Madden NFL 08 Review

Hey kids! It's 3 a.m. and I just finished writting my review of "Madden NFL 08" for the Xbox 360. Most of my free time since late Monday night has been spent playing the game, and I can tell you that this game is not only the best football game on the market, but arguably the best football game ever.

Myself, I'm partial to "Madden 2000" or whatever the 2000 edition was called on the PS1, but that's simply because I was a little better at football games in the pre-PS2 days. This is one damn fine game, though.

And while I won't post my whole review here yet (you'll have to wait for Saturday's Gaming page in the Poughkeepsie Journal, or the online link Saturday), I will post an excerpt:

" That’s not to say there isn’t room for improvement, though. For one, every player in the game needs to visit a doctor and get a vaccine for fumble-itis. Honestly, it seems like ole’ John Madden went down to Ace “the helpful hardware place,” bought a few quarts of 10W-40 and doused the ball before the kickoff.

In one game playing with the San Diego Chargers, LaDainian Tomlinson fumbled twice, Eric Parker fumbled twice (including a punt return) and Quentin Jammer fumbled after making a pick. That’s a few too many for a five minute quarter game.

I wish I could make these guys carry a football around at all times, including when at class, so all their classmates can poke the ball away from them and they learn their lesson. But I can’t. They should consider that as an addition to next year’s “Superstar” mode. "