DESPITE THE FUMBLES, MADDEN 08 KNOWS HOW TO SCORE THE BIG POINTS.

Byline: REDMOND CAROLIPIO

> LA.COM After two years of building on next-generation consoles, this

was the year the "Madden" franchise was supposed to put it all

together., And in "Madden 08," it almost does. Almost.

While this chapter of "Madden" is good, it's not quite the football messiah some might be expecting.

The biggest on-field feature is the "weapons" system, a series of special abilities (depicted as picture icons) that help the truly elite players stand out.

For instance, a QB with the "smart" weapon (like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning) will be able to literally "read" what defense the other team is running. As you can imagine, some players, like LaDainian Tomlinson, are more heavily armed than others.

Holding down the left trigger shows off all the "weaponized" players on the field. Sometimes you'll find an on-field mismatch. This is called the read-and-react system, and it adds another dimension of critical thinking to the experience.

You've also got a ton of presnap controls -- you can do everything from highlighting a receiver to changing blocking assignments. It's almost too much to mentally digest at first -- I ended up getting the occasional false start on offense because of it.

On defense, you get a tweaked hit stick that lets you control how you tackle. Tap it high, and you can headhunt a ball carrier to jar the ball loose. Go low, and you can take out a 255-pound tight end without getting flattened.

Tackling as a whole has been retooled, with defenders now holding ball carriers up while a teammate finishes them off. You'll also see more instances of smaller players bouncing off larger ones, depending on the angle and speed of both players.

Gameplay feels crisp and responsive, especially where the running game is concerned. It's easier to make quick cuts, hit the hole and weave through open-field traffic. The player models look great and move with much more fluidity, but there are times where player animations take over and force you to watch the action a little more than you'd like.

However, one thing truly hurts this game -- terminal fumble-itis.

If the computer decides the ball is coming out, it's coming out, no matter how good you and your player are at securing the ball. I once fumbled three times in the same drive while literally holding down the "protect the ball" button the whole way. Not good stuff.

It should be noted that these fumbling spells didn't happen in every game I played -- but when it got bad, it took me to heave-the-controller-at-the-TV levels.

If you can get past this (and that's a big if), you'll find that this latest edition of the hallowed franchise is EA's most sophisticated effort to date. But in my opinion, it's still a year away from being truly legendary. You can't play a legendary sports game in fear.

Redmond Carolipio, [phone] [e-mail]

MADDEN NFL 08 - Three stars >Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2 >Makers: Electronic Arts >Rating: E for Everyone

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Photo: no caption (video game "MADDEN 08")