Around this time of year for much more than a decade, it has become a tradition for millions of gamers to usher in the next era of Madden NFL. I readily admit that I'm a stalwart NFL 2K series supporter. After all, the NFL didn't even interest me until that exceptional launch title on the Sega Dreamcast hooked me into the sport. Understandably, EA's exclusive licensing deal with the NFL that effectively killed my preferred series still stings, almost two years later.

That being said (and petty rivalry aside), I am thoroughly impressed with Madden NFL 07, the latest installment in what has become a cultural phenomenon. It features some new gameplay mechanics which successfully improve the running game, but the highlight for me is the amazing NFL Superstar: Hall of Fame mode, a complete renovation of last year's Superstar mode. You begin by creating a custom player in any position and follow him throughout his career, starting with pre-Draft workouts and continuing on to live it up as a NFL player. Besides attending training camps and following the season schedules, you'll also have to deal with off the field concerns such as agents, interviews, and even potentially movie scripts. The ultimate goal is to become an elite enough player so that you'll be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame when you retire.

Here's the catch though: your custom character is the only player you can actually control in this mode. The coach calls all the plays and you just have to worry about fulfilling your role. If you're a wide receiver, your sole purpose is to run routes and hope the quarterback passes the ball to you so that you can make plays. You have no control over who the QB decides to pass to or whether even a passing play will be executed. In fact, when possession of the ball turns to the opponent, you can only sit on the sidelines and hope the defense makes a stop (though there is an option to toggle if you prefer not to watch, allowing you to control the entire defensive team). "Know your role" is a very appropriate tagline for this mode. Decide to play a career as a kicker and you might be sitting out for 99% of every game.

This might sound like an extremely limiting feature, but it's absolutely brilliant. In all the create-a-player modes I've ever played across all sorts of genres, I have never connected with any custom character like I did with the ones I created in Madden 07. A major contribution to this sensation is the camera angle, which is a zoomed-in 3rd person perspective that centers on the back of my character and follows him around as he runs around the field. It's somewhat disorienting the first few times you play because of the limited view; if all the action is on the opposite side of the field, you might have no idea what's happening elsewhere as you run your route and focus on evading the defender. But that just adds to the intimacy of the mode. You are your character, what sense does it make to be able to have a coach's view of the entire field?

Having no control over the other players means that you must learn how to perfect your role on the team, especially since you're a mere rookie at the beginning. Using the wide receiver example again, who's going to pass to you if there's a veteran receiver lined up beside you? By calling for the ball and making big plays, you can build your influence within the team and eventually take on special roles such as team leader. Successfully completing plays will earn you influence, manifested in attribute points that can be used not only to increase personal stats like acceleration or stamina, but also to improve other members to make the overall team stronger. On the flip side, failing to execute plays will cost you that influence. That's one issue I have with Superstar mode: you lose influence any time your team makes a bad play or fails to advance the ball, regardless of how well your character actually performed. If you're an offensive lineman and do your job flawlessly by protecting the quarterback, why should you be penalized if a wide receiver drops a pass?