Madden 10

[BacktoBasics]

Spent some time with the demo this weekend. One of the things I noticed right off the bat is how less herky jerky the running is. When you play NCAA (and previous maddens) I've always been annoyed by how sudden and unfluid the players look when you quickly shift from side to side. Too abrupt and the cutting is too precise. There was always a lack of momentum in the right places. This is nicely polished up. I didn't see too many 90 degree cuts on a dime like you do in previous installments. A little tron jogging but much improved overall.

For the first time I think we have a pocket. Its not perfect but I found myself stepping up more than a few times. Much better than my typical game plan of running out in the direction of the sidelines.

I threw a couple of short mid speed passes over the LB, say 10-11 yards and twice I cleared the linebacker and hit my target. I went to the replay and to my surprise it actually looked realistic. The LB was sitting about two yards off the line of scrimmage and my receiver was between 10-11 yards back. The LB even jumped and missed by a few inches. Huge improvement.

I saw one suction catch but it was minor and not nearly as extreme as years past. I was excited to see how polished the interaction between the DB and the WR is in relation to the ball. Overall No supersonic speed ups and very little to non-existent suction catching.

I think the speed of the game is fine. I enjoyed a more fluid game over the fast paced robotic version. The wind up on the pass was a little slow but wasn't a deal breaker for me. I wouldn't be surprised to see them speed it up just a smidge before the final version.

The slip animations were awesome. I saw Barber come out of the backfield and hook at about 5 yards up from scrimmage, he slipped, quickly recovered and made the catch. He swung his leg out a bit as he recovered to move up field. Met a CB about 3 yards up, hit him hard and did his typical Barber fling with an arm whaling about. Then was taken down by two others in the three man gang tackle. I nitpicked the crap out of the reply and it was near flawless.

I love how the subs utions work. So much better and easier to do. I usually play on 8 minute quarters so I could see how 9 might be better with the additional time you might spend setting up your subs mid down.

Pretty happy overall. With a full version I'll be able to see how it all comes together as far as defensive assignments how the zones look over a full game.

This is much different than last year. I'm pretty excited even more excited than I had been before the demo.

[ATRAIN]

Demo was pretty good, I like how you can fight for fumbles now. I am not so sure about the broken gang tackle. Jacobs had 3 guys tackling him at the same time and he managed to break away for 60 yards and a TD. Maybe the boys tacking sucks but come on really? The shoelace tackled in this game are nice and look good too. All in all this game is pretty sweet. The field goals are pretty diffucult if wind is against you. Folk couldnt hit a 35 yarder with almost full power. I think the game slowed down a lot compared to 09 but i got used to it by halftime.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Ok, so we have me, dirk, 90210, ATRAIN, stretch, JT, Balkman, DoK, and possibly Steven?

No dice. I'm out.

[ATRAIN]

Ok, so we have me, dirk, 90210, ATRAIN, stretch, JT, Balkman, DoK, and possibly Steven?

So we are waiting to do this when 10 comes out right? What is the release date?

[Shank]

Demo was pretty good, I like how you can fight for fumbles now. I am not so sure about the broken gang tackle. Jacobs had 3 guys tackling him at the same time and he managed to break away for 60 yards and a TD. Maybe the boys tacking sucks but come on really? The shoelace tackled in this game are nice and look good too. All in all this game is pretty sweet. The field goals are pretty diffucult if wind is against you. Folk couldnt hit a 35 yarder with almost full power. I think the game slowed down a lot compared to 09 but i got used to it by halftime.

You had that happen, too? I was up 14-0 on the Giants and had them held to all of 2 yards when Eli "Dip Face" Manning tossed a short one to Jacobs. Ware and the entire Cowboys secondary dogpiled the sonofa only to have him break free for a 73-yd TD.

[ATRAIN]

You had that happen, too? I was up 14-0 on the Giants and had them held to all of 2 yards when Eli "Dip Face" Manning tossed a short one to Jacobs. Ware and the entire Cowboys secondary dogpiled the sonofa only to have him break free for a 73-yd TD.

LOL WOW thats like exactlly what happened to me. It was a dump pass up the middle and I could have sworn there were at least 5 boys on him including ware and he broke free for I over 60. I wonder if they programed that in the demo to show us how that works. Its pretty ridiculous if you ask me. Yeah he put his head and shoulders down but breaking a group of like 5 def guys........no ing way!!

[IronMexican]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEsHn...eature=channel


QB releases. Too lazy to add the youtube thing. Looks nice.

[Cry Havoc]

LOL WOW thats like exactlly what happened to me. It was a dump pass up the middle and I could have sworn there were at least 5 boys on him including ware and he broke free for I over 60. I wonder if they programed that in the demo to show us how that works. Its pretty ridiculous if you ask me. Yeah he put his head and shoulders down but breaking a group of like 5 def guys........no ing way!!

If they don't fix this, it's going to be pretty sad.

There are always -- ALWAYS -- things like this in Madden that break the game. Every year it's close to being a great football game, but just like the "lock-down" defense in NBA 2k8 broke that game completely, something always breaks Madden and makes it almost unplayable.

In fairness, this might be a pretty good single player football game. But I have a feeling that once again, playing online against elite compe ion will be nothing but an exploit-fest of game bugs.