Everything else aside, it's still Madden.
Graphics and player models don't seem as "next-gen" as I thought they'd be. Regardless of whether or not you're playing it on HD or standard (I've played on both now), the models and animation just don't seem to be that far ahead of Xbox's. Anyone else feel this? I'm not saying that the game looks bad, because it's a nice-looking game. Just nothing of what I thought it would look like. I imagine games graphics will progressively get better, though.
Controls work just like every other Madden you've played, although these don't feel super-responsive. Hit/truck stick seems to be a bit wonky. I'm also experiencing weird framerate issues in between plays (never during gameplay, though), both HD and standard displays. I do like how it feels as though a 4 yard gain is something of an accomplishment. To me, the last few Madden games really let you fly downfield and I like the feel that gaining yards is something of a grind. Pass blocking still sort of stinks.
Franchise mode isn't super deep or anything, but we all knew that going into the game.
I haven't messed with camera modes yet, but I don't like the way the "coach cam" or "receiver's cam" stays zoomed out once you pull the triggers. Maybe there's a way to unzoom, but I haven't found it yet. I'd figure it'd be to pull the respective triggers again, but perhaps it isn't possible, or mapped that way. I also haven't figured out whether or not you can reverse cycle through your defensive players. I hate overshooting a guy and then having to go through all the other 10 players.
As far as the new announcer goes... I'm going to fiddle with the volume levels some more, but I think he's really quiet/borderline inaudible on the default settings. If he's supposed to be a radio announcer, he wouldn't have very many people tune in each week - I thought he was kind of boring. So, I hate to say it, but the sound design wasn't really impressive to me. Maybe I'll like it better once I turn him up some more - I was really looking forward to this addition (the generic radio announcer) and feel let down a bit so far.
In conclusion, this one really doesn't have any "wow factor" to me. I don't think it looks all that great, has a pretty lame franchise mode, and controls only fairly well. What i'm looking forward to is having some friends over or playing on Live. Maybe that will make it more fun. As of now, I'm kind of in the same boat I was when I didn't buy Madden in 2005 (after buying every year's iteration since the first one on the Genesis) and instead bought ESPN. I just got tired of playing Madden. Now, it's the only one out here, and I don't think it's all that great.