Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

Madden NFL 10

1. Official Site
2. Platform: 360
3. Publisher: EA Sports
4. Developer: Tiburon Entertainment
5. Release Date: 08/14/09
6. Genre: Sports

by Keith Schleicher

If there is such a thing as a series that is bulletproof to reviews, the Madden series is probably it.  If you take a look at the Metacritic scores, the only time the series goes under a seventy average review score is when you take a look at the Nintendo DS and Gameboy Advance.  Even when those scores dip lower, Madden still sells.  Since Madden hasn't had any real football competition since EA bought exclusive rights to the NFL and NFLPA licenses, the only way to play a football game with a current roster is to get Madden.  Each year the title seems to get more and more hype and exposure.  Madden sells no matter what, so reviewing this title might seem to be a bit futile.

Since this is a major title, I want to take a little time to explain how I reviewed Madden NFL 10.  Most of the time I spent with the game was with the settings of All-Pro difficulty and five-minute quarters.  These are the settings that are also used for getting most of the Achievements.  I didn't make slider adjustments for the majority of the time so that you would know what to expect when you pop in the game and decide to hit Play Now.  Most of the time was spent in the single player mode, though I did take some time in the multiplayer.  However, some features weren't available or weren't plausible to review before the release date.  It's a little hard to get 32 people together and play through an entire season in the short amount of time that I had before the embargo date.  My favorite team is the Packers, so I used them for my Season play, but I used several different teams to play for and against in single games to get an idea of how Madden played.  While I do have a serious interest in football and can name most of the major players, I can't tell you who played Right Guard for each team or who recorded the most interceptions for each team.  I do pretty well on Offense mixing run and pass plays, and while I can hold my own on Defense I am admittedly less skilled on that side of the ball.  With this in mind, I hope you can get a feel of how I approached this year's Madden NFL 10.

The first thing players of last year's Madden will notice is that you aren't thrust into the Madden IQ test.  You can still access the holographic training simulation if you'd like.  Here you can find out how well you do on Run Offense, Run Defense, Pass Offense, and Pass Defense.  These tests are actually much simpler than the game as you’ll face a full line of defense there.  Showing which button to push above your player doesn't give you a true sense of your skill, which can lead to a more challenging game and inflated scores unless you are a Madden expert.

Several modes are available for you when you start out.  Exhibition games get you into action right away  The Franchise mode allows you to play through a season or multiple seasons  If you want to truly live the life of an NFL player, the Superstar mode lets you create a player, get selected in the draft, practice, and get into the game.  The Virtual Trainer helps you learn the controls for those who aren't acclimated to them.  The Madden Moments lets you play through some of the highlights of the 2008 NFL season.  Mini-games are available to get used to the fundamentals of Madden, as well play challenge a friend and their skills.  Finally, the Practice mode allows you to get familiar with a team's playbook and their timing before you enter into a game.

The highlight of the game is the Franchise mode.  I simmed a full season and the scores seemed to be realistic.  Although the scores flash by quickly, so if you are looking for a specific team you won't be able to catch it.  Some of the player and game statistics seemed to be a bit off when all was said and done.  Just like on the field, the number of interceptions was high while the number of fumbles was low.  All but two teams had double digit interceptions for the entire season. Two teams, the Patriots and Broncos, were 100% in the Red Zone, with the lowest being the Falcons at 74%.  The Browns and the Titans defense in the Red Zone either always allowed a Touchdown or a Field Goal.  Most teams had over 1500 yards rushing, with only two teams having less than 1000 yards rushing.  Simming further out into the future resulted in similar results.

For those that believe in the predictive power of Madden, Tom Brady was the MVP and Offensive Player of the year for this season.  The Titans lost to the Colts, the Redskins decimated the Falcons, Steelers upset the Chargers in a close battle, and the Cowboys easily handled the Bears at Soldier Field in the Wild Card Round.  In the Divisional Playoffs, the Patriots slaughtered the Colts, the Redskins squeaked past the Cardinals, the Ravens beat the Steelers in a defensive battle, and the Eagles barely beat the Cowboys.  The Patriots handled the Ravens easily while the Redskins just beat the Eagles in a close game.  The Patriots manhandled the Redskins in a lopsided 33-3 victory in the Super Bowl ™.  While the Patriots are a good team, we don’t know the effects Tom Brady’s injury and how it affects him through the season.  I was surprised to see the Redskins in the Super Bowl, but they are in one of the toughest divisions in the league and you don’t see 8-8 teams at the bottom of their division often.

After a brief look at the stats for the Packers, I could say that I agreed with most of the player statistics.  Al Harris went down to an 89 after two simulated seasons, which still seems to be a bit high, and you have to wonder when his age will start to impact his performance.  Charles Woodson took a dive to an 83 overall, but his potential was still listed as an A.  Even after two seasons, a surprising number of players were at 90 or above.  However, the game does use an overall rating from 34 to 99, which is better than the 50 or 60 low end we would see for players before.

When you first start up the game you notice that there are new camera angles used.  Sometimes during a kickoff or before a snap you see the action from the sideline camera.  This variety works well to give you the feeling that you are watching a game instead of playing one.  This is especially true when watching replays – it’s nice to see the play from several different angles instead of always from behind the quarterback.

One of the new highlights of Madden is the new Pro-Tak Animation System.  This allows for nine-man gang tackle animations.  It also highlights the ability to break out of tackles when the ball carrier is hit.  It also stops the play if the ball carrier's forward progress has been stopped, even if his knee hasn't touched the ground yet.  The tackling animations do look better over previous years.  Once I watched two defenders tip the ball before landing in my receiver’s hands.  There is nothing more tense and relieving as a situation like that.  Some of the animations do take a bit of a hit because of the number of animations that stream to the game, but installing the game to the hard drive seems to alleviate those issues.  You will see some strange things while going through the instant replay, like the ball going through the shoulder of a receiver to catch the ball.  I’m more lenient in this situation as far as a graphic score goes though, but it is hard to ignore the animation system when your player seems to slide like Gumby across the field.  This is especially evident in the close-up showing only the QB running down the field after the play is over. Given that Madden is very closely reaching photorealism (minus the occasional fan with lifeless and soulless eyes), the graphics score would approach 90+ if it weren’t for the odd occasional animation glitch.

All seven members of the officiating crew are on the field now.  They are a part of the field and I've seen them watch the ball or run away to avoid being caught up in the play.  The chain gang is back for close plays, but there only seemed to be two different animations.  One animation was shown if the team made the first down and another if the team came up short.  After a few viewings of each animation, you could tell instantly whether the first down was made.  If you made the first down, it was always by a nose, even though there were times when the play was clearly beyond the first down marker.  You will see this animation several times, so don’t worry if you miss it the first time.  In fact, every animation gets overused, from the chain gang to the coaches on the sideline, to the referees conferencing to decide whether a touchdown was actually scored or not.

I didn't get to see a ref actually hit by the ball during a game, but I have seen it happen in games and should be considered part of the field. They do their best to get out of the way when the ball was thrown in their direction.  It was a bit odd when I saw them through a pile-up of players at the end of a running play, so there seems to be a bit of an error with the collision detection system.  The ref should wait until the pile has thinned out and then run to where the ball is and move it to where it should be spotted to prevent clipping issues like this – maybe next year.

New graphical flourishes are now shown as well.  For special games the USAF Thunderbirds will fly across, and banners for the NFL Kickoff or NFL Playoffs are displayed.  Uniform patches are present during the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl, adding a bit more to the authentic NFL feel of the game.

The stadiums are recreated accurately from what I can see of them, and you can see the entire inside of the stadium depending on the shot used.  There aren’t  any kind of external shot flyovers, so you can't see how the new Soldier Field looks like a deformed spaceship that crash landed near Chicago.  You can see the fans in the background, and they move on the screen even when the game is paused. The scripted close-ups on the fans look good (again, minus the soulless eyes), but occasionally you’ll end up next to the stands and realize they are made of jagged cardboard.  Plenty of team colors are interspersed throughout the stands for both sides, as well as a disturbing number of shirtless men in the stands too.  Occasionally you’ll see fans holding up a D and a picket fence – it’s the sort of thing you’d see in a game, so it’s nice to see it here.

The developers of Madden wanted the music to skew a bit older and wanted to take a different approach to the EA Trax system.  While they do include bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Black Sabbath in the game, most of the menu screens seem to feature some kind of rap music like Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, and 2PAC.  Whether or not this appeals to you or makes your ears bleed is a personal preference.  You can make changes to which songs play in the soundtrack area, or turn it off as you see fit.

Tom Hammond and Chris Collinsworth take the reigns of the commentary for another year.  Hammond does the play-by-play with Collinsworth following up with color commentary.  Collingsworth does a good job with the color commentary, and often mentions rivalries or the importance of games with teams in the same conference.  Often a bit is said about the success or failure of the team in 2008 is mentioned as well.  There are just so many phrases you can use to describe similar situations though.  It took roughly a game and a half before we started to hear the same phrases over and over again.  Hammond just sounds bored throughout the game, which might explain why his commentary is occasionally wrong.  Once Hammond responded with, “That will bring up a second and seven.”  However, it was actually a 2nd and 10 situation.  At halftime he announced, “The Packers are winning with the score 7 to 7.”  Mistakes like this remind you that you are playing a game and not actually watching a broadcast, or maybe Hammond has his eyes glued to his NFL Sunday Ticket instead.

When you call plays, you can use the Ask Madden feature to get to the typical plays for that situation quickly, or you can call them by formation or play type.  You can also activate something called Super Sim.  You can simulate the next play, up to the next change of possession, to the next quarter, or even to the end of the game.  During this time the field shows arrows that indicate how far the ball has moved and if a score is made.  The Play by Play scrolls underneath, so you can see what is going on throughout the game.  This is a nice feature since it reduces the play time to a matter of minutes.  Each team does have their own playbooks, so if you use different teams, you will need to know their schemes.  You can also change the look of the formation and select your plays from there to confuse the defense.  The playbook is laid out logically, and there are several layers to the system.  It’s easy to choose the formation you want and the subpackage from there.  Learning the play book rather than asking Madden for advice will certainly yield its own rewards, 6 points at a time.

The bottom line shows the score and down situation.  If you are playing on Thursday, Sunday, or Monday night, they do show that as well, showing that it is a nationally highlighted game.  While this isn't necessarily an important addition, it is something to help immerse you into the football game.

During halftime there is a highlight reel segment.  It shows the plays as they happened, with a small ticker at the bottom that tells you what you are watching.  For instance (and a common instance at that), XYZ player intercepts the ball and runs for 58 yards for a Touchdown.  Unfortunately there is no commentary or exposition,  making what should be an exciting highlight reel into a snorefest.  Some of the plays on the highlight reel can be headscratchers as well, making you wonder why they are even there.

The pre-game and post-game show called The Extra Point with Fran Charles from the NFL Network and Alex Flanagan, with Alex herself doing most of the commentary.  Her voice isn't smooth, coming off as monotonous and choppy – clearly a graduate of the William Shatner School of Acting.  There isn't any excitement in her voice at all, which is really too bad since the videos show off a lot of her personality.  The production values look rather slick and make it look like it could be an actual network production.  I thought that EA bought the rights to use ESPN in their games, so why they don't use a SportsCenter-type of post-game show is puzzling.  Again, maybe next year.

The action on the field is sometimes great and sometimes frustrating.  There is a lot to like, but there is a lot to hate.  All the basics of football are present in Madden 10, but after a few games it is easy to see the issues that it has.  The first thing you notice on the kickoff is how powerful the kickers are.  It is easy to kick the ball into the end zone for a touchback.  Yes, this can be toned down with a slider, but if this is your first impression of the game and that doesn't feel right, how do you expect the rest of the game to go?

The playbooks do feel authentic.  While you can't know every play in every playbook for every team, the plays included do seem to be realistic for their scheme.  Even the Packers move to a 3-4 defense is reflected.  A roster update has already been made, so if you want to practice with the right personnel, you need to get online right away.  I'm assuming that roster updates will be made each week as teams move down to their 53-man roster, but we’ll have to wait and see.

One nice feature is that you can make substitutions using the right analog stick.  As players get fatigued, their color changes on the formation.  This is one way to make some quick substitutions if needed, or to get a specific player on the field that might have better statistics in the particular situation.  This is much better than having to go into a menu screen and specifying the substitution, keeping the pace of the game moving.

The running game has a bit of a split personality.  Sometimes linemen give good protection where you can see the holes open up for your running.  Sometimes something as simple as a shoestring tackle will take them down.  If you are quick enough with the right analog stick or face buttons, you can rack up a lot of extra yards.  It feels a bit unrealistic how many times a running back can avoid a tackle with defenders bouncing off of them.  This is especially true of kickoff returns.  Getting past the 30-yard line after starting back in the end zone is not uncommon.

The passing game feels better than the running game, but there are several issues.  The controller is supposed to rumble according to the pressure on the quarterback, but there were times when there was little vibration and then I got sacked or let the ball out at the last second to fall around the line of scrimmage.  The linebackers seem to be on the same wavelength as the quarterback too.  You can have a receiver wide open, toss the ball, and then suddenly be surrounded by two linebackers and a safety.  They seem to come way too fast from where they were.  I’m sure there is a slider to adjust this, but it shouldn’t be necessary straight out of the box.

The other issue is that the players seemed to have the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound.  It wasn't uncommon for a defender to unrealistically jump up three feet to catch a ball for an interception.  Not only that, but sometimes it happens on back-to-back plays.  While this does occasionally happen in the real NFL, the number of times this happened in Madden was surprisingly high.  Several games I had three interceptions between both teams in the first quarter. It wasn’t uncommon to get a game with six or more interceptions.  There were questions about the number of interceptions so I had someone else with the game take a look at Madden 10 as well and he found the same issue as I did.  Similarly, we took a second look at the game and had a whopping 8 interceptions in the first game played, and 10 in the second!  Show me in a stat book where that happens on the field and I’ll eat my hat.

Fumbles were a rare occurrence.  Normally I expect to see at least one happen a game, but I would say that I saw a fumble every one out of three games.  They did add a new "Fight for the Fumble" feature.  When a fumble occurs a pile-up may start to form.  The player then continuously hits the face button shown to try to retain possession of the ball.  As you are mashing the button to move the meter on the bottom of the screen towards your side, the button changes, so this isn’t a straight button masher like the original Mortal Kombat “Test Your Might” sequence.  The fumbles also seem to favor the AI almost right away when it happens, so you’ll have to be on your toes.  While this might be great for games between friends, I turned it off once I got the Achievement Points for it.

Penalties are ratcheted up, but they seem to happen far too infrequently with one or two in an entire game, or to have a strange string of penalties happen consecutively. Once I had three holding penalties called against the opposing team in a row on a PAT.  What should have been an easy chip shot turned into a 49-yard field goal.  While it's nice to see that PATs are no longer automatic, something like this seems to be a bit out of the ordinary.  This is a bug that has been acknowledged by the developer and should be fixed in the first patch.  Still, a glaring error like this should have been easy to catch in QA.

Injuries are more common than previous years.  Sometimes they happen and that player is out for one or two plays, and sometimes the player can receive a season- or career-ending season.  You can even decide if you want to put the player back into the game risking getting injured again or let them rest for the game.  Decisions like this are important and do make you feel as a part of the game.

The infamous “rubber-band AI” seems to be present.  Sometimes you will have what seems to be an insurmountable lead, and yet the other team is able to march down the field and become unstoppable.  While this happens in the real NFL, it is a much too common occurrence and can become frustrating rather quickly.  While the developer has made comments that this logic isn’t in the game, the number of games where this seems to occur is disturbing.

If you want your players to improve, you can get help through the accelerator system.  The accelerators give you extra bonuses that allow you to get scouts for the next draft to get their true statistics, keeps a player out of retirement for another season, or increase the productivity of your medical staff.  These are bought using MS points though, and they can't be used in an online league.  It would have been nice if EA would have let you earn them by performing specific milestones during the season, but it almost feels like cheating using them or buying experience in an MMO.

Lucky, for all the issues with Madden, there are sliders to help offset the issues.  There are many people who try to get a good adjustment of these sliders to make a game that is more realistic. Entire forums and blog posts are dedicated to these slider adjustments.  Still, it begs the question why so much effort should go into this kind of project when you first load up the game.  When I throw Madden into the console, I expect a realistic experience from the start without making adjustments, and the sliders should be used to adjust the game to your own personal liking.  The developers should be able to find this correct balance before the game ships and not depend on player intervention and slider adjustments.  Adjusting the sliders in Madden is akin to having Rock Band or Guitar Hero and saying that the Orange button doesn't feel right, so I'm going to try that one with a .5 second delay, while the red gets a .2 second delay, the green a 1 second delay, etc., and then see if that actually makes the game playable.  This is a long time issue with the Madden series, and this year is no exception.  If I wanted to play an arcade football game, I’ll go and play an older version of NFL Blitz or Tecmo Bowl.

Several of the Achievements need to be completed against specific players.  If you focus primarily on the franchise mode, there is a good possibility that you won't go up against the specific players needed to gain the Achievements.  If you really want to gain those points, you are better off setting up the game to include the teams you want.  If you crave Achievement points, it will take a while to get all of them.  While this is an improvement over the easily-simulated scenarios that would yield you close to 1000 points in the past, some of them seem to be unrealistically difficult.  Getting an achievement should be something that comes naturally with the flow of the game instead of having to artificially set conditions.

Online there are plenty of options available.  The online franchise mode is available where you can hold live drafts, offer player transactions, and have your own message board.  This is not only available in the game but through a web browser as well.  Say goodbye to your work productivity for the next couple of months.  Those who like to play the game but don't care to play against other people can now opt to play co-op together.  Beware though, as the online franchise mode is only available with a new copy of the game.  If you purchase it used, you will have to purchase that feature if you want to use it.  With all these features, the value you get with the game is high, especially if you can find a usable set of sliders or a group of friends that can live with the unrealistic gameplay on the field.  Several games have flaws, but still can be fun with a group of buddies, and there is no denying that the number of ways to play Madden 10 is enormous, once it’s tuned.

You have to take the good with the bad through.  If you want to get Madden Elite status you have to pay 400 Microsoft points or $4.99 through the PlayStation Store.  If you want to be able to play on All-Madden level, you need to be Elite status.  Elite status also grants you VIP lobbies and leaderboards.  It will be interesting to see how many people opt for this.

The Superstar mode was actually something that I really enjoyed.  In the Superstar mode you create a player and just play the plays for that particular position.  I chose to become a wide receiver and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs.  I practiced with the team and ran through my assignments.  It was great making my first catch and made me feel like I was a integral part of the game, even though I didn't go into the game until a play was called that needed three or more wide receivers.  While I still wanted to win, I wanted to make sure my personal performance was as good as it could be.  The fact that the game sims the plays you aren't involved in helps speed the gameplay greatly.  The camera angle is taken directly behind your player which isn't bad, but it does take some getting used to.  The more I played, the more I wished that the first-person mode in the NFL 2K4 and NFL 2K5 games was an option for this particular mode.

The mini-games include a 40-yard dash, bench press, quarterback challenge, running back challenge, coverage challenge, and lineman challenge.  The instructions for every mini-game are explained before you actually start playing, so you don't have to worry about remembering how to do each one.  They don't take long so they can be a nice diversion when you want to get in some quick time with Madden or if you want to challenge a friend.  It isn’t likely to be something you are going to play over and over again, but it’s a nice inclusion.

Some of the scores have been adjusted slightly from the original review, but are still in line with my feelings on the game.  Let’s call it a Coach’s Challenge with a slightly better spot for the ball, but not enough to get the first down.  Or, if you prefer, you can say we “adjusted our sliders.”

So, is Madden worth getting?  That really depends on your personal preference.  Some things have improved, but it feels like several areas haven't.  Sure, there are sliders there to help, but should you have to adjust sliders to play a realistic game of football?  No, not really.  If you can live with adjusting the sliders until you get the right feel, or can't live without the most current roster, or are salivating at playing a league with 31 of your closest football buddies, then you will find Madden NFL 10 worth the price of admission.  If you can't though, then you might want to reconsider that annual purchase.

Gaming Trend Score

78

1. Graphics: 88
2. Audio: 72
3. Controls: 80
4. Gameplay: 72
5. Value/Replay: 85
6. OVERALL:78