Madden '09 Info and Reviews

running the ball is easier if you set up your blocks and if you get in open space its much easier to break tackles. highlight stick works great, with recievers as well.

Holy shit I just played my fiance (who has never played Madden before) I play somewhere between pro and all pro right now and we set hers to rookie. She ended up beating me 45-7. It was the biggest joke ever. I couldn't run, pass, defend. nothing! She was getting all kind of lob passes and was sacking my quarterback like crazy with while she was playing cover defense. I will never play another human. Anyone else have this kind of experience?

haven't tried that yet... if my wife beat me she'd never let me live it down... can't risk it.

Alirght since it's been about a week or two I thought I'd add a few more thoughts about the game (bad things will start out with a "-" sign good things will start out with a "+" sign. Not all of these are on the games. Some of these are based on my experience playing against immature idiots that don't understand that Madden is just a game.

- The commentary might be better then whoever that radio announcer was. And the backtrack is pretty cool. However Collinsoworth role playing between snaps is ANNOYING. Stuff like "thats the type of thing where you go back to the huddle and say uh guys a little help here" or "that the type of thing where the QB looks around at the line in the huddle and says you want to earn your paycheck today." Also hate it when they announce to my opponent that I'm using press or loose coverage. Let them figure it out for themselves.

- Online lag is costly sometimes especially during play action and I have a great internet connection (sometimes with download rates over 1 mb per second) here so in this case the blame is either on XBOX Live or EA's server. I have been sacked way to many times from lag in the game. The online menu is especially slower to. Plus why the hell can't I change to a wider angled camera view during online play?

- I wish there was some sort of control where people couldn't go for it on 4th down in the 1st quarter while they're in their own territory. If they get it it's annoying if they turn the ball over on downs they quit. Either way I loose.

+ Making the QB's having to set their feet and throw is awesome. No more will I have to suffer while playing the idiot that thinks that a money move for NFL QB's is running outside the pocket (or 20 yards backward) and throwing 60 yards downfield off their backfoot.

- The FB Dive is still way to much of a money play on "X" and short plays. I got a glimpse of it when I watched Madden Nation (gag) but I thought they would have improved it by now. I have stoped it once but it took a lot of resources that left my secondary wide open.

-+ The short throws are way to easy sometimes while the deep throws are a little to hard. Which is kind of a good thing but I would be more comfortable with it if I could see the Wide Recievers attempting to block out or post up in certain situations (within the rules of course) while going for the deep ball. I have been able to get the ball downfield but its mainly when people send all out blitzes without safety support on the deep ball. Post and bannana routes can also be effective against the right coverages.


+ The running game through the Half back seems pretty realistic as you have to mix up your runs to be effective though sometimes its a little to hard. However the fatigue near the end of the game is top notch.

- Sometimes shit comes up and I have to quit a game early. Don't send me a message afterwards saying "iooooooser" (and yes thats looser with an I). In this particular situation it was 4 in the morning and the guy had two straight delay of game penalites in an unranked game. Not to mention he used up almost all of his pauses by the middle of the 3rd Quarter. Anyway Madden is suppose to be fun and its annoying when people take it way to seriously.

- Just because my favorite team is the Redskins and I have them set as my default team doesn't mean I want to play the Cowboys everytime. Stop pairing me off with Cowboy fans and stop selecting the Cowboys when they're not selected as your favorite team.

+ The replays with the NFL Film music is great.

+ The soundtrack has a nice mix of rock and quality rap plus the sound quality is way better then it was on PS2 where I thought most of the songs sounded terrible before hearing them on an actual stereo. Though I wish you could upload you're own stadium and menu music.

- The fact that I have to buy Head Coach to create plays is BS.

I know theres a lot of negative stuff here but this game has come a long way. It really feels like football, for example I can't get 5 sacks a game anymore but I appreciate having a quality pass rusher like Jason Taylor. Theres a noticable difference in QB quality. Virtually every running play can be stopped and at the same time every running play can be effective so long as you mix it up and use it in the right situation. Driving down the field is also a challenge but it's not impossible like it was in other defensive orriented Madden games.

Either way I recomend Madden to anyone on the fence, especially 2K fans.

the other night i played a friend who used to slaughter me. we picked random teams and I beat him 15-7. the 7 was a pick six from the endzone, that would've been a td for me if the button had registered the first time i hit it... 14pt swing. the most astounding thing was the yardage...
mine was 288 total offense
his was -10 total offense

obtw we picked random teams. I was jacksonville and he was philly.