Friday, December 18, 2009

Is Madden NFL 10 the Best in the Series?

By Jay Cooper

The Madden NFL 10 game is more realistic and enjoyable and has many good and bad features that have been setbacks in the entire series. The Pro-Tak is wonderful as advertised and adds to the glamor quotient while the realistic feature is complete with the ball passing. Besides, the streamlined menu is easy to navigate and the online franchises are a great addition. But the AI defense system is very inconsistent and needs a lot of improvement while the down-field run blocking needs refinement. On the referee cut scenes is too often and could have been kept to a little extent. Plus, when it comes to the commentary, which in the previous maddens needs a lot of improvement. They fixed most bugs and problems in madden 10.

The game play's tweaks are evident in both their online and offline versions. As advertised the Pro-Tak works realistically. The way the players struggle to pull down the ball carrier makes it look like a real fight. This game also seems like having a poor form of down field blocking because it has a method of preventing too many breakaways.

All this cause many setbacks which incidentally happens in the real NFL but since it happens more often here, it makes it more artificial and unreasonable. The other setbacks are the AI defense inconsistencies and turnovers. In most it seems like the AI analysis on what. In spite of this, the pass defense is realistic and good.

Compared to other versions the fatigue factor plays a more significant role. When the star player is constantly targeted and the balls are aimed at him, he goes down sooner. Another feature is the unfortunate punishments given for repeated play calling due to injuries. Overall, the look and feel of the game is much refined and the improvements in finer details like the players models are easily noticeable.

The finer details like the patches and the presentation adds to the broadcast TV feel. At times, for no reason the fans show their backs to the players and there is slight visual distortion for a few seconds when the game starts because of the focus on the depth of the field. The weakest part is the commentary. While Chris Collinsworth has made some good effort his play by play man Tom Hammond is very weak in commentary, often giving bland comments and destroying the essence of interest.

One clearly understands that EA wants to go down to fundamental basics of the game with Madden NFL 10 and has tried many constructive changes.

It's clear that EA aims to get back to fundamentals of the game with Madden NFL 10 and with this as context has made many changes that seem constructive and good. The running game looks good and the passing game feels much more improved than previous versions. The Pro-Tak system and the online franchises are good reasons why anyone should involve in this year's game. The new co-option which lets two players play is another great feature. But the camera and positioning needs improvement. Also setbacks like the inconsistencies in the AI defenses needs attention. In spite of all this, Madden 10 is not a bad game but a little more tweaking could have made this the best game ever played.

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