I picked up the Collector's Edition of Madden '09, which also comes with NFL Head Coach. So far, I am hugely impressed. Keep in mind that Madden lost my business the last couple of years, so this is a big turnaround. These impressions are early, of course, but so far I am very pleased.
The first thing you notice is that Madden is flat out gorgeous. EA did an unbelievable job in the graphics department. The colors are maybe a tad bit flat to me (especially in comparison with NCAA '09), but overall the game is just beautiful. The audio is a mixed bag because the play-by-play announcer is really bad. He sounds like is he is reading his lines off of cue cards. But Cris Collinsworth (who I don't care too much for on real broadcasts) is excellent in his role as the color commentator. He really nailed it.
Of course what matters most is how the game plays and I am pleased to say that it blows NCAA '09 out of the water. The QBs are not all superhuman for one thing, and I can actually get pressure on the QB with my front four. I came around the end with Leonard Little in one game and absolutely nailed Vince Young. Just laid him out flat. It was so well done and looked so realistic that it was actually exhilarating. That sensation is completely missing from NCAA '09.
There are only a few problems I have with the game. First of all, the atmosphere is just blah. EA has never gotten this right in Madden and it needs to be addressed. That is one area NCAA '09 beats Madden. Secondly, as someone who really enjoys CPU vs. CPU, the running game in that mode is awful. The CPU can never get the running game going and they usually average about 1.5 to 2.5 yards a carry, which is not good enough. In the past I could simply adjust the CPU sliders and fix the problem easy as pie. But there are no CPU sliders in Madden this year, because instead they have introduced adaptive difficulty and they have human sliders. These work pretty well, EXCEPT for CPU vs. CPU users. There is talk that CPU sliders could be added in a patch, but I am not holding my breath because the game is getting almost universally good reviews (as it should). I don't know if EA will think it's worth the effort to add CPU sliders when everyone seems to love the game so much.
But the game is meant to be played, and it plays wonderfully. It still has little niggling problems left over from NCAA '09, like the ghost jukes and lack of sideline awareness. But it's not as glaring as it is in NCAA '09 and EA is already working on a patch to address these problems. Playing defense is so much more enjoyable in Madden as well. The defensive AI has not been dumbed down the way it was in NCAA '09. This means the game play is less wide open (which is fine for pro football) but you don't see the CPU defense doing incredibly stupid things to make the offense more potent, ala NCAA '09.
I have not played Head Coach yet, but it looks like it is incredibly deep and I have heard nothing but raves about it so far. Maybe that is how I will have to get my CPU vs. CPU fix this year. Still, it doesn't look as nice as Madden and I will have to do all the play calling, rather than just letting the game play out, so it will be a lot more time intensive.
But it really looks like EA has nailed their pro football games this year. I am a bit bummed because I prefer college football over pro, so I'd rather have NCAA '09 be better than Madden. But if NCAA '10 is equal to Madden '09, I should be very happy indeed.
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