26.7.2010

First off I am a huge fan of the game of American Football. To the point of unhealthy obsession. The greatest tragedy of my life is that I'm British and have to play rugby.What are the key componants that make up American Football in the NFL?Money and ContractsThe actual play of the gamePersonalitiesFansCollege DraftI'm going to focus on the Franchise mode (where you play seasons in the hope of winning the Big Game) because I believe that should be the key aspect of the game.In '08 you had Player Roles. This varied from Team Leader to Team Distraction, from Heaver Hitter to Coverage Guy etc. They even had little icon's.In '10 this has been ditched in favour of a potential system.Which to me is ridiculous because as the real life players show us anyone and everyone has the potential to be a star (wether they live up to it is a different matter entairly...enter JaMarcus Russell...). It bassically means if your player is an A he can become a 99 overall. However if he is a C he can only become a 79 overall.The stats themselves have been expanded and offer a useful insight into each players skill sets. Which in a way replaces the Heavy Hitter or Go to Guy role icons from '08. Although you don't get the satisfaction of the little picture icon. So your reciever for example will be rated on Catches in Traffic or Spectacular Catches and so on.It also means that whilst your running back or reciever may only be a C potential, he can still reach a 99 in say, juke moves or route running.As far as I can gather though there seems to be no dicernable reason for why one player is a C and another an A.This is though were the good stuff for Franchise mode ends.There is no device for player personalities.In previous games you had to manage morale. If you were winning, morale would be high, and if you were losing players would start speaking out. Low morale would also result in negative awareness stats.In Madden 10 though this has all been lost.Arguably the most important part of a successful franchise is the Coaches. You have absolutly no idea how to tell a good coach from a bad coach in Madden 10.Would you hire Wade Phillips to coach up your Tampa 2 defence? No, but in Madden you would because there is no way to tell that he is a 3-4 defence specialist. You can't interview them you can't test them or get any insight to what they bring to your team other than maybe a plus or negative effect on one stat to a position. Just choose anybody. Pick a rookie special teams coach as your head coach because it won't make the slightest bit of difference to wether you have him or Sean Payton.The draft experience is...not an experience. There isn't the voice of the man announcing each pick, "with the first overall pick of the draft St. Louis picks..." or the Fans booing or cheering a particular draft choice. I quite enjoyed that and it's shame to find they've cut out all this pazazz.With the Rookies themselves you get absolutley no feeling for theim as a person. There is absolutley nothing on intangibles. This should be a prominant feature, just look at this years draft; The Denver Bronco's took a chance on college Quarterback Tim Tebow (actually a rookie in this game under the joke name Tim Trebow)based on his intangibles, despite experts and many other teams saying he was not ready for the NFL and at best a 3rd round pick. I ask you, why was Peyton Manning drafted ahead of Ryan Leaf?The same happens in superstar mode, you can no longer participate in interviews or skill drills before the draft.Leaving this out of the game to me is leaving out half the fun. Playing as the Buffalo Bills without worrying about T.O's loudmouth (although not so much these days bless him) or Marshawn Lynch's love affair with law just makes it too easy.In Madden players never get suspended, they never use drugs (where would the fun of the Vikings be without the yearly Williams-Wall drug bust?), they never get arrested and they never have personality clashes with the coaches and they never hold out for contracts (something that used to be in '08). Your star reciever will happily catch 100 balls a year sitting on his $350,000/y rookie contract rather than doing what every NFL player does and hold out for more money or try to get a better deal. This means it is absolutly no challenge to play with a salary cap.Whilst arguabley this is a good thing because it mean's you can focus on the gameplay. I'd actually like to experience the people of the NFL.The biggest dissapointment in Franchise mode is the Super Bowl itself. It IS the biggest single sporting event on the planet every year. The only thing that rivals it is the Olympics. So is it just me or does the Madden Superbowl feel like every other game? Even all the animation at the end with players celebrating is poor, there is no sound to it. There's no cheering, no on-screen message, no special commentary dialouge. The only way you'd know you were playing the biggest game in the world is from a little patch on your players jersey's.It should make you want to jump up and down with joy but it doesn't. Well, it does a little bit...but not enough.A few points on the actual gameplay;The AI is still not fantastic, and not too difficult to outsmart (I could write a whole article on why).Madden still shows a fatal missunderstanding in how the 3-4 defence works. The linebackers consistantly take poor angles and the defensive linemen try to pass rush instead of acting more as blockers for the linebackers. This mean's that someone like DeMarcus Ware will consistantly get 3 or 4 sacks a year and Marcus Spears will get 7-12 which is currently more than his whole career.The only 3-4 defence in Madden that is any good are the Steelers because Troy Polamalu is the Safety equivilent of Superman.The Offensive blocking is still poor, particularly at the Tackle position. I forgive them a bit for this since Tackle is an extremly difficult position, however it also (in my opinion) the most crucial to success of a ball club.I have NEVER seen a fullback block and Punt/Kick Return blocking is non-existant. So good luck to you if you wish to play as Joshua Cribbs.The goalline blocking is utterly bizzare; on a straight-ahead run play, your centre and guards will leave the middle exposed and no one will block the two Defensive Tackles who subsequently destroy your poor little running back in a giant 600lb sandwich.A cool feature though, if you do manage to create a pile up, is the running back jump, who will leap over the scrummage into the endzone a la LaDanian Tomlinson.Whilst the quality of blocking (and litterally every other aspect of the game) is all adjustable in the settings, you'd like to see the defaults be at least good. It means you might put the pass blocking quality up to 100. But this affects your players too and as a result you will be constantly adjusting the settings on every play to try and get realistic gameplay where your offensive tackles will even attempt to block, and your DE's can get a look in (the opposition linemen don't seem to 'forget' to block). And personally I don't want to be constantly adjusting and micro managing settings on every play series.However, despite all this the passing game is vastly improved. Quarterbacks are accurate (if like me you love playing Defence, be prepared for some "How the **** did he DO that?!"). Where in previous games Quarterbacks seemed to be trying to throw interceptions. In '10 they seem to be trying not to. They throw to the outside shoulder, or up high away from defenders. Recievers make cool looking one-handed grabs and dramatic leaps. And you can even high-step Deon Sanders-style if you get a pick six with your cornerback.So despite all it's short commings and cut backs in Franchise Mode. I can't downgrade this game too much because the gameplay itself is very very good and splendid fun. And I haven't even mentioned the spectacular crowd noise, the commentary and play by play anayalsis (Cris Collinsworth is great) and the back track feature where he provides constructive critiscm when you mess up or miss an oppertunity.This game is best, and truley great fun when playing with a friend or two. All the little nicks and mishaps get forgotten as you run around burying your shoulder-pads into each others helmets and giving smack-talk. And of course if you are an NFL nut like me you will still love Franchise mode and become obsessed in building your own unique team and winning Super Bowls.By far my favourite feature, and I give it three stars for this alone, is the new improved Hit Stick.There is NOTHING, I mean NOTHING better than playing as a big fast linebacker, blitzing the passer, pushing your thumb on the right stick and watching the player powerdrive his shoulder into Peyton Manning's smarmy stupid muppetface.What makes it even better is Cris Collinsworth saying, "Youch! What a HIT! He took a shot on that one, I'm surprised to see him even get up from that one! Wow!"And better still is the pain expressions they've animated when the player gets hit. There is also a stasifying crunch and you leave happy in the knowledge that virtual Peyton will be yelling through missing teeth at his offensive line.Ultimatley Madden suffers from a lack of competition on the market. If you want to play an NFL sports game, where else do you go? Madden delievers a pretty decent attempt but in my opinion needs to be more ambitious and more extravagent. Maybe I demand too much or maybe I'm too much of a diehard fan. But I want the NFL experience. The whole package.Because I can't play in the NFL for real I want this to be the next best thing and it so nearly is. The solution is very simply to stop stripping back and start putting more stuff in. Anything they can think of.It's still the best fun ever to play though and I wouldn't buy anything else (not that you can anyway). And I will definatly be buying Madden 11. As I said it's best with a few friends.But really if you want the NFL...go to the NFL.

18.8.2009

first of all, to the morons who claim its a slow game this year...YOU CAN ALTER THAT IN THE SETTINGS!!! make it quicker if you want, slower.. its up to you!Basically, the sliders are back this year, so you can alter ALL aspects of the game.Think its unrealisitc how often plyers break tackles. Theres a slider for that. Want more interceptions - you can alter that too.Don't like the new "fight for the fumble feature?" - turn it off then! Don't complain about it!Basically, imo I love the fight for the fumble, the 9 man gang tackles and the extra point tv style show in franchise. Is it seamless? No, but its a worthy addition and something different to watch as a way of relaxing after a big game to see whats happening in your game world,

1.9.2009

Im a huge American Football and Madden fan so was looking forward to this immensley. As with most Sports updates however the changes often leave you feeling underwhelmed initially as by and large its last years game swith some tweaks, and alterations which can sometimes frustrate. However after a few days the quality shines through. Graphically its exceptional as you would excpect, the AI and game dynamics are the best of any sports sim out there. The changes such as the requirement for the QB to sit in the pocket more and to take a step, set, and then throw add immensley to the game as you really feel the pressure and tension from a rushing Defensive Line or Blitz.

18.8.2009

I've been playing the Madden games for years and I can honestly say that this year's improvements are very impressive, especially with the newly added Pro-Tackling feature as it means that it is a lot harder than it used to be as you are now getting attacked by 7 defenders as opposed to the usual 2 or 3. The computer AI is much cleverer than I can ever remember as well, so the 1 player franchise and exhibitions prove more of a challenge and are good practice for when you take on your friends and others online. If you're a newcomer to the series and want to play this online, I'd recommend some unranked matches at first as ranked games can only be played at All-Pro level with 5 minute quarters,

21.7.2009

i went to the E.3 show this year in L.A and had a chance to see the latestdemo/feature's of madden 2010 for the xbox 360 and it was worth the tripas year's madden stood out more than any other game at the showand had a chance to ask a few question's on it and was named the bestsport's game of E.3 and has gone gold this year and is even bigger and better this year-online franchise mode has been completely revamped for those who liketo play-onlinethe graphic's and player model's have been redone to and the presentationeven better-the menu's and option's have been redone and slider's are back-the stadium's are very impressive and in game crowed noise very goodto add to the intense atmosphere-the

7.9.2009

I would say this is the best next gen Madden I have played out of the box I really like the settings and feel it is very playable. However, after a while you start to notice glaring issues, with the game. Such as the TERRIBLE blocking, playing it on high difficulty levels, your offensive line is often ineffective whereas the opponents line will gain super human strength and NEVER allow sacks. Plus on the higher difficulty settings it can be difficult to get separation with your WRs and when you combine this with sub par blocking, it means you can have a very difficult time moving the ball. Furthermore, whilst the player controlled team seems to play badly when momentum shifts, i.e.

18.10.2009

EA Sports have an incredibly difficult job to do, insofar as evolving games in a way that pleases the player, but that also encourages lots of purchases year in year out. I normally don't buy an upgrade for a few years as you rarely see enough change to justofy spending your hard earned cash for little in the way of improvements, bar the usual roster changes (Brett Favre... ha ha ha).Anyway - Madden 10 seems to have come up with the goods!! EA Sports have actually done the decent thing and given us plenty of parameter customisation as to how we want the game set up (actual game speed, AI skill etc). This makes it easy for guys like me who are never going to be world class coaches!The animations are a bit better in my opinion,

9.9.2009

First of all i'd like to say that this is a big improvement on 09 and is definitely worth the upgrade. The gameplay more realistic than ever and it really distinguishes the good player from the average. The differential between speed ratings is very drastic compared to 09, you really do notice a guy with 95+ speed pull away from lesser players. Another gameplay element is that if you have a decent offensive line they create a realistic 'pocket' for your QB to throw from.The reason for the 4 stars is that there is still some niggles that haven't quite been sorted. The running game is still immensely difficult and although you can change the frequency of penalties with the sliders,

20.6.2012

It seems that as yet no one else can do it as good as Madden, as each year passes it seems to get better and better. Though this one seemed to be more of a leap between 09 to 10 than once you get to 11 and 12. The graphics so much more improved, the great addition of going for a fumble, rather than your opponent always seeming to get hold of it if you drop it. You can go on saying about good and bad parts, but it is just a football game. The reason most people buy it is cause they want to play some football and that is why I will continue to buy Madden games. Makes you wonder how far they can push this in the future, there has got to come a point where it is exactly like the real thing and then how to you improve on that.

29.1.2010

Well ive never played a madden game before, making me a noob, ill admit it. I will say its a little hard to pick up at the start but once you get into it, learn the controls and play it for maybe, 5 hours you will ge the hang of it, even if your new to american football like i was. Its much like fifa in that sense, i remember starting to play fifa 10 when it came out and thinking 'I'll never get the hang of this' but love and behold i learned how to score and got bury to the premiership. for a first time but :), but also like fifa, you do kind of run out of things to do after you beat the best teams on your preferred difficulty. But a good time filler.

20.11.2009

First Madden game for a couple of years because I've (finally!) upgraded to an Xbox 360, and is still an excellent NFL experience. As a big fan of the NFL and the Madden franchise I'm having great fun with the title, however there are still a couple of niggles - Superstar lacks a lot of pomp and ceremony from previous games, training seemed pretty pointless as my player didn't improve through it. Speaking of which, after playing preseason there was no sign of progression in my players, or a page to show me if there had been any. That said, still a top game for any NFL fan, and great fun in multiplayer if you've got a few mates round.

24.5.2011

must admit i've only ever flirted with the NFL (sunday evenings on C4 when i was a kid) but this game is great so much fun the franchise system is great, i made my own team and put them in a franchice. the playbook system is good weather you want to play by play type, formation or like me player type you can also adjust which coaches playbook you want to use so you can play the best offense playbook (or worst) and the same with defence. i have just taken the worst team on the game (detroit) 7-0 on pro i am steadily moving up the difficulties hopefully i can soon become and all madden!!great game buy it

10.1.2010

Finally got this game after the price had been dropped!After playing the Madden 09 game I really wanted to check this one out for the new features and achievements.The gameplay is better than 09 as you have the fumble mini game now. Which is fun, although I seem to lose every time when playing against the computer!You can now create a team and play with them which is awesome. The only really negative view I have is how some of the 360 achievements are a little annoying and sometimes glitched. But other than that the games great for the price!A must have if you are an NFL fan.

14.8.2009

This game is a step forward for the series, play is slowed down a fraction so now running backs can juke more effectively and quarterbacks have time in the pocket. The interface and set up of the game are a nice feature and the new features such as pro-tak and the battle for fumbles work effectively but do not take away from the game experience as a whole. All in all an exceptional sport game.

17.2.2010

Quite annoying to start with, i thought i couldn't buy a touchdown within the first hour of trying. But then everything just seems to click, you get familiar with how to play the game. Graphics are top notch without a doubt, even the fighter jets flying over the stadiums is awesome.Good game in general but you really need to play this a good few times to get used to it.

Madden NFL 10 (Xbox 360) - Reviews

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