As usual, the Madden game returns with it's own set of flaws. However, this year the game made it's fair share of leaps
One of the new features that was heavily discussed by producers and developers was a new tackle system referred to as Pro-Tak. Essentially, this allows up to nine man gang tackles with any combination of players from either team. This means that not all of the players involved in the gang tackle are from the defensive team. Instead, you could also have players from the offence join in and try to push the pack forward. This leads to some very nice animations that at times closely represent what you see on Sundays. The blocking has also been re-vamped this year. Unlike previous years where offensive line-man would just stand around and let defenders run by them, this year they actually throw a block or two. Gone are the days where on every passing play the quarterback has to immediately start scrambling and throw off his back foot to prevent himself from eating grass. Instead, a realistic pocket is developed around the quarterback, and he will have time to go through his progressions. Blocking has also been improved for the running game. In Madden NFL 09, many fans complained about the running game being far too difficult due to poor blocking. This issue has been addressed. This time you will see pretty good blocking for your running backs, depending on how good your offensive line is, as your linemen try to open up holes for him. I could go on forever describing how much of an impact proper blocking has on a football game, but I won't. All you need to know is that this has helped slow down the game and somewhat killed that over the top, fast paced, arcady feel. However, if fast paced football is your thing, there is an option to change the game to do just that.
Aside from the blocking slowing down the game, other animations have also helped bringing the game down to a realistic pace. Many unrealistic animations have been removed, as more realistic ones are added, and other old ones are simply slowed down. For example, something as simple as the quarterback drop back has been slowed down. Reading this it may seem like slowing down animations may not have much of an impact, though that couldn't be farther from the truth. All the things that have been slowed down come together in the end to create a much more realistic pace of football.
Presentation has also been totally redone this year to better represent real television. The intros are done quite nicely, and throughout the game many new cut scenes have been added that help add a very nice broadcast feel to the game. There is also a halftime, post game, and weekly recap (Franchise Mode). Though these are good ideas, they're not executed as well as they could have. A lot of times the dialogue just doesn't seem to flow smoothly. However, this is a step in the right direction. Speaking of dialogue, Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond are back in the booth. Again, the pair come with their own set of flaws. Tom Hammond sounds as robotic as ever, and Cris Collinsworth often repeats himself. On the bright side however, Cris does at least do a good job of sounding natural when he speaks.
There's no shortage of Game Modes either. Madden Moments, Franchise Mode, Practice, and Madden Training have all returned (Please excuse me if I missed something). Madden Moments once again is fairly well done, but the big focus as always is Franchise Mode. This year, Franchise Mode features a whole new interface that makes it much easier to navigate through menus and acquire information and stats. A.I logic has also been improved. The CPU controlled teams do a much better job of managing their teams this time around. Don't expect nabbing Peyton Manning from the Colts to be easy. A new Game Mode that was constantly asked for by fans that has been added this year is Online Franchise Mode. You and up to 31 of your friends can now participate in an Franchise Mode together with each of you managing your own teams. This is a great feature as it can get very fun competing amongst other players while trying to make trades and signing players. However, there is no actual length to contracts in this meaning someone could have one player forever. Also, there is no A.I trade logic. Meaning if there is any team not controlled by the User, there is absolutely nothing stopping from trading the worst player on your team for Larry Fitzgerald. With a few more improvements though, this feature in the future could prove to be great.
As usual Madden features stunning visuals. This years even better than ever with nice little touches such as hand towels, accurate equipment, jersey patches, and many more. Weather affects are decent, as windy conditions make it more difficult to pass, snow or rain makes players occasionally slip, jerseys get muddy, and foot prints in snow are all very nice. However, there are still some little things that will make you scratch your head. Why doesn't the field ever actually get muddy, but the jersey does? How come the sun is in the same spot as when I start the game when I finish the game. However, many may just consider this nitpicking.
All in all this years Madden is the best yet. As far as the Madden games go, this is the best representation of real football yet. However, many will still mention ESPN NFL 2K5 or All Pro Football 2K8 when discussing great football sims. While those two games may still be better sims, don't let this make you shy away from Madden NFL 10 which is a good game in it's own right. Though there is still definitely room for improvement in just about every aspect of the game, this is still a solid game. To sum it up, Madden NFL 10 is a good game just a couple of long strides away from great.