Awesome!!! It's the return of the game that we all love.
The 20th Edition of Madden NFL may be the best ever. EA pulled out all the stops to get community leaders a hands-on peek and we were blown away by the improvements. The look was impressive, but the feel to the game play conjured memories of Madden's hey-day.
As always, I was skeptical. After several years of cute but annoying innovations, expectations weren't very high. Quarterback Vision, steadily evolving control configurations, and deep ball free-for-alls made the Next-Gen versions of the game a little less enjoyable over the past few years. I was expecting minor improvement. But this may be the death blow for the gamers clinging to the PS2 version of the game. You heard it here first:
Next Gen Madden '09 will make the PS2 a legacy system in the hearts and minds of football gamers.
Promises that game producers would revamp the way animations are created, hit the mark. Movement was fluid, responsive, and intuitive. Players did exactly what my fingers wanted them to do. The ability to change direction manipulate players, defend passes, tackle ball carriers, pass, and catch were immaculate. This year no one will be locked into animations that blow plays, or long tackles without the ability to fight for yards.
The much improved Lead-Passing system made some serious fans as we practiced tossing bomb after bomb with realistically limited success, while short passing game percentages were completed at a drastically higher rate. The risk reward values for typical Madden passing attacks will definitely change forcing players to move away from the not-so risky vertical passing games of the past.
Madden '09 sports a Jack Tatum style defensive back AI this year. Gone are the days when receivers made acrobatic catches while defenders stood by and watched. Spectacular catchers beware, not only will the catch be harder to do, but the risk of losing your best receiver to injury may prevent chuck-a-duck offenses from moving the ball. The DB's are programmed to aggressively hit airborne receivers so hard that you can almost see them salivating when the WR leaves the ground.
The protection of the offensive line feels different when passing from the pocket. Linemen keep tabs on inside rushers much better which gives the QB time to run plays from under center. Clever blitz schemes will develop heavy pressure, but the ability to Slide Protection will quell most of the casual gamer's worries of nano fests.
We can't wait til the release of the Madden '09 on August 12. As this will mark return of the Madden feel to the Madden game.
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