Madden NFL - 2009

Today I take a look at the summer perennial that has long made the middle of the year a pit of sorrow and despair, Madden NFL 2009. Now I’m not saying that Madden is a bad franchise, its just other gaming companies do not want to go up against the juggernaut that EA Games a created, and when a company does go up against them, 2K Football, they squelch them out of existence. Over the years, EA has done everything that they can to make sure that they stay on top. Through this, they have acquired the rights to ESPN and the NFL. I see this as a bad thing. I love the competition that other NFL franchises used to produce for EA to go up against. Since taking the rights, I feel that the quality of game play has gone down. Madden NFL 2009 is an exception and a follower of the last statement.

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Madden 2009 comes to the table with over 75 new features ranging from being able to return missed field goals to the all new Madden IQ. The Madden IQ rates your overall ability how to play different aspects of the game. These include Run Offense, Run Defense, Pass Offense, and Pass Defense. Now these can be expanded on, but at base value, this is what you have to work with. The system is a very interesting step as the game does start to learn how you play and makes you learn how to play different ways other than play action, drop back, BOMB IT, and touchdown. The major problem that I have with this is that if you allow the game to customize without your own little tweaks, you end up being more frustrated than the KoZaK trying to find anywhere while driving. (He is horrible at finding any place that he has never been before. The first time he tried to come over to my house, he ended up driving twenty minutes past it and called in a panic saying, “I lost and all I can see is a big road.”) Once you do go and tweak it to what your actual challenge is, the game play is wonderful. The revamped truck and hit sticks make a big difference. In addition, the new celebration squares in the end zone are a nice touch.

With the game play being as good as it is, I would have thought that the presentation of the game would at least be as good as previous years. Though it happens often, I was still surprised to see that I was wrong. First off, the new announcers Cris Collinsworth, a former Emmy Award Winning Football Commentator, and Tom Hammond, a football commentator known for being one of the voices of the Olympics and the XFL, come off less than enthusiastic. Cris Collinsworth is flat and rarely gets excited about any play whether how big or small. At least Cris calls the game though. The majority of lines that come out of Tom Hammond’s mouth are either hyping the NFL or EA sports. This is something that I take as an insult. The players of video games came for a near real life experience out of this game. All the announcers do is drag down game play and make every game turn into one big annoying advertisement.

After that, it just turns into little gripes that are all justified, but are petty just the same. Not being able to easily discern who is next up to the fantasy draft. The only indication is a faded football symbol in the background of the draft board that is tough to spot if you are not looking for it. The next is the lack of players’ names and stats from previous seasons. The announcers rarely name anyone by name unless they are a big player. And lastly is the lack of a Player of the Game. They are all little gripes and not reasons to buy the games, but if they are so petty, why couldn’t they be put back in game like in previous years.

In the long run, Madden has the most solid game play in a football game since ESPN NFL 2K5. The issue of presentation is something that takes this game from an absolute Buy It to the normal yearly Rent It that I have given it every year since writing reviews.

Madden Nfl 2009 is available for XBOX 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP, and DS. It is rated T for teen and is available in both regular and collectors editions.