boundaries within the achievement structure destroys any credibility these points have.
Graphics:
Visually, there have been a plethora of minor improvements in last year's graphics engine. The increased number of animations is perhaps the most noticeable change. Throwing, running, juking, tackling, and celebration animations have been multiplied exponentially. The fluidity of motion is finally to the level of previous generation games and the high definition visual quality is truly breathtaking. The player models are just as detailed at the previous year as well as the stadium and its ticket holders.
There are some framerate issues that populate the screen during games with heavy weather effects. While slightly distracting, they do not affect gameplay to a great extent. I am happy to see the hitching problem from the 06 version is been mostly taken care of. The hitching would happen between plays and hamper an otherwise solid graphical experience.
Audio:
The music is fairly standard from year's version of Madden. The soundtrack uses urban hip-hop tunes when navigating the menu, but veers away from tunes within the actual game. The sound effects are oddly familiar from the 06 version, but without any detrimental qualities.
Surprisingly, the voiceovers actually decreased in quality due to sloppy programming. Voice announcers will occasionally spout the incorrect team name or misuse a player name that isn't on either team's roster. But beyond the occasional misspoken step, the announcers are generally talented and a pleasure to listen to.
Conclusion:
Madden 2007 isn't an overt joy to play, but it's not necessarily of poor quality. In many ways, this version of Madden seems eons above the debacle of last year. Electronic Arts have injected the much needed Superstar mode, a fun collection of mini-games and a more involving, personal experience into professional football. The effort put forth into Madden 2007 thankfully erases the horrific memory of the 2006 version. Adversely, the game is still missing gameplay modes such as the Owner mode and the achievements are nearly as abysmal as the previous year.
I can easily recommend this game to professional football fanatics or achievement addicts looking for a quick high. Concerning worth, $40 to $50 is a decent price range for those looking to own a copy. The rest of the sporting crowd should try the Xbox Live demo out before laying out the simoleons for the game disc.
Gameplay:
The Play now mode is pretty standard. The same options (Stadium, weather, time of day, etc.) are available to setup a quick round. Dynasty mode seems a bit more expansive this year, as it takes longer to complete an entire season. The season is split into four sections; pre-season games, regular season, playoffs, and the off-season. Unfortunately, the franchise mode still lacks the presentation qualities that other console versions contain. Even NCAA 2007 had more panache than this year's Madden.
The big ballyhoo for Madden this year is the Superstar mode, which is enjoyable if you can exceed the steep learning curve. At the start, the player has the opportunity to randomly select a superstar and begin their fledging career. Activities such as an IQ test, publicity interviews, and training sessions populate your time before the draft. After being drafted, training camps litter the schedule until the main season begins. Now the greatest challenge in adapting to the superstar mode is using the camera angle. Instead of the distant overhead view, the camera hovers a few feet above the superstar to provide the allusion of singularity. While very realistic, this view makes quarterback control extremely difficult as well as the rest of the offensive and defensive positions. Additionally, plays are chosen for your team by the 360 rather than your decision. Leading a player to superstar greatness becomes an arduous task, more challenging than it should be. I applaud EA's effort, but providing an alternate camera mode or play control would have made the superstar mode much more entertaining.
Madden mini-games are an interesting mode of play that incorporates the training camp from Superstar into a point based competition. The various types of mini-games include weight-lifting, timed sprints, and offensive / defensive play practice. Each game flashes up a short tutorial on the controls and the method to winning previous to each game as it loads. The games are quant distractions to the main game modes, but offer little satisfaction to the player. If anything, they provide a slight warm-up to the Superstar mode.
EA is attempting to introduce a point system within Madden 07 called Gamer Level, but it's not very structured. Points are earned by completing certain goals in the various modes such as passing for 500 yards or scoring a high point score in a mini-game. Additionally, the level of difficulty raises or lowers the number of gamerpoints awarded. The main problem with Gamer Level points has to do with simming. Points can be easily racked up by simming out a season. Also, they don't seem to hold any personal value beyond the occasional online gamble of points. It's seems like a pointless feature.
I wanted to like the online multiplayer, but certain negative aspects hampered my attempts. Within my various games over Xbox Live, I experienced occasionally lag, connection drops, and an extensive quantity of sore losers. That being said, the game was enjoyable when working correctly. I'm actually shocked EA hasn't upped their interest in pushing online tournaments as a feature online tool. The basic online modes are still available, but nothing expanding beyond that. Game lobbies are similar to the 06 version as well as issuing and accepting challenges. Also, standard leaderboard populate the online domain if competition is your interest.
The achievements are split up into 46 tasks worth a total of 1000 gamerscore points. Single player achievements dominate the point structure at a 99 percentage rate. The bulk of the tasks are contained within the dynasty and the superstar modes. While the developers at EA have exceeding increased the number of achievements and the time required to gather them, the same glaring flaw exists with these points as existed in last year's version; they can all be simulated. For instance, simming the 30 year achievement in dynasty mode with take about five hours and net your point total with about 700 points. Simming the superstar achievements take considerable longer, but still without any requirement of skill. Once again, EA's lack of interest in creating boundaries within the achievement structure destroys any credibility these points have.
Graphics:
Visually, there have been a plethora of minor improvements in last year's graphics engine. The increased number of animations is perhaps the most noticeable change. Throwing, running, juking, tackling, and celebration animations have been multiplied exponentially. The fluidity of motion is finally to the level of previous generation games and the high definition visual quality is truly breathtaking. The player models are just as detailed at the previous year as well as the stadium and its ticket holders.
There are some framerate issues that populate the screen during games with heavy weather effects. While slightly distracting, they do not affect gameplay to a great extent. I am happy to see the hitching problem from the 06 version is been mostly taken care of. The hitching would happen between plays and hamper an otherwise solid graphical experience.
Audio:
The music is fairly standard from year's version of Madden. The soundtrack uses urban hip-hop tunes when navigating the menu, but veers away from tunes within the actual game. The sound effects are oddly familiar from the 06 version, but without any detrimental qualities.
Surprisingly, the voiceovers actually decreased in quality due to sloppy programming. Voice announcers will occasionally spout the incorrect team name or misuse a player name that isn't on either team's roster. But beyond the occasional misspoken step, the announcers are generally talented and a pleasure to listen to.
Conclusion:
Madden 2007 isn't an overt joy to play, but it's not necessarily of poor quality. In many ways, this version of Madden seems eons above the debacle of last year. Electronic Arts have injected the much needed Superstar mode, a fun collection of mini-games and a more involving, personal experience into professional football. The effort put forth into Madden 2007 thankfully erases the horrific memory of the 2006 version. Adversely, the game is still missing gameplay modes such as the Owner mode and the achievements are nearly as abysmal as the previous year.
I can easily recommend this game to professional football fanatics or achievement addicts looking for a quick high. Concerning worth, $40 to $50 is a decent price range for those looking to own a copy. The rest of the sporting crowd should try the Xbox Live demo out before laying out the simoleons for the game disc.