Madden 2010 Demo 1st Impression

The 2010 edition of Madden seems to be all about realism. Not that its anything new for EA sports, they have been leading the way in realistic football since the 80s. From the very beginning of the game they intertwined real photographs with computer generated editing, leaving you lost on whats real and whats not. I know every year we try and imagine how they could make it look any more real, and every year they pull it off.

The most noticeable improvements I can see are in the player movement and stadium environment. The way players are tackled have a real "never the same tackle" feel to them. Which brings the repetitive feel of seeing the same tackles and moves every game. The stadium is outstanding and they show it off with a snowy match between the Giants and Cowboys. The fans look about as good as they did last year but I did notice much more variety in the movement in the crowd, once again promoting realism.

The stadium lighting is much improved this year as well. The lighting seems much more like a real stadium having dark areas inside, and fading to the sky very well. Game play has definitely been stepped up a notch. Players spin, cut, jump and push through in a seemingly seamless manor.
They have introduced a gang tackling that can have 3 to 9 pile ups. The rating system for players is where they really took off this year. For QB they have short, mid, and long range skill ratings. I started as the giants and immediately noticed how well Eli through with in 15yds but horribly over 30yds. The RB position was improved in the same way, the rating system is set up to allow the big guys to have some real value. In 2009 if your RB had a high speed rating the rest was history. I could run through packs of people breaking tackles and anything else in the way of Brandon Jacobs.
All in all there have been some great improvements top to bottom. On a few minor notes they have returned to the old play selection format, I personally think the simplicity is the way to go with that. I am also happy to announce the squib kick is back! You will get 4-1:00min snowy quarters that we all can play over and over until Aug 14th.