Madden NFL 07- 3rd down, 12 yards to go - Second Play

Madden has always been one of those games that I can play, but I grow tired of fairly quickly. There is no exploration in sports games and in a lot of ways I feel that it is something that limits the genre. Most people pick up a sports game to be close to the action. I think the draw of these games, especially for a former athlete like me, is that I can control some of the greatest players to ever take to the field. I can watch them unleash their greatness in a digital world. Finally EA sports has allowed me to join them in their world thanks to Superstar mode.

At first glance Superstar mode seems kind of cheesy. I initially thought that it was just some gimmick meant for me to spend more time playing the same game that I bought 3 years ago. Instead I was treated to a different game. This is good in some ways, yet bad in others. Since I usually like to hear bad news first, I’ll talk about what I found bad. Not enough content. I wanted more from this mode of gameplay. Here is my player, drafted to a team making hundreds of thousands of dollars and nothing to spend it on. No garage to store cars, no apartment to put TV’s in or to leave my various trophies at. There are no late nights or parties to keep me from making practice. There is nothing besides my character, practice and gameday.

I’m not asking for much as far as content goes. None of it needs to be useable, (although it would be a nice touch); all I’m asking for is a room where I can move a 3-D avatar around to look at the various things I have earned. A perfect example of this is PGR3’s walkable garages. It was simple and interesting and gave me an alternative to a sea of menus. Why couldn’t different parts of my apartment represent a different menu option? For example, if I want to check statistics why couldn’t I move my character to a computer press a button and access NFL.com or turn on my TV and watch Sportscenter to get my information. Another game that made perfect use of this would be Descent: Freespace 2. The menus are designed just like you are on board a ship. Move your mouse over the hangar bay door and you can move to mission briefing and ship select. Want to leave the game? Go through the exit door. Little things that go a long way as to keeping you immersed in the game.

Besides the content, the other part that was lacking was immersion. I am playing Superstar mode to BE a superstar. I’m not playing this mode because I want to be limited to playing only one guy on the field. I’m playing this mode to BE that character and to experience the game on a different level. Instead while I’m on the field I’m treated to more menus. Instead of the plays being fed to me dynamically from the Quarterback in the huddle, I’m forced to watch a menu. Not that this is a killer problem because it is nice to see the play first, but maybe there is some other way of delivering the information to me. Show me in the huddle, but show the play on the ground in front of me while the QB calls the play. Or have us learn a basic code to figure out what is going on during pre-season or practices. I just found myself aggravated that I was being constantly pulled out of the game for little things.

What didn’t aggravate me was everything else. I loved being on the field with the camera view that is provided. It’s actually centered over the player’s head. This camera view allows you to see what’s going on around your character as well as in front of him. This restricts your view, unlike the normal camera that is pulled back and higher, allowing you to see down the field. This is where the game mode really shines. The first time I got rocked in the backfield on a Derrick Brooks blitz it was just awesome. He came out of nowhere to plant my character to the ground. It was at that moment that I knew this mode has all the potential to be an excellent addition to sports games. Just to see how all the positions felt I created a Quarterback, a Wide Receiver and a Middle Linebacker.

I found myself frustrated with WR because instead of giving you the view of where the ball is coming from, you have the straight forward view. You have to hit a button to look back towards the QB to see if the ball is coming. Not game-breaking except that it doesn’t work that well for me. Because of the rotating camera the control stick orientation changes, making me loose track of my route. I ended up letting my character go on auto-pilot and waiting for the circle on the ground before attempting to catch the ball and gain yards.

Middle Linebacker was similarly frustrating because it felt like every play was run away from my character. I ended up having to run across the field to make a tackle, or beaten to holes when running backs attempted to come through. I suppose with more time playing Linebacker I will gain the instincts to make those plays. Quarterback was similar to the Running Back position because I felt right at home right away. I was involved on every play, and the first time I scanned the field and found an open receiver I felt this overwhelming sense of pride. It was really a good feeling especially after eating grass about four times previously.

So far Superstar mode has given me hope that there is a bright and new future for sports games with a first person or even RPG-like orientation. Perhaps this is a prelude to what we can expect as gaming takes on a more active nature with games like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero getting us up out of our seats and moving around to play the game. Wii is onto something as well with Wii sports and the PS2 has its own golfing simulator with club and all. Games like these that take our current technology and take it to another level of immersion are good for sports orientated games.
As I contemplate the future of sports gaming, keep-an-eye out for my final review as my Running back finishes up his third season with Carolina and I get to see how much control I have of my money as well as what Madden is like over Live.