Before we begin this review, let me first say in order to appreciate this review, please check your feelings of the other next generation consoles at the door. Think of this as a whole new game and something you absolutely cannot compare to the Xbox 360. It truly is an entirely new experience.
Although the game disc looks like one of those “rental only” DVDs you get at Netflix with no color at all and the manual is a very in-depth eight pages (remember we are talking EA here, eight pages is like 200 regular pages), the game starts off by putting you right into a “learn Madden” tutorial. Again, just in case you haven’t gotten my drift – the tutorial is HUGE in this game. It’s not your standard run of the mill “hey lets see how to call this play” sort of tutorial, mainly due to the new control scheme of the Wii.
Madden NFL 07 does require the Nunchuck controller. By using these controllers, you’ll actually feel as though you are passing the ball to a receiver. Now, I will tell you, it’s not easy at first but once you get used to it, you’ll love it. You do have to wean yourself off the console versions though and relearn the controller setup. Although change can be difficult it can be good.
Everything starts to become intuitive with the controller. If you want to call a fair catch, you wave your controller above your head. In order to swat a ball on defense, guess what you do…yes, you swat your hands. Throwing the ball is a combination of pressing the d-pad for the correct receiver and then making a throwing motion with your hand. Turbo is done on the nunchuck controller by pressing the Z button while the c-button above is used to protect the ball.
While some moves are intuitive, some are a little meh. The two biggest gripes I have with the controller are the kicking game and how you strip the ball. One would think the kicking game would probably be the most intuitive thing – but it isn’t. You have to point the Wiimote down, press the A button, wait for the screen to say “Kick Now” and then swing the remote up and keep the remote level so that you’ll minimize slice. Now I don’t know about you but when I kick a ball, I don’t think about the follow through and say “I better keep my leg below my waist otherwise I’ll slice.” The problem is that you always seem to slice the ball. I will say Wii Sports taught me I have a natural tendency to curve my shots left in golf or bowling and I do the same in kicking – but there doesn’t seem to be a way to compensate for this in Madden.
While on defense you can try to strip the ball using a thrust and pull method on both controllers. Yes it looks as goofy as it sounds. Not sure what else they could do there, but it just seems odd. At first it seems like there are too many controls and buttons to remember and for a long time I kept hitting B to change my defender but B is now dive, so you’ll have to get used to that.
There’s always assistance available – usually the AI is pretty good to give you the tutorial you need at the right time. Every tutorial is available on the pause menu just in case you need those controls. One of the best things about this control method is that you no longer have to cycle through all the defenders. Just use the “laser pointer” feature of the Wiimote to highlight the player you want to control, press a button and voila. It’s fantastic.
Gameplay is definitely the most fun and/or frustrating I’ve had with Madden in sometime. When everything works, it is an awesome experience. On the other hand, when you are trying to think what motion you have to do with the Wii mote to hurdle, and you do the wrong move, it can be frustrating.
