Superb graphics. Solid gameplay. Improved sound. It almost lives up to its "Beyond Broadcast Presentation".
GAMEPLAY: Madden has always tried to be worlds best football simulator. Each year EA has piled on new innovative gameplay features and options in an effort to push pixilated pigskin closer to its real life counterpart. This year, a lot of focus went into tightening up the play between the whistles. Addressing the problematic fumbling issue from 08 was first and foremost. Running the ball feels more realistic than ever with its new "breakaway" feature – meaning you can spin and juke yourself out of tackles with dynamic combinations of moves. The passing game has also been toned down some this year. Long bombs into double or tight coverage usually lead to interceptions. Playing smart is what rewards points in 09. The gameplay feels nice and fluid. Veterans of Madden will find the mechanics completely familiar. A few noticeable updates include the ability to assign Smart routes (which take your player past the 1st down marker), hide your play calls in head to head matches with fake pre-hike route art, double cover key receivers and make position specific defensive audibles. One feature EA has been pitching hard with Madden 09 is the "Madden IQ" which assesses your game skill on offence and defense to continually tailor the difficulty specifically to you. While this sounds like a great idea, the result of the testing produces unrealistic difficulty settings. Offensive tests are far too easy, while defensive ones are much too difficult. The drills do not match the intensity of in-game situations and thus produce lopsided assessments of your true skill. Luckily you can turn this feature off and customize the sliders yourself, or play from the customary skill levels. Madden 09 contains all the modes we've come to expect - Superstar, Franchise and Playnow remain the staples. Online play is great and has been supplemented with the long awaited Online League mode. While the in-game online play is responsive and smooth, the League portion is barebones. There are no divisions, playoffs or deep stat-tracking in Madden 09's online league. It's great to see this feature finally included in Madden, but obviously needs to be fleshed out in future releases. The handicapping feature is an excellent for multiplayer opponents with different skill levels to have close and competitive games. This really levels the playing field by letting amateur players face easier AI and hardcore gamers to battle increased difficulty in the same game. Offline 4 player cooperative, online 2 player co-op vs. CPU matches are other welcome updates. Overall the gameplay feels a little tougher than in previous years. Scores are a lot closer, making games much more intense, but at times unrealistic. You'll hardly see blowouts happen in 09 even with teams of great skill discrepancy. There are a few AI problems that pop up once in a while too. Computer players sometimes get locked in animations and make questionable decisions like choosing to run out of bounds and not fighting for first downs on the sidelines. EA has done a great job tuning its gameplay and fixing the bugs from 08. Just a little more polish needed for next year. 9/10
GRAPHICS: Right out of the box Madden 09 is a huge step forward visually. With a new art director and producer; EA Sports has given Madden a beautiful cosmetic upgrade that blows previous installments out like the Patriots over the Dolphins. Starting with the completely redone player models and renovated stadiums to the wickedly smooth animation transitions this game is a sight to behold. EA has nailed the depth of field, haze, lighting and scale of its environments. Crowd camera flashes are a nice dramatic touch. The fields themselves are very impressive. Grass and turf has never looked so lifelike. Sidelines have been given a small visual boost too. The new camera angle that drops further back and lower behind the Quarterback is a great step forward in getting all receivers in view. It takes a bit of getting used to and the classic Madden cam is still available, but given its opportunity, the new camera opens up your passing options considerably. Game introductions look better than ever with new exterior shots of the stadium and the city backdrops. The new title/into graphics and ticker are much improved, but still don't offer much variety from game to game. One of the big improvements with 09 is the lighting and weather effects. Heavy snow games look incredible with snow building up as the game goes on. Rainy games also look great, as the field conditions slowly degrade and players getting progressively muddy with each down. Little details like footprints in the snow, and splashes on wet turf add a nice immersive quality. This is not a perfect looking game by any means. There are a few frame rate flickers and stutters between plays and camera cuts. More sideline diversity and interaction is needed and fans fail to look realistic upon close inspection. These are small but important details that keep Madden 09 from looking as good as it could. Despite these shortcomings, this is still the best looking football game to date. 9.5/10
SOUND: This is one area of Madden that has really needed attention. Thankfully EA has answered the call and put some effort into improving how the game sounds. The horribly boring and repetitive "radio guy" announcer that has plagued the past three years has finally been removed. However, the new play-by-play man Tom Hammond checks in with a less than stellar effort. His bland, disjointed and wooden play calling is only marginally better than the radio announcer of years past. He does offer more variety, but delivers his lines with little emotion or spontaneity. Color-man Cris Collinsworth on the other hand is Madden 09's secret weapon. His off the cuff, natural and accurate delivery is simply amazing. Close your eyes and you'd think he was talking about a real game during a broadcast. EA has programmed its engine to know which lines have been used so that its not repeated in the same game. This being the first year of Collinsworth's (hopeful) tenure with Madden, his comments do become a bit repetitive after a number of games played. More voiceover work is needed to keep it fresh moving forward. Sorry to say, EA needs to find another play-by-play announcer (like Al Michaels) to compliment Cris' excellent work. At times the commentary goes off on a tangent that doesn't match the impact of what's happening in the game. For example, the commentators with be talking plainly about team strategy during an exciting touchdown play. Fans also need some attention. As good as they look from afar, they don't really respond well audibly to the action on the field. The Madden team needs to take notes from its Fifa cousin and bring the responsive and roaring masses to the forefront of its audio. Home teams hardly get the support they deserve and visitors aren't intimidated. The music for Madden 09 is a standard mishmash of rock, hip-hop and classic NFL films cues. Nothing special, but nothing worth changing either. 8/10
PRESENTATION: Madden has been in need of a fix to the series lackluster presentation for years. Ever since the universally adored presentation of rival developer's NFL 2K5, Madden has taken a backseat with its dynamic broadcast look. Presentation is a marriage of graphics, sound and extras that bring the game closer to the real thing. While many Madden players care little about presentation, there's no question EA has been lazy with its showcasing in recent years. Madden 09 takes a few solid steps in the right direction. The best is the new Backtrack feature that goes hand-in-hand with Cris Collinsworth's analytical commentary. Backtrack breaks down a play that you've messed up by showing you what you should have done. Collinsworth's comments are more than a huge leap toward broadcast presentation, but are accurate and useful as well. The addition of new camera angles during cut scenes help to bring the game closer to a real televised look. Game intros and pre-snap camera pans are also improved. On the downside, EA still has ignored some crucial broadcast elements that could really take the game to another level. A lack of gameplay camera options continue to hamper a true broadcast feel – especially true with CPU vs. CPU games. Strange how this simple feature like sideline, endzone, TV and booth angles exist in replay mode (and in Head Coach 09), but not during a live Madden game. EA has raved about its "Beyond Presentation" approach to Madden 09, but it still lacks some of the dynamic features present in its competitor's game 4 years ago. EA's lazy halftime and post-game "shows" continue to ignore their acquired ESPN license and do not offer commentary or analysis. There are no weekly shows and wrap-ups. No interviews. No out of town scores and highlights during season games to build that extra level of storytelling and drama that make the NFL what it is. 7.5/10
OVERALL: Madden 09 looks and feels like a true turning point for the series. The game has the best visuals and gameplay that its ever had. For that reason it should be a mainstay in the game library of gridiron gamers at least until next year's Madden. The sound is very much improved over last year, and with a few tweaks and added variety it will be able to match the astounding visuals. The presentation looks like its finally getting some notice by EA. This is a critical component to any sports game, and is one that definitely requires continued focus to deliver an elite NFL broadcast experience. With great new features like the Online League, handicapping, Backtrack, color commentary and greater player control, Madden 09 lives up to its high expectations while not necessarily exceeding them. A great effort by EA this year. Final rating = 8.8/10