#Madden 08 pc change pre play controls full

To further confuse the issue, your player will always be heading from the top of the screen to the bottom while on defense (an age-old Madden tradition) and it feels remarkably counter-intuitive to be holding down on the analog stick while pushing the remote forward only to trigger a tackle animation that moves your character downwards on screen. It’s not that the actions are hard to do, but that the visceral difference of moving the remote left, right, or forward in the split second required to finish a play feels arbitrary and almost negligible. If you begin as a lineman rushing the QB, you’ll be holding B down for a speed burst, waving left and right to swim your way past the blocker, and then suddenly switching to another player and immediately having to shove the remote forward to tackle the ball handler. Slamming the remote down will have a pass defender swat down a pass, and moving the remote and Nunchuk upwards in unison will go for an interception.ĭefense is a lot more chaotic than offense, and you will frequently feel an added layer of distance between you and what is happening on screen, thanks to the motion controls.

If you’re playing as a defensive lineman, left and right moves on the remote trigger swim or rip moves (depending on the situation) in either direction.

Pushing the Nunchuk and remote forward in tandem will deliver a tackle targeted at the ball carrier's legs, good for taking on a big hulking running back with a waify corner or safety. Tackling is handled by a quick push forward of the Wii remote for a hit up high. Defense is, largely, a mish-mash of the same basic motions. None of the moves are particularly hard to execute it’s the necessity of remembering what everything does and then doing it with split-second timing that takes some practice. It can feel a little bit like rubbing your belly and tapping your head, with hiking, passing, catching, juking, and finally drumming the controller over the course of a typical 3-4 second play. There’s a definite learning curve to playing with motion controls, especially for experienced Madden players. When in the grasp of a defender, players can drum the remote up and down to push forward for an extra yard or two. Power moves have an added layer of differentiation this year, with big beefy players tucking the ball down and bowling right over defenders, while speedy agility-based players will perform an extra nimble slip move. A quick shove forward will trigger a power move, a simplification from last year’s more cumbersome system of moving both remote and Nunchuk forward. Moving the Wii Remote left or right will, likewise, throw a stiff arm in the corresponding direction. Moving the Nunchuk left or right will juke in the appropriate direction. It’s a subtle but powerful effect that carries over some of the intuitive charms of Wii Sports.Īs the ball carrier, you will have even more motion controls at your disposal. Similarly, the throwing motion really feels great in action and is especially rewarding to see variations in pass speed based on your action. Mapping the hike to motion input, in particular, gives a powerfully subconscious underscore to the physical involvement you have in every play. Moving the remote faster delivers a bullet pass and easing up a bit will trigger a nice soft lob. Pulling up on the Wii Remote hikes the ball, and throwing it forward again passes the ball to the highlighted receiver.

Many of the motion controls work brilliantly.

#Madden 08 pc change pre play controls full

Madden 08 is packed full of gesture controls, most of which will be familiar to fans who played last year’s version. It’s a robust package that trumps last year’s game in many ways, but also reveals some glaring issues with EA’s approach to motion-controlled football that, ultimately, make Madden NFL 08 feel a lot less engaging that it should be. Arriving a brisk 10 months later, Madden NFL 08 comes with some added control refinements, a huge increase in mini-games, a new mom-friendly 'Family Play' control option, and online play. Last year’s Madden NFL 07 for Wii represented a rare breakthrough for the visceral side of the equation, offering a full suite of gesture controls to connect players to the physical side of the sport in a more direct way. For the most part, football video games have favored the strategic elements, offering a wealth of plays, audibles, and hot routes to tinker with, while settling into a comfortably chess-like perspective capturing all the action from a bird’s eye view. Players have a dauntingly small window of time to coordinate and execute a play that will have been planned and practiced for weeks or months. The game of football is an extraordinary combination of complex tactics and intensely focused violence.