Review: Madden 09

The loop:

It’s the first sports game that adapts to you – it’s the pinnacle of 20 years of madden. Well, at least that’s what the press release says, if you take the fluff out. After the more-than solid next-gen pinnacle of Madden series last year, we took the ’09 edition for a spin on the xbox 360. Well, more like we took our normal life for a spin every now and then, and spent rest of the time playing Madden. Go Pack Go!

Going up:

Gorgeous, gorgeous graphics and animation. Though there are still times that the plays feel artificial, there is a noticeable improvement here. Last years gameplay mechanics were overhauled in some cases (running game), fine tuned in others (spectacular catches), and it’s the best madden game on next-gen so far – granted, anything else would be considered a failure. The commentary is better, or should we say, is there this year. The radio guy went, the feeling of real football is here.

Going down:

We couldn’t give three flying fucks about the supposed casual gamer outreach. It’s football, why should you be able to play it with one single button? It’s one of the greatest chess games of modern sports, and you do it all with one button? EA, please. While we understand the ideology behind this, that doesn’t mean we have to like it or applaud them for it. Make a football game, not Pong with shoulder pads and Chris Collinsworth. EA talked about having TV-like presentation, but falls short of the mark with redundant, lackluster presentation, and we’re talking about in-game stuff. The menu’s and such are slick as ever.

Notable:

We have absolutely no idea of the online league features, but we have heard they are barebones stuff, and not worth picking this up for. The game finally runs with smooth 60fps on the PS3. Crashes plagued it early, but patches have come out to fix this. Superstar mode is exactly as it was in 08, and scouting is still useless in franchise.

The verdict:

Madden 09 is an audiovisual success with some great gameplay but some lacking presentation and features. Here’s hoping next year’s game keeps improving, so we can finally have the defining football experience of the generation. If you love football, pick this one up.

8 / 10