What are some of you people talking about? It sounds like some of you rated the game before you ever played it.
From the game play, to the graphics, to the presentation, to the AI pretty much the entire meat of the game received an upgrade.
I could personally care less if franchise or superstar mode received an overhaul because I thought they were more than functional the way they are.
I will start with the initial training you get put through-
Training is a smart way to let someone know where there skill really is and it sets the game accordingly. That, to me, is more important than adding the ability to sell concessions or change ticket prices.
The training was a nice little intro to what was about to follow.
I immediately ventured into a couple of quick matches and discovered right off the bat that they concentrated on the atmosphere a lot more in this one. For example, the grass in Pittsburgh looks a little more run down and dead than grass in Kansas City. Weather changes and visuals of the weather itself are both incredible. The crowd is just a little more alive in this one as well.
The game play feels a lot different and a lot better. I have not encountered what people call "typical Madden glitches" at all at this point. What I have experienced is realism. I see Derek Anderson having an arm but struggling with his accuracy. I see Reggie Bush running well to the outside but not well inside. I see the Steelers below average offensive line get shredded like a block of cheese. These aren't glitches people, its called football.
WR and DB takeover has become much cleaner than in previous installments, making it simpler to control your receiver/db. I also noticed that you have to be in much better position this year to pick the ball off than in years past. I didn't notice any crazy INT's or turnovers while I was playing.
On offense I found my WR's running crisper, more accurate routes. The players that drop passes are the ones notoriously known for dropping passes (T.O., Braylon Edwards) and guys with good hands catch more balls thrown in their direction than others.
I found my offensive line protecting and blocking accurately, but unlike NFL2k5, you don't have a crisp running lane on every play, therefore making it very realistic. The breakaway cam is a nice little added bonus.
Oh and for you people who focus on the unimportant things, they have nets for the field goals.
Online Leagues are a nice addition, but could use a little fine tuning.
In franchise mode, the difficulty progression is a VERY welcomed addition. Now I am not having too much difficulty with the adjustments yet, but I do enjoy how the games stay interesting.
I have yet to encounter any type of glitches with the mode either. No crazy stats, no ridiculous ratings progression through my buddies franchise (we simmed about five seasons and imported our NCAA draft class with the EAROSTER COM rosters I downloaded online, and it has worked seamlessly), and free agency is a little more accurate but could still use a little tuning.
Two things this game has taught me-
1. Gamespot has no idea how to rate sports games. Last years Madden was given an 8.5, Madden 07 a 7.9 and Madden 06 a 7.4. Madden 06 and 07 were below average games for football gaming standards even though I could play 07.I thought Madden 08 was a very good game with several improvements in many necessary areas.
Now Madden 09 gets a lower score than last year? It's CLEARLY a better game and anyone with an unbiased outlook could tell you that. Your staff needs new reviewers for sports games. If the people on your staff have the audacity to give Halo 3 a 9.5 then your sports staff should be giving Madden nothing less than a 9.
The second thing I learned-
2. People love to hate this game. I have read some of the most inaccurate and ridiculous game reviews I have ever seen when I read Madden 09 reviews. "This is the same game".... "They didn't change anything"....
You people are completely lost. Either...
A) You aren't sports fans or sports gaming fans
or
B) You are so wrapped up in the psychology of the whole EA/2K exclusive rights battle that you take it personal that you can't purchase a game from 2k (whom I might add made a very disappointing football game in nearly every facet with APF2k8 last year) .
The reality is this people. The NFL WANTED only one company producing an NFL/NFLPA licensed football game. EA won the BIDDING war. They didn't buy anyone out. The NFL WANTED this. So learn to deal with it. If Madden makes a good game, call it like it is good or bad.
I understand we are all entitled to our own opinion, but some of you are complete tools in this EA/2k thing.
Personally I like both.... I like the NBA 2k series (NBA Live is just terrible), I liked MLB2k (albeit not as much as MVP) up until 2k7. I even like the Top Spin series. But I am not going to sit back like and be a fan of one or the other and allow my bias control how I view an individual game.
That's why I give kudos to EA and Madden for getting it right. I will be playing this game for a very long time.