Growing up in the early to mid part of the 1990s, there were not many activities that were more exciting than scrounging up some change, going to the local convenience store and buying a pack of sports cards. Whether it was football, basketball, baseball or even soccer, your card collection was much more than simple childhood hobby -- it was a status symbol, signaling to the neighborhood who the most hardcore sports fan was. There were even preferred card makers that further elevated one's status, as nobody wanted to be the guy stuck with the massive Donruss collection when all of your buddies were showing off their Fleer Ultra collections.

My group of friends took our card collecting a step further than most, picking a sport, a collection of 10 cards for that respective sport and then spending entire afternoons ripping up our parents front yards as we emulated those specific athletes. Trust me, you have not lived as a kid until you have pretended that you are Julio Franco in a game of whiffle ball, correct stance and all.

Naturally, when Madden 10's Ultimate Team mode was announced a few months back, I was extremely excited to relive my childhood nerdiness, this time in video game form. Since I never played the Ultimate Team mode in EA's FIFA series, I really did not know the overall value that the mode would bring to my favorite sports game of 2009. I am more than happy to report that after weeks of nonstop play, I am absolutely loving almost everything about Madden's Ultimate Team.

The Hobby Shop

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of Ultimate Team, the game gives you a virtual pack of player cards that you use to form a team on the field. In addition to player cards, you are given cards for both home and away jerseys, a coach and even the stadium that your team will call home. This initial pack of cards is composed mostly of bench warmers and mediocre rookies (think Rex Grossman), forcing gamers to seek upgrades to their personnel as soon as humanely possible -- all in an effort to outrank your friends on an arbitrary leaderboard.

As you play more games against the CPU or human opponents online, you earn "coins" that can be used to purchase new packs of player cards that can then be added to your team. The packs are split into three different tiers that represent how good the players will be in each pack, and you are also able to purchase legendary packs that feature specific players in their primes (think Daunte Caulpepper from his Vikings days). EA has also injected a strong sense of community into the mode, offering weekly top-tier player cards at a discount, a highly addictive eBay-like auction site where you can sell or buy certain players, and even the ability to sell back duplicates and lower-tier cards in order to earn additional coins.

The community layout and collecting aspects are so well done that I have found myself spending almost as much time trying to collect certain cards, or auctioning off others for a profit, as I do playing the games themselves. The entire process is highly addictive, and it gives me the same rush I used to get the second I opened a new pack of sports cards.

Finally, from a presentation standpoint, the entire Ultimate Team interface is extremely easy to navigate, easy on the eyes and feels amazingly polished for a free game mode added this late in a game's lifespan.

Be a GM

In an interesting strategic twist, each player on your team is given a contract number that represents the number of online/offline games you can play before he is forced to ride the pine. You are able to purchase contract cards that reload the player's contract number, and it should also be noted that you can not quit a game once it has been started or else you lose that game from the player's contract. The process is extremely simple and really adds a nice strategic element to the experience, especially when you assemble a more star-studded team that you can take online.

Injuries are also handled in a similar fashion. Once a player is injured, you must purchase a medical card that will heal a player's injury. Much like the contract cards, once a player is injured you are forced to weigh that player's impact on a game versus the number of coins you would have to spend for a medical card. The ability to force gamers into such decisions is where Madden Ultimate Team really shines -- and the amount of thought and game planning that goes into managing your team is on the level of a more simulation-based title like NFL Head Coach.

The addition of the contract numbers and injury cards comes across as EA's way of balancing out the experience and preventing people from spamming star players. Unfortunately, this effort is not that effective since players can use real-world currency to purchase in-game coins (more on that later).

On the Gridiron

After assigning your starters and giving your team a witty name, it is time to take your squad of misfits onto the gridiron. The gameplay of Madden Ultimate Team is identical to that of standard Madden. From my experience with the game, the more points you score, the less you give up and whether you win or lose the game are the biggest determining factors as to how many points you earn. Even if you lose and score 7-10 points a game, you will be rewarded with roughly 200 coins. With new card packs that include upper-echelon players costing 3,000 coins, some may find the task of building a team without resorting to spending real money a chore.

This leads me to the biggest issue with the mode. Highly competitive gamers seeking a level playing field are not rewarded within the game mode. Unless you and your friends adhere to the honor system of either playing multiple games to earn coins, or each spend the same amount of real-life currency on player cards, there is no way to regulate how your buddies are acquiring their players.

As someone whose Xbox Live friends list is composed mainly of old college friends and fellow OS staffers, I know that my leaderboard is legit. None of us have purchased a card pack, and we are all attempting to one-up each other via good old-fashioned hard work and dedicated gameplay. Of course this does not help when playing online because there is no way to play a friend outside of the old push the "play now" button at the same time and hope to end up against each other method.

Even with this minor shortcoming, Madden 10 Ultimate Team excels because it gives you a sense of ownership of a team that I have never really experienced before. The game mode is so much more than a fantasy draft and a franchise mode, it is a NFL GM simulator where you have to play with the cards you are dealt -- no pun intended. Even if your record is a discouraging 0-37, as long as you play your games, do the best with the personnel you have and keep earning coins, your team will only get better. How many other sports games or modes out there allow you to feel like a success even if you cannot seem to win a game?

The Verdict

At the end of the day, Madden 10 Ultimate Team is an absolutely amazing addition to an already solid football title. While each person will have to decide what the ultimate value of Madden Ultimate Team is, it should please both football and strategy gaming fans alike. If you are the type of gamer who needs instant gratification out of a title, be forewarned, to truly get the most out of this game mode patience and careful planning are needed. But if you play your cards right, you will be blown away by the addictiveness of this mode.

It is nice to be excited again about collecting cards -- now if only I could score that legendary Randy Moss card to rub it in to all of my old friends' faces. But hopefully it is not a Donruss.

+ It's Free
+ Collecting cards is extremely fun and putting together a team is rewarding.
+ The entire presentation and layout of the mode is extremely well done and easy to navigate.

- Earning points takes some time and dedication (could be a plus for many).
- Ability to purchase cards with cold hard cash gives certain players an unfair advantage.
-Extremely difficult to play someone on your friends list (Both PS3 and 360).

Recommendation: Buy (or download in this case)