Madden NFL 2007: A Review » Brats & Beer

September 4, 2006
posted under: Madden NFL

As many of you know, the latest Madden NFL video game came out a couple weeks ago. It set a record for the best first week sales of any video game in history, taking in $100 million as more than 2 million copies were sold. From that, I’m guessing that many of you out there have the game already, but for those who don’t and might be thinking about buying it, I asked my brother, a Madden NFL fanatic, to give the game a quick review. Here are his thoughts:

Madden NFL 2007 marks the 16th Madden game that I have bought and played. Spanning the early Genesis version through both PS1 and PS2, Madden NFL makes it’s last hurrah on the PS2 and other second-generation consoles. It has been a good ride.

This year’s Madden opens without the customary players and superfans saying, “It’s in the game,� which is nice. Concentrate on what’s important, football. ‘07 looks and plays much like previous versions with some slight changes. They have a new kicking meter that uses the analog stick instead of the buttons. I�m still getting used to that. The other addition is the lead blocker function that allows you to take control of any player before the ball is snapped and try to help block while the computer runs the play. What’s nice is you can switch back to the running back at anytime. (This comes in handy when helping Green Bay�s O-Line make key blocks.)

I haven’t tried the NFL Superstar: Hall of Fame mode where you control a player from the draft and throughout his career with hopes of making it into Canton. You can land movie roles and endorsement deals as long as you don’t attend any Al & Almas sex-boat cruises. The soundtrack is the usual blend of rock and rap with the notable songs by bigger acts like Dashboard Confessional and Audioslave. If you go into the soundtrack settings you will find all the Sam Spence/NFL Films music turned off. That’s blasphemous! I turned on all the NFL Films tracks while turning everything else off with the acceptation of the kick ass song by Australia’s Wolfmother.

All in all it’s another great edition of Madden. I’m looking forward to November when the PS3 finally drops; I just might be adding Madden number 17 to the pile.

But what does Madden NFL 2007 say about the Packers chances this year? I let the game simulate the Packers season and here is the breakdown:

Week 1 vs. Bears (W 16-13) Week 2 vs. Saints (L 0-51) wha�huh?? Week 3 at Lions (W 13-10) Week 4 at Eagles (L 28-38) Week 5 vs. Rams (W 24-22) Milestones: Driver – 5000 yds. career receiving; Farve – 401 career TDs Week 6 Bye Week 7 at Dolphins (L 7-15) Week 8 vs. Cardinals (W 26-21) Driver out for season with dislocated ankle Week 9 at Bills (W 14-13) Week 10 at Vikings (L 18-28) Week 11 vs. Patriots (W 35-16) Week 12 at Seahawks (L 21-27) Week 13 vs. Jets (W 33-18) Week 14 at 49ers (W 33-18) Week 15 vs. Lions (T 21-21) wtf?? Week 16 vs. Vikings (L 16-28)

Week 17 at Bears (W 19-13)

Final Record: 9-6-1. Finished behind the Vikings, so no wild card game.
Farve finished the year with 2911 yds. passing, 21 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions.