Madden 2010 News Post

Madden NFL 10 Review

07:53 PM - August 12, 2009 by RaychelSnr

Madden NFL 10 is finally here. I have to admit that the juices started to flow as soon as I heard John Madden say for the first time, "The time to make history starts right now." The intro, which features the cover athletes Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu, might be one of the best Madden intros ever, and it doesn't stop there as Madden puts it, "I have a feeling, this one is going to be special." Could he be right? Read on to find out.

Read More - Madden NFL 10 Review

Madden NFL 10 screenshot gallery - Click to view

Game: Madden NFL 10Reader Score: 7.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 76 - View All

Madden NFL 10 Videos

Member Comments

# 61 walliworld @ 08/13/09 12:16 PM

Okay review, but score should be 8 at the most. It does not deserve a 9 with all the bad engineering.

This game is 20 years old and the developers are just now focusing on gameplay and football instead of modes and franchise??

# 62 walliworld @ 08/13/09 12:20 PM

Wow, I am definitely renting game first. They want us to pay $70 for a game with known bugs, WOW....

# 63 bigsmallwood @ 08/13/09 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Only1LT


	Everyone is entitled to their opinion and this reviewer is certainly entitled to his. The majority of the comments on hear are saying that the review is fair and unbiased. To give a counterpoint, I don't think the review was quite that fair, and is a little biased. Some of the issues in the game were not mentioned, and other issues in the game were glossed over, and some things that were said are just not true. Easily, the first thing that comes to mind is that Defenders actually see the ball in the game. Not at all true. In no Madden game that I have ever played, including 10, does a defender "see" anything. Defenders will run routes that mirror the receiver while his back is turned to him. Defenders will also break on balls the second that you hit the pass button, again, while they have their back to the QB. There are also times when you will pass a ball to a receiver that is covered beautifully by a defender, who is actually facing the play and should be able to see the ball coming, but he will run the opposite direction that the ball is going as soon as you throw the pass. So again, what does the defense "see"? This has been going on for as long as I can remember and 10 is no different. It doesn't happen on every play, but it happens. If anything, the devs program into the defensive AI that on some plays they will read your mind and on some plays they will be dumb as dirt, just to balance the difficulty. But defenders do not "see" anything in Madden. The game is not anywhere near that sophisticated. I don't want to break down the review word for word, and I am not saying that it is a terrible review, but just as others have stated how great a review they thought it was, I don't think it was as great as most others think. I also think that a 9 is too high. And yes Millennium, I read the review lol. Maybe I just have a hard time with the game scoring so high when there is nothing to compare it to except the past few Maddens. Most games will score favorable if held in that light. The game is pretty solid and I am happy with the direction that I THINK that the team will take it in the future. It is the best Madden I have played this gen and probably ever. At least it is for now until I play for longer than a week. But it isn't the best Football game I have ever played.

I agree with you about the Defenders running the WRs routes with their backs to the QB's....its really bad sometimes and makes the game feel a little cheap. It should be patchable though.

# 64 divideby0 @ 08/13/09 12:26 PM

good writeup....as I posted..I have only played both demos on both of our consoles, and so far 8.5 max...
I keep reading a lot about frills and presentation being the big thing this year...bring me improved collosion detection...the demos still showed bodies melding together and I did pass a ball through a defenders body part..thats where the improvements I wanted to see be seen
will see on Fri....

# 65 Only1LT @ 08/13/09 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsmallwood


	I agree with you about the Defenders running the WRs routes with their backs to the QB's....its really bad sometimes and makes the game feel a little cheap. It should be patchable though.

That has been in Madden forever. What would make you think that they would patch it now lol?

# 66 nxt @ 08/13/09 01:33 PM

Great review! Very detailed and informative. I'd personally rate the game around an 8.5. IMO, it's not perfect, but it's the Best Madden Ever (current and last gen). Thank you Ian and team for finally making an NFL football game worth playing on this gen.

# 67 Gibbz @ 08/13/09 02:02 PM

I'm officially hyped to pick this game up tomorrow.

# 68 SBartlett @ 08/13/09 02:12 PM

Kotaku posted a nice short and sweet review on their site of the game today: http://kotaku.com/5336442/madden-nfl-10-review-slow-and-steady-wins-the-game

Also, since I'm not doing the official review for OS anymore, I will post the unofficial review for the game in my blog on here . I have impressions in there as well.

-Steve Montani Bartlett
OperationSports.com

# 69 strictbusiness14 @ 08/13/09 02:27 PM

"Tom Hammond, the play-by-play commentator, is in a word, pitiful. He has no emotion, and he is often wrong when talking about a play."

I'm a Notre Dame fan, so I have to put up with him for every Irish home game. No offense to him, but that sounds just like the real Tom Hammond to me.

# 70 PVarck31 @ 08/13/09 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walliworld


	Wow, I am definitely renting game first. They want us to pay $70 for a game with known bugs, WOW....

$70?? Where do you buy your games? You are getting ripped off. lol

# 71 The Police @ 08/13/09 02:53 PM

Does Madden 10 have better graphics on PS3 or X-Box 360?

# 72 Rocky @ 08/13/09 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	If you are saying it's just an improvement, I could see where that would have some merit. I just feel the difference is between night and day from 09 to 10. If you don't, that's your opinion.

I'm sorry. I was under the impression that games are supposed to improve. I have a problem with this "Madden 09 got a 8.5 so Madden 10 should get a 10" logic.

IMO, games should rated compared on how enjoyable it is to play and how realistically they replicate their sport in comparison to other sports games.

# 73 kwpit79 @ 08/13/09 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanky


	That's what it's all about, son. You can analyze, break down and nit-pick the hell out of a game in minute detail, but it all comes down to this: Does it keep you coming back for more? Madden 09? I felt like smashing the disc into a thousand pieces after just three or four games. Tecmo Super Bowl on the NES, circa 1991-92, is primitive compared to today's sports games, but the fun factor was off the chart. I'm hoping I'll find Madden 10 to have that same enjoyment level.

I was just going to say this. I guess I'm just not that anal with games in general.

I thought NFL Head Coach '09 was one of the greatest football games ever created (and yes, I've played them all, starting with the Atari 2600, lol). And that game had many flaws. But it was a blast to play!! I'm still playing it almost once a week, and I'll continue to play it until/if another one is released.

And that was my biggest beef with Madden '09. I played about 6 or 7 games and that was it. It wasn't fun.

Oh, one last thing, the '91 Tecmo Super Bowl game was a classic! I used to get headaches from playing that game too long.

# 74 spankdatazz22 @ 08/13/09 03:31 PM

Thought it would be interesting to make an apples to apples comparison regarding how low expectations factor into how Madden is judged. [Want to preface this by saying I'm only adding APF to the discussion because of who reviewed the game]. Years ago when APF was reviewed by OS, we had a super-long discussion about expectations. Many of us felt the score was justified, but felt Madden was being judged differently/held to a much lower standard. I'm only posting the two because the same person reviewed both games. Some of the user comments on the Madden review are hilarious in retrospect a year later [last year] - the APF review must've been before user comments were linked to the review because there aren't any:

APF review:
http://www.operationsports.com/review.php?id=49

Madden 09 (a year later):
http://www.operationsports.com/review.php?id=431

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.

# 75 roadman @ 08/13/09 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocky


	I'm sorry. I was under the impression that games are supposed to improve. I have a problem with this "Madden 09 got a 8.5 so Madden 10 should get a 10" logic. IMO, games should rated compared on how enjoyable it is to play and how realistically they replicate their sport in comparison to other sports games.

As I said before, after I played Madden 09 awhile, I felt that 09 was way over rated.

And that is all that counts for me, is me.

# 76 harnalien @ 08/13/09 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spankdatazz22


	Thought it would be interesting to make an apples to apples comparison regarding how low expectations factor into how Madden is judged. [Want to preface this by saying I'm only adding APF to the discussion because of who reviewed the game]. Years ago when APF was reviewed by OS, we had a super-long discussion about expectations. Many of us felt the score was justified, but felt Madden was being judged differently/held to a much lower standard. I'm only posting the two because the same person reviewed both games. Some of the user comments on the Madden review are hilarious in retrospect a year later [last year] - the APF review must've been before user comments were linked to the review because there aren't any: APF review: http://www.operationsports.com/review.php?id=49 Madden 09 (a year later): http://www.operationsports.com/review.php?id=431 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.

Interesting stuff. The review seems to make a lot of excuses for blatant issues by saying "nothing is perfect." This history is what is keeping me from bursting at the seams to get '10. Will it really hold up 3 weeks from now? I will at least rent it this time to see how I feel about it. I think the game needs to be judged by how far next gen games have come versus being judged on how at least it's better than last year.

# 77 jddcp @ 08/13/09 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spankdatazz22


	Thought it would be interesting to make an apples to apples comparison regarding how low expectations factor into how Madden is judged. [Want to preface this by saying I'm only adding APF to the discussion because of who reviewed the game]. Years ago when APF was reviewed by OS, we had a super-long discussion about expectations. Many of us felt the score was justified, but felt Madden was being judged differently/held to a much lower standard. I'm only posting the two because the same person reviewed both games. Some of the user comments on the Madden review are hilarious in retrospect a year later [last year] - the APF review must've been before user comments were linked to the review because there aren't any: APF review: http://www.operationsports.com/review.php?id=49 Madden 09 (a year later): http://www.operationsports.com/review.php?id=431 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.

The problem is most of those reviewers, according to their previous scores for Madden 09 and 08, didn't view them as "admittedly bad predecesors". That is what is confusing with some of the new scores. If a particular site thought a year ago that Madden 09 was a great game (even though we all disagree), how does he put in Madden 10 with all of the new stuff, Presentation, Gamespeed, Working sliders, Online Franchise, Co-op, Pro-tak, a crazy amount of new animations, ect and say it is marginally better (IGN) or actually worse (Gamespot).

And if the response is, well that stuff should have already been in the game or they didn't do anything new...well in 08 and 09 they definitely didn't have that stuff in the game and didn't even try and they gave the game those scores. The one year they actually come to the fans and ask us what we want and (for the most part) deliver and this is the year the reviewers decide to give out an "honest score"? That's what I don't get.

An 8.8 or even an 8.5 is ok for a sports title on a non-sport gaming website, but NOT when you have consistantly given games that were much worse the same score.

# 78 roadman @ 08/13/09 04:24 PM

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?

# 79 marcoyk @ 08/13/09 05:33 PM

Good review, looking forward to getting the game.

# 80 TCrouch @ 08/13/09 05:35 PM

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.

« Previous 1 2 345 6 7 Next »

More Links

Madden NFL 10 Review