Tancap Blog

Madden NFL 10 is the latest edition in a long line of football games from EA.  I was hoping that this version would break the streak I’ve noticed with EA focusing in on perfecting a few features while neglecting others.  Unfortunately 10 is no different, in this version the Pro-Tak dramatically improves the tackling aspects of the game and improvement have been made to the passing game, but other features such as commentary and the defense AI have serious issues.  In fact, commentary in Superstar mode is completely absent.  While this decision may have been for realism reasons, it leads to an awkward feeling while playing the game that something is missing.   In franchise mode, commentary is often flat out wrong.  For example, often the commentary will remark that there have been no penalties during the game when in fact there have been several.  The Extra Point (Post / Pre Game Reports) seems like a really good idea and is presented well, but there isn’t enough content for the game reports to say anything truly notable.  If this was the first attempt in the series these issues would be understandable, but EA should really be able to get this right by now.  Online franchise mode works well, but there is an extra charge for them after the first one.  For a game that is expected to have as strong online component, charging for online play seems unreasonable.  Overall, Madden NFL 10 isn’t a bad experience it just isn’t as polished as one would expect for a series that has been around for as long as Madden has.

Scores:

Graphics:

Nearly photo-realistic looking players with solid motion capture.  Pro-tak has improved the appearance of tackling as well.

Sound:

Commentary is often absent or wrong.  Atmospheric sounds are repetitive.

Gameplay:
On defense the AI is pretty bad.  It is still pretty easy to rack up massively high scoring games.

Controls:

Controls work well.  No real improvement since the last version.

Originality:

Same old game and still not implemented without some major issues.

Overall Single Player:

Not a bad experience except for poor single player AI and no commentary for Superstar mode.

Overall Multiplayer:

A solid experience.  It is unfortunate that for the best experience you will end up paying extra.

Reviewer’s Opinion:

Not bad, but not what one would expect from a game that has gone through as many editions as Madden has.

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