The first set of preseason games are just about to start so you know what that means, another Madden game. Every year for the past four years I’ve looked forward to the newest edition of Madden NFL, but every year I was disappointed with the game. With every new title EA Sports tried to improve the game and give gamers a little bit of everything. Finally this year they are attempting to go back to Madden’s and are concentrating on the on-field action instead of all the flash and glam that goes into the game. Although this means the extra game modes take a hit, the actual gameplay of Madden NFL 10 got a huge boost and with the new Pro-Tak system, it is one of the best in the series.

There’s no doubt that the Madden games have always tried to give gamers a real football experience and it’s no different with this year’s title. The game has gone through a huge overhaul in terms of presentation adding some broadcast presentation along with a new Extra Point show. The Extra Point show appears in the franchise mode and is a weekly recap show to tell you about each week’s games, hosted by Fran Charles and Alex Flanagan of the NFL Network. The presentation of the show is excellent and it closely resembles a real NFL program but it is heavily flawed with terrible commentary. It’s not the fault of the two broadcasters, it’s more the way EA went about putting together the audio which sounds very unnatural. To add to this issue, the recap only shows box scores and no actual highlights from the game. It would have been nice to at least show the highlights from your team.

The pre-game and in game presentation is a bit better than the Extra Point show. Before the game starts you will be shown people outside the stadium either cooking up some hotdogs, tossing the football around or buying stuff from the souvenir shop. The in-game presentation is all about the camera angles and the shots of the sideline. Before some plays the camera will switch to the “wired” cam just like they would do in real life. The camera will also turn to the sidelines where there are new scripted events with coaches yelling at the players, patting them on the back and quarterbacks talking on the phone to their offensive coordinators. There are some issues with this where coaches will yell at the wrong player and some graphical issues where the quarterbacks facial textures won’t load or the phone will disappear. Other than the minor issues, the new sideline animations brings you closer to a real football experience. EA also hoped to bring in more drama to the game by bringing back the Chain Gang and having referee conferences but I found them to occur more than necessary which became more annoying than suspenseful. The menu system has also gotten a face lift with some much needed re-organization. The main menu is now really easy to navigate, taking the cue from other EA titles like FIFA and NHL. All the new presentation changes adds so much more to the game even with the issues it has.

Visually the game hasn’t taken a huge step from its predecessor though there are some improvements. The field does look more natural and more and more players are starting to look like their real life counterparts. There are still issues with sorting and clipping not to mention some players just look god awful with their helmets off. The biggest difference this year is in the animations. They spent a lot of time fixing and removing nearly 1000 animations and it definitely shows. Almost all of the quarterbacks’ styles are spot on against their real life styles and the same goes for the running backs and defensive players. The animations of players catching or swatting at the ball, juke moves and tackling or breaking tackles look more realistic than ever.

The new Pro-Tak system is the biggest improvement to the animation. The new annimation allows for realistic gang tackling of up to nine people. All successful defenses are able to swarm to the ball carrier and in Madden 10 you’ll be able to see that in action. With the new system, ball carriers can now fight for that extra yard and defenses can stand you up to prevent you from getting a first down. How long the gang tackle stays up is dependent on the ball carriers skill. There are also a ton of new tackle animations that range from shoe string tackles to wrapping their arm around the shoulder pads to take the ball carrier down. The new Pro-Tak animations look so incredible and life-like but there are some problems that come with it. At times the players’ animations will cause them to run in the opposite direction or right out of bounds. There is also an issue with too many gang tackles occurring when there shouldn’t be a reason for it.

The new animations adds to the overall gameplay improvements. The running game has greatly improved because you can really push forward and get that extra yard. It’s more realistic in the sense that most of the time if a running back falls forward they will get a couple of yards unlike previous Maddens. The passing game has also improved because EA has slowed the game down a bit. This allows you some time to move around the pocket and find the open receiver. You will also have the ability to throw out of sacks, unlike previous titles if you were getting sacked while throwing a pass would lead to an automatic fumble. Now the ball will either float in the air giving the defense a chance to intercept it or the ball will simply get thrown to the ground in the direction of the intended target. For the most part when this happens it’s pretty realistic but when it comes to the top QBs in the league they seem to be able to throw out of the sack way too often with accuracy and strength, something you won’t see on a regular basis in the NFL.

What also makes the gameplay so much better is the improved AI. On the offensive side, the offensive line will give you a pocket and a passing lane to throw the ball. Because they are trying to give you a good pocket to stand in, if you run outside of this the defenders will break off the O-Line and run right to you. This means in order to be successful you will have to get better throwing from the pocket much like real QB’s have to do. Receivers also have improved sideline recognition and will slow down as they get closer to the sideline to try to stay in bounds. You will occasionally still get some players catching the ball and running out of bounds right away but it happens less than it used to. On the defensive side you will notice defensive backs will now try to slow down the receiver as they run their route and players cover up open areas much quicker than before. Defenders will also lay out to swat a ball away and will do wrap swats, which is hitting the ball out of the receiver’s hands while tackling him. The CPU AI has also been improved as they will adapt to your play style. This means you can’t just run the same plays over and over again and you’ll have to get a good mix of run and pass plays to be successful.

All the new AI and animation improvements make the gameplay so much better than previous titles. You feel like you are playing a more realistic football game rather than an arcade game where you can just do the same thing over and over again. Although the gameplay has definitely been improved there are still some issues. Breaking tackles seems to be easier than it should be. The juke moves seem to also work far too often and in real life players will rarely get a chance to effectively use a juke move. The wild cat formation works way too well even with teams that don’t run the wild cat. Still the biggest issue is with turnovers occurring far too often. It seems like some passes that would be impossible to intercept would get intercepted and others that are thrown right to the defender or floaters don’t get picked off. Fumbles also seem to happen randomly although with the new Fight for the Fumble mini game you have a chance at recovering a lost fumble. If you are able to dive on the ball, a mini-game will come up where you have to button mash to fight for the ball. The buttons will randomly change so you have to stay on your toes. The team that got to the ball first will have a head start but if you are good at button mashing you have the chance at taking it back. Some people might not like this and you can turn it off but I enjoy it especially when playing against a friend.

Since EA Sports spent so much time on the Pro-Tak system and getting the gameplay right, I expected the franchise mode to take a hit. Luckily this year’s franchise mode is just as good as it used to be. There are some things missing like the ability to practice and improve your players before a big game, and the owner micro-managing system but it’s not a big omission. The franchise mode’s main menu is much easier to navigate with the next match up right on the front and the managing menus to your right. Everything is there for you, as a coach, to do from changing the depth chart to the trading block. You can still go into franchise mode with your favorite team or by doing a fantasy draft, both of which are pretty similar to previous titles. The biggest changes to the mode, other than the Extra Point show, is with the new Free Agency logic and the staff improvements. Free agents will now take into account multiple factors during the off-season. They will look at your team’s depth chart, the coaching staff, whether you are in a big time market and of course, the money. You’ll be able to see all of this in a nifty menu so you’ll know if you actually stand a chance at signing the player. The new staff system puts a bigger emphasis on how your defensive or offensive coordinator will effect your players and their progression. To go along with this you can hire a specialty coach to help boost one aspect of your team. You can hire a staff that can prevent injuries or a staff to boost certain stats like wide receiver toughness.

Since most players won’t want to play every game in a multi-year franchise mode, EA has tweaked the simulated stats to better reflect a real NFL game. The problem with this is most gamers will play a standard five minute quarter which causes some stats to not live up to an actual NFL game. For instance in one season I played Patrick Willis, who usually leads the league in tackles, barely got 90 tackles in a season. Since the other games were simulated with realistic stats, Patrick Willis was in the middle of the pack for linebackers and caused his rating to go down for the following year. I’m not sure how exactly the progression system works but it seems like the only way to improve your players is to play longer games and get stats that are closer to real life. Other than the progression issue, everything in franchise mode is back to how it should be and is one of the highlights of this years Madden.

The other mode that gamers might be into is the Superstar mode, this is Madden’s version of “Be a Pro” where you take a rookie or a created character from draft day to becoming an NFL star. Last year you had to go through min-camp but now that has been taken out. There are several problems with this mode. To start, you have one practice before a game and at practice you only run one play over and over with no end in sight. Not only that but you gain absolutely nothing from practice. The other issue is there are a lot of camera glitches. During some of my games the camera will pan to the field where nothing is going on while I have the ball leading me to either run out of bounds or run backwards. The other issue is there aren’t any goals to work towards and no coaching staff interaction. Compared to other games like MLB ‘09 The Show or NHL 09, Madden’s Superstar mode is completely lacking any sort of entertainment value and is the most boring mode in the game.

If online is more your thing Madden 10 finally offers up some new online modes. The two new modes are Online Franchise mode and online co-op. Online franchise is something gamers have wanted for a long time. Now you can play with up to 32 friends in franchise mode. There are live drafts and player transactions all manageable from your console, online via the Madden Franchise website or even an iPhone app that will release soon after the game comes out. Finding or creating an online franchise is really simple and you can set it up so you compete against the computer. Online Franchise mode seems to be a great addition if you can get people to play on a consistent basis which is not always the case with online franchise modes. Online co-op on the other hand is better on paper than it is in practice. This mode has a lot of issues, the biggest of all is the camera angle. In online co-op you can play alongside someone against the computer in an unranked game. You will control one player and you have to work with your teammate to complete passes or stop the other team on defense. The camera angle is set to field level which makes it harder to play and see the field if you’re the QB. The other issue is the second player doesn’t control anything throughout the game. The first player will pick all the plays and control the QB. In the games that I played I was really frustrated not being able to pick anything especially when I played with someone who didn’t really know how to play. The smart thing would have been to alternate control or have an option so players can switch controls on the fly if I wanted to pick the defense plays and the other person wanted to pick the offensive plays.

The regular online play is still the same and suffers from some exploits. Already people were using the ability to break tackles to their advantage by putting those players in punt return and kick return situations. I’m sure once the game releases to the public there will be even more exploits with this exposed. The one good thing about the ranked matches now is the accelerated clock. Before, players would milk the clock too much and now when you quickly pick a play the clock will have a 15 second run off along with the play clock so players won’t ruin the game experience by sitting there waiting 30 seconds before hiking the ball. EA is also going to offer a Madden Elite Status which is a separate download for $5. This gives you access to VIP lobbies, leaderboards and the ability to play the new Elite gametype which is the only way to play on the All-Madden difficulty. You will also get a fancy colored gamertag so everyone will know you paid $5 to play on All-Madden.

Overall Madden NFL 10 went back to the basics of what made it so great to begin with. The new animations and improved gameplay make this the most realistic football experience to date. I haven’t had so much fun playing a Madden game in a very long time. The Franchise mode is obviously going to offer tons of added game time but how well Online Franchise will work is still left to be determined. There are still some issues that keep this from being a great game. The issues with the graphics, some slow-down and some AI blocking and tackling issues are still present from previous iterations. It also suffers from really bad commentary and audio. The commentary is the worst I’ve seen from this series in a long time. When you compare this to the commentary of NCAA or MLB ‘09 The Show, it makes it seem like they went back to 1993 to grab the commentary track. The crowd audio is also in desperate need of work. They will cheer when the opposing team scores a touchdown, every time there’s a kickoff, they’ll never boo at the right time and even cheer when the opposing team makes a big play. It’s just all really inaccurate. Though it is easy to overlook these issues because the gameplay is so good. I’m not saying they don’t need to be fixed but if the gameplay is this good I can ignore the background noise. If you were a fan of Madden but stopped playing in recent years, with Madden NFL 10 now is a perfect time to come back.

Title: Madden NFL 10 Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Tiburon Platform(s): X360, PS3, Wii Release Date: August 14, 2025

Doin It RIGHT: - Pro-Tak System looks amazing. - QB Animations are incredibly realistic. - Improved AI and animations lead to excellent gameplay.	Doin It RONG: - Superstar mode is terrible. - Could have used better game modes. - Still suffering from issues from previous titles.
FINAL SCORE: 8 / 10

       

Tags: EA Sports, madden, Madden NFL 10

This entry was posted on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 10:15 am and is filed under Featured, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.