NCAA March Madness 08 review

Dec 14, 2007

In many ways, sports gamers have been enjoying a bit of a golden age in the past year or so. Sifting through an unprecedented wave of well-received baseball, hockey and football titles, it's undeniably good to be a next-generation sporto - perhaps that's what's so surprising about EA's latest college hoops release. Like a much-hyped 7-footer who turns out to bring nothing but knees, elbows and disappointment to the basketball court, NCAA March Madness 08 is a cavalcade of ungainly gaffes and missteps.

From the opening tip, it's more than evident that something is a bit askew. Players move like wooden automatons, while the ball often takes decidedly, um, interesting bounces off the rim that clearly defy the laws of gravity as we know them. Passing, shooting and rebounding are all stiff, and you never quite feel like you're truly in control of the action. Perhaps that's how most coaches feel as they watch their youngsters try and execute all the plays they've so carefully drawn up in practice, but we're pretty sure that's not the vibe EA was going for.