Madden 09

Review by Slater45

August has come around, so that means it time for EA to showcase its Madden series again. Does this American football simulation live up the fans expectations or will it fall short this year.

Let's play some Football!

The first thing you will see when you pop the disc in the drive, will be the addition of the madden IQ test. This test will determine how well you know the game by drilling offensive and defensive plays at you. Once you have completed the test it will then provide you with your own unique difficulty level. The problem with the test is that the offensive drills are easy to master where the defensive are very difficult, so when you start your first match the opposition's defence will be set to a high difficulty, where as the offence will be set to a low, which will result in many low scoring games. Although this was a great idea I ended up using the default difficulties instead.

In the menu will find the usually array of modes and challenges featured in previous Madden game. Franchise mode returns, but doesn't really change from last seasons offering. An all new feature madden moments comes into play this year, where you can relive the great moments from the 2007 season.

There are also a lot of in game features this year. The biggest addition is the Rewind feature; this allows the user to rewind plays that they messed up in the previous play. This inclusion is a fantastic touch for beginners to the game and you can have unlimited rewinds if you wish, and for the veterans you have the ability to turn off the feature.

There is also the Back track feature is also a neat inclusion. If you make a bad play the commentator will then show you where you went wrong and will correct you on how the play should have been played. Just as the rewind feature, this is great for beginners as it will teach them when to pull the right pass or when to rush to gain the advantage over the opposition.

They also followed down the same path as Euro 2008 with a special Touchdown celebration. When scoring a touchdown yellow squares will appear and pressing Y will go into a animated celebration. You can also celebrate on the wall of the stadium and interact with the goal posts. You can also steal an opposing team's celebration by pressing B. The animations are limited and you will find yourself seeing the same celebration time and time again.

Graphics and Sound

Just like all of the other EA franchises Madden contains all the Club and player licenses. You can choose from every stadium in the NFL and the stadium feels and has the atmosphere of a live match. The visual look fantastic the weather effect such as snow and rain has a drastic affect on how the game plays out. Rain will make for more fumbles and turnovers in the game and the player will gradually get plastered in mud as the game progresses. Snow makes it hard for kickers with the wind picking up in blistery conditions. The player animation is great but still needs improvement, many times I found the player that was suppose to be running down the line just stood still so I had to resort to a much harder throw. The game it self had a good solid frame rate and I only experience that glitch with the runner.

They got rid of John madden in the commentary booth this year and replaced him with the more familiar Chris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond. These are fantastic, the dialogue is surprising accurate and can really feel like you're in the game. There are times where the dialogue script is repeated but most of them are references about EA. The crowd atmosphere is also very realistic. In rivalry games the home crowd will be chanting louder and gives you the impression that they are right behind there team.

As in any of the ea sports games Madden comes with a soundtrack from an array of artist. The music is mostly rock with the like of Disturbed and Linkin Park making an appearance but it doesn't really add anything other then something to listen through the menu screens.

Multiplayer

Madden comes to multiplayer scene this year boasting a 32 player league in which you can obtains drafts and trade from other players in the league. It also has a whole playoff campaign, so you can finally win that all mighty super bowl against your friends. They also have all the other modes you expect to find. You can play unranked matches with friends and but can't on ranked matches. I didn't experience any lag while playing online and the gameplay felt as smooth as the single player.

Conclusion

This is another solid addition the madden franchise. The back track and rewind feature are great for beginners to gradually get to grasp of the rules and plays. The different weather effects and crowd noises makes for an engulfing atmosphere, and the online league is a brilliant addition. If you are a big fan of the sport and still undecided I would recommended it. For other gamers I would play the demo on the marketplace and decide from there. Also this may be a purchase for achievement junkies as 1000 gamer score can be obtained easily.