Madden NFL 09 Review
- Posted August 16th, 2008 at 16:33 EDT by
- 37 Comments
Review Score
- PSU Review Score
- 9.0
- Avg. user review score:
- 6.8
Summary
Madden 09, EA Sports' 20th installment of the franchise, has proven that the series only gets better with age. The publisher has finally outdone itself by releasing the premiere football title of this generation thus far.
We like
- Casual gamers and newcomers will finally feel comfortable jumping into the Madden fray
- The graphics are incredible
- Madden Moments are perfect
We dislike
- The announcers are horrid
- Online play still features lag
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
The Madden football franchise has come a long way since its inception in 1988 when it became the first 11-on-11 football experience. With the release of Madden 09, EA Sports is celebrating the 20th season in Madden football history, something that is unheard of in the gaming industry. Not only has Madden released on a year-to-year basis, but the series has consistently been a top selling title within the business each season.
Many diehards have been waiting patiently for EA Sports to deliver a true next generation football experience. Madden NFL 09 has proven itself to be that deliverance. The title, which some feel is a rinse and repeat occurrence, has implemented various new features to not only freshen up the franchise, but to bring it to an entirely new level.
This year, EA has crafted Madden into a more 'pick up and play' experience, primarily through the newly implemented Madden IQ Test. The test, which allows users to display their skills in order to create a custom difficulty setting, creates an atmosphere in which the casual gamer can pick up a controller and compete competently in a challenging environment. This newly created feature allows the Madden franchise to be more accessible to new users than ever before.
While this idea sounds fantastic, it unfortunately doesn’t work as well as one would hope. The custom difficulty provided usually ends up being far too easy. Luckily, they have also added the ability to customize the difficulty beyond the IQ test. If gamers are willing to put in ten to fifteen minutes of their time, they can create a perfect blend of four sliders that will offer them the playing experience they’re looking for.
The Madden IQ test isn’t the only open-arms welcome that Madden NFL 09 offers to newcomers. Madden 09 features a completely new “Game Styles” option that gives the user a lot more control over how difficult the game plays. The Game Styles are broken into four categories: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Hardcore. Beginner has the computer select plays for you, while you execute them. Intermediate lets you choose between a non-specific run, pass, or special teams play. Advanced gives you the ability to select between formations in order to find your play of choice. As indicated, Hardcore is for the player that needs no help at all. These simple play styles have turned the Madden franchise into a universal title that can be played by gamers of all ages.
These new implementations for the casual gamer haven’t left the hardcore Madden players completely in the cold. EA Sports has brought back a ton of features from the last generation that these players will appreciate such as slide protection, formation subs on the fly and rivalry games. This great mix of hardcore and casual additions have allowed Madden to become a much more sound title overall.
As for the actual gameplay modes, such as Franchise and Superstar, EA has taken the position of if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. That may leave some enthusiasts wishing for a bit more, but the franchise still offers the same in-depth style of gaming that it always has. Gamers are still able to take their favorite franchise and build it from the ground up or continue its gloried history of consistency to win the Super Bowl over the course of 30 seasons.
The same can be said for the Superstar mode, as users can expect the same as last year. There are a few new additions like the ability to perfect certain Madden Weapon skills through individual workouts prior to the draft, though that's pretty much where the change stops. Everything else is ultimately the same as it always has been, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but much like the Franchise mode, gamers do deserve to have something added in order to freshen up the general experience.
For those of you looking for an entirely original mode, you’ll find yourself enjoying the newly added Madden Moments. There are 34 Madden Moments overall that have been pulled from last season in which users will either have to replicate history or change it forever. One of my personal favorite moments involves taking the Browns down the field with 26 ... (continued on next page)
Comments
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gamewaffle
- 5:06pm BST - August 16th, 2008
- 2
C'mon, the graphics are NOT incredible! Has the years of this genre lacking softened you, Dave? There are FREE games with better grass, Older games with better models,(albeit not football games) and still others that could manage to perform better weather effects. Look at the people in the yellow shirts, for example: R:FoMs chars looked better! The cloth textures everywhere are lackluster, and the game's AA is severely lacking; even in the screenshots you can see several well defined stages of texture deterioration. There are no real cloth physics, they are just glued to the players, just as they have been for years, and everything about the crowd is 2-D, remiscent of GRAN TURISMO 3! Look, the seats seem to only be made with 4 triangles for Pete's sake. The camera-men are, eh, repetitive, and glass textures are still last gen.
Hmm, now before you start slamming my view with the fact that there are more than a dozen full-poly characters on the field, thus upping the polygon count signifigantly, I would like to let you know that I agree. Yes, I do see that as a set-back for all team sport games. So why not make the players of higher detail, (and everything else, for that matter) then simply dial it back for the top-down, control-the-entire-game view, so that when you only have a few characters on screen (like in the replays) you can display the highest detail to take up the advantage of fewer polys on the screen. However EA probably couldn't do this, as they limit themselves to 1 year of dev-and-polish time. Seriously get some balls, spend a little more cash, and make a better game!
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NoUseMercenary |
NoUseMerk_PSU- 5:49pm BST - August 16th, 2008
- 4
I have to agree with Dave's review. This is by far the best Madden game to be released. Not only are the graphics simply the best yet, but Tiburon has the PS3 framerate up to 60fps and on par with the Xbox 360.
Furthermore, the amount of features EA has included in Madden 09 is great. Online is great, Season Mode is great, etc. Definitely worth picking up.
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NoMercy666 |
Ask me...- 6:20pm BST - August 16th, 2008
- 5
This game was better. It was still, okay. Still alot of glitches.
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Dave-The-Rave |
Dave-The-Rave- 6:50pm BST - August 16th, 2008
- 7
Boring American football games ZZZZzzzzz (Actually boring sports games in general !!)
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PrimusPrime
- 7:05pm BST - August 16th, 2008
- 8
Gamewaffle, are you insane? And your comparisons just suck - might as well complain that GTA4 character models aren't on par for SC4 - that's logical! And, top down football? I thought we moved past that during the PS1 era...
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sn-plazaskater |
NEJI64- 10:03pm BST - August 16th, 2008
- 11
actually if you saw his whole comment you would have seen the part that said..boring sports games in general
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SonyJunkie |
Bender6191- 2:04am BST - August 17th, 2008
- 13
I got it about 3 days ago, and it was the best football game that I have played since like 05 for the PS2. I hated '08 because of the framerate. '09 played smoothly all the time, oh wait, h*** no, it keeps chugging when I play now. I will back up for a pass and scramble and it just studders and never plays smoothly. I am one pi**ed customer, will be returning it hoping it was just a bad disc. None of my other games lag, just this one. And it just started to happen
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prosecondbase7 |
prosecondbase7- 3:58am BST - August 17th, 2008
- 16
LLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!! WTF this has been an issue on ps3 always I hate it. That's the only reason I play madden is for online. Its not worth playing crappy glitches and lags on every game changing play. I have the fastest internet there is to offer but I've lost more games due to connection then played. I've emailled EA and they dont do anything. Madden Online SUCKS Donkey D!(K.
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Dave-The-Rave |
Dave-The-Rave- 4:35am BST - August 17th, 2008
- 18
Yh, what I meant is that playing the sports for REAL is way more fun that playing a boring videogame of them !!
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TheCh0sen01 |
TheChosen01- 1:09pm BST - August 17th, 2008
- 20
By far the best madden game yet!! Game is amazing!
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Odium_Generis_Humani
- 2:59pm BST - August 17th, 2008
- 21
@11 Dork. * You can minimalize a sports game, but your beloved First person shooters are about as brainless as it gets. And this time I get to turn the tables on you types. Starting with GRAW and COD4, I learned how to play console shooters and got really good. YOU dorks still suck at "complicated" Madden. And I lik the way you tried to save yourself with comment #18, but I'm not buying it. Your first comment showed your true colors (or is it colours?) * "Complicated" = "I suck at it"
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ypaotroicn
- 7:32pm BST - August 17th, 2008
- 23
for those who play madden.... the superbowl game lagged like CRAZY for me. especially when it got into the second half. everything else was fine. anyone get that also?
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ypaotroicn
- 2:54am BST - August 18th, 2008
- 24
or maybe when it's the seahawks vs the colts. that's when it always seems to lag for me
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THEmanbearpig |
MANBEARPIG- 10:22am BST - August 18th, 2008
- 25
it does look a lot better, put the play of the game feels really different, im getting smoked online every game!!! maybe its cuz they give my bucs no love on the stats
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ypaotroicn
- 2:49pm BST - August 18th, 2008
- 27
stop being a pusssy and buy it
but anyone have a problem with seahawks vs colts?
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silent_assassin6
- 5:23pm BST - August 18th, 2008
- 29
this game sucks the way they pass and run is so slow and unrealistic i mean when will they come out with a player movment realistic football game?? ps. LAAggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
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bigtimelhu |
bigtimelhu- 6:07pm BST - August 18th, 2008
- 30
Overall, the game is not terrible nor is it great. If they can resolve the lag issue, i would be a happier madden game player. Online play is where it is at and EA should know that, thus making sure it is minimal.
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silent_assassin6
- 9:51pm BST - August 21st, 2008
- 34
all it is is lag, player movement like jukes are slow and unreal
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