WA

Madden 97

by

EA Sports

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Elway takes a four step drop, his eyes light up as Sharpe comes wide open. He cocks his arm, wham, the next thing he is doing is sucking on some sod because Seau levelled him. You can almost feel Elway's agony when this situation occurs while you play Madden 97 on the Sony PlayStation.

Cinematics

Let's start at the beginning. Your first taste of Madden will be the opening cinematics. You will want to watch them as they are truly incredible! From the Super Bowl ring, through the streets of New Orleans, from the outside to the inside of the stadium, and even some game action. Of course there is John himself introducing the product.

Depending on the outcome of your game and other circumstances, you will see some pretty good cinematics at the end of the game as well.

Manipulations

However, you don't buy a sports game for the cinematics, you buy it for the entertainment and the enjoyment of playing it. If you buy Madden you won't be disappointed!

The amount of manipulation the user can perform is unbelievable. Which stadium do you want to play in? All 30 are there. Team selection is varied from the current NFL franchises to 70 teams from the past, one of which is an All Madden Team (a good team to start with as a beginner). Not to mention that there are six hidden teams that require some input at the "user's record" screen.

Do you want to play an exhibition game, a season or a tournament? You can select various type of weather; fair, snow, wind, and rain. Yes these conditions do affect game play. You can design which particular player plays on a particular play, and there is trading and salary caps in season mode.

You haven't even started playing the game yet!

Game Play

Then there is game play. There are over 400 offensive combinations of plays and over 70 defensive combinations to choose from. Don't let this intimidate you, for the game is relatively user friendly, and after awhile (with some practice/experience) you will get a good grasp of how to play the game in a short time span.

You will also have the choice of camera angles from which you view the action while playing. Speaking of cameras, a really fun feature is the instant replay feature which is similar to the Super Nintendo. You can isolate a player, you can do some rotating. Play around with this feature!

Passing is a blast and easy to do (not saying that you are going to have a completion every time, frustrations do arise when an open player drops the ball). I have found running to be more challenging. The 'holes', if there are any, appear for a short time and you have to hit them quick. Outside runs can gain some big yardage, but more often than not you find yourself with a five or six yard loss. While running with the ball enjoy spinning, jumping and on defence try the dive tackle!

Head to head play is great and can be competitive. The game can be very addictive, several hours fly by very quickly. Let us not forget playing against the CPU. I have played against the CPU about 25 times and very seldom have I blown it out. Usually the games are nail biters, only to be decided late in the fourth quarter. Yes, I have also lost a couple of times. This scares me because I've only played at the Pro-mode level, there is still the All Madden level.

Sound and Graphics

From the play by play (Pat Summerall), to the actual on field action, the sounds are great. There are also the very interesting and colorful 'Maddenisms' that John himself spits out every once in a while. So when you hear something about snot bubbles, you heard him correct. The overall effect leaves you wondering if you are listening to Fox TV on a Sunday afternoon.

The game may not be perfect in regards to graphics, but it does not detract from the game play enjoyment. I have heard others say that the stadiums and fields could of been more vibrant and clear, but to me this is a very minor point.

Playability

Pure and simple, it's GREAT! I've played some 35 games in total and every night I can't wait to squeeze in another game. The game does not get boring, it just seems to offer more challenges, whether you are playing a friend or the CPU. There are some minor glitches, such as being able to block every field goal if you select the correct defensive combination, but they are so minor that they are insignificant in terms of game enjoyment.

Conclusion:

This is what a video football game should be like. With all the intricacies that this game possesses it will keep the buyer interested and thoroughly entertained for quite some time. Well worth the purchase price.

Written by Kurt Lohrum

Ratings:

Overall: ****

Developers & Publishers

In North America:

EA Sports
1450 Fashion Island Blvd.,
San Mateo, CA 94404.

Technical Support:415-572-2787 Monday to Friday 8:30am-11:45am 1:00pm-4:30pm PST
Fax Support:415-286-5080 Monday to Friday 8:30am-4:30pm

Web site: EA Sports
Customer Support on the Internet: Customer Support

In Europe:

In UK:

Electronic Arts UK Ltd.,
P.O. Box 835,
Slough, Berkshire, SL3 8XU.

Technical Support:+44-(0)1753-546465

Internet Support: Electronic Arts UK

In France:

Electronic Arts France,
3 Rue Claude Chappe,
69771 Saint Didier au Mont D'or Cedex.

Internet Support: Electronic Arts France

In Germany:

Electronic Arts GmbH.,
Verler Str. 1,
333332 Gutersloth.

Internet Support: Electronic Arts Germany

In Sweden:

Electronic Arts,
Business Campus,
Johanneslundsvogen 2,
194 81 Upplandsvasby.

In Spain:

Electronic Arts Software S.A.,
Edificio Arcade,
Rufino Gonzalez 23 bis,
Planta 1a, Local 2,
28037 Madrid.

In Pacific:

In Australia:

Electronic Arts Pty. Ltd,
P.O. Box 432,
Southport, Qld 4215.

Technical Support:1-902-263-163 2.00 per min Seven days a week 8:30am to 10:30pm
Game play, hints and tips:1-902-262-062 1.00 per min

Internet Support: Electronic Arts Australia

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