I love EA direct. Got home today and there was Madden 98.

Anyway, since I had to work late, have to go to work early tomorrow
(damn staff meetings) and want time to play, I'll keep this "review"
short.  I'm sure there will be plenty of other in-depth reviews this
time tomorrow, but I thought I'd post some initial impressions for
anybody who cares.

First off, I was thinking this would pretty much be NCAA 98 with NFL
teams.  That's not really the case.  Both games have dramatically
different feels to them.  Which is probably a good thing--even as great
as NCAA 98 is.  Also, all games so far have been played on the default
difficulty, which is pro, I think.

Where to start?  The graphics are cleaner than NCAA and are probably
better from a technical standpoint.  I'm still a bit partial to the
sprites in NCAA but the sprites in Madden are pretty good.  The fields
(Candle...um 3Com anyway) are much cleaner.  No more problems seeing the
ball as there tends to be on the grass fields in NCAA.  Sliding is
completely gone now too.  The control really is almost too tight.  It
makes NCAA feel loose.  I stopped on a dime several times, which led to
the cool effect of the defender diving past me as I cut back.  The
players on the whole move really well and the game is pretty fast.  It
may be just a tad slower than NCAA though.  It did appear to me that
there is a bit of slowdown when you first start running with a player,
as you gain steam though this affect goes away.

3Com looked pretty realistic, so I assume all of the stadiums are in
good order.  Of course, getting accurate stadiums in Madden is nothing
compared to the fantastic job EA did with them in NCAA.

The passing game has been toned down.  If you're around the receiver,
you can knock it down.  I completed 16-30 passes in my first game while
the cpu completed just 8-22.  Of course, the cpu was Tampa Bay.  Its
also easier to knock the ball loose from a receiver ala Gameday.  This
isn't overdone though ala the first Gameday. But, while the passing game
was pretty awesome, I had problems running.  This may just be me needing
time to get good at running the ball but I ran for -15 yards. I got
pinned a good bit running outside, ala Madden 97.  I also held the cpu
to -7 yards rushing.  The cpu, to its credit had a decent mixture of
pass-run.  I think it passed 22 times and ran 11.  Still a bit
pass-heavy but not too bad. 

Other things:

I didn't have any chance at a breakaway play, so I have no idea if this
has been corrected from Madden 97.  I assume it has since NCAA fixed it.

On penalties, flags are actually thrown and stay on the field.  Nice.

On kickoffs, players face the kicker.  Another nice touch.

Wind speed changes throughout the game.

A swim move has been added for the defense.

I didn't really like the play menu.  Its a bit different from NCAA and
Madden 97.  

Load times were a bit long, but were bearable.  I'd say they're about as
long as NCAA.  Maybe a tad longer.

Defense seems to be emphasized a bit more in this game (finally.) 
Playing five minute quarters, I beat Tampa 3-0 on a last second field
goal.

After a score, it shows your scoring drive.  Of course, it does this in
NCAA and Madden 97 but it breaks it down into pass yards and rushing
yards. 

It really does have a different feel from NCAA.  It feels more like the
NFL. 

I don't have any created players from NCAA, so I didn't get to try to
import players from it.  

The manual says you can realign the divisions if you want.  Haven't
tried this either.

There is a salary cap.

Rosters aren't accurate (what did you expect though with a game that is
out before the season starts?)

I didn't find any money plays.  But, to be fair, I haven't played enough
yet to really find them.  And, the way I play, I never find them.  I
still haven't found any on NCAA.

Overall:  This game is much, much improved over Madden 97.  The two
games aren't even comparable.  The atmosphere and feel are also
different enough from NCAA that if you buy both you won't feel like you
have the same game but with NFL teams.  Is it the best game out there? 
I'm still a bit partial to NCAA, but I'm also a huge college football
freak.  With the improved pass defense, Madden 98 may just overtake NCAA
though after a few more sessions.  Is it better than Gameday 98?  I
guess we'll find out tomorrow. If Gameday can live up to the hype, we're
going to have one heck of a war though for Sony football supremacy.


-- 
Dave
derdave@concentric.net
University of Tennessee  '96