The Madden NFL video game series has stood the test of time for 20 years now, and while many gamers would suggest that EA Sports have failed to deliver frequent game play innovation from year to year, fan boys of the series will say that Madden NFL is a work of art year in and year out. In the 20th anniversary of the game, Madden NFL is boasting more than 85 new features and enhancements, including an all new adaptive difficulty engine which continuously assesses player ability, tailoring the experience to fit your skill level. While the game feels very similar to previous versions, if you pay close enough attention you will quickly appreciate and enjoy the minor enhancements brought to the table.
The big draw card for Madden NFL 09 is the Adaptive Difficulty Engine. When you first start the game you will be prompted to participate in the Madden Test, which consists of four simple running, passing and defensive drills to assess your “Madden IQ”. The tests are your run of the mill madden tests, but to make things a little interesting, are based in some futuristic computer world. Your performance in this test will establish your My Skill difficulty level – fail to evade any defenders, throw and catch like sitiveni sivivatu and tackle like Mike Catt and you will see yourself playing noob Madden NFL. This lower rating will allow you to implement a nifty ‘Rewind’ feature which you can use when that last minute intercept cost you the championship – mulligans ftw. As you improve, the Difficulty Engine kicks in and adjusts what level difficulty you play at.
From a graphical standpoint, Madden NFL 09 is pretty spectacular. Presentation has taken a big leap forward with a few new camera angles and stadium fly bys that really bring the game into focus. Stadiums are not what they used to be by the way, more detail and better looking which really adds to the realism. Of course it’s not very often that a game doesn’t improve graphically. Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond do a great job calling each game and as you would imagine, they do get a few calls slightly incorrect. But if that is all you have to complain about the commentary then they have done a good job. Backtrack is a new feature which lends to the improved presentation. Backtrack has Cris and Tom providing a little feedback on previous plays by picking apart how you ran the play and providing suggestions about how you might go about things next time. Very impressive that this could even be pulled off in a game, but not without a few issues. Just like the play by play commentary, Backtrack suffers from the occasional (actually more frequent) incorrect analysis. Problems aside though, I found this feature quite innovative. It really fits well with the style of the sport.
The standard game modes return in Madden NFL 09, superstar, franchise and exhibition. Although the core of these game modes remain unchanged, there are some more new features to entice you to play. Madden Moments, or varieties of this mode have been appearing in other sporting simulations for a while now. Basically some memorable moments have been taken from last season and you have the opportunity to re-write history. Personally I find these types of modes enjoyable if you actually follow the league quite closely. Unfortunately most of my time is spent following the NBA so this feature did not interest me too much. Now, online leagues are another story! New to Madden NFL 09, online leagues provide the perfect opportunity to test your skill on a regular basis against friends around the world. Unfortunately the online leagues fall quite short of being well implemented and lack many features that I would expect from franchise celebrating it’s 20th anniversary.
I think if the average Joe with a little bit of Madden experience was to pick up Madden NFL 09 they would think this title offers more of the same. But EA Sports wouldn’t dare do that would they? What they have delivered here is a sound football experience, rewarding long time followers of the franchise with some great features that NFL lovers will both appreciate and enjoy. Although there are a few inaccuracies here and there, by and large EA Sports have delivered, and delivered well.
Tags: Games