Madden NFL 10 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here

[MAzing87]

I got my hands on the Superbowl demo last night (PS3). And I won't Bs anyone about my impressions. I'm not going to really comment much on the menus or presentation too much because it is and will always be about gameplay for me. I've been a Madden gamer since 1990! Played football videogames since Tecmobowl on the NES to Madden on Genesis to NFL Gameday on PSone to NFL 2K5 on PS2, etc. You get what I'm saying.

I played my first game in All-Pro (I played with ARZ only last night ). My first drive stalled, I stopped Pit on their first drive which included a user sack with Dockett. Then on my first run play, I bust a 54 yarder with Beanie Wells, with Palomalu to beat. I'm thinking, this is getting good. Then with the perfect angle of pursuit, Palomalu stops me and gets a TD saving tackle near the Pit 24 yard line. Some people would be pissed at not scoring, but I was excited like I was a little kid in an ice cream store! This is what I wanted, it felt far more realistic in the defender stopping me than scoring. That is simulated football. A couple of plays later, I connected with Breaston at the corner for a nice over the shoulder catch and TD. Pit was down 10-3 late and Ben threw a pass to Ward with 0:01 left on the clock, and forced the game into OT. I never got on the field offensively and lost 10-13. Then I switched gears to All-Madden. I couldn't sacked Ben if my life depended on it. On one play, I called a CB blitz to which Parker picked it up an Ben never got phased by it. He was picking apart my defense whether it was man or zone. The good thing I noticed was when I pressured him, even though I didn't sack him, he threw incomplete passes. That's how it should be. I got waxed 21-3. 3rd game was closer 14-14 into the 4th but my costly mistakes in the end netted 2 picks, one was a pick 6 and I lost 28-14. The defense makes you pay if you don't make the best decisions. I got called for a facemask penalty when I tackled Parker on a run play. When I checked the replay, my jaw dropped to see that my defender did in fact pull on his facemask!!!! I was very impressed to finally see an infraction called on me and it really did happened. Another play where I went for it on 4th down, I threw it to Breaston to which he caught it but the defender hit him and he dropped the ball. I checked the instant replay and it was unbelievable to see the defender literally use his hands to poke the ball out of Breastons hands and force the incomplete pass while going down!! It's these little details I look for in a sim.


Pros:
*Live atmosphere, crowd was live, nice cut scenes of the crowd, and decent overlays. (I hope it isn't just for the superbowl), nicely done.

*Tons of nice animations, I scored a couple of TDs with Fitz and he had some very nice catching animations very similar to what he does in real life. Warner throws like Kurt Warner, and even the way Fitz goes down the field and tracks the ball as it comes, life like. The animations aren't stiff, they were fluid and natural. Can't say the same for the running as I still think the running animation in Madden 04 was best. But at least it's not as choppy as Madden 09 or NCAA 09. The break tackle animations were also nice. The tackle animations are sick. On one play, Polamalu hit Fitz on a pass in the endzone where he naturally reacted and forced Fitz to not catch the ball.

*I like the way the defense finally uses angles of pursuit to chase a ball carrier who threatens to score. This is very big for me. I hope this works for most defenses as this can hopefully stop the high scoring output in games. It can still be fun.

*Graphics are slightly improved, the players don't look like cookie cut models like in Madden 09.

*The speed of the game is ok, not the best but it helps for newcomers and returning gamers like me to get back in the groove of playing Madden.


Cons:
*Willie Parker, nothing against him, but there was one play where Dockett had him in the backfield for a loss, in great position to smack him, but Willie trucked him and gained 5 yards. That concerns me a bit because there's no way a back not named Brandon Jacobs could even attempt let alone succesfully bold over a defensive tackle. I hope the ratings and weight and strength statistics work the way it should in Madden 10!

*Some clipping issues were in this demo. The plays I noted regarding the facemask penalty and the one play where the defender knocked the ball out of Breaston's hands, there was some clipping but I hope it gets cleaned up in the retail version.

*Inconsistent cut scenes where Ben or Kurt is on the phone and the next thing you know they are on the field with their offense. This is minor but it's something I'm sure they can easily fix. Also the cut scenes show missing details of the QB faces (facial textures) after a few seconds, as if its loading well after the cutscene starts.

*CPU receivers already in catch animation well before the pass ever gets there. This can get confusing because I always tried to match my user catches with the timing of the CPU, but I thought I would never try to put my hands up that soon. Something very minor but noted.

*And referees in conference for obvious TD plays or chain gang coming in when a player clearly gets the first down.

*My biggest gripe of all, and I knew I wasn't going to ever like this is the mini game that goes on after a fumble. Seriously, I thought or hoped the days of mashing buttons would be over but this is just plain ridiculous. I forced 2 fumbles in the game, both on all Madden difficulty, one was really critical to possibly start a comeback and I wasn't even close to getting the ball for my offense. It came up so fast that I didn't even realize because Iwas too busy watching the pile up. The bar simply went in Pit favor like the cpu had a turbo controller. I would hate playing online with a cheeser in this sense. I hated the idea, and I can say I will hate this aspect of Madden 10. I wished it was a series of button presses to where u and your opponent need to correctly enter the on screen prompts correctly and accurately, to determine who gets the ball during a pile up.

Altogether, I have to say, after playing Madden 07-09 (current gen) and being disappointed in that I stopped playing each one after like 2 months and never touching them again, I am excited and will in fact get Madden 10! I am really looking forward to the franchise mode, hoping that it works well , in addition to the online leagues and regular online, in that order!

I guess I can say this, but some of you PS3 owners can add me as a friend and we can scrap it up in Madden

[TheWatcher]

I'll have to respectfully but totally disagree with the OP. APF's player models were an absolute joke. You had D-lineman looking like WR's and big RB's/FB's looking like CB's. Sorry, that's not good.

Ickey Woods was a big dude in his playing days, but in APF he looked like he was on a steady diet of air and crack.

2K themselves acknowledged their failure on this, and I was told that when they were going into production for APF 2K9 that fixing the player models was a top priority. Of course, APF 2K9 was cancelled in production so we'll never know how it turned out.

I don't think any football game has done a better job with player models than what we have right now in Madden. Now this of course is all a matter of opinion, but proportions aren't so much, as they can be accurately gauged against real life and in this regard APF failed miserably among other enormous failures.

[MAzing87]

Quote: Originally Posted by gmcrb28

wat happen to this catch animation? http://www.operationsports.com/videoview.php?id=395 this animation should be happening more often than the over the shoulder jump catch in certain situations

That is tight... Nice animation!

[leo2k2ndc]

LoL, I agree too, People can say that 2k has better AI but besides that Madden ... ****SS!!!!! On everything else that has been done in those games .... We're not talking reality most people are talking about potential .. If you say AP doesn't look somewhat like 2k5, your lying to yourself

[patsfan254]

Having a little trouble here. Downloaded the Gamestop demo last night and tried mixing it up a little bit so I was going to dl the Cowboys/Giants one. However, when I go into XBL to download the demo, all i can do when clicking on M10 is "play now". Any help from someone who's been there before? And I am a gold member.

[davep]

As a Madden 08 pc lover, I can finally put that game away.

I was going to get Backbreaker for my 'fun' football game, but I'm having so much fun with this one there is no need.

-Totally dig the way Jacobs can break out of tackles.

-Love the slower speed although might have to crank it up just a hair.

-The game actually feels alive, something that has been missing for forever. Nicely done!

-Stat banners will be great!

-I honestly don't care about the socks/handwarmers/towels/etc...but they do add to the texture of the game.

Overall, I'm having fun with just the 1 minute demo! I know people will constantly pick it apart, and maybe that's necessary to further the game along, but as long as I'm having fun it's all good!

Congrats Ian and crew, this one looks like a winner! You've turned this ship around!

[ezio]

Gald to hear there is a difference. that is great.

[coogrfan]

I only managed to get in one game last night (1 min qtr version), and at the risk of scandalizing the sim-heads out there I have determined that I'm going to have to crank up the game speed. Compared to NCAA, Madden feels like an old-timers game.