Madden 10 (an 2Ks players perspective) - elgreazy1's Blog

elgreazy1's Blog

Madden 10 (an 2Ks players perspective)

Posted on August 15, 2009 at 10:31 AM.

(16)

Please let me forward this review-in-progress with some info: I am not a 2K fanboy, in fact, I play football games -- simply put. Emmitt Smith football, Joe Montana football, 2k, Madden, Gameday, Blitz, NFL Xtreme, Tecmo, 10-yard fight, you name it I've played it! I will, however, be comparing M10 to APF/NFL2K5 for my fellow 2K friends who want good, honest thoughts on M10 from an avid 2K player (ie: myself).

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So far, I'm noticing some big improvements in presentation & gameplay, but please note: I have not played a game of Madden since Madden 07, so 2-3 years is a big jump in terms of additions for EA.

GAMEPLAY
Gameplay to me is headed into a great direction. Don't get me wrong, if you're looking for something that clearly beats APF/NFL2K you may not be happy, but if you come into M10 with an open mind you will be more than pleasantly surprised. The 5% reduction in speed has really helped with the flow of the game immensley, now it's no longer blindly running into a general area with the Turbo mashed it's more picking a spot. While speed still kills, power now has a lot of upsides to it in both offense & defense. Strong players are just as effective in their own way as speed players. Fight for the Fumble is actually implemented well; I've only had it happen twice so far & each time it added some extra drama to the game. I expected this to be a big time, over the top gimmick but so far it's actually added to the gameplay. Injuries & penalties are about on pace with what you see on gameday... players get tweaked & come off the field for a couple plays while penalties can either be a non-factor or a game changer.

One big prop I need to give EA is the sense of players being very life-like in both appearance & actions on the field. What I mean is they've replicated what APF Legends accomplish in APF: elite players play elite! Polumalu will make you pay just as much as Lott, Haynesworth is just as devastating in the middle as Randy White, Peyton Manning will pick you apart like Dan Marino, Fitzgerald will make stupid catches out of no-where much like Rice. Even in terms of players you can feel the difference between a Felix Jones (speed), Marion Barber (power) & Tashard Choice (balanced) & must run, cut, break accordingly, Hines Ward plays much different from Larry Fitzgerald, DeMarcus Ware plays completely different type of LB than Witherspoon. Teams & players play as they should: the Ravens will bludgeon you on both sides of the ball all day while the Colts are still finesse & speedy.

The animations are still top notch in 2k-based games, but that isn't to say M10 hasn't stepped up there game. While there are still issues of clipping & some spotty transitions, overall Pro-Tak has made its presense felt. There are tons of animations from offense, defense, cut-scenes, celebrations, taunts, etc and it's nice to see something new & fresh. Players still feel a little too light on the weight & momentum in Madden that at times it does still feel you can cut very quickly, but its much better & more realistic than Madden's past. Running animations are still slightly exaggerated or stylized, but it's no where near as awkward looking as in previous versions.

One of my gripes with M10 is the playbooks. While I understand the devs went out of their way to replicate each teams' playbook, it still feels very bare-bones in terms of depth. Then again, people who've played APF are probably spoiled at being able to input every single play & formation ever desired (sans Wildcat). With that said, they're still very authentic, but I wish there was a way to customize them further or even create your own.

OFFENSE
On offense, I will say that the ball-carrying mechanics are still much better & rewarding in 2K football, the Pro-Tak seems to really boost what Madden's have done in the past. The "string animations" of Pro-Tak really help mimic the feeling that 2K has always had with their branching tackles.

The o-line blocking is a wash in both regards. Where APF has some great pulls & trench battles, it also has the common missed assignments (pulling OL will completely miss defenders); M10's o-line gives a good push but if your RBs or QBs don't react fast enough the lanes will close down fast.

There still is no sense of timed/rhythm-based passing in the game -- ie: making throws before the WR breaks -- but where Madden does do better than APF is having tighter windows to complete passes. This is due to proper secondary AI & it makes gunning the ball or putting enough touch on it to get it to your WR that much more challenging & rewarding. Deep passes have always been very hard for me to complete in all football games & M10 seems to make it just as difficult. As a ball sails downfield, you can easily tell what QBs can make the deep throw (Manning) or who's passes fizzle out in the air (Pennington).

DEFENSE
On defense you have a crap ton of pre-snap assignments. You can set DL, LB & DBs into various shells, assignements, double teams, stunts & audibles. It's very deep but the button layout is very obtrusive to learn and the learning curve is high. I have found myself not having to rely on them nearly as much as I did in APF (due to good secondary AI) & LBs actually flow to the ball instead of stand there a second or two.

The physics on defense seem to be much tighter than that of APF. While I'd like a happy medium between what APF & M10 have, I prefer M10's a little more since in APF sometimes players wildly run with too much momentum to the point where you outrun a play. As far as block shedding & fighting towards the ball, I feel APF gives better control with the shoulder buttons as opposed to M10's use of the R-Stick; many times when trying to disengage from an OL I find my player doing a truck stick animation... very frustrating.

All in all, defense plays pretty tight and the d-line really seems to make it's presense felt. If a QB spends more time than normal in the pocket the DL will swat or bat the ball down or jossle the QB into incomplete passes. The AI is very tight in the upper difficulties, elite CBs shut people down, LBs run people down, DL ruin the backfield. Stacked defenses will make plays all game and it will be tough sledding, while others you can completely pick apart.

PRESENTATION
Presentation has really been ramped up from all Madden's past & you can see a lot of the groundwork being laid by the devs in adding even more onto presentation in future games. (ie: Half & Post game shows are terrible at this point) Other things that make the game feel authentic & immersive are the cut-scenes, celebrations, crowds, coach interactions, players chattering, chain gang, injuries, etc. These were the levels of polish that NFL2k5 had over Madden for the longest time & it seems the M10 team has really closed the gap. The Franchise menus have really been cleaned up and are very intuitive. (haven't made it to offseason yet in Franchise)

EXTRAS
M10 offers online games (ranked, unranked & Franchise), NFL Superstar (superstar mode), practice, mini-games, etc. Nothing too much different from years past and nothing that I've gotten into too deep, so I'll have to update this as I go.

MISC NOTES
* You now have the ability to mix & match individual uniform parts (helmet, jersey, pants, socks & shoes) from various uniforms in teams past history.
* Create-a-player gives you plenty of options
* EA Trax ROCK! SOAD, Slipknot, Tupac, Nas, Maiden, Judas Priest, etc... gone is emo music (THANK YOU!!!!)
* Commentary is a mixed bag & there is lots of clipping & splicing with it. Collinsworth's commentary is very good & Hammons' still sucks!
* Player models & graphics look amazing.
* Sliders galoure - you can adjust just about everything in this game from AI, Human presence, even subs per position so now it actually pays to have depth (ie: Giants shuffling in D-line)
* Speed slider (forgot the real name) - This is great! It allows you to adjust the gap between top-end & low-end speed to make it more believable. The lower you drop the slider the bigger a difference you see in speed between a guy like Hester & an o-lineman. This makes getting caught from behind on a break-away much less likely.
* Package/subs - I wish APF had this depth for the longest time. From the playcalling screen you can make individual subs or package swaps by a couple button presses. You get lots of options on both O & D.

CLOSING THOUGHTS
If you're looking to try out a new game of football, definitely give M10 a rental. Give it a couple days to see if it is a game you will enjoy. I was never one to side with either EA or 2K, I simply wanted a great game of football & I think, as of thus far, M10 is delivering. You have to tip your cap to Ian & Co down at EA, if this is the direction they want to go in, Maddens-beyond are going to be a real treat.

Comments

# 1 joesto54 @ Aug 15

great write up. good review

# 2 CreatineKasey @ Aug 15

Greazy I agree with ya man. We're going to have a fun season of M10 football ahead of us! I've played around 10 online games and I still have NO red flags in terms of cheese or things I think are overpowered. That's quite an accomplishment as I'm playing other random players. It's all gravy at this point.

# 3 killer miller31 @ Aug 15

2k was great for the time but anytime i try to play it even apf now its just not that good anymore to many money plays and just bad defense.but used to love those games but also lets face it if 2k took the license and madden 2005 was the final madden and if every one remembers a lot of people prefered madden as the better game that year.....we would have the same argument reversed and dont get me wrong i miss having 2 games to buy every football season but i really think madden 10 is finally the game we wanted in next gen it is still flawed but far better game then anything we have had in the past even 2k5.really loving that i havent found any money plays yet you really gotta be smart this year i love that!but anyway just some thoughts i have had. good read man

# 4 WeBB15 @ Aug 15

Yeah go back and play try to play 2k games now... one word... LACKING...just fundamentally horrible in every situation and animations are just bad

# 5 elgreazy1 @ Aug 15

Agreed TJ. The only thing that has me worried is durability of the game, but with plenty of APF guys enjoying it, at least there will be a steady supply of guys we know well enough to play.

# 6 NYG34 @ Aug 15

i liked madden but somthin about the game i dont like. i still like APF better but madden has done a decent job this year. the presentation is terrible. i though it would be like nfl 2k5 but not even close. and pro tak is pretty messy.

# 7 Valdarez @ Aug 15

I think you need to watch the secondary better Greazy. Watch as the DBs run full speed in one direction, towards their defender, perform a little circle only to be running full speed in the opposite direction with the receiver. It makes for smaller passing windows, but not in a realistic manner. Their 'fix' for the instant turns, were to make it a little circle. It's not a fix by any means, the result is still the same, unrealistic directional / speed changes that not only should not occur, but could never occur in reality (maybe in the Matrix heh).

# 8 DJ @ Aug 16

Well put and I agree with most of what you stated. Looking forward to running some games with you in our APF Madden league.

# 9 TracerBullet @ Aug 17

tazdevil the clock should have run out. in the fianl two minutes of each halaf there is a 10 second runoff on any penalty by the offense. It doesn't matter if the clock is stopped or whether you're winning or losing. 10 seconds must leave the clock. No other game has ever had this in so that's why you would think it was wrong but it actually isn't.

# 10 Sherman91587 @ Aug 17

I like both the new Madden and APF.

I have been playing Madden for a long time and this is a new feel with the same game that I have been used to all along. I also recently picked up APF for 7 bucks (who can say no to that) and the game is great. I am not very good because I am not used to it (haven't played a 2k football since Dreamcast), but I am sure I will get it down in time.

# 11 robis4real @ Aug 18

yea i loved the 2k games and you can say i am a 2k fanboy but madden 10 stepped it up big time in my opinion and i thnk overall its better than 2k5 i can't play it anymore yea it was good in its prime but its time to move on and all maddens from 06-09 on xbox 360/ps3 was disapointing but madden 10 really impresses me