Madden 2010 Review: BUY IT IF YOU LOVE FOOTBALL (and own a game system)

So I, like many other crazy kids out there, bought Madden the first day it came out. I have been playing it fairly frequently and so have now played it enough to make a fairly good review of it. As I am not good writing things chronologically, I will use my typical review style of using bullet points while going with random thoughts on the game:

Pros

• Graphics: The graphics are not a major upgrade over Madden 09 in just standstill shots, but they certainly are an upgrade in on field action. The tackles, the movement of players, the overall speed of players looks more realistic.

Not only does Vince look realistic, he is rated realistically at 68. Pretty accurate, in my opinion.

• Throwing in Tight Spots: The passing is infinitely better than Madden 09. If a linebacker gets stuck covering your slot receiver and the LB has his back to the Quarterback, you can put the pass over his head and the LB won’t be able to make a play on it. You know, like real life. In Madden 09, I hated the omnisciency of the defensive backs and linebackers. They most certainly corrected that error.
• Interceptions: Interceptions in Madden 09 were infuriating. There was a bigger chance a guy would pick you off making the most acrobatic catch of his life than if you pegged the defender right in the face. This was frustrating when you played on defense. In Madden 10, while there are times when the defender will make an acrobatic interception it is usually a player who can, like Ed Reed. Also, if the defender is pegged in the face with the ball, he’ll catch it 7 out of 10 times.
• Throwing on the Run: You can’t unless your player is known for it, like Tony Romo. At least not accurately. To throw on the run the receiver has to be really wide open or you have to take the time to set your feet to throw it after leaving the pocket. In Madden 09 I used to piss my friends off by taking Kerry Collins and sprinting to the right, dragging the defense with me, then bombing it across the field to the left for a 30 yard gain. That is no longer possible, especially with Kerry Collins. And I like that, because Kerry Collins can’t do that in real life. If you take an immobile QB and go on the run and throw it, it will most likely be picked or incomplete.
• Running the ball: It just makes more sense. The developers talked a lot on how they slowed the game down. It makes a HUGE difference. You can see the hole develop and hit it when it finally is there. You can also tell when it isn’t going to develop and still have time to hit a cutback lane. Some people are mad they slowed it down, but when in a practice match in 09 I actually timed Chris Johnson’s 40 yard dash time at 3.2 seconds, well it’s time to slow the game down.
• Playcalling: Why in Madden 09 they chose to deviate from the tried and true system of 3 plays on the board with the buttons assigned to them, I will never understand. Madden 10 is a return to form. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Also, another way your playcalling matters is you have to mix it up. Balance in Madden 2010 actually has an effect. If you pass too often, it becomes much harder to pass, as even the best passing offenses will struggle against the 9 Velcro Dime package. Obviously, if you run too much, the computer will start to nail you at the line every time. However, if you run effectively a few times and then call a play action, it can be devastating.
• Pass Rush and Blitzing matters: In Madden 09 (and all previous versions of Madden) if you didn’t sack the QB on a blitz, you were DEAD. The QB could make a laser accurate throw with 12 defenders in his face (isn’t that illegal?) as long as one hadn’t actually hit him at the time the throwing motion began. In Madden 10, not so much. If you blitz and the pass rush is able to get pressure on the QB, his accuracy drops BIG TIME. Hurries actually matter. Also, teams with Defensive Lines that can get to the QB without blitzing are invaluable, which is why it is so much fun to play with the Titans in this game. When you can hurry the QB into an inaccurate throw while running a Cover 2, interceptions and deflections begin to pile up.
• Clock Management: They reintroduced a feature that they used to have where outside 2 minutes left in a half, after you call a play the play clock runs down to 15 seconds. Most people don’t like this, but I do. Nothing struck me as more stupid than calling a play immediately when the play clock hit 40 seconds, getting to the line at 38 seconds, then hiking it with still 35 seconds left on the play clock. That’s impossible and ridiculous. In older Madden games you could literally run a 12 play 70 yard drive in 2 minutes. Bullshit.

Cons

• In game cut scenes: Holy crap, these are annoying. Why they thought these were a good idea to put in I don’t know. So far the ones I have found are if you are within 4 yards of a first down, they measure it with the chains. This graphic scene is really long in which they show the chain gang coming from the sidelines to the middle of the field, pulling out the chains, measuring the football, then the ref giving the signal. All in all 30 seconds of wasted time that the game feels the need to subject you to 8 times a game. Also, you can tell whether you made it or not by the angle of the camera. Nice job there, Madden. Another one is a cut to the Coach on the sidelines yelling at a player as you’re trying to call timeout during a 2 minute offense at the end of a half. They then do not let you know if you got your timeout off, which leads to several mistakes like calling 2 timeouts back to back, or you thinking you got your timeout off to find out you didn’t and 12 seconds just ran off the clock. Really, really infuriating. If anybody knows how to turn these cut scenes off, let me know in a comment PLEASE.
• Tackling animation: There are still way too many times where a tackle takes too long because the animation is of the runner and the tackler standing each other up. This also happens in completely unrealistic scenarios, like Chris Johnson standing Brian Urlacher up. What?
• Fumble Recovery: You now can fight for fumbles at the bottom of the pile by hitting a series of buttons that pop up on the screen as fast as you can. STUPID. I am amazingly good at it due to my mastery of Fusion Frenzy on the Xbox, but I still hate it. Especially because it happens on almost every fumble, even if nobody is around the initial player who recovered the fumble for 5 seconds. TAKE THIS OFF. I don’t know why Madden doesn’t just hire a Common Sense Consultant to say “Yeah… that idea is beyond retarded.”
• Can’t use Ocho Cinco as a kicker: What’s up with that?

So there is my personal experience and review of Madden 2010. Let us know what your thoughts on the game are and if you agree or disagree with some of these points I raise. Overall, I think it is a huge improvement and a ton of fun to play. Best madden game by a long shot. And I leave you with the best alternative Madden 2010 cover available:

Made this back in April so the URL is wrong but it's still the best Madden cover ever made.

Tags: Madden 2010, Madden Cover, Video Game Review