Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview

[ItzH3r0]

That is an awesome PREVIEW!!! It looks like Madden is back on track to being an awesome football game..

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview

Very good detailed preview, Steve.

Thanks for the write-up.

[CreatineKasey]

I like what I read. Keep up the great reports! They are fun to read.

[Moegames]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview

So much for the blatant bashers ...

I love it, I love it!! IF its anyone's opinion i take seriously..its MMChrisS... not Apex, not Rmoody, not the plethora of constant haters around here..or the big name review sites... There's a reason why OS has MMChris give his preview and reviews of these big games each year.

Im so stoked to hear all the good news!! I also felt the same pretty much since playing the gamestop demo.

Im glad he pointed out ProTak is NOT a gimmick which i already knew myself but....this should put to rest a nice big handful of ProTak bashers as well.

Very glad to hear it wasnt just me realizing that the cpu does go long ball on you, I had the cpu/steelers catch me off guard a few times with some long ball against me..i was scratching my head as i was playing the cpu..not a human controller team, nice!

This is a GOOD example of someone giving the game a fair chance and appreciating the improvements made over this 1 year instead of others like Rmoody,etc,etc just constantly crying about the game for really no real good reason, honestly you never seen any positive remarks from such people..what does that tell you? Then compare that to MMChris preview and it really shows how off some of these complainers really are...

I also love the sound of the running game bro's.. seems he has had a chance to play with other teams unlike the rest of us with the gamestop demo so hearing him say the running game is a nice improvement is a nice welcome...although i already knew this myself just from the demo but having it confirmed is appreciated.

Also i appreciate the fact that playing different Defensive teams gives you a different feel..i love it, i love it!! I even noticed this with the two demo's..infact i even mentioned that i noticed each team played diffrently then other teams..before in past maddens every game felt like you were playing the same *** **** team..now from what i gathered from the demo's and this preview confirms exactly that

Im also glad to hear MMChris also appreciate the new presentation..it sure makes the game feel so much more ALIVE! ...im so hyped now after reading this preview...well heck, i been pretty hyped since playing the demo's and im really liking what i see in the demo's...

Now on top of all this..we still have the 3 weeks or so of final tweaking that none of us have seen yet...so even with the few issues in this preview..who's to say that some of these wont be addressed with the 3 weeks of tuning that is not present in these beta builds...overall things are looking GREAT!!!

[StormJH1]

Pro-Tak, as a pure concept, is the least "gimmicky" thing Madden has done in years. When you reinvent a core element of gameplay and try to make it more like real NFL play, how is that a gimmick?

That said, it's still fair to critique how well it is done. After playing the demo, I thought it was better having Pro-Tak than not having it, but I also wished it could have been more. The physics don't respond to players coming in late to the pile, and there is a noticeable "jumpiness" going in and out of all these new animations. But there's also hope that the retail version might have a few more weeks of polish than either of the demos we saw.

[Spanky]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview

i agree with ya here.. and the "official" OS review of Madden 09 was also stellar..

You are right about last year's OS review. It was written by Terry Crouch, who gave it an 8.5 and stated "... Madden NFL 2009 is the best version of Madden that I’ve played in a long time.''

Freaking cost me $60 for that pile of rubbish. He listed CPU QB being deadly accurate as a negative. It would have been nice to know before purchasing that EA, in a mind-bogglingly brilliant move, removed CPU sliders.

Overall, OS was gushing all over the place about Madden 09 and I credit a lot of members here for taking them to task after playing that P.O.S.

That said, luckily, Mr. Crouch did not write the preview here, and hopefully he will not be assigned to the review. For all we know, he might have been hired to head up EA's PR department.

It is my sense that this preview has far more credibility than last year's review and the all-out OS love-in with EA.

[Moegames]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview

If you turn fight for the fumble off, do you still get the pileups?

And my other question, is the "normal" game speed like last years or is it the slowed down one? I'm guessing its the slowed down one

Thats a good question ..about the pileups...as i absolutely hate the "dance dance revolution" button smashing scheme going on here with the pileups... my own commen sense tells me it'll still be there even if you turn off the button pressing stuff..but i'd love a confirmation on this regardless

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview

Thats a good question ..about the pileups...as i absolutely hate the "dance dance revolution" button smashing scheme going on here with the pileups... my own commen sense tells me it'll still be there even if you turn off the button pressing stuff..but i'd love a confirmation on this regardless

Yeah I think Ian said it would just have the fumble pileups and it would give it to one of the teams, but I would like confirmation.

[TreyIM2]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview

Yeah I think Ian said it would just have the fumble pileups and it would give it to one of the teams, but I would like confirmation.

Agreed. I would prefer not to do the button mashing, like I said when Ian first posted on his EA blog that there would be this mini game. I like the drama of waiting to see who will come out with the football just like when I watch a real football game.

You are right about last year's OS review. It was written by Terry Crouch, who gave it an 8.5 and stated "... Madden NFL 2009 is the best version of Madden that I’ve played in a long time.''

Freaking cost me $60 for that pile of rubbish. He listed CPU QB being deadly accurate as a negative. It would have been nice to know before purchasing that EA, in a mind-bogglingly brilliant move, removed CPU sliders.

Overall, OS was gushing all over the place about Madden 09 and I credit a lot of members here for taking them to task after playing that P.O.S.

That said, luckily, Mr. Crouch did not write the preview here, and hopefully he will not be assigned to the review. For all we know, he might have been hired to head up EA's PR department.

It is my sense that this preview has far more credibility than last year's review and the all-out OS love-in with EA.

Bossman, I actually didn't read that review as I only joined here a few months ago but I will say this like I always say when people get all silly about another person's review - It's a personal opinion. Just like u have yours, reviewers have their own. U bought the game at your own risk, regardless of what a reviewer may have said. U had the option of the demo and/or renting the game, first. Don't bash the reviewer cuz u didn't use your options to check the game out for yourself, first. Bash yourself.

[bomza]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview

Great article. Some comments..

Speaking of fight for fumble, I think it's something a lot of people will eventually turn off, as I've been completely on top of a ball, only to lose the "fight for fumble" and come away pissed off. Sure it happens, but I for one, would rather stick with the old way and turn the feature off.

Amen to that. Thank God we can turn it off.

... but I still haven't seen the AI false start.

This most certainly is in NCAA 10 even on Heisman level. Sounds odd it wouldn't have the progressive lighting also, one of the neatest things in NCAA 10. Sad to hear few deflections at the line like in NCAA 10 also.

Speaking of instant replay, though, there seems to be an issue replaying touchdowns in this build, as most get cut off as soon as the ball breaks the the goal line. I think it's annoying, but maybe it won't bother some of you. It doesn't happen all the time, but I'd say most of the time it does.

This has got to be related to the ref goal line conferring cut scene. I hate that too. Even if he's only one yard in, I want to see him go in. I think they deliberately cut it at that point in the replay. I twitter'd Ian and he said "Relax and enjoy the suspense." But there is no suspense when you see in real time that he went one yard into the endzone. THAT'S why I think they cut off the replay at the goal line, so as to not mess up their ref cut scene suspense. But f*** suspense. I want my player breaking the goal line in the replay! The other ref cut scenes (back of the endzone, first down) are fine. This one bugs me because I clearly can tell I made it in the endzone whereas the first down marker is not exact anyway, and it's hard to tell in real time if a receiver got both his feet down. If there's a pile of players around when trying to get into the endzone, then I would be for the ref endzone confer cut scene. But not every single time when it's even remotely close. Because most of the time, when that cut scene comes up, it's not close.

Another oddity occurs at halftime or when the referee is calling the penalty, as you will sometimes see players walking right through the zebra.

In another thread "Madden 10 referees are ghosts?" I discuss this, and I've noticed in the snow demo your linebacker can't just move back and forth through the ref like in the Gamestop demo. In the snow demo the ref will try to get out of the way, but the player still kinda moves through the ref. Anyway, if what they decided to do with the refs on the field (be full contact refs or be ghosts) is what is in the snow demo, I would be happy with that. It's a good compromise. When the play is dead they can all be ghosts, I don't care.

I was hoping to read something about the controls in your article. Is there still just the one controller config? Thx.

[Mr_EA_Sports]

Nice write up Steve the game sounds absolutely great.

[marcoyk]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview

There are 27 items you can purchase in the Madden shop, but I am not going to go into detail about these right now.

??? I'm a bit curiuos.
Nice write-up.

[DubTrey1]

Thanks!!! You have really help stoke the excitement over this game again. I am looking forward to actually buying Madden this year!!

[texbuk84]

now if you could just send me your copy of the game so that i can write a review. lol.

nah nice write up. excited about madden myself

[wjhix88]

Hey bro, I think we can all appreciate an intricate preview of what I believe will be the start of an outstanding Madden Franchise. I've never been this excited for a Madden to hit the shelves. Great read man, I disregard anything the negative peeps have to say. There is enough solid evidence to say that this game is gonna entertain all of the consumers making this purchase. Are you ready for some football!!!!