MADDEN 09 REVIEW

by Brian P. Foley, The College Baseball Blog

I recently did the annual ritual of purchasing Madden 2009 at midnight. I got to the store at roughly 11:50pm and the line was going out the door. I guess some people were excited for this game to come out to put it mildly. I have put the game through a few games and will provide a review below. We will be scoring everything from 1 clown to 10 clowns being the best (this is a Carnival after all).

Gameplay: 8 clowns

This game has improved a ton over the last few years but the game is still a little bit pass happy and the running game could be a little easier but it is all around a solid game. The players are much more aware of their surroundings by jumping over opponents and really looks like a real game of football.

Graphics: 7.5 clowns

This game looks great on my HDTV and the fly-ins are a great addition to the game. The graphics can always be better though. Eventually one day we will have a realistic game that looks like the real deal.

Audio: 6 clowns

The audio is done by Tom Hammond and Chris Collinsworth. Hammond is horrible as he really doesn't do play by play with just comments after the play. Collinsworth is very good though and a welcome addition to Madden. John Madden is not involved anymore with the Play by Play but makes some appearances in the game with brief intros.

Longevity: 9.5 clowns

The game has the standard franchise mode which has become common in sports games today which goes on for a plenty of years. EA Sports has also put in Online Leagues so you can play against your friend from down the street or across the country. I will always be a fan of franchise modes and the game would have gotten 10 clowns if they allowed Team Play online between friends.

Overall: 9 clowns

I give this game nine clowns out of ten as their is a bunch of little things that this game could do slightly better but is well worth your 60 dollars but I highly recommend the Collector's edition which comes with Head Coach.