Madden NFL 2007

I have been playing the newest installment in the Madden franchise, 2007, and it is a lot of fun. The game was released on August 22, and I made sure to get the game as soon as it came out. Madden uses a tuned up, improved version of the NCAA 07 engine, which in turn was an update version of Madden 06 on the XBOX 360. Shaun Alexander, the 2005 MVP, and running back of the Super bowl losers, the Seattle Seahawks, is on the cover of Madden 07. Many people wait to see if the “Madden curse” will affect him. Historically, players featured on the cover of Madden games have had less than positive seasons.

The big new feature of 07 is the Lead Blocker mode, in which you take control of a lineman to block for your running back, and then switch back and control your back. One of the other new features also has to do with the running game. It’s called the highlight stick, and you use it to ovoid the defense. The bigger, more powerful backs try and power through the defense, and the smaller, faster backs evade and juke out the players. The best feature is not new, but was missing from the 360 version of Madden 06. This feature is the Superstar mode, which was added at the last minute. The main thing that makes this year's Superstar mode different is how you play on the field. If you play a receiver, you only play as the receiver, so while you make the catches, you do not call the plays or make the throws. This adds some great variety to the mode, making the gameplay different from all the others.

The game still has a few collision problems, but it is much less than it has ever been, and much less than NCAA Football 2007. Characters have fatigue, and will get tired if used a lot. Unfortunately, the characters do not sub in and out like they used to, so fumbles will happen frequently if you use one player too often. Another problem relates to a new feature, in which you unlock Hall of Fame characters by achieving things. What is bad about this is that the characters become part of the roster and can be signed in Superstar and Franchise mode, which taints the rosters for many, many years.

Wikipedia has a great wiki (or entry) for the entire Madden Franchise, as well as having one for Madden 2007.

Team Xbox has a great review of Madden 2007 for both the Xbox360 and for the original Xbox.

IGN has a great site that lists the Madden rankings of all the players on all 32 teams in the NFL.