Wii Impressions: Madden NFL 07 and Call of Duty 3

news via shacknews

t should be noted that as of 24 hours ago, I was not a football fan. I didn't watch it, I didn't play it during high school, I can't make the damn ball spiral when I throw it, and I sure as heck didn't waste my time with any football video games. However, when it was announced way-back-when that EA would be tweaking their newest Madden (the 2007 edition) for Nintendo's then-forthcoming Wii console, I got intrigued. I still maintained an intense disinterest in hiking a ball during a backyard game of pigskin, but using the "Wiimote"? Yeah, okay; I wanted to try that.

Turns out a good thing I did. Madden 07 for the Wii has officially sparked my interest in football--if only in the realm of video games, and certainly only in the context of playing on the Wii. The reason: EA really put some time into this one; a good thing, considered many gamers probably thought they'd simply tack some features on and toss the game out the door. Oddly enough, it almost feels as if EA actually did do this, but instead of a rushed feel, the Wii-specific features feel like they've been a part of the popular NFL franchise for years.

The main aspect of Madden on the Wii I anticipated the most was feeling like an all-star quarterback, so it seems overly obvious that I was first and foremost interested in how I'd have to throw the ball. To a degree, it works exactly how one might predict: you find an open receiver on the screen, and you swing the Wii remote after you've been hiked the ball. However, the game requires a bit more precision than that; before you swing the controller, you press a corresponding button on the remote (e.g., A, d-pad Up, d-pad left, et cetera) and then swing the remote to perform an awe-inspiring pass. You don't have to aim in the direction of the receiver, because you've already selected him; just swing the remote.

At first I was disappointed that I didn't simply have to swing the controller in the direction of a receiver; if a guy was open in the upper-left corner of the screen, I should just be able to swing the remote in that direction, right? Yeah, that would've been perhaps a bit more intuitive, but I think EA foresaw the potential for a large margin of error, and with passing making or breaking a football game, they wanted to make sure a bit more precise control was needed. This doesn't detract from the game play, however. You still feel more involved than if you were just tapping a button to throw, and that's what the Wii controller is all about, of course.

Everything else requiring remote and/or nunchuk motion functionality feels just as intuitive. You kick the ball by first aiming the target arrow with the analog stick, then press A, then after dipping the controller down, you pull it back up. Not too hard, however, or your kick will be too wild and high. It'll take a few tries to get used to kicking, as you tend to whip the controller up harder than you really need to at first, thus making your kick go absolutely insane. It's a nice idea, though, and definitely ups the immersion factor.

You tackle simply by running into the guy via the stick, but if you push forward with both controller peripherals, you can slam into the sap ever harder. Juke by flicking your nunchuk wrist left or right; stiff arm by pushing the Wii remote wrist left or right. Smart mapping by EA, as the sprint button is set to Z, so you don't have to hold a button on one controller piece while flailing about with another, which would have felt more than a little awkward. There are other nice additions too, such as the ability to rally the hometown crowd as the quarter back by raising the two controller pieces in the air.

Overall, I'm having a lot of fun with Madden. I still have no desire to run around tossing a ball, but on the Wii, I had a lot of fun with a football game for the first time. This one warrants a look if you're a football fan, or even a regular gamer looking for a fun party game.

check out screens and all of duty 3 impressions here