Madden NFL 08

Moby ID: 31860
Windows Specs
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Description official description

EA Sports' 2008 edition in the Madden series has some new features along with an updated roster and some new animations. The new read and react system lets you see your opponents weakness against your own players letting you exploit their weakness. The AI is more improved plus the new receiver control/lead block feature lets you play as a blocker to create a hole in the defence and switch back to your runner to bust through.

It also features new skill drills to help your player gain more stats in the ever popular NFL Superstar along with the new Ring of Champion feature that lets you design a ring when you complete a certain achievement such as winning the Super Bowl or winning the MVP. It has a new fantasy challenge mode that lets you draft any player you want and risk them in mini-games to create and elite superteam. Also, the superstar mode features a mode where you can play as your team, but also to choose to watch the CPU take control of your team and take over with your player when called upon.

Game commentary is provided by John Madden and Al Michaels.

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Credits (Windows version)

561 People (396 developers, 165 thanks) · View all

Produced by
  • Electronic Arts - Tiburon
  • Orlando; Florida
  • www.tiburon.com
Developed by
  • Electronic Arts - Salt Lake
Engineering Lead
Engineers
Additional Engineering Support
Art Director
Artists
Additional Art Support
Assistant Producer
Development Director
Producer
Executive Producer
Senior Character Animator
Technical Artist
Character Animator
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 78% (based on 58 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 8 ratings with 1 reviews)

The last and best Madden for PC

The Good
EA announced that they would no longer release sports games for PC in 2007, meaning that PC ports of new games Madden series (as well as all of their other sports franchises) would no longer be released. This was a disappointment for sports fans like myself who mainly play games on PC, but at least the final Madden game for the platform was a good one.

The graphics aren't outstanding, but when turned on to the maximum the game looks realistic. Animations for players and other objects are great, making the game solid graphically. The sounds of the game of football are all there, and while John Madden and Al Michaels' commentary is as obvious and predictable as ever, it still adds a huge dimension to the game.

The core gameplay is classic Madden, and practically the same as Madden 07 with the new addition of Weapons: performance-enhancing attributes that are mainly found on star players such as Peyton Manning or Ray Lewis. I honestly haven't noticed any difference in gameplay with these, however. There are also four new fantasy teams with special abilities and stadiums, which can be interesting to play with every once in a while.

As non-exhibition game modes go, I haven't done much with the Franchise mode, but it remains very similar to previous versions - control any NFL or created team, doing everything from selling burgers to actually playing games. Superstar mode is decent - you really get the feel of playing as an NFL player, and it's cool to create yourself. The new "Skill Drills" game mode, where you go through training drills against robot dummies (yes, robot dummies) are pretty boring and pointless, but the classic Mini-Camp mode is fun to play and provides a much more entertaining way to hone your passing, receiving or defensive skills. The no-frills practice mode, which pretty much puts you in training camp, still works at that as well.

Here is probably the game's biggest strength: since this was the final Madden title released for PC, it still has a fairly strong community, meaning you can find many mods on different websites. This includes updated rosters, making it very easy to get an up-to-date roster (which thankfully means there's no need to create rookies).

The Bad
There are some minor flaws here. As usual, EA Sports didn't add the names and correct numbers to players on classic teams, meaning John Elway on the '98 Broncos is "QB #10". This is where the many fan-made mods I mentioned earlier come in handy. Also, the commentary is inexplicably gone while playing a game in Franchise and Superstar modes (and cannot be turned on), meaning you are forced to listen to the dull, robotic voice of the stadium announcer.

The Bottom Line
Madden 08 is probably the best American football game available for PC, and while EA no longer releases Madden (or any other sports games) for PC, the 08 version is still a great game to play.

Windows · by Titan10 (692) · 2010

Trivia

Cover Athlete

According to this CNBC article LaDainian Tomlinson was originally picked to be the cover athlete for Madden NFL 08, but turned down the offer due to money (not because of the fabled "Madden Curse")

Last GameCube game

Madden NFL 08 was the final commercial game released for the GameCube, exactly five years and eleven months after the console's launch.

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Related Sites +

  • Madden
    Fan site for all Madden/NCAA games and Sports.
  • Madden NFL 08
    Article in the open encyclopedia
  • You are the Franchise
    An Apple Games article about the Macintosh version of Madden NFL 08, with commentary being provided by Assistant Producer Russell Kiniry (October, 2007).

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 31860
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Big John WV.

GameCube added by Sciere. Windows added by jaXen. Macintosh added by Zeppin.

Additional contributors: Terok Nor, Sciere, Zeppin, Crystal Malloy, Titan10.

Game added December 29, 2007. Last modified March 11, 2024.