Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

For sports gamers, there’s probably no topic that is more controversial than the venerable Madden series. Unfortunately, if you’re looking for something that is much improved over past offerings, you will be disappointed. That’s not to say that the game absolutely stinks… It’s just that the more I played Madden 07, the more and more I found myself wishing for the bygone days of ESPN NFL 2k5.

You know, the license that actually leveraged and did something useful with the ESPN moniker. Licensing issues aside, be they ESPN or NFL related, there are some aspects of the latest Xbox 360 version that are praiseworthy. For starters, the graphics on the 360 version are VASTLY improved over 06. In this iteration, player models have finally caught up to and surpassed the quality of Xbox 1 games from a few years ago. I know, that’s not saying much, but for the Madden series, this is a good thing. You can actually see the beads of sweat on the players and the reflections and lighting (especially with inclement weather) are quite superb.

However, one aspect of the 3D modeling was quite poor, and that is the animations and collision detection. They stink. They stink like butt. There’s nothing to break you out of the “zone” like seeing a huge mass of players standing in the middle of the field all running in place, because the game doesn’t know what to do with players that are too close together. Not good for an American football game! In one game, I actually witnessed players pass completely THROUGH the ball carrier… on two different plays. I mean, I know Clinton Portis is good… but last time I checked, he didn’t have the mutant ability to phase right through solid matter.

The most frustrating part of the craptacular collision detection was trying to play the running game. It’s like a bad pinball machine. You kind of have to shoot your running back at the line and bounce him around a bit to see if he’ll pop out in some random direction and break away. To make matters worse, the AI simply cannot figure out how to block properly. If the lead blocker is supposed to block on the right side of the line so you can run out to the side, 9 times out of 10, he’ll shoot for the DT instead of the DE.

Fortunately, Madden 07 includes a nice feature that allows you to take control of the lead blocker instead of the ballcarrier. I used this many times, and is one of the few truly cool features of this year’s Madden game. Of course, it’s value is made greater by the fact that other aspects of the game suck so bad. Kind of like noticing how great the bug zapper on your porch is, because all of the screens have gaping holes that let mosquitos fly right in.

Another problem is regarding player movement. I try not to pass into double coverage, but in Madden 07, I encourage it. On especially long passes, the AI secondary will sometimes literally run a circle around your receiver instead of running at him, thus allowing him to catch the ball and leave the pass coverage in the dust. Sometimes this didn’t always work to my advantage, though. There were instances where my receiver, especially at or near the line of scrimmage, would catch the ball and then run backwards, ignorant of my shouts of anger and mashing of the movement stick in the opposite direction.

All in all, gameplay can be fun, but like I wrote earlier, it feels like an unfinished beta version compared to NFL 2k5. Am I being picky? Heck yeah. (Don’t get me started on the interface slowness.) Since NFL 2k5, we really should expect more from our yearly Madden subscriptions.

I’ve not been a big fan of the Madden interface for some time now, but honestly, if you’re used to it, it’s not horrible. Most of the menu items are in their logical places, and it’s nice to be able to click down on the left stick from any menu and pop up a screen that allows you to quicksave your profile, roster, franchise, etc.

The polish on the interface also came through when playing Superstar Mode. You can think of Superstar Mode as a sort of football RPG. You create your “character” and then you can sim all kinds of things like press interviews (where you can badmouth the coach) and two-a-days. It’s not necessarily for everyone, but playing a single player throughout an entire game and season, espeically as a QB or LB, was very rewarding. Unfortunately, they don’t let you skip practice (though you can sim it), tell off the coach, and hire Drew Rosenhaus. So, no TO mode in this year’s Madden.

Although, in Franchise Mode, that off-the-field crap just doesn’t matter. But what is truly and completely unforgivable about Madden 07 on the Xbox 360 is the lack of fantasy draft for your franchise mode. Oh, guess what. The Xbox 1 and PS2 versions of Madden 07 include the fantasy draft. Yeah. For some reason, EA decided that you Xbox 360 owners don’t want features that have been a standard since before the stone age, when the rock was, literally, a rock. Unforgivable.

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