One thing that is hard to understand is why receivers are not aware of something called “out of bounds.” They love to run out of bounds and your QB is more than happy to throw to them. This is much more noticeable than in previous years. A small gripe, sure, but some semblance of perception to stay in bounds would give their real-world counterparts a bit more credit.
Lovers of football will want to pick up the game for one of the biggest additions: Online Franchise. This is a feature that will keep the disc in your Xbox’s drive all year and will make you think, “Why didn‘t they do this earlier?” This mode allows you to commission a 32-team league with any mixture of player or AI controlled teams. Since most of Online Franchise is handled server side, a web site is created that will give you access to standings, depth charts, trades and more from any computer with internet access. Not all is perfect here (example: a computer controlled team is forced to accept any trade your propose) but it’s strong addition to this year’s entry.
Co-op can be fun but puts the decisions for both offensive and defensive plays in the hands of one person. If the person in control is unfamiliar with the game or is just bad at it, that leads to a painful experience for both paries. Speaking of being unfamiliar with the game, one thing Madden NFL 10 has trouble with is the virtual trainer. This certainly needs some more attention as the guidance it gives is minimal. EA Sports Backtrack, a feature that shows you what you did wrong and what would have made it work, seems like a natural fit for this mode.
Offline Franchise, Mini Games, and Madden Moments all make a return this year. Not enough has changed here and they handle pretty much as expected. Madden Moments is one of my favorites because if gives you situations that happened in the real world and challenges you to come out with a win. This is simple enough and becomes addictive as you want to beat them all.
The Extra Point Half Time Report and weekly “episode” might have looked good on paper but is poorly executed. At first you’ll be intrigued by seeing the best plays of the game, hearing stats, or seeing who gets selected as the players of the week. Once the rose colored glasses are off, though, you hear a very jerky delivery of information. EA hasn’t had enough practice to get this right yet? Really? There are noticeable pauses and generalizations that make The Extra Point more painful than pleasurable to watch.
Are you noticing a theme here? EA delivers an extremely solid football game that will give you lots of football fun for your money. The challenge is scalable to cater to rookies and uber-veterans alike. On the other hand, the game feels like it hit a wall in development and missed out on a good coat or two of polish. Graphical glitches, flat announcing, and jerky Extra Point episodes are a disappointment and are just rookie mistakes. If you haven’t picked up a new Madden game in a few years this might be worth your while.
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Madden NFL 10 creates solid fun but doesn't bring a polished experience. While annoyances are disappointing, the game play is good enough to pick up the slack.
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