[BezO]

Quote: Originally Posted by distauma

Am I the only one who is willing to praise EA Sports for their amazing job with creating realistic ball physics and an infinite amount of animations for tackles and catches and such...

One of a few. Nothing specific comes to mind about the ball physics, but the tackle animations were repetitive & out of context too often. The physics are pretty bad in the game. There are not enough "regular" tackles, and there are still animations like the "shot gun blast to the back". IMO the tackling is one of the worst parts of the game.

Quote: Originally Posted by distauma

Yes the computer AI was a little too good at jumping routes and intercepting the ball but I feel Madden 08 can be to Madden 09 what MVP 2004 was to MVP 2005. There is now a great foundation built. Next step is to take out some bugs and add in some presentation elements.

I disagree. I would consider foundation things like the physic engine, blocking interaction, tackling, animations, AI, ect. None of these things are very good. EA seems to ignore the fundamentals of football for the over-the-top. A sim sports game where arcadey strategy beats sim strategy does not have a good foundation.

Quote: Originally Posted by distauma

Sometimes I think people complain just because it's EA Sports. I did hate '06 and '07 iterations, but are you gonna tell me 2k5 was the most realistic NFL simulation you ever played? All sports games have aggravating qualities, but human against human Madden '08 is a great game. And that's all that matters to me.

Sometimes I think people ignore the reasons people give for their dissatisfaction. Most post I see complaining about the game give very detailed reasons why they're dissapointed.

NBA 2K8 is the most realistic sports game I've played, maybe Forza 2 if that counts, but 2K5 is the most realistic football game I've played to date. It had it's flaws but it played like football. In contrast, Madden rewards arcadey strategy.

I'm glad you enjoyed 08, but understand why folks didn't. There are some great posts explaining exactly what's wrong with it if you're a sim player. Check them out.