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Madden NFL 09 Review

by Steve Wysowski August 19th 2008 12:39 AM CDT1 Comments

To say that I have been critical of how EA has handled the Madden franchise would be a vast understatement. Like many others in this industry, I hold to the belief that the miniscule improvements made to each iteration of Madden football aren’t enough to warrant an annual purchase. EA has always seemed to never push the envelope as we all know they could and whether it's to blame the limited development timeframe, or the developer's focus on other titles is beyond me (I can confidently say it's not a budget problem). Still, I have always had hope that one year perhaps; EA would deliver the Madden game I've been craving, the one that would end this drought of recent ineptitude.

Madden NFL 09 isn't the perfect NFL game I wanted; but it's damn close.

Madden NFL 09 is, without a doubt, the most complete football game I have ever played. Past its flaws and tossed in features, this is the best effort you're going to see from EA and Tiburon for a while. This game still feels like a Madden title, but major elements of gameplay have been changed for the better. From the new grass, to just how smooth everything flows: there simply is a lot to love here. It just hasn't felt this good to be playing a football game since 2004.

EA has been promoting heavily the game's new user skill adaption feature, but the real noticeable changes can be found on this field this year. Thanks to the new Euphoria physics engine installed (the one in Grand Theft Auto IV that made running over people look so bad ass), football in a video game has never looked so good. Such elements like blocking and tackling seem more realistic than ever, the motions and movement of players have a certain degree of fluidity rarely seen in sports games, and the game's grass effects is downright beautiful. I don't think I have ever stared at a video game's grass as much as I did playing my first game on Madden; and that's a great thing. The trampling of the feet made considerable marks on the turf; the entire field is interactive and eliminates the skating look of players' feet and the textures of the surface look phenomenal. It truly is a superb graphical update to a game that has considerably grown in the aspect.

Madden has felt quite arcade-esque in the past couple of years, which would be welcomed if this were a Midway title, but as a football simulator; it didn't work. Luckily, such elements as consistent deep bombs and twenty yard crossing routs have been omitted. You now are forced to use the numerous new strategy elements that have been added this year (offensive lineman pushes, pre-snap changes, tossing balls to different areas of a receiver's body) to run a real, cohesive unit. As a veteran Madden gamer, this renders more use of strategy and skill, which is needed for a true simulation of such a strategic sport as NFL football.

For a series that has been struggling in upgrading its core gameplay to the current generation of consoles, it's relieving to see EA finally find its hold with Madden 09. Sure, there are the occasional glitches and hiccups; but like I stated earlier: this is not perfect. Yet still, the game feels exactly like a football game should; from its terrific presentation values (Chris Collingsworth as a commentator is ace) to just how outstandingly well everything feels on the field.

EA has been promoting heavily the new user skill adaption feature that has been added to game. Without a doubt; this is the forefront of this year's experience. From the first time start up the game and take the new "User Skill Exam", to all the little hints that will be tossed at you during your play with the title, the game is always reading your skill level and attempting to help you progress your skill level. While this is great news for casual players, Veterans may be turned off by how the game's AI becomes stronger and weaker from day to day. At some points this feature comes off as pointless and unnecessary; intruding on your overall experience. But still, all of the strategy does need some explaining, and this new feature does help you truly understand how the game is meant to be played. A welcomed addition and it is something I hope we will see in future titles.


Outside of the completely redone play on the field, and the huge user-skill adaptations, there isn't anything else change in this year's Madden. The subtle improvements to the franchise, owner’s mode, and Superstar mode are a bit disappointing, especially after seeing how much of a facelift the core gameplay underwent. The feature that received the most additions however, is the game's online section. A new set of leaderboards, along with more lobby options and an online leagues feature has been added this year. As an annual Madden gamer, it is ever so satisfying to see online leagues reach my hands in the form of a Madden game. While some have called the online leagues feature tacked on; I personally think that it just needs a little bit of touching up. Yes, EA is very late to the game as far as leagues go, and the lack of true statistics and user interaction in them is a bit of a downer. Still, it's a huge improvement over having nothing, and it's just great to finally see it added into the game.

As a whole really, it's just awesome to see Madden finally find its stride again. EA and Tiburon have gone leagues to finally offer a complete, full football game like we've been expecting from them. Whatever was missing from last year seems to have been found and added, and whilst I would have preferred some features been added and some glitches taken care of, I have never been so satisfied with a Madden game in a long, long time. I absolutely loved this game, and if you're one who is into sports titles, you will too.