First Madden 2010 review.

[billsfan89]

For those who care IGN has given Madden 2010 its first review. They gave it a 8.9 out of 10. They praised its gameplay but said that some of the added off field features didn't work as well as expected. They also bashed the commentary as being lame.

 

What makes me nervous is that IGN also gave Madden 2009 an 8.8. I like the demo of Madden 2010 and thought the game played like a cross between the usual Madden and the old 2K football series. I also like the features that they have added in (Online franchise with up to 32 players in a league). To me I skipped buying Madden last year because besides gang tackling (Which was in NFL 2k5) they didn't add that many improvements to the on-field game play.

 

Like I said the first review is up and from what I have read and played on the demo I liked what I am seeing and hearing. Odds are I will be buying the game this year.

[bluv]

My friends who have modded system already have it and love it! I hated the demo as the speed was too slow and the balls seem to float but according to my friends the demo has nothing on the game. NCAA is great if you ask me (this is the FIRST time I bought it in about 7 years!)

[Huuuge Bills]

Here is a link for anyone interested. Can't wait till the 14th.

[billsfan89]

My friends who have modded system already have it and love it! I hated the demo as the speed was too slow and the balls seem to float but according to my friends the demo has nothing on the game. NCAA is great if you ask me (this is the FIRST time I bought it in about 7 years!)

 

As a guy who loved the nfl 2k series I liked the slower play I felt that it gave it a much more realistic feel. But the ball does at times seem to hang up forever but I didn't mind it too much. Are there any other major differences between the demo and the final product?

[bluv]

As a guy who loved the nfl 2k series I liked the slower play I felt that it gave it a much more realistic feel. But the ball does at times seem to hang up forever but I didn't mind it too much. Are there any other major differences between the demo and the final product?

I was told the game plays much better at normal speed. Also the RB break WAY more tackles than they did on the demo; my boy played with the Bills and told me on one play it took 7 defenders to bring Lynch down; I told him that "beast mode" aint no joke! They say the running game is a little out of hand; kind of like 2K5 was. My boy said his friend ran for over 300 yards against the Eagles playing with the Panthers. The Panthers running game is nasty but not that nasty! I think NCAA has it about right. While you dont want your RB to only be able to break by the inital defender only 3% of the time like you have in past Maddens, you dont want to have situations where RBs make the spectacular run every other play and it becomes the norm. I want to have more control and have the RB fight for extra yardages, especially if they are known for running hard but I don't want to see very RB run like Bo Jackson on Tecmo Bowl!

[billsfan89]

I was told the game plays much better at normal speed. Also the RB break WAY more tackles than they did on the demo; my boy played with the Bills and told me on one play it took 7 defenders to bring Lynch down; I told him that "beast mode" aint no joke! They say the running game is a little out of hand; kind of like 2K5 was. My boy said his friend ran for over 300 yards against the Eagles playing with the Panthers. The Panthers running game is nasty but not that nasty! I think NCAA has it about right. While you dont want your RB to only be able to break by the inital defender only 3% of the time like you have in past Maddens, you dont want to have situations where RBs make the spectacular run every other play and it becomes the norm. I want to have more control and have the RB fight for extra yardages, especially if they are known for running hard but I don't want to see very RB run like Bo Jackson on Tecmo Bowl!

 

When you upped the difficulty in 2k5 running wasn't out of hand. I hope guys breaking too many tackles is just a product of him playing at a lower difficulty (What difficulty was he playing at)? I too hope the running game wasn't over powering even in the demo Willie Parker broke too many tackles although on All Madden it wasn't too bad.

 

NCAA to me plays a little too consistent at times (Maybe thats just the nature of college football) every game the same plays and players seem to work the same way. I loved 2K5 and even Madden 05/06 every game was different. Sometimes you could run well other times you needed to air it out. While other games you couldn't do much of either so you needed to play smart with field position. Also in 2k5 (Very few sports games accomplish this) the computer on higher difficulties didn't seem to be unfair like they were operating on a different set of rules.

[Omar Little]

Already have my copy pre-ordered. With the presentational improvements and the addition of online franchise, this could be the best Madden in years. I haven't really enjoyed the last few, but I think that'll change.

[bluv]

When you upped the difficulty in 2k5 running wasn't out of hand. I hope guys breaking too many tackles is just a product of him playing at a lower difficulty (What difficulty was he playing at)? I too hope the running game wasn't over powering even in the demo Willie Parker broke too many tackles although on All Madden it wasn't too bad.

 

NCAA to me plays a little too consistent at times (Maybe thats just the nature of college football) every game the same plays and players seem to work the same way. I loved 2K5 and even Madden 05/06 every game was different. Sometimes you could run well other times you needed to air it out. While other games you couldn't do much of either so you needed to play smart with field position. Also in 2k5 (Very few sports games accomplish this) the computer on higher difficulties didn't seem to be unfair like they were operating on a different set of rules.

They were playing on All-Pro. Yeah in either Madden or 2K you could always adjust the sliders but that is not a good option as you can't always get others to agree on what settings are optimal so you have to find default gameplay at either rookie, pro, all-pro, or all-madden to play on. It can be a little scary as if running is too easy, any fool could compete. I want strategy to mean more than being simply good with controls or overemphasizing gadget plays/flaws in the game. To me if something happens all the time with almost any player then it is a flaw. I hear that the hit stick is an example of such a flaw in 2010.

 

I hear you about games being different;I wish they would try some Tecmo aspects in that players ratings go up or down throughout the game; when Bruce mode goes into excellent watch out! They could do that on Madden. Say if T.O. doesn't get involved early enough his ratings would be affected (he still would be better than Hardy on any given Sunday though)! I also wish Madden would have different QB throwing styles like Tecmo had so some like Marino would bullet and zip every pass while Dave Krieg balls would float! Lastly I wish they would bring back the players having to run on and off the field for subsitution. In Madden 92/93 they had what they called normal, hands, fsat,big, sets, ex. While I don't want to see those type sets there should be subsitution based on personnell sets. This would really bring realism to the game and bring playcalling/gameplanning to the forefront. Don't you hate playing against a friend who on offense would foil around until you picked your defensive play and then switch from a normal 2RB set to a 4WR shotgun (thank god for online play as this isn't as big of an issue!)? Those types try to defend it by saying you are looking at their plays. I tell them no, I am trying to matchup for that is what they do in real life: the defense has to be given a chance to matchup to the offenses personell and if the offense runs too many players on and off the field they will get an illegal subsitution. They could do the same thing on Madden.

[Wilson from Gamehendge]

With the presentational improvements and the addition of online franchise, this could be the best Madden in years.

 

hands down, by far!

 

nothing has ever compared, i dont think. i have owned every madden game since it came out for sega. this years madden is out of this world, on the ps3. the player movement is amazing. the wildcat is awesome. i love everything about it.

 

however, they need to do some roster updates. many underrated players...not just buffalo guys either.

[billsfan89]

They were playing on All-Pro. Yeah in either Madden or 2K you could always adjust the sliders but that is not a good option as you can't always get others to agree on what settings are optimal so you have to find default gameplay at either rookie, pro, all-pro, or all-madden to play on. It can be a little scary as if running is too easy, any fool could compete. I want strategy to mean more than being simply good with controls or overemphasizing gadget plays/flaws in the game. To me if something happens all the time with almost any player then it is a flaw. I hear that the hit stick is an example of such a flaw in 2010.

 

I hear you about games being different;I wish they would try some Tecmo aspects in that players ratings go up or down throughout the game; when Bruce mode goes into excellent watch out! They could do that on Madden. Say if T.O. doesn't get involved early enough his ratings would be affected (he still would be better than Hardy on any given Sunday though)! I also wish Madden would have different QB throwing styles like Tecmo had so some like Marino would bullet and zip every pass while Dave Krieg balls would float! Lastly I wish they would bring back the players having to run on and off the field for subsitution. In Madden 92/93 they had what they called normal, hands, fsat,big, sets, ex. While I don't want to see those type sets there should be subsitution based on personnell sets. This would really bring realism to the game and bring playcalling/gameplanning to the forefront. Don't you hate playing against a friend who on offense would foil around until you picked your defensive play and then switch from a normal 2RB set to a 4WR shotgun (thank god for online play as this isn't as big of an issue!)? Those types try to defend it by saying you are looking at their plays. I tell them no, I am trying to matchup for that is what they do in real life: the defense has to be given a chance to matchup to the offenses personell and if the offense runs too many players on and off the field they will get an illegal subsitution. They could do the same thing on Madden.

 

I think they added in a few different throwing motions and styles I haven't seen it in action but they were suppose to add it in this year. I like the idea of players running on the field just to add in a nice touch of realism. I think that they give you time (10 or 15 seconds) to pick a defensive play once you know what kind of package the offensive is throwing out there. So you don't need to pick a play until the offense picks out the play.

 

I don't know if the players ratings should change drastically if they are having a bad or good game but I don't hate the idea of some in game fluctuation of player ratings.

[bluv]

I think they added in a few different throwing motions and styles I haven't seen it in action but they were suppose to add it in this year. I like the idea of players running on the field just to add in a nice touch of realism. I think that they give you time (10 or 15 seconds) to pick a defensive play once you know what kind of package the offensive is throwing out there. So you don't need to pick a play until the offense picks out the play.

 

I don't know if the players ratings should change drastically if they are having a bad or good game but I don't hate the idea of some in game fluctuation of player ratings.

If you play online you can simply wait until the offense picks, the personell is advertised and then matchup; I love this. But if you have to actually substitute and get players on and off the field it would bring gameplanning and playcalling to the forefront. For instance if you want to run plays with base personell and then change to a 4 WR set then you would have to hurry up and pick your play as you would have to allow time for substitution. It would also amke games go by faster as you would utilize more of the game/play clock. Why do you think scores in 5 minute games resemble actual game? The fact that you can call and run plays in multiple sets with no time alloted to those substitutions allows this.

 

As far as in game ratings fluctuations, I don't want it to be drastic; Josh Reed on his best day couldn't outrun Lee hoping on one leg! But there are games when players seem to have a pep in their step and lacking in others. There will be some games when any QB will have an off game and miss throws he would normally make. There are times when a backup player steps his game up and performs at a high level. Or you can have games elite players step their game up in the 4th quarter. Come to think of it they can use this fluctuation feature in conjuction with a CONSITENCY rating as sometimes what seperates levels of players is their consistency. This I think would allow the on "any given Sunday a team can win or lose" aspect to become more of a factor. It's like in BBall; on some games Kobe looks human and you may feel that SHane Batier could cover him one-on-one. On others he may play like he is off the charts and then you have to triple team him. But in order to keep him elite the video game will make him play that way almost every single game and then stagnation sets in.

[billsfan89]

If you play online you can simply wait until the offense picks, the personell is advertised and then matchup; I love this. But if you have to actually substitute and get players on and off the field it would bring gameplanning and playcalling to the forefront. For instance if you want to run plays with base personell and then change to a 4 WR set then you would have to hurry up and pick your play as you would have to allow time for substitution. It would also amke games go by faster as you would utilize more of the game/play clock. Why do you think scores in 5 minute games resemble actual game? The fact that you can call and run plays in multiple sets with no time alloted to those substitutions allows this.

 

As far as in game ratings fluctuations, I don't want it to be drastic; Josh Reed on his best day couldn't outrun Lee hoping on one leg! But there are games when players seem to have a pep in their step and lacking in others. There will be some games when any QB will have an off game and miss throws he would normally make. There are times when a backup player steps his game up and performs at a high level. Or you can have games elite players step their game up in the 4th quarter. Come to think of it they can use this fluctuation feature in conjuction with a CONSITENCY rating as sometimes what seperates levels of players is their consistency. This I think would allow the on "any given Sunday a team can win or lose" aspect to become more of a factor. It's like in BBall; on some games Kobe looks human and you may feel that SHane Batier could cover him one-on-one. On others he may play like he is off the charts and then you have to triple team him. But in order to keep him elite the video game will make him play that way almost every single game and then stagnation sets in.

 

Like I said in the best sports games (NHL 09 series/NBA 2K series) each game has such a unique feel to it. In NHL 09 you have to approach each goalie and defense in a different style. Sometimes you have to pass, pass, pass and try to set up the perfect play while other times you just have to shoot at will.

 

The best part of the NHL series is the computer reaction to your offense. If you score on a one timer and than you try to do it again the computer will adjust and defend it better and it becomes really hard to do it again. The computer even sees what you are trying to do and they will play to defend it.

 

To me Madden needs to take notes from these games (In this years edition it looks like the did) and have things like the computer adjust to what you are doing. To me it adds to each and every game because it makes you take a different a approach to each and every game.