This edition of Madden is a great game, but its just not as good as its capable to be
The gameplay is pretty difficult on All-Pro, but there are great preplay options. You can strategically disguise your plays, audible, hot route the recievers, user-block, just about anything you would do on the real field. When playing the defense, though, you get intercepted by certain linebackers that would never do that in real life, like the Giants linebackers, who all have overalls in the low 70's except Antonio Pierce. This even happens with the Redskins and Jaguars linebackers. This is annoying and takes the fun out of throwing shorter passes. Certain cornerbacks like Nnamdi Asomugha and Charles Woodson intercept and deflect every pass within 10 yards of them. That is a nag to play with too. There are way more interceptions in the game too, because passing on offense is impossible. I like the disappearance of The Infamous Rocket Catch, but now we need some improved catching abilites. I'd like to see recievers that jump up and go after the ball do that in real life. If you're like me and can run the ball, user catch on defense and offense, hit stick and force fumbles at the same time, and can completely alter a defense in 5 seconds these nags dont hurt as much. To everyone else, this hurts the gameplay.
For the game modes, nothing has changed. I would personally like to see the return of the newspaper from Madden 05. Superstar remains unchanged from Madden 06 on the PS2, that's how bad it is. For some players on Madden, it is too easy to trade for them, and for others, it is way too hard. I've only snagged Peyton Manning twice out of at least 100 tries. You have to at least give up your starting quarterback, your first round pick, and another high-value player just to still get rejected. The player progression is unreal. Every year, each reciever in free agency the next year has hands and speed. The rookie corners aquired in the first and second round of the draft all get speed and shutdown in one single year. I wish that there were more player customization options. There should be a Team Color 2 option, because most teams have 2 colors. The jerseys for black teams are not even black, they are a grayish color, so if you get the raiders and put black sleeves on a player, it will look like there are uneven colors. The falcons have this same nuisance, and there team color is only black. The Falcons are a red team, and it dissapointed me. Also, I might have a team with ten players 95 overall and higher, but they still lose to the Lions during simulation. I always lose to the Pats and the Colts, too. I am tired of Matt Cassel and Peyton Manning making the Pro Bowl every year, and next year Tom Brady and Peyton Manning being in the Pro Bowl. It's really annoying. The addition of Madden Moments is much appreciated, thought the fact that there are no demos for other games like the old gen is disappointing.
Online play is still going great, with tournaments online and less cheating. The online leagues are disappointing too, they are a complete disaster. There needs to be an online franchise option too so you can play with other players and show off your blockbuster trades at the same time.
This game is good, but if you're not very good in this game, then you should try something else this year.