Last Friday was a day that many people have been waiting months for, the release date of the latest installment of the greatest sports video game franchise ever, Madden ’10. Naturally, I had pre-reserved my copy long ahead of time, and I was very excited to get my first taste of HD gaming on my XBOX that I bought a few months ago. Although the cost of the game can be prohibitive, I can see a vast amount of gameplay out of it.
They have added a few new things, some of which were piss poor after looking great on paper. One of them was a new halftime feature like sportscenter which is presented courtesy of the NFL network. The first time I saw it, I was very impressed, but after about the 5th game, you just get tired of having to button through it. The gang tackles are also a new feature, but again, it seems like every freaking tackle is shared by 18 people. The new PRO-TAK system is pretty nice, and the cut scenes at the end of the play make the game feel realistic, but I kind of wish for my games of old while playing this one.
Another new thing, the cut scenes for the measurements and TD calls could be the most annoying feature I have ever played through. Each time anything is even remotely close, the measurement team comes out and you have to watch them do their thing. You cant button out of it, and most of the time, you already know the outcome before they start. Im still looking for a way to turn this off, so far I have not had any success.
Other than the new features, most people usually buy the game for the new rosters, as well as new ratings of people who had breakout seasons in 2008. The new rosters are obviously in place, but as has been stated before, the rating system greatly displays a huge difference between the good players and the bad ones. QBs are especially affected by this, though some of the ratings seem like they were done by sports equivalents of Joe Collectors. For instance, the Steelers are so good, that it is as impossible to get to 3rd down when they are on offense, as it is to stop them. Roethlisberger was on the ground on two separate occasions, and still made the throws to tight ends that had broken my zone. Same thing goes for the Patriots, Giants, and other fan friendly teams. Another example, last year, the Minnesota rush defense was a brick wall at the line, coming close to the NFL record for yards allowed per game and per attempt. Do they get a three star rating on the game? No. But every other of those fan faves have it. Peterson is pretty authentic in the game, but I was literally destroyed by Willie Parker and Brandon Jacobs who seemed to be the fastest people on the game I have seen so far.
Im sorry, the Steelers deserve to be the best, but they do not deserve to be almost unbeatable. Its too bad that the game designers catered the ratings to those people who cheer for the big market teams instead of going for authenticity.
Lastly, I had fun with the Wildcat, especially with Percy Harvin, who was very useful in just about every situation I needed him in. I had similar experiences with Moreno and Maclin, who seemed very authentically represented. They werent “oh my god” good, but filled their roles like they would on a normal team. In my first season, Harvin won ROY, obviously, so that isnt interesting, but Donald Brown was second, which was pretty fun for me. Any user controlled player is going to be the best, but to see Brown as the guy behind, dealing with Addai playing too, seemed improbable. Could this be a sign to come?
Overall, Madden will be a blast for the season, great for venting out a lot of my frustration as the real life Vikings get destroyed by a slew of teams. I would definitely go out and buy it if you don’t already have some form of Madden, but rent it first if you do. The way it plays is much different, and I could see it being a Mac versus PC type of thing. Though, I will say this, nothing beats the thrill of hit sticking Eli Manning into next week. I hit him so hard a few times, that I think he may have needed kidney surgery. Yeah, its that painful to watch.
