Madden NFL 08 review (PSP)

Despite the few bugs and quirks you'll run into, the game plays about as well as any handheld football game you'll find. But is that really enough to make it worth your while if you already picked up last year's game? Not really, especially considering the dearth of new feature content. What's here is certainly solid, but it doesn't offer much that Madden 07 didn't. The minicamp modes are basically identical to last year, and the franchise mode, while still deep and engaging, has only seen a few interface tweaks. There's still no owner-mode functionality, and the whole mode is still slow as a snail trapped in molasses, due to the insane amount of time it takes to simulate through any part of it. Multiplayer is both ad-hoc and online, though neither actually work very well. Lag seems to plague just about every game in either mode, though it is considerably more problematic online.

The one new mode actually replaces the new mode from last year's game. End-2-End is gone, and in its place are the superstar challenges. These challenges take scenarios from last year's season and have you play them out yourself. Play as Chad Pennington and take the Jets down the field for a winning drive in the fourth quarter, or take control of Shawne Merriman and have the Chargers stuff the opposing team and prevent them from scoring, or kick a 62-yard, game-winning field goal with Matt Bryant (and the aid of 20mph winds behind you)--you get the idea. It's actually kind of a cool addition to the game, though there's only 25 of these scenarios, and you'll likely blow through all of them in just a couple of hours.

Not much has really changed with Madden 08's presentation, either. The graphics look a bit crisper this year, and it's easier to make out details like player faces and smaller details on the uniforms, but beyond that, you're basically looking at the same graphics engine as last year. A bit of the new animation from the console versions has made its way into the PSP game, specifically some of the new tackles, but that's about it. Commentary is at least a bit better at stating the correct situations on the field than in last year's game, though it's still the sort of dull, repetitive commentary from Al Michaels and John Madden that EA has been recycling for years now.

If you already bought last year's Madden on the PSP, you don't need to buy this one because it's not different enough to warrant the $40 cost. If you didn't buy last year's game, the gameplay is solid enough and there's enough content to make this a worthwhile pick-up for those who want to enjoy a little NFL action on the go.