I'm Shocked
The game play in this game is very very good. With the new highlight stick (truck stick on steroids) and lead blocking control the running game is very satisfying. Passing is as always very easy on the lower two difficulties, and much more accurately depicted on the higher two. The vision cone, much like on NCAA is optional and I enjoy the freedom this gives you as you are not required to throw a percision pass every pass play. On defense, individual hot routes are removed which is a dissapointment, but the tackling animations and overall A.I. help to keep this from taking away from the game too much. Kicking has also been improved. Superstar mode is suprisingly fun, the only knock I have on it is the difficulty of the drills. I sayunless you have mastered them in mini games, go ahead and simulate through them. My WR was 86 overall and I didn't run a single drill. Franchise mode isnt as in depth as it could be but it still provides the basic team managment style most people love to play. All in all the gameplay is extremely fun and to be fair thats the main part of any game.
The graphics in this game are also very good, with fields slowy fading and several new animations. The only knock on graphics are that some of the player models are a little (alot) bigger then they ought to be. But it still looks much shinier and better then current gen. A few minor glitches occasionaly, but not near as bad as some of the NCAA ones.
As for sound, the player chatter in the game is great and adds to the feel of a real game. However the announcer of the game is iffy to say the best and awful to say the worst. Bring back Madden! But the on field sounds are superb as are the crowd reactions.
The Game has a very good replay value thanks to the depth of superstar mode, but some of the missing features and easy fixes detract from its value, but I will get into those later.
My final say so is that several of the missing elements: No player edit
No Co-Op
No full customization of created players
No owner mode
No gang tackling (still)
As well as the clunky menu system take away from the overall game. But the gameplay and superstar mode do infact make for a very enjoyable game.