Dubbed Hit Stick 2.0, it allows players to choose between trucking a ball carrier or taking out their legs. Finally, defensive players have access to a redesigned Hit Stick. By doing so, the defense will rotate over to help deny passing lanes and will frequently result in double or triple coverage. On the other hand, if you find that a star receiver is lining up against one of your DBs and you need a little extra help to deny the pass, players can automatically spotlight that player before the snap. The defense has a little bit of an advantage this year, as any defensive player can be dropped into a defensive smart zone (regardless of their weapon status) to the first down yard line in order to help deny the other team from easily picking up that key yardage. It's almost like the Xbox version of the game put the system in because the 360 had it, which is pretty useless. In fact, with the possible exception of containment and shutdown corners seeming a bit more ferocious in their coverage, weapons don't really feel like they make a major impact on the game. While you'll still pick up on some slick receptions or some nice stops at the line by a defender, they aren't anything you haven't seen before in previous installments of the game on the system. On the Xbox, these spectacular plays don't really stand out. In the Xbox 360 versions of the game, it's easy to pick up on incredible one-handed catches, laser-like passes and bone-crushing hits due to the specific weapon that performed that play.

The other issue is the ineffectiveness of the Weapons themselves. What do I need to do, have a safety hold a sign in the backfield distracting him about how much he choked until last year to hamper his accuracy or throwing strength? (Obviously, I'm kidding, but you realize how much this read and adjust system is complicated by such vagueness.) Just because you have a weapon doesn't mean that they'll be effective. For instance, Peyton Manning is listed as a Star 'Franchise Quarterback,' with that classification's description mentioning that these kinds of QBs are always under pressure to perform. However, it becomes rather ridiculous to expect that you'll find another star player that will completely negate the abilities of that player, or even affect him in the way that other matchups play out. The catchall icon for a character that has 'skills and attributes to fit into more than just one Weapon category,' according to the game, these players are the best in the NFL.

While figuring out these kinds of match-ups is relatively easy to do, it's particularly impossible to know what you should do against a starred weapon. For instance, if I see a Power Back lined up in the backfield, I want to make sure that my Heavy Hitter linebacker is assigned to negate his yardage and stuff him at the line. The first is weapons are much more ambiguous on the Xbox than the Xbox 360 version of the game. However, there are two big issues that wind up almost invalidating the usefulness of the read and react system. Weapons are a good idea, but weakly implemented.Īs a result, you'll find a potential chess match breaking out between yourself and an opponent (or the computer at higher difficulty levels) at the line of scrimmage, as you find yourself pulling out audibles, line shifts and other adjustments to tailor that down to develop the way you want it to go. As a result, players can hit a button during a down to see if the play you selected will result in any mismatches in an offensive or defensive scheme that you can exploit, or if you need to quickly shift to compensate and counter your opponent's plans. Mobile quarterbacks might be designated as Scramblers, while defenders that are known for jacking up players with crushing tackles are known as Heavy Hitters. An evolution from the playmaker feature of the past, the read and react system evaluates the skills and abilities of every player on a team and assigns specific traits and icons to them based on their known performance.

This year is a slight departure from that formula while there is a major emphasis on defensive adjustments this year, the largest addition that's been made to this year's game is the inclusion of the read and react system. Now, Madden has been known for placing a major focus upon either offense or defense with each release, typically capturing some element or aspect of the cover athlete's game.

Madden nfl 08 xbox 360 review