Post by matsmashed on Feb 19, 2010 21:10:07 GMT
As Madden says "I have a feeling, this one is going to be special."
Well the old codger’s right; Madden NFL 10 is quite simply, the best Madden game ever. Yes I’ve just given you my view on the first sentence but it really is that simple, I cannot tell you how good a Football…. ok American football game it is. Unless you’ve been living in a hole for the past 20 years then you will know that Madden is EA’s biggest selling sports franchise and has a new rendition of the game released each year in august to coincide with the NFL pre season matches. Madden NFL 10 isn’t quite perfect, but it’s deeper, more challenging, and more realistic than ever before, and more so than nearly any other football game out there except perhaps the legendary NFL 2K5. As you load the game up for the first time you will be greeted by the seasonal Madden intro, this one starts with John Madden saying "The time to make history starts right now." This immediately had me pumped. The intro, which features the cover athletes Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu, two of the Super Bowl stars from last season might actually be one of the best Madden intros ever… Im sure you can decide for yourselves:
Madden 10.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-QVAryuXeQ
My personal fav Madden 08 (damn that’s good s**t)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4ddiA26-6g
For starters this is the best looking Madden game yet. Just before the games, you are greeted with unique pregame cut scenes from the home team’s stadium which range from seeing fans buying memorabilia to the playoff Jet flyovers from the USAF. Another nice touch is that during the coin toss some players like McNabb will have their doo rags on, and then some other players will have their helmets halfway on their head. Authenticity is the name of the game in Madden 10, the developers have coined the phrase “anything you see on Sunday you’ll see on Madden” and for the most part its true. Chain gangs will come onto the field to measure for a 1st down , Referees will debate touchdowns and fans will be seen leaving the stadium early if there team is down by a huge score. The "little things" like kickoff weekend, the playoffs and Super Bowl field markings, players breathing hard when they are tired and players pounding their fists into the turf after an "almost" play are also welcome additions to the game. Not all is well with these new presentation elements, however. You'll see things like flickering hair textures and objects on the sideline that fail to load, phones in players hands, warm-up bikes etc. Some of the star players don’t look right either, but in all these are minor presentation flaws.
The gameplay in Madden NFL 10 hasn’t taken a huge leap forward from 09’s seeing as 09’s gameplay was pretty strong in the first place, but as we know Madden isn’t the franchise that takes huge leaps forward each year, it improves minor and sometimes crucial things. EA have really listened to the fans with this one and have a made an all round tighter, more real game of football. The pace has been slowed considerably giving you the feeling that the next play you make could be crucial. The first thing that you will probably notice when playing the game is that teams play like their real-life counterparts which makes the game an altogether new challenge from previous renditions. The running teams such as the Vikings will try to run it down your throat with Adrian Peterson for example, and the passing teams such as The Patriots and Colts will keep your defensive unit in a constant state of fear. All of this is just one tiny improvement that makes Madden 10 a great game , However it can get slightly annoying having Quarterbacks like Manning and Brady shredding apart your defense with there sniper like accuracy.
Manning will rip your D apart.
Unlike previous Maddens the player ratings this year seem to make an actual difference on the field. Your star players will often do incredible plays and make everything look easy, during my franchise with the Seattle Seahawks I would quite regularly end up relying solely on TJ Houzmanzada my star wide receiver with an overall rating of 91, he’d make stunning 3rd and 4th down catches and make incredible one hand catches will in coverage. Tiny improvements like this make for an overall better experience and different experience with each team leading to a far more extended appeal , there’s much more incentive with this madden to do a franchise with each team then just your usual favourite side.
One of the crucial improvements the gameplay this year is Pro-Tak. Seriously, Pro-Tak is amazing. Instead of players just standing there watching a tackle in front of them, they will now join in on the tackle. It creates a real sense of football, and it's not like it happens all of the time either. It happens when you expect it to happen. You do see the occasional head-scratching Pro-Tak animation where momentum isn't quite calculated correctly, but I really think Pro-Tak is a great addition to the game. Not only can you try to run your way out of a swarm of tacklers (which feels freaking awesome when you do it), your teammates can also get in on the act and try to push the pile forward a little bit. It really is like watching a real football game. On the negative side of things, I still see defensive players get that occasional speed burst to intercept balls. It doesn't happen as frequently as it would in 09, but it's still there and as annoying as ever.
Pile up courtesy of Pro Tak
Franchise mode has been improved this year with a all new menu presentation , the trade ai is far smarter and harder to trick then it was last year , your unlikely to end up with 10 1st round draft picks this year haha. A nice new improvement to the franchise mode is a feature called The Extra Point, it’s basically a weekly recap of what’s been going on around the league. It’s presented by two familiar figures from the NFL network and is a nice addition to the game. English people, for those you out there should think of it as a sort of Match of the day, personally I’d like to see something similar implemented into EA’s Fifa Franchise. Superstar mode has also had this Extra Point feature added, but in all Superstar mode has been largely left untouched since 09.
The main feature added to multiplayer this year is Online franchise which I haven’t had the pleasure of playing yet so I won’t make a judgement on that , I’ve heard only good things though! Sound wise it’s great, if you have 5.1 system your really going to benefit from the surround sound this year, however the awful commentary from 09 is back and as boring as ever.
Overall Madden NFL 10 has taken a huge step in the right direction this year. All the complaints I have about the game are fairly minor -- there isn't a huge glaring issue that I have come across yet. Every game feels different, nothing feels scripted, and you won't be bored by halftime. Last year, the more I played the game, the more I hated it. This year it is the complete opposite, and yes Al “this one is going to be special."
An Epic 9 outa 10.
Pros:
Great presentation
Solid gameplay
Improved Franchise
Team and player individuality
Cons:
Occasional slowdown
Missing presentation items.
Awful commentary.
Wellyboot (Matt)
Well the old codger’s right; Madden NFL 10 is quite simply, the best Madden game ever. Yes I’ve just given you my view on the first sentence but it really is that simple, I cannot tell you how good a Football…. ok American football game it is. Unless you’ve been living in a hole for the past 20 years then you will know that Madden is EA’s biggest selling sports franchise and has a new rendition of the game released each year in august to coincide with the NFL pre season matches. Madden NFL 10 isn’t quite perfect, but it’s deeper, more challenging, and more realistic than ever before, and more so than nearly any other football game out there except perhaps the legendary NFL 2K5. As you load the game up for the first time you will be greeted by the seasonal Madden intro, this one starts with John Madden saying "The time to make history starts right now." This immediately had me pumped. The intro, which features the cover athletes Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu, two of the Super Bowl stars from last season might actually be one of the best Madden intros ever… Im sure you can decide for yourselves:
Madden 10.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-QVAryuXeQ
My personal fav Madden 08 (damn that’s good s**t)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4ddiA26-6g
For starters this is the best looking Madden game yet. Just before the games, you are greeted with unique pregame cut scenes from the home team’s stadium which range from seeing fans buying memorabilia to the playoff Jet flyovers from the USAF. Another nice touch is that during the coin toss some players like McNabb will have their doo rags on, and then some other players will have their helmets halfway on their head. Authenticity is the name of the game in Madden 10, the developers have coined the phrase “anything you see on Sunday you’ll see on Madden” and for the most part its true. Chain gangs will come onto the field to measure for a 1st down , Referees will debate touchdowns and fans will be seen leaving the stadium early if there team is down by a huge score. The "little things" like kickoff weekend, the playoffs and Super Bowl field markings, players breathing hard when they are tired and players pounding their fists into the turf after an "almost" play are also welcome additions to the game. Not all is well with these new presentation elements, however. You'll see things like flickering hair textures and objects on the sideline that fail to load, phones in players hands, warm-up bikes etc. Some of the star players don’t look right either, but in all these are minor presentation flaws.
The gameplay in Madden NFL 10 hasn’t taken a huge leap forward from 09’s seeing as 09’s gameplay was pretty strong in the first place, but as we know Madden isn’t the franchise that takes huge leaps forward each year, it improves minor and sometimes crucial things. EA have really listened to the fans with this one and have a made an all round tighter, more real game of football. The pace has been slowed considerably giving you the feeling that the next play you make could be crucial. The first thing that you will probably notice when playing the game is that teams play like their real-life counterparts which makes the game an altogether new challenge from previous renditions. The running teams such as the Vikings will try to run it down your throat with Adrian Peterson for example, and the passing teams such as The Patriots and Colts will keep your defensive unit in a constant state of fear. All of this is just one tiny improvement that makes Madden 10 a great game , However it can get slightly annoying having Quarterbacks like Manning and Brady shredding apart your defense with there sniper like accuracy.
Manning will rip your D apart.
Unlike previous Maddens the player ratings this year seem to make an actual difference on the field. Your star players will often do incredible plays and make everything look easy, during my franchise with the Seattle Seahawks I would quite regularly end up relying solely on TJ Houzmanzada my star wide receiver with an overall rating of 91, he’d make stunning 3rd and 4th down catches and make incredible one hand catches will in coverage. Tiny improvements like this make for an overall better experience and different experience with each team leading to a far more extended appeal , there’s much more incentive with this madden to do a franchise with each team then just your usual favourite side.
One of the crucial improvements the gameplay this year is Pro-Tak. Seriously, Pro-Tak is amazing. Instead of players just standing there watching a tackle in front of them, they will now join in on the tackle. It creates a real sense of football, and it's not like it happens all of the time either. It happens when you expect it to happen. You do see the occasional head-scratching Pro-Tak animation where momentum isn't quite calculated correctly, but I really think Pro-Tak is a great addition to the game. Not only can you try to run your way out of a swarm of tacklers (which feels freaking awesome when you do it), your teammates can also get in on the act and try to push the pile forward a little bit. It really is like watching a real football game. On the negative side of things, I still see defensive players get that occasional speed burst to intercept balls. It doesn't happen as frequently as it would in 09, but it's still there and as annoying as ever.
Pile up courtesy of Pro Tak
Franchise mode has been improved this year with a all new menu presentation , the trade ai is far smarter and harder to trick then it was last year , your unlikely to end up with 10 1st round draft picks this year haha. A nice new improvement to the franchise mode is a feature called The Extra Point, it’s basically a weekly recap of what’s been going on around the league. It’s presented by two familiar figures from the NFL network and is a nice addition to the game. English people, for those you out there should think of it as a sort of Match of the day, personally I’d like to see something similar implemented into EA’s Fifa Franchise. Superstar mode has also had this Extra Point feature added, but in all Superstar mode has been largely left untouched since 09.
The main feature added to multiplayer this year is Online franchise which I haven’t had the pleasure of playing yet so I won’t make a judgement on that , I’ve heard only good things though! Sound wise it’s great, if you have 5.1 system your really going to benefit from the surround sound this year, however the awful commentary from 09 is back and as boring as ever.
Overall Madden NFL 10 has taken a huge step in the right direction this year. All the complaints I have about the game are fairly minor -- there isn't a huge glaring issue that I have come across yet. Every game feels different, nothing feels scripted, and you won't be bored by halftime. Last year, the more I played the game, the more I hated it. This year it is the complete opposite, and yes Al “this one is going to be special."
An Epic 9 outa 10.
Pros:
Great presentation
Solid gameplay
Improved Franchise
Team and player individuality
Cons:
Occasional slowdown
Missing presentation items.
Awful commentary.
Wellyboot (Matt)
