Madden NFL 10 Review

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by spankdatazz22

Unfortunately I think whether it's the Bill Abner review or many others people are giving the game way too much credit for improving on it's admittedly bad predessors. Which really isn't much of a standard to hold it to.

So, now that Abner gave Madden 10 a high score, you know view him in a different light?

He even admitted in his review that he gave 09 a higher score then he should have. At least, he admits it.

I don't see the other reviewers admitting it. And why would they?

[marcoyk]

Good review, looking forward to getting the game.

[TCrouch]

Here's the issue...especially since most people seem to bring up my APF and Madden 09 reviews and consider them complete crap.

I don't consider Madden 09 to be crap. I didn't then, and I don't now.

I'm aware that it's the general consensus that people think it's crap. When you write a review, you generally have a week (sometimes two) to try to find out what you can about a game. You don't have the luxury of sitting back for 6 months and picking apart every little issue and going "OH MY GOD HOW COULD THEY HAVE MISSED THIS?!!?"

Everybody has different tastes, and since I wrote both the APF and Madden 09 reviews, I still think that Madden gave a gamer more bang for the buck.

And in the end, it played a pretty believable game of football. People can point to any game in history and point out things wrong with it, but in this internet age, people who don't even play the game can sit back, complain about whatever they want, and it spreads like wildfire. There's a certain "dogpile" effect across message boards and the internet, where people think they are more "hardcore" or more educated if they can try to pick apart the tiniest thing. It's like putting themselves so far up on a pedestal that their word is beyond questioning, and if you don't agree, then you're a complete moron.

Bottom line, not EVERYBODY thought Madden 09 was a complete turd, even if people want to treat it as fact that it was this horrid pile of dung. People will still hate Madden 10, and others think *gasp* that NFL2K5 isn't the best thing since sliced bread.

In the end, that's also why I refused to do the Madden reviews anymore. Just not worth the headache as you still get people saying that an opinion is wrong, or somehow we're in bed with EA/Sony/MS/whoever...years later.

It's so sad that it's almost comical.

[Aboogie5]

Quote: Originally Posted by Terrell28

I just got my Madden 10 about 2 hours ago thanks to the mom & pop stores and it's now 4:15 so now that I have played some games I can have a better opinion and so far it's the little things that I like alot it's just FINALLY LOOKS AND PLAYS like a football game and the players are really like themselves. With the demo I couldn't get a feel cause I dont like the Giants,Cowboys,Steelers, or Cards so now that I have played with my Ravens Ed Reed is like he is in real life even if I'm controling him or its the cpu and the new ratings I love with the play action rating even tho Flacco's could be higher it does play in to when you call a play action pass so all in all with EA FINALLY getting around to presentation I can say this is the closest to my dream which was to have Madden gameplay with 2K5 presentation it maybe 4-5 years later but better LATE THAN NEVER great game!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah i said the same thing on friday when i got it and now my interest is declining seeing the flaws of the game more and more i play a game. I guarantee in a week you'll feel the same guarantee

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

So, now that Abner gave Madden 10 a high score, you know view him in a different light?

No. I was saying (imo) he fell into the same hole a lot of reviewers seem to when judging Madden; overlooking much of what he should've been critical of simply because this is the only football game on the market and we all love/need football. As Rocky alluded to earlier, because of NFL exclusivity I can see where it's difficult to judge the game properly.

It's a difficult thing to articulate but here goes: I don't know what standard Madden should be held to. It's the only sports game where there's literally no competition. So in some ways I'd think a reviewer would have to judge the game in part by using an admittedly subjective set of rules, extrapolating what should be expected of a football game. While also using how other sports games in other genres have progressed as a loose measurement. One thing's for sure - we sure as hell shouldn't be pointing to 5yr old last gen football games as some standard. Nor should Madden's poor showing so far next gen be the only thing the game should be measured against. I think that's a big reason why reviews are all over the place; because so many reviewers look at the game and are thankful it doesn't suck - instead of having some standard it should be held to

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by TCrouch

Everybody has different tastes, and since I wrote both the APF and Madden 09 reviews, I still think that Madden gave a gamer more bang for the buck.

Just wanted to say: don't know if you remember, but I gave you HUGE props for your APF review. To this day I don't think I've ever read a review that went into such detail regarding different facets of the gameplay, you seemed to have a set expectation of things, etc. I only contrasted it against your Madden 09 review because it's remarkable that a year later you didn't really seem to have that same expectation level. In retrospect, I think you M09 review is actually more detailed than the current M10 review - but that's neither here nor there. Just saying that I don't think you held Madden to the same expectation you held APF from a gameplay standpoint. And imo that shouldn't be the case. EDIT: And that's not a "2K5/APF" thing. I'd throw last gen Madden as shouldn't be held as a standard bearer also.

I agree with you somewhat that if there was a direct comparison Madden 08 was the better value, even then. But that wasn't the discussion - I don't think the same things could be expected of the two games because one's licensed and the other isn't. But you would think that if one was to have more expected of it from a gameplay standpoint it would be Madden, simply because it's the less restricted title. MORE should be expected of it. Yet too often we get reviews where the reviewer comes off as surprised/happy something works, rather than expecting that something to meet a certain level of expectation.

[PVarck31]

Quote: Originally Posted by Aboogie5

Yeah i said the same thing on friday when i got it and now my interest is declining seeing the flaws of the game more and more i play a game. I guarantee in a week you'll feel the same guarantee

So you know exactly how every individual perceives a game. Interesting.

[backbreaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by spankdatazz22

Just wanted to say: don't know if you remember, but I gave you HUGE props for your APF review. To this day I don't think I've ever read a review that went into such detail regarding different facets of the gameplay, you seemed to have a set expectation of things, etc. I only contrasted it against your Madden 09 review because it's remarkable that a year later you didn't really seem to have that same expectation level. In retrospect, I think you M09 review is actually more detailed than the current M10 review - but that's neither here nor there. Just saying that I don't think you held Madden to the same expectation you held APF from a gameplay standpoint. And imo that shouldn't be the case. I agree with you somewhat that if there was a direct comparison Madden 08 was the better value, even then. But that wasn't the discussion - I don't think the same things could be expected of the two games because one's licensed and the other isn't. But you would think that if one was to have more expected of it from a gameplay standpoint it would be Madden, simply because it's the less restricted title. MORE should be expected of it. Yet too often we get reviews where the reviewer comes off as surprised/happy something works, rather than expecting that something to meet a certain level of expectation.

I pointed everything out in my initial impression and follow up stuff. That's all you need to read on the game. A review in my opinion over an 7.5/8 or C/C-/C+ is blowing smoke period. To many legacy issues are still in the
game, but it is a fun game to play. The truth is previous Maddens have been overrated and Madden 09 is an 5/6 or a D to and F game.