Madden NFL 10 (Xbox 360)
Madden is Madden is Madden.
8/13/2009 3:26 PM | 14 Comments | Page 1 of 2
What's Hot: Wow, this game looks just like NFL on TV!
What's Not: Wow, this game looks just like NFL on TV!
Madden NFL 10 does not need a review.
If you have been conditioned over the past 20 years to salivate at the ringing sounds of the word "Madden," then you are already going "woooooooo!" at the thudding of
Madden 10 hitting the store shelves. This guttural vocalization of pure joy translates, roughly, into:
"Honey, that videogame night with the guys is back on! The new version has the PRO-TAK tackling system and new signature QB throwing styles, they've rethought how the pocket should work, and I can manage my franchise online now, including with my iPhone. I have to do it, because I don't want to let the fellows down."
Remember when they actually put John Madden on the cover of Madden? Yeah, us neither.
Whether you love the game or simply feel indifferent about it, the one thing you can say about the annual release of Madden is that it is simply Madden.
And that means that, whatever mad drunk money EA is still making from the game, it's not enough to induce Caligula fantasies of burning up something people like. Sure, the developer can ship review guides to journalists detailing the 70-odd new features they wedged into the game with all the love of an insect collector talking about the tiger beetles he has pinned in boxes under his bed.
You can talk about all the awesome new features, the new animation blending and "fight for the fumble" button-mashing mini-games; you can extol the game-changing stats, like new quarterback ratings and an overhaul of all player performance figures; and all I see is Madden. Because Madden is about what the game stands for, not about the bullet list of enhancements touted on the packaging.
This is the psychology of the sports fan. It might help explain why I am still a Broncos fan, and why I am drawn, like a sports fan to the beer line, back to pretending to do something that I will soon do in real life -- watch my team slowly fall apart over a brutal NFL season.
Something I have always wondered: Who makes these screenshots? I mean, honestly, do you think I want to look at Eddie Royal's butt?
I like the idea of being a football fan far more than the soul-crushing reality of watching my home team attempt to rebuild its dynasty.
Who knows whether my Broncos will actually be 2-2 facing the New England Patriots on an upcoming cool October afternoon? In the middle of a summer heat, it's easy to forget that these aren't the real Broncos. It sure seems like them. I'm staring at my television and the boys in orange and blue are losing and I can't seem to stop the points from bleeding onto the scoreboard. With the controller gripped tightly in my hands, eyes flicking from the play clock to the defensive formation, I'm wondering if I should throw on the strong side, or hit that tight end on the slant; my mind is whirring with the real-time chess game of play calling, thinking that maybe I should pass in a short-yardage situation, just to throw off the other guy, or maybe it would make more sense to grind out the easy yards my backs reliably produce, old-school, smash-mouth.
Want to know what's new in Madden this year? Two players on the cover. That's right, TWO!
And in the back of my head is that Madden debate: Should I lower the difficulty to give my team a chance? I know the odds makers are telling me the Broncos are an 8-8 team, but with a little boost of a slower, dumber computer opponent, they might sneak into the playoffs. But would that be fair? I mean, is this a game about football or is this a game of football? Do I control my team's destiny, or is it my obligation to suffer through the destiny fate has rolled for it?
Madden's creep toward realism only makes this conundrum more urgent. This year they allow for gang tackles of up to nine players! They've tweaked the player physics, so it feels even more real to try to cut back into an emerging gap. The game has speeded up and it just seems right, matching the pace of what I see on TV. I mean, they added guys to the chain gang to make it look right. They've turned the mantra "everything you see on Sunday is in the game" into a developer religion. And I feel a certain obligation to toe the realism line through my play calling, through my draft selections, through my dedication to my little pretend Broncos team.
