Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview (1up)

[Jetpac]

1up has posted their hands-on preview of Madden NFL 10.

"Despite the reference to tackling in the name, Pro-Tak left its most dramatic impression with me on offense. It came from one of the least flashy, but most important, elements of the game: line play. Playing Madden has always meant adapting plays with the basic assumption that nine times out of ten, the offensive line would miss blocks. Much of this stemmed from the linemen being rooted in place once they started a blocking animation. Pro-Tak solves that by letting them slide and adjust as the rushers make their moves. So, when that defensive end fakes inside and then makes an outside move, the offensive tackle now stays with them. Even with Pro-Tak, though, some old bad habits remained: For every good play I watched, there was one where linemen stood idly by, utterly lost by a simple line stunt."

[Jon22]

Re: Madden 5 /10 1up.com Hands on

I noticed that lineman problem as well.

[Danimal]

Re: Madden 5 /10 1up.com Hands on

"Even if you're not that hardcore of a football fan, you'll immediately see a difference. Dropping back to pass, a real pocket starts to form, and as the quarterback, you want to stay in there with smaller movements that keep your blockers in position. The old "jam the stick down and run around at the snap" technique doesn't put you in the best position anymore. More than once, I instinctively took off running, only to be greeted by a sack at the hands of an end or linebacker. But when I broke that habit, I found I could slip around, even step up, and buy the time to make a play. "

I like that.

[rsoxguy12]

Re: Madden 5 /10 1up.com Hands on

I'm loving all these hand-on reports.

[TheWatcher]

Re: Madden 5 /10 1up.com Hands on

I want this camera angle so badly...



Why must we be tortured every year with great angles that we never get in-game? Why?

[green94]

Re: Madden 5 /10 1up.com Hands on

For instance, make a sideline pass, and the side judge comes running to rule on the reception and spot the ball.

I wonder if this is in real time.... that would be awesome.

[PantherBeast_OS]

Re: Madden 5 /10 1up.com Hands on

I noticed that lineman problem as well.

I am almost for sure Ian has saw that problem and is tweaking it before it goes gold.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Madden 5 /10 1up.com Hands on

I wonder if this is in real time.... that would be awesome.

x2, wow im surprised i saw no one mentioning that. it slipped my mind rofl

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview (1up)

This person sounds like they know football a bit better than the other previewers. It's one of the few times I've heard the words "pocket forming" and being penalized for sprinting sideways or backwards.

That's the best part I liked.

[NYyankz225]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview (1up)

A guy that actually understands some aspects of football surprisingly noticed a difference in Madden 10! What a shock.

Here's the thing. I could show my mom the pocket forming in the new game for hours and she'd have no freakin' clue what that even meant. How do you expect these reviewers to understand the changes when they don't watch/play football regularly and understand football fundamentals? Those sort of things don't register with casual fans. Casual fans are looking for the highlight plays. They're looking for long bombs and big dekes etc. The line is so inconsequential I doubt they even see the interaction.

I happen to check out 1up frequently. Garnett (the author of this preview) definitely has an understanding of how football works. He's not an LBzrule or adem but he knows the basics and obviously from this preview understands the importance of line play. 1up has a pretty decent Sports Review Crew and even have a podcast with reviewers who enjoy sports games talking about them. 1up is one of the few somewhat mainstream videogame sites I'd trust.

And not to stereotype, but keep in mind these guys are nerds. These are the guys that stayed away from sports and sat in journalism class while you guys were out playing. Nothing wrong with that but the vast majority of them just don't follow/care for sports. So how do you expect them to accurately describe the game?

As a side note there are some 'nerds' that understand and love sports. I happen to be a big geek who loves games (yet I still am active with sports) and I dont want to stereotype all gamers since there are obviously a good amount of us. But the mainstream videogame sites aren't frequented by them. So just keep that in mind.

[MattIntellect]

Re: Madden 5 /10 1up.com Hands on

I'm loving all these hand-on reports.

Yea, everyone has their own "hands on report" of the game.

[FootballSchemer]

All these previews are great

[Vikes1]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview (1up)

I try not to take these previews too much to heart. But this one sounds very encouraging.

I think it's pretty safe to say, Madden '10' is going to be something different. And with Madden...I'm more than ready for something different. Past due actually.:wink:

[RaiderKtulu]

Re: Madden 5 /10 1up.com Hands on

I want this camera angle so badly...



Why must we be tortured every year with great angles that we never get in-game? Why?

How is that a playable angle? It's a great picture... but you can't see your receivers. Unless you're just saying you want the camera at that zoom level and to use the right stick to change the vision field to look left or right... then I guess it might work, but it'll be a pain in the *** throwing any kind of quick patterns to the flat.

[SouthernBrick]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview (1up)

Quote from the article.

All seven referees are now on the field, in their proper places to throw the flags and make the calls.

Does this mean refs can throw flags now?