Madden NFL 09 (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by Rod Oracheski on 08.13.2008

411mania's Rod Oracheski takes a look at Madden NFL 2009, the result of two decades of evolution. Will the Madden Nation be happy with this year's offering, as EA celebrates 20 years of their flagship football franchise?

Few franchises have the legs to survive a decade of regular title releases, much less doing that while still pulling in solid sales numbers with each new game. Mario during the 80's and, more recently, the Need for Speed franchise in the late 90's showed it could be done in short stretches. Both franchises refined their winning formula with each release, revamping the series entirely when it became necessary - Mario went 3D (though that spelled an end to the regular updates) and Need for Speed went 'urban' on us.

No franchise, however, no matter how many revamps they attempted, could withstand a once-a-year release slate for 20 straight years. Except for Madden.

Celebrating its 20th year, the oft-criticized franchise has pulled out all the stops with Madden NFL 2009 - bringing in new features, bringing back some features from the past, and retuning the gameplay and graphics to bring gamers back into the Madden Nation.

Gameplay:

Right off the bat, you'll see things have changed as you're met by the ghost of John Madden. What, he's not dead? OK...then you're welcomed by a holographic projection of the big guy, acting as the game's creepy version of the Wal-Mart greeter. He introduces you to the newest title and, getting into the spirit of all those 'Back to School' sales starting up, he wants you to take a test - the Madden IQ test.

There are at least a half-dozen jokes there, just waiting to be told. Another time, perhaps.

The Madden IQ test doesn't involve going over the rules of the game, the more puzzling of formation names, or any of those things that first-time players and football neophytes might want to know. Just a note for the future, but something like that might not be a bad idea. At the very least, I could use it to teach my wife about football so I don't have to do it when an actual game is on!

The test is actually a series of drills, run in a great-looking Tron-style environment. You'll have to move the ball through the air and on the ground, then also defend against both, to earn your 'Madden rating' in four categories: Rush Offense, Pass Offense, Rush Defense, and Pass Defense.

Once done, you'll receive a ranking in each category, ranging from Rookie to All-Madden. These rankings will determine how the CPU AI plays against you, defending more intensely against an All-Madden-level running game, for example, allowing players to face off against a suitably challenging AI opponent.

Your rankings are also updated after games, to continually tweak the opponent AI to match your evolving gameplay skill. It seems to adjust a little slower than it could, at least at the beginning, though that's likely to spare any newbie who flukes out and has a huge game on the ground or through the air from taking a beating by the defense in their next few games. Unfortunately it also seems determined to bring into line any breakout seasons by superstars on your team. If you suddenly start breaking big runs with your halfback, you can expect to see your Rush Offense rise steadily, at least until he's no longer putting up that kind of yardage. That part of the game's adjustment mechanism is a bit of an unwelcome change.

You can choose to ignore the test and rely on 'one-size-fits-all' difficulty settings instead. If you're a top-level player or absolute newbie, it'd probably be easier to just set it to All-Madden or Rookie, respectively. You can also make some slider adjustments, though I couldn't find a way to adjust CPU tendencies and had to go checking forums. It turns out there aren't any CPU sliders at this point, though EA's talking about patching that in apparently.

It's a bit disappointing (though the Madden IQ - once tuned in by playing a handful of games - seems to act as sort of a hands-off slider) that you can't tweak the AI settings. This is the sort of detail work that really only impacts the game for more sim-conscious gamers, who obsess over stats like passing completion percentages or yardage breakdowns from games they didn't play, but it feels like a bit of a step back in terms of user control.

With a great number of the UI and feature changes relating to making the game more accessible to new (or long-absent) players, it might well be that CPU sliders were removed as part of the streamlining process that makes Madden 09 one of the most user-friendly in the franchise's history.

One of the most interesting changes to the UI is that the button configuration for players on both sides of the ball is prominently displayed pre-snap, though advanced players can toggle that off easily enough - no doubt with a derisive snort - if they desire. The game will also prompt you with what buttons do (for example, letting you know that the B button does a spin move when running the ball) if it notices you haven't been using that button at all.

While the button function reminder is a good addition, I'm not so sure that having the pre-snap buttons displayed - though it no doubt helps to keep new players from becoming overwhelmed by the variety of options - is such a good idea.

Many of the actions that gamers can take are simply not explained well - requiring a solid understanding of football terms and strategy, and thus undermining the point of opening up those options to the more casual gamer. Why make advanced d-line shifts easily available without providing some sort of tutorial on what they do? It seems like an area that EA could really expand into - using the video game to help people better understand the real game, which would lend itself to being better at the video game. As it is, it's just something that makes the game's deeper strategy seem even more unattainable to the newbie.

Before getting into all that esoteric 'one day' fantasy, however, EA would be well-served to finally do a real revamp of the Franchise and Superstar modes. Neither mode seems to have received much in the way of large-scale changes, except in terms of presentation.

They're both still solid modes with a wealth of options, but if you played last year's game you're likely to get that feeling of 'been there, done that' very quickly. At the very least redo all the e-mail players receive during Superstar mode - I'm tired of getting the same "I get so scared when you get hit" e-mail from my mom, especially when the exact same e-mail comes in two weeks in a row. My video game mom has Alzheimer's?

In terms of the on-field play, Madden 09 is the sharpest it's been in years. Players control very well, with far smoother animations than in the past. That goes a long way towards making the gameplay flow along more smoothly, whether that's scrambling out of the pocket or blasting your way through the line for a touchdown. I'd go so far as to say it 'felt' like playing NFL 2K5 - that feeling of weight in the player's motion that was lacking in past Madden releases.

You'll still find the occasional weakness in the defensive coverage, particularly in pass coverage on routes that cut through the middle of the field. You'll find the AI will move to counter repeated playcalling, however, something that I never really ran into in past years that claimed to have the feature. Calling a quick slant through the middle will get you seven-nine yards the first three to five times, after which you'll probably notice those passes getting picked off. How quickly, or if they react at all, may depend on what setting your Madden IQ is at, so your mileage may vary.

Should you have a pass picked off, you might encounter a new feature - the Backtrack, in which a bad play will be analyzed - complete with telestrator-like on-screen drawings - showing you what went wrong. This feature seems to occur randomly, and often doesn't appear when I'd like to see what they'd say. When it does appear, however, the analysis usually appears to be accurate.

If you're so inclined, an intercepted pass can be negated using the Rewind feature. Using this, you can rewind to the snap of the last play and get a chance to retry that sequence. If it seems overpowered, well it is - though the default has it limited to one use per game. I had intended to not use it, but found myself tempted when hit by a random fumble...

The game also includes a fantasy team tracker, allowing you to track your fantasy team's progress within Madden. Unfortunately there's no way to tell how, or even if, this feature works until the season starts. It's a nice addition, however, should it prove functional.

There's also the Madden Moment - a slew of one-shot scenarios you can complete. These scenarios recall famous games from the past, putting you in the shoes of a team during historic showdowns in their history. You'll have to score a touchdown in a lot of these gameplay challenges, though the setup for each will be different. While not terribly difficult, they do offer a bit of 'pick up and play' challenge for gamers who don't have the time for a full game.

The game has the usual complement of occasionally odd AI behaviour, including CPU-controlled players that run out of bounds to stop the clock when it doesn't seem like an appropriate time. The computer will also err on the side of caution when it comes to getting points, taking a field goal with 15 seconds left in the half instead of trying to finesse the clock for another shot at a touchdown.

Graphics

Madden 09 is, hands-down, the best looking football game on the market. You name it, and Madden wins the category: animation, textures, lighting, presentation, etc...

Touchdown celebrations, though seeing a crackdown in the NFL, are alive and well here. Simply run to the highlighted square after scoring a major and you can trigger a location-specific celebration like wall jump or goalpost dunk. Hitting B after a touchdown will score you an Achievement, stealing an opponent's celebration.

The animations that were reworked last year see still more tweaking this year. The running game, in particular, is noticeably smoother. It's easier to find gaps in the line, with a lot less 'running in place' this time around. Your running back will do some small auto-juking to clear obstacles, ducking under an outstretched arm or high stepping over a downed player, but avoiding a determined tackle is left in your hands. You'll see a lot of fine detail in the replay, things you missed the first time around - battles in the trenches, players reacting to the changing play, etc...

It's particularly interesting to watch players react to the ball carrier - one defender didn't go for the tackle, trying (in vain) to snatch the ball from my player's hands, falling as I barreled through his grip. Another got me wrapped up around the waist, but hammering the right stick (the highlight/truck stick) shook him loose. The variety of tackles and would-be tackles is amazing.

Weather conditions are another high point, with rain and snow effects that are second to none. Players will actually show the wear and tear of the competition, with uniforms getting muddy or stained through the course of the game. Strangely, there's no field degradation, however. The most you'll see is footprints in the snow, though they disappear with time as well.

The improved presentation also gets a nod. There are a lot more dramatic camera angles at work here, especially noticeable during kickoffs and big moments (hits and breaking a big run) in the game. The camera snaps around during the kick, which seems like a small thing, but really adds to the presentation.

Similarly, smacking a ball carrier with a solid right-analog tackle causes the screen to shake, and breaking into the open on a big run sees the camera drop lower and start to shake a bit - reminiscent of Gears of War's roadie run camera. Again - small things, but they add a lot.

The Weapon system is in the game, so sure-handed receivers or cannon-armed quarterbacks have a circle under them so new players can more easily identify their key players, but it's been tweaked in a very minor way - changing the colour of the circle to a platinum/silver that better blends in with the overall presentation. You can turn this option off when playing the CPU, but unfortunately that option doesn't seem to exist for online play so you're out of luck on that front.

Sound:

The radio announcer is a thing of the past, with Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammonds in the broadcast booth this time around. Collinsworth proves a good pickup, providing clear and concise analysis of the game in the short clips required, without sounding like he's reading from a script and bored out of his mind. Hammonds doesn't quite pull it off as smoothly, and his lines suffer as a result.

The Backtrack feature works well with the new commentators. Collinsworth provides info that's surprisingly accurate most of the time, though I had one occasion where the audio cut off mid-analysis. I was a little surprised to realize I really wanted to hear the rest of it.

Lasting Appeal:

If you're online, the game provides a virtually unlimited pool of opponents out there for you to take on. There's the option for online league play, but it appears to be largely just a tacked-on experience. It's an area that EA has traditionally lagged behind in, no pun intended, so hopefully next year that gets some attention.

Offline gamers who picked up last year's game will recognize the single-player modes as a retread. The Madden Moments add some replay, but you'll burn through them quickly enough. The evolving opponent AI provides an interesting long-term challenge twist, but it could be implemented better.

Fun Factor:

There aren't many head-to-head sports games that are more fun than Madden. The slider options allow human opponents to tailor their game to make it challenging, and the Franchise mode is still pretty entertaining - even if a bit familiar.

The 411:

Though I've been pining for a NFL 2K5 replacement for years, it feels odd to recommend a Madden game as that successor - but Madden NFL 09 is that game. EA has taken huge strides since dropping a so-so first 'next-gen' Madden on us, and, though they're still not quite hitting those 'target videos' they debuted it with, I can't help but recommend football fans finally let go of those well-worn copies of 2K5 and give Madden 09 a shot.

Yes, there are still some glitches that annoy, the online system could still be done better than it is, and I can't shake the feeling that NFL Head Coach should be part of the regular Madden package and not an extra, but the overall package is worth a look. I have no doubt that there'll be a slew of minor glitches that crop up in the coming weeks, but I didn't encounter anything that I considered gamebreaking during my extended play time.

New (or long-absent) players will find the hand holding they need to catch on, while experienced players can quickly ramp things up to the challenge levels they crave - and what more can you ask?

Graphics	9.0	Great animation and flashy presentation. No wear and tear on the field?
Gameplay	9.5	Some legacy issues remain, but the overall gameplay is very satisfying. Great control over the players.
Sound	9.0	Collinsworth is a great addition. Great work in the on-field audio.
Lasting Appeal	8.5	Still fun, but you've played these modes before. Online feels tacked-on.
Fun Factor	8.5	The presentation really amps up the intensity. Head-to-head battles are a blast.
Overall	8.5   [ Very Good ]

Screenshots
All 8 Madden NFL 09 Screenshots