Only As Much As You Expect, Nothing More

Author's Rating:

Pros: New commentary featuring Cris Collinsworth and improved player models

Cons: The new feature meant to anchor the game doesn't actually work

The Bottom Line: 
Despite the prominent bug which eliminates the game's chief new feature, a patch will be made available and common gameplay is still fun Madden.

Author's Review
As with every new year's edition of Madden, one knows mostly what to expect. The gameplay does not change drastically from any one year to the next, nor do the graphics outside tunings here and there to further improve the overall impression.

What makes Madden new each year are the importing of new rookies from the draft class and representing all the roster changes since the previous year, though even these are not foolproof. (The Carolina Panthers, for instance, my preferred team, do not show Nick Goings on the roster, who has been a steady special teams player and back up running back/fullback for years.)

The television commercials and web advertisements are all playing on the biggest new feature for Madden 09, which is the MySkill addendum. In essence, the first time you insert Madden 09 into your XBox 360 console you will be prompted by John Madden to do a series of tests on a holographic field so that the game can get an impression of your talents in four categories: run offense, pass offense, run defense, and pass defense. How you perform in these tests will create your unique Madden IQ and allow the game to set the difficulty level at which you should play, which can alter in all directions with each new game you play based upon how successful you are.

On paper, this is a terrific new feature. If your vision as a quarterback isn't so great and you've always preferred a smashmouth football style of play on Madden, imagine the game picking up on that and making the passing game a bit easier for you that you may balance your offensive attack, and the same for your defensive play.

It can also create a more level playing field for multiplayer games when playing someone of lesser (or greater) natural skill that the games come out more even and are more fun for both parties.

EXCEPT... the feature does not work. It lets you make it through the Madden Test for all four categories, it creates your skill set, also known as your "Madden IQ," and you can proceed to begin a franchise with this in place, but before you make it through even your first preseason match the game will lock on you. Reboot, do the test again, begin your franchise again, and again the same result. And again, and again, and again...

And will continue to do so until EA Sports issues a downloadable patch to resolve the issue. In the meantime, the only way to curb the constant freezing of your game is to skip the Madden Test when the game begins and choose a normal skill level (rookie, pro, all-pro, all-Madden) instead of letting the game adjust to you via MySkill.

It does not, however, mean all is lost. Besides maintaining the commonly good (not great) play we're used to each year, there are still new features in place to enhance the experience over last year's and warrant an upgrade from Madden 08.

Marshall Faulk's inane pre and post-game meanderings are gone, and we have a commentary booth again in Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond. Both have favorable insight into the game, but do not contain nearly as much depth as one might remember from the Madden years, or from games like NBA 2K8. Two or three full games of football, and you'll be just as likely to mute the game and turn on the stereo or turn the volume style to field level and let the players trash talk for awhile.

The Superstar feature is back, where you can choose to play as an NFL rookie from training camp forward, or create-a-rookie, where you will create everything about your player you like, and submit to a series of tests to begin his skill set. I've always found the sprinting and weightlifting functions to be rather difficult to do just right, and if you struggle with them like me - no matter how good you are at Madden typically - you'll find your created player seriously lacking in speed, or strength to wrap up a ball carrier, or stiff arm a defender, or break a tackle, and so on, and boosting those ratings to where they should be based upon your gameplay can take a ridiculous amount of time.

The new playcalling interface is nice, allowing you to see instant replays, check player and team stats, and other options between plays. There is also a noticeable improvement to the player models, with some players looking hauntingly similar to their real life counterparts when the camera gets in close enough to see their faces behind the masks.

The AI play feels more realistic to me this year, particularly the AI secondary, but expect the AI offense to have 95% of their dump-off passes to the flat to have the same result, which is that the receiver of the pass jukes, spins, or etc. before any defender is even nearby and skates out of bounds for a negligible gain or even a noticeable loss. This lack of realism can get a bit tedious, even if it does help your defense get off the field.

All told, I am not disappointed in my purchase of Madden 09 for the 360, particularly if they can issue a patch for the Madden IQ bug. You will find enough improvements in the style and flow of gameplay - and the boosted commentary - to warrant unloading Madden 08 at your local, independently owned video game shop (support local business!) for $5 and applying credit toward Madden 09. Enjoy.