Madden NFL 09

"Another year, another Madden."

As my review title tells. It's another year and another Madden. Over the years we've seen countless of EA's sloppy upgrade to their biggest football franchise. It's mid 2008 and it's the 20th anniversary of the Madden franchise. So did they spend time developing this new Madden or just put a few new features in it and called it a game? Let's take a close look!

Graphics:

If you've looked at some video reviews at some other website you'll think that "hey, that does look way better than the last titles!" Well I was thinking the same too. I got to admit, it does look better than the last titles. The players are more detailed. The weather effects were definitely improved. Overall it does look better. However, in a football field, it is really hard not to pay attention to that details. As always, the audience look dull and dumb. If you look even closer you'll see that they're just flat model pasted on the field. The bench-warmers on your team actually looks better this time around but they're still really bland and dull. If you look closer at the coach or the official when you challenge a play, you'll notice that they look like they lubricated themselves before heading on the field. Why is that? Why can't their player model look the same as the ones on the field. I can go into even more flaws but I'm not going to do that. Once again, EA have failed to pay attention to the details. They've been using the same engine for this franchise since god knows how long ago. This engine is obviously outdated. You see other games and you know what the Xbox 360 can do. This is not the boundary. They can obviously do more than this.

Sound:

Let's talk about the music first. EA definitely put more effort in their music selection. In the previous game, the songs consist of catchy and uninteresting techno and super-annoying screamo. This time around they put more Hip Hop and songs with good beats which fits the game. The screamo is still out there but they've reduced it. For some reason they decided to put some really dramatic music when it's half-time and when the game ends. It's actually very laughable at first but afterwards you really don't care. The audience, sound of tackles, players breathing still sound sweet. And during all this, EA fired the annoying radio commentator and hired Tom and Chris. Tom still sound like the radio commentator except his voice is not annoying and is without the radio blur which really adds no value to the game. Chris is the good part. Unlike typical sport video game commentator, he gives you invaluable hints and tips which definitely adds a pro to the gameplay. Overall the sound is good and there's really nothing you can complain about.

Gameplay:

In my opinion, Madden NFL 09 is the best football game out there in terms of gameplay. There's really not question about it. This year EA have added so many new features, it's hard to give the game a bad score just because so the graphical flaws. As always, franchise mode and superstar mode is here and is probably the two modes you'll spend most time in. Franchise mode lets choose from 32 of the official NFL team then lets you control every aspect of it. From playing on the gridiron to managing rosters, it's all there. If you can do it to a real NFL team, you can do it in Madden 09 franchise mode. There's the new rivalry thing where when you play against your team's rivals (rivals are basically the team that are in the same division as you), it's supposedly harder. I really don't see the game getting any harder when I play against my rivals but that's just my opinion. Superstar mode remains the same. You can either create your own superstar or choose one of this NFL season's rookie to play. You'll probably want to choose interesting positions such as QB or running back because you only get to play what their position. So playing kicker is probably not the best choice. You can choose what they wear how they look like and so on. Again, it's basically like playing in the NFL. It is truly authentic. The really new features are firstly, the Madden Test. When you start the game for the first time, you have the choice to do a test to see how good you are. If you score good in the passing game for example, the game will make it harder for you when you call a pass play. It really adds value to the game because some people can be very good at offense but absolutely suck at defense. So instead of having both offense and defense with the same difficulty level, the difficulty s taylor-made for you. Another significant new feature is the rewind. If you made a mistake on the field and want to do the play over again, you can now with the rewind feature. It takes away some authenticity but you can disable it and it really help new players identify their problem and avoid to repeat it after the rewind. The backtrack feature is where the helpful, commentator, Chris kicks in when you had a play which resulted in a colossal failure. Chris helps you identify your mistake and offers a solution so you know what to do the next time you're in this situation. There's also the new Madden moments which includes 40 epic scenarios from the last NFL season. Overall the gameplay department lives up to the expectations. If you're looking for authentic NFL action, look no further than Madden NFL 09.

Final Verdict:

Overall Madden NFL 09 lives up to the fans expectations and gives some breathing room for new players who know nothing about what they're doing. Even though the graphics is still outdated and disappointing, unless you're a real graphic nut, the epic gameplay will cover the flaws. I really recommend NFL fans to buy this game. If you're new fan of football, give it a rent. This is a one of a kind sport video game experience that you don't want to miss.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/22/08

Game Release: Madden NFL 09 (US, 08/12/08)