Madden 2010 Review: Needs Improvement

Let me start by saying that I have played every single football simulation game on a major console since Ten Yard Fight on Nintendo, and I have played every single Madden game since 1991 on Sega Genesis. I currently use the X-Box 360. This year’s Madden may be the best football simulation game in history, but we don’t have anything to measure it against.  EA sports and the Madden franchise have become complacent.  Without any competition, what is their motivation to put out the best product? 

The problem stems from the NFL’s decision to only give EA Sports the licensing rights for the league and the players.  EA sports knows that they are the only professional football game out there and therefore have been cruising with the Madden franchise in the last couple of years.  This is America and in America we have choices.  If I don’t like Madden, then I want the choice to buy another football video game. 

Now if the guys at EA sports were putting out the best product possible, I wouldn’t have an issue but this year’s Madden has only minor improvements from last year. First off, I can’t stand how there is no quick replay button.  You have to press start and interrupt the whole game flow to look at your replays.  Now this may not bug some of you, but for us hardcore gamers that play a lot, it gets rather annoying.  Small problem and probably overlooked by EA because they really don’t need to pay attention to it.

Another one of my small gripes is when there is first down measurement.  The game stalls for a good twenty seconds for the chain gang to come out onto the field, which can get pretty annoying when you get stopped on a second and one, then a third and one, and then again on a fourth and one.  It's even worse when you know you didn't make it. 

My biggest gripe about this year’s game is the absence of the classic teams.  The NFL is based on its history, so celebrate it.  What better way to teach the youth of today about the past then putting the classic teams into the game.  I want to play with Elway, Montana, the '85 Bears, the Steel Curtain defense, the Purple People Eaters.

There has been a big issue of the former players not getting the benefits they deserve from the league.  This would be another income stream for the former players to aid them in their retirement years and a way to celebrate the teams of the past.  Putting the former players and teams together would take a huge amount of work and would require giving out more pieces of the pie. Again, this is all ignored because of the lack of competition. 

What did I like about this year’s Madden?  The deep ball improvement is significant and looks very comparable to live game action. The offensive line blocking has improved from last year and seems to be vastly improved from last year. I say “seems” because as I play the game more and more, I start to notice what area the game is deficient in.  The graphics are improved and the gang tackling feature this year is pretty cool.

One area I did see significant improvement was the offensive playbooks.  They successfully introduced the Wildcat and playbooks are more team specific.  Defensive playbooks and the mini-games are identical to the last three years, and could use a massive overhaul.   

Am I still going to play Madden?  Of course and a lot, what other choice do I have? I just want to see the best product for our game, and competition breeds the best product.  Even if another company comes out with another football game, I will probably still buy Madden, I just want another choice.