The Madden franchise is one of great skepticism and success. While many gamers line up at midnight for the release of the game each year, there are just as many who feel it’s necessary to hold off and carefully evaluate the package. It wouldn’t be a new Madden season without the doubters coming out of the woodwork and touting each installment the same as the last with a minor face lift and cover athlete change. Fortunately, most true hardcore Madden gamers can easily highlight the subtle differences and changes that help each edition feel different than the last.
Last week, we had the opportunity to watch Madden 10 in action, and even though we weren’t given any hands-on time with the game, the differences from last year’s version were immediately apparent. One of the bigger changes to the franchise is the authentic look of the action on the field. The design team must have put in extra effort this year, as player models seem to be a lot more like their real life counterparts than ever before. Other small visual changes include the addition of hand towels, a bump up to seven referees on the field at one time, and the inclusion of the infamous chain gang. All of these small revisions allow the game to feel like a completely new package.
This year, EA’s mantra for the franchise is "Fight for Every Yard." This is a common saying in football and is pretty self-explanatory. Thankfully, EA Sports has done a tremendous job taking this famed quote and placing it within their title as an actual in-game feature. The developers have done this through the new technology of "Pro-Tak." Senior Producer Phil Frazier describes Pro-Tak as including "nine-man gang tackles, a brand new pocket for the offensive line, steerable blocks, steerable tackles and the fight for the fumble feature that really lets you fight for that ball at the bottom of the pile."
That’s correct. Nine-man gang tackles have made their way into the gameplay, and they’re quite exciting when you see them take place on screen. Watching several players come together in order to push a runner backwards to end a play, or an offensive linemen push their team’s running-back forward to gain that extra yard for the first down is magical. In previous installments, you’d never see situations like these, despite seeing them every Sunday in real life. The EA developers at the event gave us some live in-game examples of the gang tackling in motion and it definitely left us impressed.
EA also showed off Madden 10’s fumble mini-game feature. If you watch football every week, you know that a lot of dirty tactics take place at the bottom of a dog pile during a fumble. While some fumbles are clear cut recoveries, others are a lot more questionable, leaving fans wondering whether one player just gouged the eyes of the ball carrier to pry it loose. EA wanted to take that style of play and implement it within Madden without making it a disrespectful process. The development team has done so by creating a button-mashing mini-game that takes place during multiple-player fumble recoveries. What this means is that if two or three players jump for a fumble at one time, you’re probably going to see a dog pile with this new feature to follow. Simply press the buttons that are showing up on the screen and while the referee digs through the pile, the ball may change sides a couple of times before being the referee gives his signal as to who has possession. Though this may feel like a gimmicky addition to the title, it’s something that truly adds a nice tint of realism to the game.
Last but not least, EA showed off its new Quarterback Avoidance System. This system allows players to focus on events up field while still getting a feel for what’s going on behind the line of scrimmage. If you’re like us, you probably have a difficult time keeping an eye on your Quarterback as well as your Wide-receiver up field at the same time, which subsequently results in sacks. Now, however, your controller will rumble whenever your QB comes under pressure, allowing you to flick the right analog stick any way you’d like in order to attempt to avoid the pressure. One thing to take into account is that the direction you flick the right stick does matter. If you’re getting pressure from the right and you flick to the right, you’re going to go right into the defender. If you flick left, however, you’re going to have a greater chance to move out of the way in order to get your throw off.
Adding onto this dimension of the game is the ability to toss an accurate pass even when being hit as you throw. Much like in real life, it all depends when you’re hit that determines whether an errant pass shall follow or not. If you’re hit as you release, the ball may still have great trajectory on its way to that touchdown pass, whereas if you’re hit mid-throw, you’re going to see that ball go in a completely unknown direction.
Once the given demo of Madden 10 was over and done with, a sense of anticipation came over us as this finally felt as though Madden was taking that step — no, leap — in the right direction. Last year saw EA Sports take NCAA 2008 and leap forward into NCAA 2009. This year, it looks as though Madden has taken a similar leap in that direction, which should once again leave fans of the series waiting in line at midnight. If we weren’t getting a copy in for review, I know I’d be there waiting.