The Madden franchise is back for its third run on the Xbox 360. After one completely lackluster effort in 2006 and a decent improvement in 2007, Madden has come back strong with its best effort to date on the next generation systems. While it's definitely the best of the three versions, it is not without some problems that will need fixing in upcoming versions. Without further delay, let's dive in.
Presentation (Non-game)
The opening video that greets you is an excellent one, which is a mixture of real video from NFL Films as well as shots of the games. It's an eye grabber to show off some of the new tackle animations that you'll enjoy when playing the game, but more on those later.
After going through the opening sequence, you're asked the typical question of which team is your favorite so you can customize your look. Seeing as how I'm a Bears fan, going into the main menu shows off videos of the Bears from last season. Unfortunately, it also reminded of the Super Bowl loss they suffered last year since it showed clips from that game. Curse you, Peyton Manning....
Along with the videos of your favorite team being shown, there is a large platform that has multiple rings on it at different levels. These rings will show up as a blue transparent ring at first, but as you continue to play the game and accumulate skill points, these rings will fill up as a reward system to show how good you are. This is one thing that EA and Tiburon has always been good at, although I'm a little surprised that they also have a ring like this for the CPU. I'm not sure why they did this, but I guess they want to have you push yourself to move up in case the CPU actually moves ahead of you in points.
The menu system is just like the past versions of Next-Gen Madden. The tabbed menu system is easy to navigate, which is something that EA and Tiburon should never go away from. Of course, you will be able to access all the features, game modes, online, and everything else from this primary menu. While you're accessing the menu system, EA has assembled a pretty good collection of music to play for some extra entertainment, known as "EA TRAX", which includes some tracks from NFL Films remixed a bit, but also some bigger bands such as Shadows Fall, which you may recognize from the Guitar Hero series. The only negative with the EA Trax is that you can only access the playlist from the main menu and not in any of the sub-menus.
In-game Experience
Of course, this is the part that makes or breaks every sports game. Tiburon has beefed up the gameplay this year by doing what is known as the Read and React System, or also known as "The Weapons System". We'll come back to that in a little bit, because the system includes some positives and negatives to the gameplay. We'll focus primarily on the positives to start.
First off, as I previously mentioned, the tackling animations are vastly improved. Tiburon went back to the drawing board and added plenty of animations to improve gameplay. Most of this is a result of the new and improved Hit Stick. In past versions, the hit stick was designed to be a timing system where you could attempt to deliver a crushing blow to a ball carrier in the hopes of jarring the ball loose. However, the past versions of the hit stick resulted in a lot of mis-timed hits and was usually offset by the highlight stick. In an effort to give an advantage back to the defense, the hit stick has been redesigned to allow a player to decide whether to hit a ball carrier high or low. So, now when you face a running back who has the ability to "truck" someone in an effort to break a tackle, you can hit them low with the new Hit Stick, which can send a ball carrier into the air and create a mid-air collision with other defenders.
Speaking of the Highlight Stick, it doesn't seem that Tiburon changed much with this, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Highlight Stick works very well in order to do your jukes and trucks. It takes good timing to offset the hit stick, but Madden veterans shouldn't have too much of a problem adjusting to it. If you're just getting started with the franchise, there is a bit of a learning curve for both specialty sticks, but it doesn't take long to really get the hang of it.
The gameplay itself runs very smoothly. There aren't any framerate issues this time around, and players take more direct routes instead of the goofy looping motion that I have seen in a couple of the past versions. Juking, trucking, and the wild catches are all captured extremely well and seem to be quite fluid, although there are some wild movements when it comes to running backs spinning out of tackles or just breaking tackles in general.
The overall challenge of the game is very good. You must be able to audible when needed as well as check down to hot routes, call for a running back to stay in and block. Going online, you should be even better, because some people play this game a lot, and they are going to stomp you into the ground if you aren't.
The look of the stadiums has been brushed up to look even better than years past. Skylines are rampant when needed, such as the Chicago Skyline when you are playing at Soldier Field. Seattle's skyline looks even better when playing against the Seahawks at home. As for inside the stadium, it seems that layouts are picture perfect, as they were with NCAA Football. Fans are no longer cardboard cutouts, although it seems that they like to stand up and wave their arms at completely random times, even when the opposing team has a big gain.
Then we come to the Weapons System. This is a double-edged sword, if you ask me. Here's how it works. Any player who rates over a 90 in any important individual rating will receive a weapon ability. For instance, Devin Hester has acquired the coveted 100 rating in speed, so he gets the Speed Burst ability. Many of the weapons attributes make sense, such as Big Hitter, Brick Wall Defender, and Trucking ability. I wouldn't go as far as to call it innovative, because APF 2k8 did the exact same thing. It makes you wonder who beat who to the punch on this one.
Now we get to the negatives, and I'm going to attack one primary ability in the Weapons System: The "Smart" ability. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm a football purist, but EA gets a little too creative for their own good. The "Smart" ability falls onto three positions, which are the quarterback, linebacker, and cornerback positions. When your meter fills up, which is underneath the player with the ability, it allows you to see the play that the opponent is running. If you're a quarterback with this ability, you will see the entire coverage. If you're a linebacker with this, you will see the interior play, while a cornerback will see the passing routes.
Plain and simple, I hate this ability, for two reasons. First, it takes away from the "surprise" aspect of the game. Being able to see someone's exact play isn't exactly fun, if you ask me. I want to see just how good I am in defending a play or picking apart a defense. Secondly, there seems to be absolutely no criteria when it comes to the meter erasing. If you got a single use out of it, I would be okay with this. However, I played a game online and the person I went up against had the New England Patriots, who has Tom Brady and Tedy Bruschi, both of whom have the ability. I counted 13 straight plays where Bruschi could read my offense and 14 straight plays where Brady was allowed to read the defense. Mixed in with these plays were various results that went for my team, like a sack of Brady or a first down for my offense. If you're going to have an ability like this, you need to limit it.
Moving along, you are going to get sick of fumbling. It doesn't seem to matter what difficulty you're on, how good your running back is, or how many times you cover up the ball. You are going to fumble a guaranteed three times a game. That has been my lowest number in about 20 played games. The highest I've seen? 15 fumbles, seven of which I had. That's not fun....that's frustrating, especially when it wasn't even raining in the game.
To add onto this, it is far too easy to draw the AI offsides. In these games I've played, the lowest amount I've pulled a defender offsides with a fake hike is nine, with my highest being sixteen. Unfortunately, you are forced to do the fake hikes because the AI is ridiculously good at jumping the snap count. It makes running the ball a bit of a pain, which absolutely forces you to have quick reflexes with the Highlight Stick.
Speaking of the AI, it's still somewhat predictable, although it has gotten better. The AI still makes some pretty dumb play calls, like a 3rd and 25 HB Dive, for instance. Also, I could absolutely abuse slant routes at any level with a mediocre quarterback. I almost missed one pass in the single game I played with the Colts and Peyton manning. Most of my games were played as the Bears, and Grossman can throw, but I shouldn't be able to tee off on the same route over and over again. Also, defensive players are almost superhuman, and I'm not even kidding. Some players seem to gain a ridiculous burst of speed when rushing the quarterback, while some defensive backs can jump about twice their height into the air to swat a pass and, sometimes, move so quick that it's almost like they teleport. These glitches need to stop, because it really takes away from the game.
Another small gripe is, again, pointed at the AI. EA Sports has claimed for years that it has never used "Catch-up AI" in its games, but it's a little too obvious in this game that there are still signs of it. It's not as bad as years past, and it seems to go away when you up the difficulty. Leaving it on Pro level is just asking for a cussing session at the end. I was up 35-7 in one of my first games, and just barely eeked out a win by four points. My sure-handed running backs all of a sudden developed fumble fingers, and my precision passing suddenly went to hell as I threw two interceptions that weren't even close.
Now, here's the last negative I've seen with the gameplay. Many people have talked about how the game does some little glitches from time to time, causing some completely random movements. I have experienced the "moonwalk" glitch, where your quarterback takes the snap and suddenly decides to do his best Michael Jackson impersonation. On top of this glitch, I have had a few different instances where I've hit receivers on different "out" routes and, magically, the ball bounces off of their hands and straight into the defensive back that is covering them. Amazingly enough, I found a couple of great videos of someone else who experienced these on YouTube, with the examples linked here, here, and here.
While it seems like I ripped apart the gameplay, these glitches don't happen all the time, although it seems to happen at the absolute worst possible point that you can imagine. The Weapons System is going to be a love/hate relationship with players. You're either going to love it or you're going to hate it. I've had my time to voice my opinion about it. Get rid of the "Smart" ability or at least tone it down, and I'm a fan of it.
Features and Modes
There won't be many negatives to talk about here. Playing offline, this game is absolutely top-notch. The newly revamped Superstar mode has gotten a big facelift, and it was much needed after last year's headaches with the position specific camera angles. EA realized that, sometimes, it's just best to give you one specific player and keep the same angle. It works out much, much better, especially since you can import your Campus Legend from NCAA over to Madden to give yourself an even better experience.
Just like last year, there are mini-games that you'll have to go through in order to improve your player. The 40 yard dash, bench press, and position specific drills are all back this year. Most of these aren't too difficult to go through, although some of the position drills are absolutely brutal on All-Madden difficulty.
I went through about a season and a half with my imported Campus Legend and had a lot of fun with it. You have to choose an agent, go through interviews, take the Wonderlic test, and eventually, you are drafted to a team. In order to keep current rookies on their necessary teams, you aren't really given a round or position that you were drafted in. You are simply placed on a team and it tells you that they drafted you. Simple, but it's effective.
Depending on how you do interviews and whether or not you decide to keep your mouth shut (Going to the agent's office can be a lot of fun), this is how your coaches and fans will perceive you. I pretty much kept quiet with my own superstar, and the result was the same five boring e-mails through each week. It never failed: One from my superstar's mother, one from a superfan, one from the head coach saying how professional I was, and two from a position coach telling me to be careful. The subjects were the same, the bodies were the same, everything was the same. Can we get a little variety here please?
I haven't gotten far enough to see what happens when your contract runs out, so I didn't get a chance to review any type of free agent bidding on my player. You can, however, demand a trade, which may or may not work, and it really ticks off your coaches and fans. Want to have a set of people turn on you in a heartbeat? Complain about the coaches or demand a trade, and watch your popularity fall like Britney Spears' singing career.
If this game stopped at Superstar mode, it would still be a rousing success. However, Madden has always prided itself on its full season modes, and this year is absolutely no different with the Franchise mode, complete with the ridiculously deep Front Office options. In Franchise mode, you will be able to do everything you want, from upgrading the stadium (no true visual changes happen) to moving a team if you truly feel like it. Want to be a sadistic **** and move the Browns out of Cleveland again? Go ahead, but don't be shocked when Big Dawg pounds your door down and beats you to death with a bone.
Of course, Franchise mode is all about going through multiple seasons, managing your players, and making sure your team thrives. You will have to perform well, because that Salary Cap can be a bit tricky to manage. I thought I was doing well with my first year, signing a few players to long term contracts that would bring my cap to a manageable level, but I was shocked to find out that I was about ten million over the cap going into the offseason. Of course, you can turn the Salary Cap off, but what fun is that?
Online is somewhat thin, but you won't be short with people to play. You can jump right into a quick match and let the system find you a player to go against, or you can make your own guidelines and criteria to filter out the "bad" players that like to disconnect if they are losing. My sessions online, however, have been a mixed bag. It's been well noted on this website that I've run into multiple bad sessions with players who love to scream into my earpiece or constantly swear and cuss at me to get me rattled. I've had maybe two good sessions online, and I'm more than content with hitting the mute button and turning down the volume.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Madden has plenty of positives to bring its fans back to the gridiron. The casual fan may have a tough time picking this one up and just having a quick session because there is far more that is needed knowledge wise to succeed at this game. EA and Tiburon has seemingly gone away from the casual "pick up and play" gamer and geared their game more towards the hardcore fan. This isn't a bad thing, since there are plenty of hardcore Madden gamers out there, but the learning curve seems to get steeper as each year passes, which could filter out more people coming into the franchise for their first run.
All in all, this is one that fans of the series should enjoy. It gets better each year, but there are always issues that seem to hold it back from getting over the hump. NCAA seems to be a more polished product this time around, and APF beats out Madden in the gameplay aspect, in my own opinion. However, Madden's ridiculously deep Superstar and Franchise modes blow away APF. If only I could merge the two into one incredible game.....
Scores/Ratings
Presentation
Overall, the presentation is very good. Simple menus, slick backgrounds, and good looking graphics all around make this Madden one to stick out on your HDTVs.
Score: 8/10
Gameplay
A mixture of positives and negatives, you should enjoy your experience overall, but not without a fair share of headaches. The Weapons System is a good start, but it almost makes the game too arcadey.
Score: 8.2/10
Features and Modes
Franchise and Superstar are absolutely a treat to play and will keep you enthralled for hours upon hours. Online still doesn't have online leagues, but you will not be short of competition.
Score: 9/10
Final Score: 8.3/10
Presentation (Non-game)
The opening video that greets you is an excellent one, which is a mixture of real video from NFL Films as well as shots of the games. It's an eye grabber to show off some of the new tackle animations that you'll enjoy when playing the game, but more on those later.
After going through the opening sequence, you're asked the typical question of which team is your favorite so you can customize your look. Seeing as how I'm a Bears fan, going into the main menu shows off videos of the Bears from last season. Unfortunately, it also reminded of the Super Bowl loss they suffered last year since it showed clips from that game. Curse you, Peyton Manning....
Along with the videos of your favorite team being shown, there is a large platform that has multiple rings on it at different levels. These rings will show up as a blue transparent ring at first, but as you continue to play the game and accumulate skill points, these rings will fill up as a reward system to show how good you are. This is one thing that EA and Tiburon has always been good at, although I'm a little surprised that they also have a ring like this for the CPU. I'm not sure why they did this, but I guess they want to have you push yourself to move up in case the CPU actually moves ahead of you in points.
The menu system is just like the past versions of Next-Gen Madden. The tabbed menu system is easy to navigate, which is something that EA and Tiburon should never go away from. Of course, you will be able to access all the features, game modes, online, and everything else from this primary menu. While you're accessing the menu system, EA has assembled a pretty good collection of music to play for some extra entertainment, known as "EA TRAX", which includes some tracks from NFL Films remixed a bit, but also some bigger bands such as Shadows Fall, which you may recognize from the Guitar Hero series. The only negative with the EA Trax is that you can only access the playlist from the main menu and not in any of the sub-menus.
In-game Experience
Of course, this is the part that makes or breaks every sports game. Tiburon has beefed up the gameplay this year by doing what is known as the Read and React System, or also known as "The Weapons System". We'll come back to that in a little bit, because the system includes some positives and negatives to the gameplay. We'll focus primarily on the positives to start.
First off, as I previously mentioned, the tackling animations are vastly improved. Tiburon went back to the drawing board and added plenty of animations to improve gameplay. Most of this is a result of the new and improved Hit Stick. In past versions, the hit stick was designed to be a timing system where you could attempt to deliver a crushing blow to a ball carrier in the hopes of jarring the ball loose. However, the past versions of the hit stick resulted in a lot of mis-timed hits and was usually offset by the highlight stick. In an effort to give an advantage back to the defense, the hit stick has been redesigned to allow a player to decide whether to hit a ball carrier high or low. So, now when you face a running back who has the ability to "truck" someone in an effort to break a tackle, you can hit them low with the new Hit Stick, which can send a ball carrier into the air and create a mid-air collision with other defenders.
Speaking of the Highlight Stick, it doesn't seem that Tiburon changed much with this, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Highlight Stick works very well in order to do your jukes and trucks. It takes good timing to offset the hit stick, but Madden veterans shouldn't have too much of a problem adjusting to it. If you're just getting started with the franchise, there is a bit of a learning curve for both specialty sticks, but it doesn't take long to really get the hang of it.
The gameplay itself runs very smoothly. There aren't any framerate issues this time around, and players take more direct routes instead of the goofy looping motion that I have seen in a couple of the past versions. Juking, trucking, and the wild catches are all captured extremely well and seem to be quite fluid, although there are some wild movements when it comes to running backs spinning out of tackles or just breaking tackles in general.
The overall challenge of the game is very good. You must be able to audible when needed as well as check down to hot routes, call for a running back to stay in and block. Going online, you should be even better, because some people play this game a lot, and they are going to stomp you into the ground if you aren't.
The look of the stadiums has been brushed up to look even better than years past. Skylines are rampant when needed, such as the Chicago Skyline when you are playing at Soldier Field. Seattle's skyline looks even better when playing against the Seahawks at home. As for inside the stadium, it seems that layouts are picture perfect, as they were with NCAA Football. Fans are no longer cardboard cutouts, although it seems that they like to stand up and wave their arms at completely random times, even when the opposing team has a big gain.
Then we come to the Weapons System. This is a double-edged sword, if you ask me. Here's how it works. Any player who rates over a 90 in any important individual rating will receive a weapon ability. For instance, Devin Hester has acquired the coveted 100 rating in speed, so he gets the Speed Burst ability. Many of the weapons attributes make sense, such as Big Hitter, Brick Wall Defender, and Trucking ability. I wouldn't go as far as to call it innovative, because APF 2k8 did the exact same thing. It makes you wonder who beat who to the punch on this one.
Now we get to the negatives, and I'm going to attack one primary ability in the Weapons System: The "Smart" ability. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm a football purist, but EA gets a little too creative for their own good. The "Smart" ability falls onto three positions, which are the quarterback, linebacker, and cornerback positions. When your meter fills up, which is underneath the player with the ability, it allows you to see the play that the opponent is running. If you're a quarterback with this ability, you will see the entire coverage. If you're a linebacker with this, you will see the interior play, while a cornerback will see the passing routes.
Plain and simple, I hate this ability, for two reasons. First, it takes away from the "surprise" aspect of the game. Being able to see someone's exact play isn't exactly fun, if you ask me. I want to see just how good I am in defending a play or picking apart a defense. Secondly, there seems to be absolutely no criteria when it comes to the meter erasing. If you got a single use out of it, I would be okay with this. However, I played a game online and the person I went up against had the New England Patriots, who has Tom Brady and Tedy Bruschi, both of whom have the ability. I counted 13 straight plays where Bruschi could read my offense and 14 straight plays where Brady was allowed to read the defense. Mixed in with these plays were various results that went for my team, like a sack of Brady or a first down for my offense. If you're going to have an ability like this, you need to limit it.
Moving along, you are going to get sick of fumbling. It doesn't seem to matter what difficulty you're on, how good your running back is, or how many times you cover up the ball. You are going to fumble a guaranteed three times a game. That has been my lowest number in about 20 played games. The highest I've seen? 15 fumbles, seven of which I had. That's not fun....that's frustrating, especially when it wasn't even raining in the game.
To add onto this, it is far too easy to draw the AI offsides. In these games I've played, the lowest amount I've pulled a defender offsides with a fake hike is nine, with my highest being sixteen. Unfortunately, you are forced to do the fake hikes because the AI is ridiculously good at jumping the snap count. It makes running the ball a bit of a pain, which absolutely forces you to have quick reflexes with the Highlight Stick.
Speaking of the AI, it's still somewhat predictable, although it has gotten better. The AI still makes some pretty dumb play calls, like a 3rd and 25 HB Dive, for instance. Also, I could absolutely abuse slant routes at any level with a mediocre quarterback. I almost missed one pass in the single game I played with the Colts and Peyton manning. Most of my games were played as the Bears, and Grossman can throw, but I shouldn't be able to tee off on the same route over and over again. Also, defensive players are almost superhuman, and I'm not even kidding. Some players seem to gain a ridiculous burst of speed when rushing the quarterback, while some defensive backs can jump about twice their height into the air to swat a pass and, sometimes, move so quick that it's almost like they teleport. These glitches need to stop, because it really takes away from the game.
Another small gripe is, again, pointed at the AI. EA Sports has claimed for years that it has never used "Catch-up AI" in its games, but it's a little too obvious in this game that there are still signs of it. It's not as bad as years past, and it seems to go away when you up the difficulty. Leaving it on Pro level is just asking for a cussing session at the end. I was up 35-7 in one of my first games, and just barely eeked out a win by four points. My sure-handed running backs all of a sudden developed fumble fingers, and my precision passing suddenly went to hell as I threw two interceptions that weren't even close.
Now, here's the last negative I've seen with the gameplay. Many people have talked about how the game does some little glitches from time to time, causing some completely random movements. I have experienced the "moonwalk" glitch, where your quarterback takes the snap and suddenly decides to do his best Michael Jackson impersonation. On top of this glitch, I have had a few different instances where I've hit receivers on different "out" routes and, magically, the ball bounces off of their hands and straight into the defensive back that is covering them. Amazingly enough, I found a couple of great videos of someone else who experienced these on YouTube, with the examples linked here, here, and here.
While it seems like I ripped apart the gameplay, these glitches don't happen all the time, although it seems to happen at the absolute worst possible point that you can imagine. The Weapons System is going to be a love/hate relationship with players. You're either going to love it or you're going to hate it. I've had my time to voice my opinion about it. Get rid of the "Smart" ability or at least tone it down, and I'm a fan of it.
Features and Modes
There won't be many negatives to talk about here. Playing offline, this game is absolutely top-notch. The newly revamped Superstar mode has gotten a big facelift, and it was much needed after last year's headaches with the position specific camera angles. EA realized that, sometimes, it's just best to give you one specific player and keep the same angle. It works out much, much better, especially since you can import your Campus Legend from NCAA over to Madden to give yourself an even better experience.
Just like last year, there are mini-games that you'll have to go through in order to improve your player. The 40 yard dash, bench press, and position specific drills are all back this year. Most of these aren't too difficult to go through, although some of the position drills are absolutely brutal on All-Madden difficulty.
I went through about a season and a half with my imported Campus Legend and had a lot of fun with it. You have to choose an agent, go through interviews, take the Wonderlic test, and eventually, you are drafted to a team. In order to keep current rookies on their necessary teams, you aren't really given a round or position that you were drafted in. You are simply placed on a team and it tells you that they drafted you. Simple, but it's effective.
Depending on how you do interviews and whether or not you decide to keep your mouth shut (Going to the agent's office can be a lot of fun), this is how your coaches and fans will perceive you. I pretty much kept quiet with my own superstar, and the result was the same five boring e-mails through each week. It never failed: One from my superstar's mother, one from a superfan, one from the head coach saying how professional I was, and two from a position coach telling me to be careful. The subjects were the same, the bodies were the same, everything was the same. Can we get a little variety here please?
I haven't gotten far enough to see what happens when your contract runs out, so I didn't get a chance to review any type of free agent bidding on my player. You can, however, demand a trade, which may or may not work, and it really ticks off your coaches and fans. Want to have a set of people turn on you in a heartbeat? Complain about the coaches or demand a trade, and watch your popularity fall like Britney Spears' singing career.
If this game stopped at Superstar mode, it would still be a rousing success. However, Madden has always prided itself on its full season modes, and this year is absolutely no different with the Franchise mode, complete with the ridiculously deep Front Office options. In Franchise mode, you will be able to do everything you want, from upgrading the stadium (no true visual changes happen) to moving a team if you truly feel like it. Want to be a sadistic **** and move the Browns out of Cleveland again? Go ahead, but don't be shocked when Big Dawg pounds your door down and beats you to death with a bone.
Of course, Franchise mode is all about going through multiple seasons, managing your players, and making sure your team thrives. You will have to perform well, because that Salary Cap can be a bit tricky to manage. I thought I was doing well with my first year, signing a few players to long term contracts that would bring my cap to a manageable level, but I was shocked to find out that I was about ten million over the cap going into the offseason. Of course, you can turn the Salary Cap off, but what fun is that?
Online is somewhat thin, but you won't be short with people to play. You can jump right into a quick match and let the system find you a player to go against, or you can make your own guidelines and criteria to filter out the "bad" players that like to disconnect if they are losing. My sessions online, however, have been a mixed bag. It's been well noted on this website that I've run into multiple bad sessions with players who love to scream into my earpiece or constantly swear and cuss at me to get me rattled. I've had maybe two good sessions online, and I'm more than content with hitting the mute button and turning down the volume.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Madden has plenty of positives to bring its fans back to the gridiron. The casual fan may have a tough time picking this one up and just having a quick session because there is far more that is needed knowledge wise to succeed at this game. EA and Tiburon has seemingly gone away from the casual "pick up and play" gamer and geared their game more towards the hardcore fan. This isn't a bad thing, since there are plenty of hardcore Madden gamers out there, but the learning curve seems to get steeper as each year passes, which could filter out more people coming into the franchise for their first run.
All in all, this is one that fans of the series should enjoy. It gets better each year, but there are always issues that seem to hold it back from getting over the hump. NCAA seems to be a more polished product this time around, and APF beats out Madden in the gameplay aspect, in my own opinion. However, Madden's ridiculously deep Superstar and Franchise modes blow away APF. If only I could merge the two into one incredible game.....
Scores/Ratings
Presentation
Overall, the presentation is very good. Simple menus, slick backgrounds, and good looking graphics all around make this Madden one to stick out on your HDTVs.
Score: 8/10
Gameplay
A mixture of positives and negatives, you should enjoy your experience overall, but not without a fair share of headaches. The Weapons System is a good start, but it almost makes the game too arcadey.
Score: 8.2/10
Features and Modes
Franchise and Superstar are absolutely a treat to play and will keep you enthralled for hours upon hours. Online still doesn't have online leagues, but you will not be short of competition.
Score: 9/10
Final Score: 8.3/10
