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Graphics/Visuals
This game is a big improvement over Madden 09. There are many new enhanced graphics and visuals. The experience can be additionally enhanced with a HDTV. Overall, the whole game is a lot more lively and vivid than the last. Many visuals seen on the game are usually seen on Sundays.
The new player models are excellent and the uniforms look superb. On one cutscene, the texture of the uniforms can be seen. In the previous next-gen versions of Madden, many of the player models were kind of bulky looking. Now, the players are built more realistically. New uniform accessories have been added, such as towels, hand warmers, team colored gloves, and team colored cleats. They are not the same boring black and white cleats, which was on the previous versions. For the first time, uniforms can be interchanged, as well.
Seen on Sundays
During the game, many details and animations can be seen on the game, fan interactions, QBs talking on the phone, coaches ranting, players talking on the sidelines, kickers practicing kicks, players riding the exercise bike, referee interactions and chain gains. One of the coolest features is seeing fans leave early, if their team's game has gotten way out of hand. It is also quite funny.
Game Play
The game play is better. First off, the game speed can be adjusted. Many of you played the demo and didn't like the speed of the game. Well, it can go from very slow, slow, normal, fast and very fast. Also, EA has added a new threshold differential. This means setting to the higher the level will give the player less of a disparity between the fast and slow players. A lower setting will increase the disparity.
The player animations and movements are realistically fluid and not robotic, such as the previous versions.
I noticed on some movements, the players use more momentum. Players can't just break out and turn different corners, quickly, like they are on wheels. They actually bend and don't stay upright, while turning a corner. Sometimes, the player may have to make a cut, in order to head up field. The best animations are while going through the hole. Pressing the directinal buttons will make the RB make many different cuts. Time them right and the defender can be juked. Typically, juking could only be done by spinning.
The player animations have improved. Players fall many different ways. Sometimes, it even seems as if they are going to break out of a tackle, then they start to fall. There have been times when I was on the edge of my seat because I thought my player was breaking the last tackle in order to "take it to the house", but he goes down. Not to bad. The Pro-Tak is realistic. The players pile up, when necessary. It is not an every down occurrence. Keep in mind, different modes carry different Pro-Tak results.
The game is very competitive!!! Even this year's version of All-Pro is a lot harder than the previous versions. Players cannot expect to just dominate the game above the Pro level. Many glitches from the previous version have been neutralized, as well. Also, the computer does not make themselves sitting ducks for hit-stick tackles, such as previous versions of Madden. They do more weaving on this game, which is fine.
Flaws
There are a few things that disturb me about the game. The first issue is the new running motions of the players. It seems like they run with their heads down. They also look as if they are just struggling to try to run. In addition, every player runs in the same motion. The previous Madden had at least 3 or 4 different running motions.
The next issue is the new "fight for the fumble" feature and the chain gang. "Fight for the fumble" is a joke. It is like a mini game, which you have to press various buttons rapidly in order for possession to be gained. There was a play, which the player fumbled and two of my team members dove on the ball. Clearly, I had possession of the football. Unfortunately, I still had to fight for the football and lost possession of the recovery. Of course, this feature can be turned off. The chain gang will drive you crazy. Every single time you have a nine yard play, the chain gang comes out. I mean, lots of times, you know that you didn't get a first down. What is worse, this feature cannot be skipped.
Some of the cutscenes get repetative. During the game, you will constantly see the same cutscenes, which involve the same position players. For example, when you see the QB talking on the phone, you see the FS over his left shoulder, each time. Then, you will see the triplets sitting down (QB, RB and WR). Then, when a play goes awry, the coach will be ranting at a player who had nothing to do with the play going wrong. For example, if the QB throws a pick, the coach will rant at the OL. Why not the QB? If the QB throws a pick, he yells at the OL or the FB. That makes no sense. They should have had at least 20 cutscenes, which involves different position players.
Depending on what level you play on, you will experience some of the issues, which was on the other Madden games. You will still see makeshift tackling. This goes on during "Pro-Tak" animations. In modes other than Pro, you will NOT see double-hit tackling. In All-Madden, the AI of your teams just goes out of the window, such as OTs ignoring blocking assignments. In addition, many of the issues become more magnified. All-Madden is totally unplayable. I would suggest playing on Pro or Custom and tampering with the settings.
The commentary is just dull and scripted. It would be nice to have a Madden, which has some loud an exciting commentary. For example, if someone makes a spectacular catch, I want the commentator to have excitement in his voice, when the play happens. I compare this to how it feels when watching Sunday Night games on ESPN. Hearing exciting commentary, while watching a game makes it more exciting. The dull commentary takes away from that experience.
Though the half-time presentation is good, the highlights are shown out of order. When watching real football, half-time and post-game shows at least have the highlights shown in sequential. This could have made the half-time presentation more organized.
The Verdict
Everything on the game has been improved in many ways. In fact, it is a complete turnaround from the last version. If it were not for the flaws, which I mentioned, the game would be even more superior. Of course, no game is going to be perfect, no matter what. Many critics need to realize this. Therefore, if you loved M09 (2008 was horrific), you will absolutely love this latest installment of Madden. Keep in mind, this finished product is a lot better than the demo!!!
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Let me start off by sating that this is the best madden I have ever played. Yet, for the price, I still feel like Ive been scammed for some reason. I'm fine with paying $60 for a quality game like MGS4, COD4 MW, COD Modern Warfare 2, Gran Turismo, etc.. I feel that this game was rushed, and that the preview blogs that they posted moths before the launched made me feel like that this is going to be one of those top tier games. They worked on the visual details so much that they didnt spend enough time on the actual gameplay.Pros:
1. The claim that they made that whatever you see on Sundays is what you will see on the game is true. You will see every detail on the player (towels, handwarmers, type of sleeve, type of helmet down to the exact model and facemask, gloves). Referees are there and so are the chain gangs and coaches.
2.The mechanics have slightly improved. You can now adjust the game speed based on you preference. The routes WRs run have been improved (more realistic).
Cons: THERE ARE MANY
1.Franchise Mode lacks a lot. The Injury system has improved but only on the short term (during games). In the long term (season), injury sys. is still unrealistic. For example, If a player tears his ACL completely during the Pre-Season, he will be out for the season and available the following season. Taken into acct that ACLs take about 1 year to heal with surgery, this is accurate. But one of my guys tore an ACL, during the NFC Championship game and he was out for the season, but was available at the start of the following season. Considering that the NFC Champ. games is in late Jan. and the start of pre season is in Aug., thats only 6 1/2 months. There is no way a player can come back from a complete ACL tear in 6 months. Also, the players are too agressive in contract signings. I played as the Eagles one time and their heir apparent at QB, Kevin Kolb wanted $32M for a 4 year contract, and McNabb was still on the team. Kolb had done nothing for the team except for holding kicks, and he wants $32M. That's absurd! He wasnt even that good, He was ated in the 70s. Then the next year Ellis Hobbs was asking for another $40M+ contract, FOR BEING A NICKELBACK!! I think Madden should take into acct the roles that each player plays on the team and how they should negotiate in contracts. A player that I drafted 2nd overall(QB) wanted a 6 year $90M contract and he hasnt even proven anything, He is worse than his real life counter-parts. I can tell you for sure that Matt Ryan, Matt Stafford, Mark Sanchez, and Joe Flacco didnt get that kind of contract. They should use the contract system from NFL Head COach 09 which implemented bonuses, because in this game the GM (you ) have no leverage against them. If you dont sign them they go to Free Agency and you will be mad at wasting that 2nd overall pick.
2. More from FRANCHISE MODE
The Madden people claim that there will be a different feeling in playing regular season games than playoff games. Personally, I dont see a difference. The cut scene after winning the SB is always the same and looks so fake. On the makeshift stage that the winners stand on, its always the QB who holds the MVP trophy no matter who wins it. A WR or TE can be MVP and you will still see the QB holding the trophy in the end. Also, the cutscenes get annoying and most of it is cheesy. What annoys me out of all of them is the chain gang measuring the spot scene. If you pick up 9 yards on 1st and 10 and can clearly see that the ball didnt make it across, the cuscene would still play. Whats annoying is that if you gain 9yds, the ball is 1yd behind the 1st down marker, in the cutscene they make it look like the ball is 2in from the 1st down marker.Madden only has 3 or 4 spots that the ball is in during that cut scene (2in short, 1 foot short, ball halfway past stick, and ball completly past the stick) Even if youre downed 1yd past the 1st down, when the cutscene plays, the ball will be at most 1/2 past the stick, but when it comes back to the regular view, the ball gets spotted 1yd past the stick.
3.Players on the sideline.
Everytime the game cuts to a scene showing the entire sideline, the are two groups of players who do the same thing, they are even snchronized.
4. Limited playbook
The playbook is so limited. There are no trick plays to run, and the sub packages feature has been removed.Now you have to indv sub your players to change packages. To touch on the playbook, it is so limited. I wish that they would update the playbooks like they do with the roster. Heck, the eagles dont even have a wildcat set for Mike Vick.
5.Wildcat
Its good that they put in the wildcat formation in the game. But its basically useless. First off, you cant audible out of it and you cant hot route out of it. If you play in anything higher than PRO difficulty, you will find this formation useless. Also on WC passing plays, the passer cant scramble, and since you cant audible out of it, the defense coincidentally calls a blitz and you are basically guaranteed a sack.
6. AI
There are serious problems with the CPU AI in this game. If you play in PRO diff. and up, you will find the CPU team basically calling plays that perfectly counters what you called. If you call an Iso run up the middle out of the I, defense will blitz all or at least 2 LBs, and they will pack the box with 8 men. If you audible out of that and call a deep pass play, they will drop everyone back. This ticks me off the most because I feel like I'm playing against someone, and telling them what play I'm gonna run b4 I snap the ball. This is what makes wildcat useless. If you call an option play out of the wildcat. The defense will blitz both ouside LBs, so it doesent matter if you hand it off or do a QB keeper the defense will still get you for a loss. You cant do anything about it cause you cant audible. Also, if you call a wildcat run play, the defense will stuff 10 guys in the box and your outsde recievers will not be covered by anybody, but since you can audible, thats another negative play. "Coincidentaly", If you call a wildcat passing play, all the DBs will cover and jam your WRs and blitz the LBs, and since you cant scramble, the passer is a sitting duck, and this is almost a guaranteed sack.
7.Difficulty.
The difficulty settings on Madden has little or nothing to do with your player's or CPU's players' skills. Its all about making mistakes and the CPUs ability to "spy in your huddle"(know what play youre gonna run). On the PRO level, its still impossible to stop the passing attack of the CPU. No matter what play u call in D-fense, the CPU QB will complete every pass. The difference btw EASY and HArder difficulties is when you set it to an easier mode, the CPU's QB will throw an INT or fumble in the redzone. So the QB will end up completing 20 out of 24 passes and out of his 4 incompletions 3 will be INTs.
8.Blocking
THe blocking is terrible. Linemen always misses blitzin players and its even worse on running plays. They always seem to let their man go right when the RB is hitting the hole. So even if you line up in a Spread 4WR formation and run a dive play, it will seem like you will gain at least 20 yds cause the defense is spread out, there is nothing but green in front of you. But no, right when you hit the hole a 300lb DT will somehow shed his block or the Lineman will let him go, and tackle a RB going full speed wich nets you a 3 yd gain. I DONT KNOW HOW SOMEONE COULD TURN THEIR BODY AROUND 90 DEGREES AND WRAP UP A RUNNINGBACK CHARGING AT FULL SPEED!!! The problem is that the running backs hit the hole soft which is completely different from how real life RBs do it.
9.Inefectivity of the Blitz
Blitzing is done to knock the QB out of his rythmn and hopefully get a sack. In Madden, it is impossible to get a sack. The QB will somehow find a reciever (even if its is on his blindside) and get rid of the ball at the last moment. Even if you knock him on his ass every play, he would still get the ball out and his rythmn would still be intact. His Linemen also have superpowers in the sense that if you blitz a linebacker in between the RG and RT and bouth of them are blocking the DT And DE, then the LG or LT (someone who is 350lbs!!) will slide all the way in between the RG and RT to pick up the blitz.
10.Special Teams
Special teams is a non-factor in this game. Its impossible to block a field goal, impossible to block a punt(except from the 1yd line), and the blocking on Punt Return is terrible. I dont even do FG blocks anymore, its a waste of timeI haven't bought a Madden game since 2005 when they first introduced QB vision. I thought vision was actually pretty cool back then. I decided to take the plunge and buy the Madden 10 game for the PS3, and honestly, I was very disappointed. Overall the game looks really good on my nice HDtv, but EA is really trying to nickel and dime the consumer with all this Downloadable content that was already included in the series before DLC was available. I'm going to go through every aspect of the game and I think many of you will know what I am talking about.
Superstar mode
My biggest gripe about this madden game is that they completely ruined superstar mode where you create a player and play him as a rookie. You can't workout or anything to improve your players ratings. You have one practice a week and then you play the game, but no matter how well you play, your ratings don't improve or progress. I had the sim the rest of the year to find out that ratings will only go up at the end of the year. But don't fret, if you're impatient, you can pay for DLC that will give your player the max progression for that year or make him a leader of the team. That is ridiculous, these use to be in the Madden game in 2005, now they want you to pay an extra 2 dollars to get it. They also got rid of email or cell phone messages and the ability to select an agent. I thought it was cool when I got an email from my mom congratulating me on winning the offensive player of the week award. There is also nothing to do during the offseason. You can't star in a movie or anything fun anymore.
Franchise mode
EA also did a wonderful job of stripping this down as well. It just seems like you have less options. You don't have a budget to control, you can't increase or decrease ticket prices, you can't do any improvements on your stadium. I liked being able to customize my team after a few years in Madden 05, now I can't do any of this. You sim through, play the game, then you practice, then you play another game and the cycle continues. You can't really do anything else. It's quite boring.
Online game-play
This is the only worthwhile thing I enjoy about Madden 10. You can play others online. There are four modes you can play. There is a ranked single player game, an unranked scrimmage, and an co-op mode, and an online franchise mode. Most of these modes are great, except when they aren't working. I play using my comcast internet connection and get disconnected often which is ridiculous. When this happens, you get an automatic loss and a blemish on your record even when you're winning the game. I know it's not my internet connection, so it's something on EA's part. Their servers has always been known to be very craptacular. I decided that I would get all my trophies for madden, but i can't because the last trophies I neen require that I play the online co-op mode, but it is uber buggy. This mode is meant for you to play against the computer with another live person on your team. The problem is, everytime you start the game, you get the message "the connection with your peer has been lost". This problem has been made known to EA for some time and they have yet to release a patch to address this. I have not tried the online franchise mode, but have heard that it is buggy as well. Each copy of madden comes with one redemption code you need to use to activate the online franchise mode on ONE profile. The only problem is that I'm not the only person that plays madden on my PS3. If someone else wanted to use the online franchise feature on their PSN ID, they have to shell out another 10 bucks. Now if I sell my Madden 10 game, it's basically worth 10 dollars less because the redemption code is non transferrable. This is just another way that EA is trying to nickel and dime you. EA does provide a roster update almost weekly that adjusts for how a player is doing in real life or any trades that might happen which is cool.
Other Small things I noticed
-Commentary is repetitive and very awkward sounding. The same things are said at the end of the game replacing the team names.
-Freezing occurs sometimes for no reason
-You can't throw a deep pass over 30 yards even when your receiver is already past the secondary as the receiver will slow down and the safety and cornerback speed up to get to the spot of the ball and swat it down. This shouldn't happen when the receiver is Steve Smith of the Panthers.
-Wildcat formations are almost unstoppable.
-The new fight for the fumble feature sucks. Two of my guys would land on the ball, but I would lost the fumble recovery because I lose at mashing buttons in the mini game.
-Playstation Network and EA works on their servers quite a bit which make online play unavailable for a few hours which is annoying as this is the best feature in madden.
-That's all I can think of right now.
Conclusion
I bought this game hoping it would be a big improvement from 2005. I was incredibly disappointed. If you really want to spend 55 dollars for a stripped down version of Madden 10 for the roster update, go right ahead. You can spend an extra 20 bucks on DLC to give you features that were in previous versions, but it's not worth it. But if you're a person who really cares about quality, then you'll be just as disappointed as I am. I refuse to buy another Madden game until there is more substance to this series. This won't happen until competition returns to the NFL games. Ever since the NFL gave EA the exclusive license to make their games, there hasn't been any competition and therefore much innovation. EA can just keep releasing the same game year after year and nobody will really care because they have no other NFL games to compete with, but I am going to make a stand to boycott EA games until they release a game of some real substance. This probably won't happen until 2014 since EA's exclusivity contract with the NFL runs up until that time.
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This is by far the WORST Madden I've ever played. The controls are absolutely unresponsive and clunky. When attempting to move players, they often do not respond to the buttons pressed. When on defense, pressing dive to tackle your player will do one of three things: he won't do anything, he will literally fall straight down, or if you're lucky 1 out of 10 times he'll actually dive. And don't even try to intercept the ball on your own. If you can actually get your player to respond to your button mashing, the ball will just bounce off your helmet anyways. Also, you know how the computer takes over your player if you don't press anything? In this version of Madden, you're CONSTANTLY fighting the cpu from taking over your character. Especially on defense. If you want to run one direction, you better make sure it's the exact same direction as your route because the cpu automatically starts making your character run in that predetermined route after the snap NO MATTER WHAT. And in the time it takes your player to slow down, stop, and start running in the direction you want, you're already getting burned.The "realistic" slowed down play sucks. It's not realistic. It's sluggish. The graphics are great, but EXTREMELY glitchy. Props disappear and reappear during cut scenes. A guy will be talking on the phone and all of a sudden it will just disappear from their hand. WTF? And why does every character look like the corners of their mouths have been sewed shut when they talk?
I could go on and on, but I won't. I hated this game. I've loved the Madden franchise for a long time, but this is a waste of money and time. Maybe you won't agree with me. Maybe you'll love it. I'd suggest renting it though before you play it so you can judge for yourself.Do something, do anything. For three years, the Madden franchise has been painfully stagnant. Probably four, but Madden '06 was the first Madden game I had played since 2002. That's not to say I didn't try the other Maddens. They were tremendously inferior products to the 2K Games that Sega was pumping out and it only took a few games to see why. The presentation made you feel like you were watching the game on TV, great, for it's time, commentary, creative cut scenes and animations, gang tackles in 2003, and graphics so real, you'd mistake what was on your TV for a true broadcast. Madden, to this day, has lagged behind, only adding gang tackles recently, trying a failed "rewind" feature that infuriated even it's most loyal supporters, and only this year have they added in game cut scenes to add to the realism.
To this day, NFL 2K5 remains the benchmark for sports games. Madden 10 deserves a spot on the team, but still likely play on the scout team.
First, what are the positives with this game?
-Greatly improved graphics. Madden '09 seemed like simply a retexture of '08 which inturn seemed like a retexture of '07. Madden '09 added almost nothing new with the exception of the previously discussed rewind feature. Yuck.
-In-game cutscenes. Finally! It only took them six, maybe seven years to realize how this adds to the gameplay. NFL 2K5 found the perfect balance of what to add and what to avoid. Madden 10 has great timing with cutscenes, but they also get repetitive fast and there are some issues where you see the back of the crowd animation instead of the players. Still, nice addition, but why did it take them so long?
-Two man commentary. Another overdue "feature". Who thought one man commentary was a good idea?
-Slowed down game play. I see a recurring trend. The addition of "features" that were in the competitor's game years and years later. Also, another thing NFL 2K5 did well. This kills the high, high, high scoring games.
-Better blocking. The ability of your linemen actually matter in this game. It's about time.
-Taking time of the clock as you skip ahead. A real nice feature for exhibition games. This is one of the few features I haven't seen in a football game before.
-Updated rosters. Hell, I was playing with '08 until now.
But there are negatives. A few of them.
-The "new" features aren't really that new. Most of the features touted as new in this game were actually all in NFL 2K5, and most were in NFL 2K3. Unfortunately, the lack of competition allowed Madden to lower expectations and produce games that often are stripped of features that previous Madden had. Examples include the 7 man gang tackle and the in-game cutscenes. I wouldn't have had a problem with this had they been better than 2K5's, but they weren't.
-Lot of graphic flaws and errors. In two games, I had more players arms go through torsos and crowds block out cutscenes than playing any other game.
-Online franchise is here! Wait, you have to pay for it? Nevermind.
-Music. Generally, sports games have terrible soundtracks. MLB The Show '07 was an incredible game, but the soundtrack hurts the complete experience. I can't really fault Madden 10 for this, as the only sports game that I played that I actually enjoyed the soundtrack was MVP '04, which included "My Coco", "Walkie Talkie Man", and, um, "Hey Driver". Ok, so two out of three ain't bad. Still, "Bullgod" by Kid Rock? What? Seriously Madden?
So what's the final verdict? As many faults as Madden 10 has, it has its moments. The graphics are great, when they aren't obscured, and the game plays a lot better than last year's, even if the changes were due years ago. I would give this Madden a 7 out of 10, but for Amazon, I'll round up to 4 out of 5 stars. It's a good game, but the fact that I'd almost rather play a game that came out in the summer of 2004 to get my football fix, knocks it down a few pegs.
