Customer Reviews

Madden NFL 10

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Are they serious?

After Madden 2007's animation, animation, animation, fall over experience, I couldn't bring myself to buy 2008. I bought 2009 because a friend told me how much better it was. After all 2008's complaints about how easy offense was, they turned the DB's and LB's speed and jumping ability to ridiculous levels, causing there to be about 6 INT's per game. This knee-jerk reaction and thus, overcompensation each year to whatever the largest complaint was has always seemed par for the course when dealing with a Madden game. Whatever. I just want to play an NFL game.

So the Madden 10 demo came out and I was impressed by the game play. "Wow, it actually kind of looks like football," I said. So I did it. I dropped $60 more into the EA bucket just to have the privilege to play an NFL game. The game play this year IS, I uphold, the best, most realistic that the Madden franchise has ever made. Yes, they made the players slower, and it made a lot of fans mad, but it's realistic. Nobody runs 10 yards in 0.5 seconds. At any rate, kudos on the in-game experience.

However, I play sports games to play franchise mode. I like trades, free agency, and the draft. Unfortunately, due to EA's desire to become the most evil corporation ever, franchise mode is not, at ALL, an enjoyable experience. You see, the "Madden Shop" has been created, where you can buy "cheats," which are really just parts of the game that existed last year which were disabled so that EA can make more money.

-You want the ability to fully scout players? You can pay 99 cents for a scout at EACH POSITION. Awesome. I'd LOVE to throw down 10 more bucks just to have access to the rest of your game.
-You want players to progress faster? 99 cents per position.
-Superstar mode is the same. You can't train anymore. You can pay to improve.
-Pretty much anything you can think of... healing injuries faster, extra scouting reports, etc, you can pay 99 cents to improve.

Really, EA? Buying out the competition wasn't enough for you? This whole system seems like such a joke to me. Do they honestly think it's going to work? I guess the question is, are Madden fans really stupid enough to use the Madden Shop?

This will, I can say with confidence, be the last Madden game I purchase.

It's hard to understand what happens on the Madden development team, because every year it seems like they change the game in new and completely unnecessary ways. This year, the menus have been changed for seemingly no reason. The new menus do not look as good as the menus in Madden 09 and are harder to use. Why change them? You'll ask yourself questions like that a lot with this version of the game if you played a lot of Madden 09.

If the last few entries in the Madden series did not exist, then this version would probably impress me much more. As other reviewers have noted, it seems that almost nothing has changed in core gameplay except for a few mini-game button mashing sequences. The reason I am only giving this game 3 stars, though, is that other parts of the game that contributed to my enjoyment in past versions have been changed or stripped out without reason. The playcalling menus are now harder to use, particularly in terms of substitution packages. You no longer have the ability to train players, making the preseason almost completely pointless and taking a way a fun weekly activity in the game to keep the franchise mode moving forward. Little changes like this may mean nothing to some gamers, but for me make this game less fun and compelling than last year's version. On top of that the presentation has not improved - the game feels rough around the edges, there are bugs, the play-by-play remains terrible, etc. I wish I could return it.

I should note that I do not play online, so this review is not intended as a reflection of that mode. As a single-player experience, Madden 10 is one step forward and three steps back for those who play every year. If you don't have anything to judge it against, it's probably a pretty satisfying football experience. If you own Madden 09 and play primarily single-player, this is a roster update at best. Very frustrating given the strong work that some of the other EA Sports development teams have done with their franchises.

For me, my love/hate issue with Madden has been that it has never produced a game up the the quality presentation of the 2K5 game. I have always complained bitterly that they bought the NFL and ESPN licences and never used them properly. If yo don't believe me, then check my past Madden reviews. After almost 5 iterations on the 360, EA finally sees the light and has produced a good quality game.

Control - You play one Madden, you have played them all nothing new here.

Graphics - Stadiums are rendered nicely as always with great lighting...a little more attention has been paid to the helmet reflections, however most of the faces on the players look busted as always.

Sound - a big improvement on the overall crowd sound as now you can hear individual voices call out during the game....something 2K series has done for years. On the other hand the commentary from Hammond and Collinsworth still sounds (and uses lines) from last year with some of the phrases that repeats (especially the one about the WRs catching the balls in pitch black) but again, I will take this over ESPN radio any day!

Presentation- Kind of a mixed bag but I am liking it more than I hate it. While EA finally gave you a feel like you are watching the game with all of the nice cutaways to the crowd and facts...a few things still needed to be fixed in order for this to be the complete game that 2K5 is.

- Halftime show improvements - Ok ok...yeah we finally got one but how about doing a Chris Berman-esque voice over as the best plays are being replayed...worse yet how about all of the highlights are out of order?

- The pregame show - Thank you for putting it in!!! But guess what EA!! Another 2K5 steal that you dropped the ball on! When showing highlights from other games...SHOW.HIGHLIGHTS.FROM.OTHER.GAMES. if a 6 year old game can show you 1 or 2 plays from another game or even from my own, then you guys should be able to do it too! Also get rid of Alex...I am sure there are more people male or female that can act as if they are in the game better than her!

- I do like the fact that the AI is more active in signing players and making sensible signings, nothing like going thru a whole season and seeing the free agency just be static.

- Ahhh yeah!! before I forget, the tackling animations look a lot more realistic and so far I have seen 4 5 and 6 man tackles. Slightly glitchy in a few spots but otherwise it's a step forward.

- Franchise mode has improved with team actually signing some players that were needed instead of going a whole season with many free agents just sitting static on the FA wire. Also you can't really rob the AI out of trades and draft picks as in earlier versions

Some of the little things that I have seen that makes the game a little more worthwhile:

- the chain gang
- refs getting run over
- refs meeting and confirming the TD
- players being carted off after an injury
- so far 3 different crowd screens
- coaches arguing with refs about penalties
- players clowning around on the sidelines.
- better crowd reaction to plays

** Added **

Gameplay

- To ME...gameplay hasn't changed all that much as far as AI and skill, you are either good at this game or you suck...just my opinion

- There are more varied player animations this time around and thankfully so far not a lot of repeat animations although as perviously mentioned you may get a really funky animation glitch but not so bad as to crash the game

- Accuracy of the stats... it depends on how YOU play the game and the time that you set it for.

- Is there a lot of gang tackling? NO...every tackle is NOT a gamg tackle but you do tend to see more defenders play towards whomever has the ball. It does look more realistic.

- Fight for the Fumble...i have only had it occur exactly 2 times...cheap...and arcadey and I believe actually, you can turn it off.

- In game ticker: Nothing makes you play a little harder than seeing how well other teams are doing throughout the course of your game...it's till not here EA...fix this!!!

So, really this isn't the year to be skeptical. It's improved a lot over the last 2 iterations but still has a few more steps now to go before it completely makes me forget about 2K5.

And actually, when all is said and done, it's really sad when you still can compare a new football game with a game that is 6 years old and last gen.
On a larger scale of 1 to 10 I would give this an 8.

Addenum: Buying cheats? EA...bad move...

Will I have to buy Michael Vick too?

but I did anyway. Every year the Madden hype machine gets to me and I go and buy the game. I loved it on the XBOX, and I kind of enjoyed Madden 2008 on the XBOX 360. Sure, Madden 2008 was full of glitches, but showed lots of promise and was lots of fun to play. I figured the 20th anniversary 2009 version was going to fix the major bugs and be the best Madden yet. Instead, there were even more bugs and major bugs from 2008 weren't even fixed.

After a playing 2009 for a while and having played every Madden gaming since 1994, I finally realized that EA Sports was not focusing on the gameplay, but on adding snazy features and improving the graphics and animations. And not only were they no focusing on the gameplay, but they were totally neglecting it. The other day at work, we lost power and had a half day, so I figured that it was the perfect time to go get Madden 2010 even though I promised myself I wouldn't buy it. And wouldn't you know, the gameplay is even worse this year. They added fight for a fumlbe, which is idiotic, and lots of annoying cut scenes that can't be skipped. Hopefully I will remember this and not buy the Madden 2011 version because Madden is officially done.

this is the first madden i've bought for three years, but i have played the other ones with friends. this is definitely the best Madden i've played.

PROS:

Controls --- Great controls, just needs 2 or 3 games to fully master

Presentation --- the new pro-tak system is great, but it is kind of hard to understand how one running back could get by nine huge fullbacks shoving at him at the same time. new "fight for the fumble" mode is fun to use. the Animations are stellar, and the new lighting effects are great too, with shadows being projected onto other players.

"Everything you would see on sunday" --- it really is cool,it feels like you're actually watching a sunday afternoon football game. the fans are much more into this game.

Co-op --- a lot of fun to play with one of your buddies. My only complaint is that co-op can only hold two players. i do not think that "not wanting to screw up our first time doing this, we only added two player support for co-op" is a valid excuse, but it's still fun.

Gameplay --- pretty much the same as Madden 09, a few tweaks here and there, it's still great. the hit stick only adds more and more fun as they add new things onto it.

CONS:

The Extra Point --- a cool little feature, but doesn't really add onto the game.

Commentating --- one of the worst things about this game. Chris Collinsworth at least tries to do well at commentating the game, but the other commentators are absolutely horrible. it sounds like EA brought in a version of Microsoft Sam and just used that as their commentator. the commentating has never been THAT great in any sports game, but it's never been this BAD either.

Do not expect this to blow your mind. it's still same old madden with a few changes, but it still has a lot of the same problems. they took away all those brand new things, like that little Madden 09 skills test you took at the beginning of the game. they went straight back to the basics. it's not so much a bad thing, but i'd like to see them take a risk but perform well with it.

now, you may be thinking "Hey, this review is baloney! he only had two complaints about it and he only gave it three stars!" but there is one thing that really, really, ticked me off about this game. EA has been bragging about their new online franchise mode and how great it is. i'm sure it would be pretty fun. too bad i haven't played it. do you want to know why? because it costs MONEY. it says on the back cover, talking about the new online franchise mode, and its not even an actual PART of the game until you buy it. that, quite frankly, is RIDICULOUS. i pay enough as it is to buy these games, but no, they have to add on an extra 10 bucks or so. EA must be losing a lot of money (which i believe they actually are). well, now they're going to start losing a lot more money this year with their new money buyout scheme. Online franchise isn't the only thing you have to buy. if you want your player or team to rank up quicker on a harder mode, you can buy an upgrade, a dollar PER PLAYER, to get your team or superstar to rank up quicker. that's, well, no comment.

this game is pretty fun, but, unless you have that extra 10-20 dollars, it won't be worth as much to you. overall, it was a big leg up from last year, but still not as good as it should be.

The Good
-Slow down was needed, nice to have real pace of game again and need to have time to throw to your recievers
-New presentation is nice, but still needs work, but is a nice added bonus anyway
-Nice graphics/sound
-Good game play
-Injuries are nice, players hold parts that are injured, you can choose to play them based on the injury but risk injuring them further, I had a career ending injury due to a cracked disc, pretty cool

The bad
-Gang tackling is iffy, you run up to a pile and dive passed it, only here and there do you get in on the pile, I want it to where I can come in and either smash the guy and push the pile or at least jump on top of it

-The captain can be chosen but it is random on who goes up to the coin toss, sometimes it isn't even the captains you choose, the captain indicators don't show up in game while playing

- The halftime shows of 2k5 had highlights from other games, why can't madden do it? How about we change it up with significant injury news or trades or something?

- AI seems weird, you have a great, competitive game the 1st half, the 2nd half the computer comes out of the locker room and you blow them away

- Lets get some real voices in here? The voices they use are stupid

- Instant replay - don't break a big one, you won't see it all..

- No more training players, kind of good, kind of bad, would like to be able to increase player attributes in training though

Overall, while it seems the game is bad, EA has taken a good step in the right direction. I just wish they would clean it up a little more. The added half time shows and presentation goodies have added a lot though, which is very appreciated

For the past two years, my brother and I had owned a Nintendo Wii. Though I no longer have time for video games, one franchise that always captures both my time and imagination is the Madden series, having been a devoted football fan and game-purchaser since Madden '97 for the Super Nintendo. However, my brother and I were so severely disappointed with the cartoonish presented of Nintendo's Madden 10 that we made the decision to switch over to the XBOX 360. In terms of this game, we were blown away.

Put very simply, Madden 10 for the XBOX 360 is the best presentation of Madden football ever yet created. The gameplay is smooth, the graphics are incredible, and even the mini-games and presentation are exactly what Madden gamers want...starkly realistic, yet incredibly fun.

Basically, then (although I cannot speak for the Playstation 3 edition), this newest installment in the Madden franchise is now the new benchmark from which all other versions will be judged. Don't waste your time on the cartoonish Wii version...if you want real football, this is the place to get it!

Similar to my review of NCAA College Basketball 09, I have a Love/Hate relationship with this game. See, I've never played a Madden game in my life. I know. And thinking I can just read the little flyer of an instruction booklet to be able to figure out how to play this game is a bit naive. It's quite a bit more complicated than you think.

1st thing you'll notice when you plop in the disk: This is a beautiful looking game. Really. It's truely a beauty to see. And at first glance, it appears very Polished. The cut-scenes are seamless, the full NFL GameDay experience can really fool you, the realistic weather, the animations, graphics, the voice-overs, the music, crowd noise, the jeers and cheers. It's all there, and it's fantastic to experience. Want to watch a replay? See where you actually had a guy open you just didn't see him because everything was moving so fast? While in replay mode, you can pause and move the camera around in the entire 3-D field. Watch the long pass from the front/side/back - even hovering above the players. It was a blast to watch my Hail Mary pass fly thru the air, fall short of the intended receiver, hit the defender instead, but then bounce off him and a secondary receiver in the vacinity make it over in time to pick it out of the air before it hits the ground and score a touchdown while rolling on the ground when he caught the ball. Amazing stuff.

As a casual player, you'll be mesmerized by this game. It's that great.

The polish starts to look a little less shiny though when you play the game longer and dive into the deeper play of the game. Some little things that stand out for me:

1. You can save highlight videos to remember those great plays. Even upload them to the web under an your xbox account. The problem is, these highlights are from static camera angles, not from the 3-D view like in the instant replay. Halo 3 let me record my own highlight videos from the 3d world (any angle), but not in Madden 10. That great catch sometimes just doesn't look all the great from the camera angles you get to choose from. And the highlight video will often start a little late in the play, sometimes missing something great.

2. The voice-overs are often wrong. I had Madden himself tell me to choose a specific defensive play that was available on the "Madden Recommends" option. I chose it, and the offence scored a touchdown on me. Then Madden says that I should have chosen a different defensive play, and I really read the offense wrong. I learned to ignore him after that.

3. Several of the cut-scenes can't be skipped (measure for first-down, discuss whether it was a touchdown, etc), while during the half-time show, you have to sit there and repeated press the A button for several seconds to get passed it all.

4. The manual is pretty barebones, and you almost need to scavange the net to find out what half the stuff means. When looking at the available plays, what's the white lines vs the blue vs the orange mean? Why would you not always want to sprint when you have the ball? What's a Juke, and when would I use it vs a spin? What's the difference between online and offline franchise? Do I only do an online franchise if I want to play against Internet users? How does the recruiting, the free-agency, the draft, salary caps, etc work? Only a few of the questions I had (some are still unanswered).

5. Online Franchise is great in that you don't have to play against other online players (you can play by yourself just like an offline Franchise), but you get to use your computer to research which players to trade. Much faster (IMO) to use the mouse than the clumsy controller trying to navigate thru the various teams, positions, players, statistics, trade options, etc. The problem though, is that it's not complete. The website shows BETA at the top, and there's several things you just can't do from the website, that you need to go back and do from the console.

6. And just like NCAA Basketball 09, I'm not the smartest when it comes to X's and O's. When should I blitz vs Man-to-Man vs Zone. And I still can't tell the difference between half the plays in my playbook. So many look pretty much the same to me.

7. There are some areas in the game that cost real money. Yes, you read that correctly. REAL money. While playing a game, there's an option to Boost Stats. I wasn't sure if this meant that the more games I play, I get the option to boost stats on various players as I accumulate wins or something. Nope. It means, for REAL money, you can increase your players stats. What? Want to change your teams jerseys to old-style jerseys? REAL money. Want to learn more about people you're interested in drafting? REAL money. I just don't get it. I almost feel ripped off sometimes, like I bought the "lite" version for $60.

When it's all said and done though, this game is a blast. And the little complaints I have don't really take away too much from the game. Alot of them just come from never having played a Madden game before. I'm sure I'll be playing this well thruout the year.

First some background. Just skip to get to Madden 10 review.
Ok, so I will start out saying that I bought every madden up until 06. That year I bought 2. One for the xbox, and one for the 360.
They changed the audible from Y, your player, route, to b, b, b, b, until you get to your player, then your route. On the xbox, I could changed 5 guys routes in a couple of seconds, then on the 360 for the exact same stupid game, it would take like 10. So, now I just rent each madden until I realize that they didn't do anything new, and the few things they did do are stupid. Player weapons and smart weapons anyone? So, this week, I am going to tell my HB to be fast, and next week, I will tell him to be agile. So, KUDOS EA for getting rid of that turd! So, I have been renting ever since. I play one season, and take it back. Good job EA! Instead of $240 in game purchase, I have spent 10 bucks in rentals.

Cons:
Why in superstar mode do I have to deal with being forced with the stupid camera angles and not being able to manipulate any other people on offense or D?

The protak just sucks. Your guys still bounce off of a ballcarrier. Nothing like watching your ROLB grabbing a HB and then you bring your FS up to finish him off only to watch your FS bounce off both of them and then the HB shed your LB.

As always, a little running back will plow over your D-line and MLB while a your FB will get clobbered by a corner. I actually had a kicker level my HB on a return.

Why do people add worthless crap like the Extra Point show. Who the heck cares about league scores. Heck, who cares to see the current game highlights, I just played it. Sure it was cool in game 1, but by game 2 you just want it to stop.

Let's Measure this one! Really! I HAVE to watch the officials measure the ball! I HAVE to watch them discuss if it was a TD or not. I really CAN'T skip any of this.

I got called for a holding 3 times in a row on a FG until I was out of range. I also got called for holding at the end of 2 seperate games when kicking a FG for the win, so time expired and I lost. I only got called for holding one other time. So, 5 out of 6 times just happened to be at inopportune moments.

Somehow, the return team always knows if you are kicking left or right. HMMMMMMMMMMMMM

If you kick onside and they are in a normal return, they audible to an onside and you have to wait. If they kick an onside, you can audible and they kick right away.

Your O-Line throws some awesome lookout blocks.

Audibles. I can't swap my run to the left or right, only my entire play. Of course my WR on the left and right are to stupid to run each others routes, they have to slowly jog to the other side of the field so i get a Delay of Game penalty.

I can't hit up or down on the right stick to jump a run or pass.

Why can't I play franchise with my own created player (not in superstar mode). I don't have to be able to play with him online, but it would be nice if me and my buddy could play each other with our own players, or even if I could do it myself.

It is sad how the play select works. I have 12 buttons on my 360 controller including the L and R clicks. Take out start for menu and B to get back, and I can select between 10 plays at once. Why oh why do I have to look at 3 at a time.

Lead Blocker. This was an awesome tool, however, it shouldn't have been. Why can't anybody freaking block in this game. Just b/c I have it on madden doesn't mean that my line, TE, and FB can't block now, does it? Sick of watching my O run right by guys and not even slowing down to get in their way. On a screen, your guys will run straight to the sideline past the most outside D player. REALLY MADDEN!!!!! YOU CAN'T FIX THIS, BUT YOU CAN GIVE US THE EXTRA POINT SHOW!

There are more things, but hopefully that drives the point home.

Pros:
As stated in my background, I do like that the audible system isn't as atrocious as it used to be, and they have been in for a while, but the smart routes feature is great.

If you just want to play some football and haven't played madden before, you will probably like it. If you have played madden before, you will wonder why it (GAMEPLAY) really hasn't changed in a decade.

In summary:
EA and all other companies.
No one cares about graphics and neato frito junk if you are sacrificing gameplay!

it is so awesome i love how they do the extra halftime report and how it does the highlights. i can not believe how you can save highlights.it is so cool how you can do madden moments.once there was 4 seconds left in the game the other teams ball and it was 42-42 and they threw it and i intercepted it and ran it for a touchdown and i won 49-42. (review written by our 9 year old son)