My Gaming news and reviews about XBox 360, PS3, PC, Games, Graphics Cards and Hardware: Madden NFL 10

Madden NFL 10
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Dan Parmenter on 08/10/2009 08:36:00
 
“You know, when you get old in life things get taken from you. I mean, that's
part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out
life’s this game of inches. So is football. Because in either game, life or
football, the margin for error is so small - I mean, one-half a step too late,
or too early, and you don’t quite make it. One half-second too slow, too fast,
you don’t quite catch it.
That’s football guys. That’s all it is.”
These (slightly paraphrased) words from Al Pacino in ‘Any Given Sunday’
feel quite apt for EA Sports’ latest in the popular Madden NFL series. While
there are many improvements over the last Madden and plenty of eye candy to
delight and impress gamers, there are a few niggling fumbles that make us
question whether this is really the release it was hyped to be, whether it’s
worth forking out for this updated version, and whether Madden NFL 10 really has
what it takes to fight for those inches.
On defence today for EA Sports we have a fair number of star players, the best
of which is the revamped GUI and numerous visual tweaks to every aspect of
Madden’s gameplay.
The menu system is slick and useful, giving a modern feel to what was once a
very daunting layout. Some options are buried a little too deep, but we can’t
argue with the overall presentation. The loading screens advertise other
additional elements like animated handtowels and other awesome extras that
hardcore gamers will definitely appreciate (ahem), but it’s difficult to knock
the amount of effort that’s been put in to create the ultimate Madden
experience.
The main gameplay visual upgrade is quite spectacular, and we have to hand it
to EA for producing one of the most true-to-life games in this regard. The
entire experience feels like a real broadcast NFL match, with every element
faithfully recreated and lovingly rendered in superb HD for football junkie
enjoyment: Players move fluidly, textures are bright and crisp, the
depth-of-field is immersive, and the structure of the entire thing will make
passersby stop to ask why you’re holding a controller while you’re watching
a live match on TV.
Supporting this solid defence is an addition dubbed Pro-Tak, a system which
basically allows multiple players to be involved in a tackle. This welcome extra
allows for some satisfying pile-ups, and an improved blocking system and
steerable tackles truly capture the feel of a real game.
Another supporting player for Madden NFL 10 is a cool feature for PSP owners
that lets gamers create plays on their handheld and import them into the PS3
version. While we think this should’ve been included in the PS3 release for
all to enjoy, it’s good to see developers embracing this kind of thinking and
expandability.
Franchise Mode is one of the series’ biggest draws, and those who love to
waste hours building the best possible team and managing all the finer details
will feel like a redneck watching the Dixie Chicks during the Superbowl’s
half-time show. Included here is The Extra Point, a type of wrap-up show of all
the week’s action, which is a useful addition if not for the suspect acting. A
new online element to this mode sweetens the whole deal, which fortunately
allows gamers to alleviate a few balancing issues we picked up when playing
solo.
Sadly, even with these improvements and additions, Madden NFL 10’s defence
finds itself getting a beatdown similar to what we imagine would happen should
the Cowboys go up against the Ethiopian Under-12 Paralympic Football Squad.
Okay, perhaps it’s not that bad, but a host of small problems stop what could
have been a landmark sports title from scoring a touchdown.
Leading this offence are the elements that almost made the game great in the
first place, added extras that were supposed to elevate it to something beyond
just an ordinary football title. We became immensely irritated with annoyances
like the repetitive referee cutscenes and blatant Snickers advertising littered
throughout. Sure, these things are part of the NFL package, but in a game that
already struggles with continuity by its very nature there’s nothing worse
than pointless fluff that drags you further out of what really matters: the
gameplay itself.
The AI also lets the game down, making some very dubious calls and occasionally
making opponents run in counter-productive directions for no apparent reason. We
also found it easy to milk AI weaknesses when they failed to adjust their
tactics once we found particular gaps in their thinking, and there were
occasions where it was painfully obvious that we were up against some
questionable artificial ‘intelligence’.
Also somewhat useless is the Fight For The Fumble feature, where every
gamer’s nemesis, the dreaded ‘quicktime events’, are used to gain
possession of a fumbled ball. Instead of being a measure of timing and skill
this system finds itself sacked by the proverbial opposition, proving yet again
that button mashing is always a risky implementation.
The element that overshadows all of the best points in Madden NFL 10’s
defence though is the appalling commentary. Apart from the unexcited tone of
both Tom Hammond and Chris Collinsworth, the pair battle to make any relevant
comments on even the most basic plays. Making this worse is the choppy nature of
their remarks, which reminded us of the old sports titles where it was painfully
obvious that the audio had been recorded in chunks and then clumsily pieced
together.
The repetition factor here turns bad to worse, and after numerous games players
will likely opt for the mute button rather than suffer through the
commentator’s lifeless observations yet again. This is unfortunate though as
the music in Madden NFL 10 is actually quite good, featuring an eclectic
selection of everything from Rage Against the Machine to 2Pac. Some tracks are a
tad dated unfortunately, and we were disappointed at the poor selection of
emerging bands, but there’s a decent enough number of classics to keep toes
tapping.
In closing, Madden NFL 10 is still a fun game to play for the most part, but
it’s one that’s aimed more at true fans of the game and/or series. There are
jaw-dropping moments when beautifully animated players execute well-timed moves,
and few can fault the sweet visuals and attention to detail in the graphics
department, but it’s difficult to recommend a game that does as much wrong as
it does right.
Positive strides have been made over the previous instalment though, and some
more tweaks in Madden NFL 11 will surely make a truly unstoppable (or
unsackable, as the case may be) football title.
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