[KLHJ2]

Where do I begin? Well, lets start from where I did. While identifying my Madden IQ, which I am not going to disclose to you at the juncture, I found it absurdly easy to achieve All Pro and All Madden status in the 4 different areas that you are evaluated in. Then once you get into an actual game it seems as if it is 10 times more difficult than the IQ simutator. Where is the balance? Needless to say, I got my ass handed to me a couple of times by the computer. This is a Madden 1st in my house.....beaten......by the CPU!!!!!????? More on this later.

Obviously before I handed myself and the G-Men ammunition to go to war, I set up the Skins in a franchise mode the way I saw fit. After this past years offseason aquisition I felt as if I would be cheated if I didn't have Jason Taylor. So I try and trade a 2nd round pick for him; NO GO. So I try a 2nd and a 4th; NO GO. Eventually I ended up having to trade Philip Daniels, a 3rd, and a 4th round pick for JT. 3 for 1 huh? Madden still lacks the AI to understand the value of players.

Next, I wanted to get rid of Schweigert and change the positions of Landry and Doughty. Well, I should have kept Schweigert just until that operation was done. I had to resign him just so that I still had enough FS's on the roster to make Doughty a Strong Safety and Laron a Free Safety. The good news was that afterward I traded Schweigert to Miami for a 4th rounder, so at least I got one of my picks back from the Jason Taylor fiasco. Once I had the intricacies of my Roster taken care of, I headed off to face the Giants.

In the first game against the Giants there was a defensive battle, but the Skins took an early 13-0 lead thanks to great field position and two int's (one of them was a pick 6 by Landry). After the half, the Giants found their jock straps and started putting it on me. Thanks to the lack of a solid running game (how does that sound familiar?) I was unable to keep my defense off of the field. Eventually they (my defense) got wore down and allowed the Giants to come rolling back to a 1 point lead. With less than a minute left in the game the Skins take the field and begin moving the ball with a purpose. The skins are about 5-6 yards out of Suisham's optimum field goal range. The play is called to get the necessary yardage, call timeout, and kick the game winning field goal. Campbell drops back and sees a streaking Devin Thomas comming across the middle of the field (he is wide open). Campbell unloads the ball right at Thomas. All of a sudden out of nowhere, Antonio Pierce closes the gap and bats the ball in the air. When the ball comes down it lands in the arms of Ross, who takes it all the way to the endzone. I was crushed and demoralized. I immediately pressed the start button and went to quit game.

I would tell you about the next two encounters with the G-Men, but they were all a similar result. I lost. What I decided to do was take this game in stages using the crawl, walk, run method. Translation: I am starting out on rookie and working my way up. Because the Madden IQ, while challenging, makes for a hard uphill fight until you get the hang of 2009. I dont know about everone else, but I need a little "cupcake" type action to get warmed up before I go out and lay it all on the line. Maybe I shouldn't have simulated the preseason.

Overall, it is a good buy. It is challenging with better graphics and more colorfull commentary (no more Madden). I just wish that they would make the hit stick more sensitive. Everytime I use it I feel like I am watching one of Leftwich's wind ups before he lets go of the ball. You have to anticipate way too much to lay somebody out. Other than that the feel is good as well.

Recomendation: Pick up this game on your way to the store to buy some Aleve and a 12 pack; you might need them both just to play it.