Madden 09: What an Improvement

Author's Rating:

Pros: Less Madden, Graphics, Gameplay, Replay Value

Cons: Some glitches with sideline clock stoppage

The Bottom Line: 
This is the best football game I've ever played. You can't find anything more realistic than this.

Author's Review
As most videogamers know, the ultimate standard for football games, is measured by the Madden Franchise. Years ago this was based on TecmoBowl, which is a fine way of dating yourself, but EA Sports is now what others want to be like. The 2k9 series has tried to compete with the Maddens, but has come up short due to numerous reasons, including the licensing of players and being a lesser known commodity. Whenever you see NFL players on a video game console, they always seem to be playing the most recent version of Madden, and they are sought for input each year for this series. Then there is the 800 pound gorilla in the room, which is John Madden himself.

I'm so awestruck of John Madden, that I would have to give him a man hug. He's been a coach of a franchise that I totally despise, yet he has transformed the idea of Monday Night Football into what it is today. I would gladly serve him a breakfast in bed, consisting of eggs, bacon, and flapjacks, while singing his praises if I had the chance. He is the ultimate football game announcer, and he even has a luxury bus that takes him to each venue, because he's afraid of flying. I fall into this category as well, as I need a little something special to get me onto a plane, so I admire his public acknowledgement of this fear. He doesn't miss many tailgating parties, and you can him apart from anyone else, just by his voice.

While I am absolutely in love with this guy, I have to admit that I've been less than pleased by him in the video games with his name on them. Back in the 1990's it was great, but in a lot of the most recent years his annoying and stupid statements have caught up with him. In fact, they've hurt his reputation. So many of his video games had useless color commentary by him and Al Michaels, that I was about to be his #2 fan, so Annie Wilkes could take the first position. The announcing during the games would actually force me to mute the television, because I could only hear so many examples of "dead duck passing" and "You can't drop balls in the NFL. You are paid a lot of money. " Duh!

I will have to admit that I might be a bit jaded on this, because in the past few years, I've had the Madden's on the DS and PSP. The last full edition version I had was for the Playstation 2, and I played the hell out of 2004. Some may not be as enthused as I am, because of this lack of playtime on the regular consoles, but this franchise has come a long way. The first thing they did, was limit John Madden to introducing the games, handing off the mike to Chris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond, and doing the halftime plays of the game. Thank goodness, as this is a major improvement, and the announcing is excellent. You don't hear the same repeated brilliant statements over and over again, and what they are saying, actually corresponds to what is going on during the game.

There are no major changes to this game, with the exception of the graphics, which blew me away. I have never seen a sports game for a video game console like this ever. Have you ever just watched a video game instead of playing it? I have with this, as I've actually been distracted a couple of times by the graphics and colors that pop out on my television. If you want a realistic football game, this is as close as it gets, and I will not be suffering from Post Partum Depression from the NFL now that the real season is over. The players, the fields, the reactions, the mud on the players uniforms, is just amazing and can take your breath away.

In previous editions, the stadiums were distinguishable from another, but there wasn't a lot of detail. In this one, you can't tell the difference from the real one at all, as everything including the luxury boxes are placed in the correct positions. For once the fans don't look like cardboard cutouts either, which is something I found annoying in previous versions. The grass gets torn up during play, and I just love some of the shots of the coaches, and when you get to see a replay you can just sit back in awe. When you see a side shot of the players, it is hard to tell the difference between this and a real game that you watched last week. Even my wife, who's not thrilled by video games or football, was amazed by how beautiful the images are here.

You can play just a single game if you like, but I prefer the franchise mode, where I use my beloved New England Patriots. You can either use the rosters that are already set up, or you can do a fantasy draft, which I always do with each game from this series. It makes it a bit more interesting, and I turned off the salary cap, because I find that a bit annoying. Its fun being able to trade players for another, or loading up draft picks, which is what I usually do. This way you get new players that have never played in the NFL, and its great being able to track stats as easily as you can with this game. You can see individual stats or career ones, and you can see how your team is doing compared to others around the league. Of course, the goal is to win the Super Bowl, which I recently did for the first time.

The controls did take me awhile to get used to, but a lot of this was due to converting from Playstation 2. After a few hours I had it down, and you can pick your level of play for any games. There is rookie, pro, all pro, and superstar. As for play calling, there are a variety of options as well, so that you can decide what will be used based upon your ability as a coach. It is easy to toggle between players on defense, and to change plays on the line when you sense the quarterback is going to get drilled. This is a passing based game, much like previous editions, and running the ball is a bit of a challenge sometimes. However, I like the idea of airing it out, so this is a bonus for me compared to the other way around. However, some run and stuff types of players may not like this.

There is only one glitch that I have seen from this game, and that is the clock not stopping, when you step out of bounds. Sometimes it does work as it should, but there have been a few times where it hasn't, and it cost me scoring opportunities. This is another reason to be careful about limiting your timeouts, because this could put you in a delicate position. Otherwise, this is a fantastic game that really incorporates the feel of the NFL.  You can play this for months without getting bored of it, and as someone who's spent hours on this, I can say that I still look forward to playing it each time. This is the ultimate football game out there, and another winner from EA Sports and Madden.