NHL 10 is not only a great sports game – it is the best sports game of the decade and one of the greatest of all time.

NHL 10 is a superlative gaming experience. It is a game that is near perfection in almost every way. Yes, there are small issues here and there, minor quibbles that have more to do with customization than anything else – but don’t let them frighten you away from this game. In fact, don’t even worry about them, because, they really aren’t even worth mentioning considering how amazing this game really is. If you want a review summed up in as few words as possible, here it is:

NHL 10 is worth every penny. Buy it.

Ladies and gentlemen…

The first time I loaded up NHL 10 I expected to start season mode. But what’s this? The main screen asked me to create a player – well, really, you have no control over how the player looks at this point, but you do name him, give him and then you get taken onto a rink. It’s you and the goalie. And this is a tutorial. I played through the tutorial, which taught me how to aim, how to shoot, how to play against the boards and do all sorts of things no hockey game had ever allowed me to do before. Initially, I saw this as a minor inconvenience – “but I just want to play a game!” That is, it was a minor inconvenience until I stepped onto the ice in season mode and realized that I no longer could play the NHL series.

The gameplay was so vastly different that I kept going back to the main screen hoping to find the old controls that I’d known and loved so well until NHL 08. You know, the Arcade controls that allowed you to sprint down the ice, fire off one-timers like it’s nobody’s business, and all that other good stuff. But I couldn’t find them. I couldn’t.

“Fine,” I said, I’ll play the game the way you want me to. And it took me a while to adjust. I wondered how I could effectively play against the boards. How I could control where my passes went to now that they had the ability to move in every direction, 360 degree control. Constantly I was frustrated because my passes went directly into defensemen’s hands. And the goalies stopped everything! “How did they cover that one-timer,” I wondered. Then, I began to adjust. Three or four games in I grew accustomed to the control I had over where my passes went. I began to love the board play. And like many a great philosopher has done, I jumped to my feet. “This. Is. Awesome!”

Suddenly, I understood why they made me do a tutorial at the beginning. I understood the need for different controls, for a steeper learning curve. The team at EA Canada had sought not only to update rosters, improve graphics, and make minor changes. They had sought to revolutionize the sports game. And they succeeded in almost every way imaginable.

360 Degree Passing

The first major innovation in NHL 10 that I want to mention is the 360 Degree passing addition. Why is 360 degree passing so great?

Because, in previous NHL versions, you could only pass in so many directions – north, northeast, northwest, west, southwest (you get the point). And often, the puck would get directed automatically to a teammate. No more, though. 360 degree passing does more to make this a realistic hockey experience than any other innovation in NHL 10. When skating down the ice with a winger to your side, it’s no longer a matter of timing a pass to set-up a one-timer. There’s the whole matter of passing the puck directly to him, which is a matter of incredible finesse. If there are two defenders covering him, you will find that you can’t squeeze that puck through their skates, but you can, with proper aiming, put it between them and onto his stick.

Beyond this, the players react much more realistically to passing situations, and in many different ways – players will actually move to a puck rather than waiting for it to come to them. If a pass is a few feet ahead of them, they will rush to it. Likewise, if it’s just behind them, they will place their stick behind them and pull the puck forward. Players can push the puck ahead of them as they skate down the ice on a breakaway, and, most importantly, passing plays a huge part in scoring goals. Players will set themselves up as real NHL’ers do. Defensemen will stand at the point, and if a defensemen goes to take a slapshot from the point, forwards will rush the net to block the goalies view and to try to deflect the shot. Now where’s John Leclair when I need him? Quite honestly, the passing in NHL 10 is unparalleled.

Positioning

Beyond the passing game, player positioning has taken on new importance, and has also become a standard by which all other team-based sports games should follow. Players rotate the puck around, actively seem to keep their head up, and will position themselves as they should. This leads to a realistic playing game on your end and also increases the importance of certain plays such as steals. Because of the realistic passing game, and because of the improved positioning of the players, breakaways are about as often an occurrence in NHL 10 as they are in a real NHL game. The best way to get a breakaway? Steal the puck.

Along those lines, the improved positioning of players has led to other, realistic aspects as well. Goalies are no longer fooled frequently by the sudden one-timer pass. In fact, you’ll often witness mind-numbing saves as agile goaltenders will slide to the other side of the net to grab a puck that you thought was certain to go in the back of the net. Quite simply, the goaltenders in NHL 10 truly feel like real goaltenders at this point in the series. They make stunning saves that are highlight-reel worthy and sometimes make stunning mistakes that allow a goal. The two great things about the mistake goals, though? They reward both teams equally – the opposition doesn’t score a ton of ugly goals and neither do you, and they occur so infrequently that I never found myself pounding the controller in anger over an awful goal from a mile out. When the goalies allowed a bad goal, it felt like an actual mistake – which is a very, very good thing. Furthermore, the goalies react realistically to pucks outside of the net as well. They’ll skate around to the back of the net and play it safe. They’ll cover up when they should, and more than once I saw a goal dive out of the net to poke away a puck as an opposing player came rushing on. Literally, watching the goalies play made me happy.

And remember the days when bone-crushing open ice hits were a frequent occurrence? They are no more. The players on the ice not only are positioned where they should be, but they react incredibly realistically to the situation on the ice. If a player is coming down the ice with the puck you can bet that nine times out of ten they’ll have their head up. And as a result, nine times out of ten, they’ll dodge your attempt to knock them to the ground on open ice. This makes the game much more realistic, and also increases the joy in witnessing a bone-crusher. Level a player now and I guarantee you’ll jump for joy out of pure adrenaline. That huge hit took a lot of work.

Board Play

Speaking of hits, one of the most highly touted aspects of NHL 10 is the new board play feature. This is another one of those innovations in NHL 10 that simply puts it head and shoulders above all other sports games, ever. Board play is one of the most important aspects of a real game of hockey. The puck frequently ends up along the boards and player often get into huge scrums where they fight for the puck as one player stands over it and a bunch of others poke their sticks in between his skates, trying to get it out.

In NHL 10, not only does this actually happen, it feels realistic, too. Players will go into the boards and set themselves up to fight for the puck. And as a defensemen, you can fight to get that puck back, slamming the player into the boards, pinning them down and kicking for that puck. Even more amazingly, the control along the boards is fantastic. You can glide into the boards and kick the puck out along the boards to a teammate as a defensemen comes rushing in to crush you. You can push back, fighting violently for control.

Adding to the fervor of the board play are the fan interactions. When players fight against the boards you can hear fans pounding away at the glass – just like in the NHL. But beyond that, you can actually see the fans standing up and hitting the glass. This only further enhances the board play aspect of NHL 10 and brings me to my next point –

Fan Interaction

The fans in NHL 10, while a minor part of the game, have had more attention paid to them this year than in any other season of the NHL series. I didn’t really appreciate them until, a while into the game, I took notice of something amazing. While at an away game, I scored a goal and noticed not only the hush of the crowd, but that there was a small amount of cheering from fans of my team at the away game, who, donning Habs jerseys, were standing up, celebrating. It was amazing to me that enough thought went into creating a realistic environment that even at away games there would be fans who were happy to see my team score.

Beyond that, there is, of course, the antics of fans against the glass as mentioned before, and then there is the playoff atmosphere. During the playoffs, fans wave white towels and seem louder than before. It’s pretty neat to see such a frenetic playoff atmosphere, and I applaud the NHL team at EA Canada for creating an experience that celebrates why the playoffs are a big deal and makes you feel that they are a big deal due to the reactions of the fans.

If I had any sticking point about the fans it would be this: I was hoping for realistic crowd chants. Yes, there are crowd chants. The crowd in Montreal cheers “Carey! Carey! Carey!” when Carey Price stops a breakaway, and they chant “Go Habs go!” but I found myself wishing there was one more cheer in there. Anyone who has watched a Canadien’s home game knows the cheer well. After a big play, after a goal, or when they’re trying to rev up their beloved Canadiens, the Montreal fans will scream “Olé, Olé, Olé!” Likewise, other clubs have their individual, unique cheers and chants, and I wish that the EA Canada team would have spent some time recording those cheers to make an even more realistic experience. So, you see, I do have a problem with something in the game, it’s just that it’s a very, very minor thing that barely detracts at all from the experience. But maybe next year…?

In addition to the wonderful fan interaction, EA Canada deserves credit for crafting a celebration at the end of a long, Stanley-Cup winning season. My problem with NCAA Football and Madden NFL has always been that I work hard to reach the national championship or the Super Bowl only to have the announcers, the fans, and the end of the game treat it like any other game. The whole point of a single-player sports gaming experience is to reach the championship game or series. And not having a celebration at the end, to not acknowledge that accomplishment is akin to a first-person shooter ending without warning, without a big conclusion.

Luckily, the NHL series has always acknowledged the importance of not only the Stanley Cup finals, but also of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and this is shown through the announcer’s comments during the playoffs and in the celebration at the end of the Stanley Cup. Players mob each other, the Conn Smythe is awarded, and then the Captain hoists the Stanley Cup. Thank you, EA Canada, for recognizing that winning the Stanley Cup is just about the closest thing one can come to winning the game in sports titles.

Fighting

Finally, there’s a new fighting mode – first person fighting. And frankly, it’s quite good. In previous NHL iterations, you simply pounded away at the buttons to knock down the other guy. Now, you are right in their face. You pull at their jersey, block their punches, swing at them and knock off their helmet. All in all, it isn’t as realistic as it could be but it’s damn good. In fact, one of the coolest things about the fighting is that afterwards, you may have a black eye. And that black eye will last for a while, making your player look tough or beaten up, depending on how he fared.

I can’t mention the fighting, either, without mentioning the post-whistle play. Like in the real NHL, most fights and shoving in NHL 10 happen after the whistle. Did a guy on the other team just hit your star center after the whistle? Send in Georges Laraque or any other tough guy and start a fight with him. He may fight you, he may run away, and it may even begin a big scrum where several players on the ice are pushing each other. It’s realistic, and its fun and my god it’s awesome.

In addition, by fighting, forechecking, hitting and more, you can set the tempo for a game. Hit hard and hit often and your opponents might drop the puck more often or make a mistake. They might become rattled, exposing them to turnovers and fast-breaks. Furthermore, the ability to protect your stars and fight back against bad hits and late shots and more only increases the feeling of realism attached to the game. Those hits now mean something.

How about modes? We’ve got everything you could want!

The other thing EA Canada deserves credit for is for making a game with enormous replay value. NHL 10 not only allows you to play in season mode, which is your standard fare where you are the coach, the GM, and you can play as a team, it has a veritable blizzard of other options.

Be A Pro

Be A Pro mode is, simply put, amazing. You use the player you created for the tutorial; however, now you have complete control over how he looks, where he’s from, how old he is, his number, and even his equipment. You can edit him with much more control than you can in any other sports game (with the possible exception of FIFA) and then you step into his shoes.

I put myself into the game as a pro, and the game starts you off with two options. Choose a team or, be drafted. If you choose to get drafted you first play in the Prospects Game. You play on either than World Team or the North American Juniors team. And, over the course of one game, you have a chance to show off and try to move up in the draft. Score a couple of goals, notch a couple of assists, and you may find yourself being the top pick. Afterwards, you get drafted by a random team, get signed, and begin playing. Of course, you aren’t guaranteed to have a spot on the NHL team. In fact, you get a test run at the NHL level, playing a few games, but unless you are stunningly talented on the ice, you’ll probably be sent down to the AHL to work your way up. This in itself is an achievement because you aren’t automatically handed the top level. You have to earn it.

Further making Be A Pro mode excellent beyond measure is the presentation. If you choose to play authentically (the default selection), you will control your player and your player only. When he gets tired you will skate him off the ice, and then, you will sub yourself back in.

The presentation also excels by offering a different viewpoint. Rather than the traditional top-down view, Be A Pro mode follows your skater closely at his heels. And it’s not just your job to score goals and notch assists. In order to be an exemplary player you need to position yourself well by being in the right place at the right time and you also need to contribute to the team. After each game you will receive a grade in three categories from your coach – Statistics, Team Play, and Position. Team Play is the toughest grade to excel in – you have to make big hits, make good passes, and not take penalties. All will detract from your final grade for each game, which in turn affects how many experience points you will earn to upgrade your player’s statistics.

Be A Pro truly makes you feel as though you are a pro in the NHL or trying to rise through the AHL. It is a fantastic game mode.

GM Mode

GM Mode differs from Season mode in that you assume all of the duties of a GM. It is your job to draft players. It is your job to place players on the trading block and make blockbuster deals. And it’s all your responsibility to manage the team, moving players from the AHL to the NHL, signing contracts, and more.

While you can do many GM Mode things in Season mode, the difference is that GM Mode focuses upon specific tasks and expectations as a general manager. You have two blackberries upon which to propose trades and receive calls from other GM’s, and quite frankly, in GM mode, the other GMs and the NHL in general acts as it would in real life. Big blockbuster trades happen at the deadline. Tips are sent in regarding stars who are being shopped – though you never know exactly who it is or how to deal with them (it’s part of the challenge).

GM Mode is engaging and fun. If you want to, you can play the games just like in season mode, but I preferred to tackle it like a true GM. I simmed each game of the season and adjusted my roster accordingly and also tried to make trades at the deadline that would bolster my team’s chances of making the playoffs. Initially, GM mode didn’t feel like something I would come back to, but then I realized that it represented an entirely different and rewarding experience in which I was able to see if I had what it took to be a GM.

When the first season of GM mode was finished my team missed out on the playoffs by three points despite the last-minute deal I’d made to acquire Milan Hejduk from Colorado for a first round pick and Mathieu Schneider. I had failed to make the playoffs and I wanted nothing more than to prove my perceived “critics” wrong and show that my draft picks would develop quickly, that our young players would flourish, and that we would soon be a powerhouse. In short, GM mode is addicting in its own way.

Other Modes

Beyond Be A Pro, Season, and GM mode, NHL 10 features Battle For The Cup mode, which allows you to create a personalized playoff experience, Tournament Mode where you can create a personalized tournament or play in an Olympic-type tournament between national teams. You can even take on the Canadiens century team. Try that on hardcore for a seriously difficult experience.

Graphics/Sound

The graphics are not the best you’ve ever seen, but they don’t need to be. They’re still great and they accurately portray hockey. Players move fluidly and their actions look realistic, not chunky or fake. The arenas look awesome and the crowd reactions are wonderful. The sound of fans chanting, the reactions to a play, the slamming of bodies against the boards and fans hands against the glass are all realistic and serve to inrease the sense of atmosphere and realism.

The Last Word

NHL 10 is a superlative experience. In fact, it’s one of the best video game experiences I’ve ever had. The learning curve is a bit difficult, but it’s well worth the several games it takes to adjust to the controls because this is not just a good sports game. It is not just a great sports game, either. It is, to be honest, one of the greatest sports games ever made. Never before has a sports game captured all the excitement of a sport so accurately. Never has a sports game featured such realistic gameplay, such properly executed positioning and roleplaying. This is a game that offers an experience that is as close as you can come to playing hockey on ice. It is engrossing, its replay value is extensive beyond words, and the improvements to everything overall is stunning.

NHL 10 is a must have for every video gamer.

The Scoreline

96%

+     Fluid, extremely realistic gameplay and AI actions

+     Great atmosphere, graphics and sound

+     A plethora of game modes

-      Um…the team specific chants are generic “Go team go” chants?

Madden NFL 10 Review

- Geoffrey Calver

There was a point in Madden NFL 10 when I was wowed. It was when I realized that the game had changed. That running was more difficult, that passing downfield was incredibly hard. When the IQ feature of Madden NFL 10 adjusted the AI to my skill level and Madden NFL 10 didn’t just feel like a fantastic game presentation, a fanciful version of the real game of football but had become, instead, like playing in the NFL, minus receiving actual bruises and broken bones.

Madden NFL 10 is a great game because it replicates the modern game of football so well. Over the years, rushers have become less relevant, passing has become more frequent, west-coast offenses have become abundant, and this is all reflected, well, in Madden NFL 10.

Each year, the team creating Madden revises the gameplay, introduces new features and updates the graphics, players, and more. But more often than not, the changes have been minor and the new editions have, as of late, felt more like roster updates with slight graphical upgrades. In fact, since the Xbox 360 came out, it has felt as though Madden has been trying to catch up with technology. The previous iterations of Madden have felt more like graphical upgrades of the PS2 and Xbox versions of the same game rather than new entries that take advantage of all that next-gen gaming has to offer. Thankfully, Madden NFL 10 is more than just an update. It’s a booster shot for the Madden franchise, a huge leap forward in terms of how it plays, how it looks, and what is offered with your purchase.

Madden NFL 10 features the slogan, “Fight for every yard,” and the slogan is apt for the gameplay. Madden NFL 10 can be easy if you want it to be, but once you ramp up to the more difficult settings of All-Pro, and All-Madden, you’ll feel as though you’re actually on an NFL field. This is particularly true in the fantastic Superstar mode.

SUPERSTAR MODE

Superstar mode pits you as a rookie entering the NFL. You can choose from three options when beginning a new career in Superstar mode. You can either create a new player, which allows you to adjust the size of your player, the position he plays, his name, his looks (although these can’t be adjusted much) and more; you can step into the shoes of an actual NFL rookie such as Michael Crabtree or Matthew Stafford; or (my personal favorite), you can upload your “Road to Glory” player from NCAA Football 10 and continue his career into the NFL.

Superstar mode, as I said before, is fantastic. You begin by taking an IQ test, and then are drafted. I played through superstar seasons twice as a quarterback and was drafted by the Chiefs and the Redskins. The camera view in Madden NFL 10’s Superstar mode is perfectly suited for the situation – the camera sits itself right behind you, almost putting yourself right in your player’s shoes. To compare, after playing superstar mode on Madden for a while I went back to NCAA Football 10 and hated that I looked out on the field from far above. Madden puts you right in the player’s shoes so that you feel as though you are on the field and you actually feel the pressure as lineman run at you on a blitz and you actually search the field for an open player, hoping that your throw finds its target safely.

That said, I do have some problems with the superstar mode. First of all, I would like to have a player who feels more alive. By that, I mean that I would have liked to have been able to go through an interview process with the media, or a press conference after each game, choosing to speak in one tone or another, therefore influencing my ego. Instead, the Superstar’s ego in Madden NFL 10 seemed to be an independent beast all on its own. Nothing seemed to influence it. No matter what I did on the field I was known for having an “arrogant” or “The ‘I’ in team” ego. I just couldn’t bring my player down to “team player” or “true leader”. It would have been nice to have the control to make a player act as you would actually act in situations. After particularly tough losses I may have chosen to say, “we sucked” at a press conference, to blame the refs, or to simply tirade on my coach’s play calling. But, I had no choice but to simply play and hope that eventually, by not speaking too much to my agent and by not choosing to discuss “guarantees” to be in the playoffs and more, that my ego would go down and reflect the type of player I wanted to be.

Beyond that, I would have also liked to have had the stadium shake as a hostile away crowd screamed loudly on third down and I would have liked to have had the option to run audibles – instead, I just had to do exactly as the coach asked me to do. So, if it was third and eight and there were twenty seconds left in the game and I was on the sixteen yard line, in the red zone, and the coach wanted to run, I couldn’t audible a pass instead. I had to given in to his idiotic play-calling.

Finally, Superstar mode doesn’t allow a lot of exploration of stats. When I wanted to view Pro Bowl voting or MVP voting, I couldn’t. And that was frustrating. I love being able to see so many statistics in Franchise mode, and I would have liked for Superstar mode to allow the same amount of access to league information.

Despite the complaints, Superstar Mode is fantastic. It was awesome to create a player, or in my case, continue playing with my Road to Glory player from NCAA Football and watch as I led the Redskins to the conference championship game and won Offensive Rookie of the Year. Madden’s Superstar mode captures the excitement of making it to the NFL, and allows you to imagine that you are on the field, the quarterback leading a game-winning drive in the final moments of a game, the receiver diving in the end zone to catch a last-second throw, the linebacker sweeping in and around the offensive line to wrap the quarterback and force a fumble. Superstar mode puts you in the shoes of an NFL star, and the difference between it and Franchise mode is that you aren’t in control. You play for the team that drafts you, you follow your coach’s calls, and that makes it fun, challenging, and absorbing. Furthermore, because you only play when you are on the field, you can finish a game in fifteen or twenty minutes instead of forty-five. Meaning, you actually are able to fit in that game between taking out the trash and helping to cook dinner.

FRANCHISE MODE

Madden’s franchise mode hasn’t changed much over the years, and that’s okay. There’s no reason to change something that works well.

Madden’s franchise mode will be familiar to players not only of Madden, but of any EA Sports title, from NHL to NBA Live and beyond. You assume the role of GM, Coach, and the players. As GM you make additions to the stadium, purchasing improvements, you hire coaches, you draft players, and you sign endorsement deals. As coach you choose plays, and re-order depth charts. You challenge calls and call timeouts. As players, you control the quarterback, you control the receiver once he catches the ball, you run as the halfback or fullback, you can take over any defensive position and you kick the ball as well. In Franchise Mode you do everything. It takes time to finish a season, but it is fun getting there, and it is simply put, addictive. You want to keep playing, to see how another season will go. To watch your players evolve and to see if your draft picks live up to expectations or not. It is great fun.

Franchise modes best aspects are the control you have on the field and off. Being able to play both sides of the ball and to choose plays gives you the greatest amount of control over the game – you honestly only have yourself to blame for a loss. And beyond that, the great part about Franchise mode is the ability to see and do everything. To draft players is fantastic. To choose a trick play that will stun the defense can make you jump out of your seat, and trying to manage a team while dealing with a salary cap is simply difficult.

Franchise mode is great, and most of its faults are not in the mode itself, but are part of the larger Madden game.

MINI GAMES

Madden NFL 10 features mini games, too. And a good number of them. First of all, there is the Madden IQ test. You run a bunch of running plays, pass plays, defensive plays and Madden figures out what your skill level is in each category, from Rookie to All-Madden and gives you a Madden IQ point score as a result. The mode, is highly stylized, featuring glowing players on an intentionally artificial playing field looking like something out of Tron. It’s fun and I found myself coming back to it every week or so to mark my improvement.

There are also mini games in which you choose two teams that compete against each other in events such as the 40-yard dash, bench press, running game, passing game, coverage, and more. The games are fun, but some, such as the bench press and 40-yard dash are mere novelties. I found myself, though, in love with the coverage game, in which you play a receiver and you have to beat coverage to catch the ball, racking up points for doing so. It’s fun and feels exhilarating to beat out coverage and run into an open endzone for a catch.

Finally, Madden NFL 10 features “Madden Moments”. These are truly unique, and quite honestly, awesome mini games. Madden Moments puts you in the shoes of players in truly difficult situations. Initially you only have a few you can choose from – my favorite: it’s the Super Bowl, the Cardinals have just scored with two and a half minutes left and you lead Big Ben onto the field to try and replicate his winning drive. The tension mounts as the time winds down and you try your best to score and win the super bowl. It’s intense and fun and it makes you realize just how amazing those sorts of winning, last-minute drives, are.

TECHNICAL STUFF

The graphics in Madden NFL 10 are crisp and gorgeous. Fans even in the top rows of the enormous NFL stadiums stand out individually and the grass on the field looks better than ever. The new, pre-game presentations look good, but player models could use some work.

The sound in game is fantastic. Individual fans can be heard calling out from different sides of the stadium, the crowd roars as a play develops, and players can even be heard calling out encouragement or taunts to each other.

FAULTS

Madden NFL 10 is a great game, but it does have it faults, which extend to Superstar Mode, to Franchise Mode and to the mini games as well. Namely, Madden NFL 10 reaches for the stars with its presentation. It aims to please, to bring in new detail that makes the game feel more alive than ever. In between plays, quarterbacks chat with offensive coordinators on the phone. At timeouts, players sip water from cups and chat. Running backs pedal on a bike. Steam rises from their mouths. Yet, the details need work.

The phone the quarterback holds often disappears. The players who celebrate a touchdown often aren’t the ones involved in the play. And then, there is my perennial complaint against both Madden and NCAA Football – the lack of gravity given to playoff games and the super bowl/championship/bowl games.

Madden NFL 10 touts that it includes new presentation details. And that’s true. It’s great to see quarterbacks chatting on phones and I can easily forgive phones disappearing or players pedaling in mid-air instead of on a bike. It’s cool to see planes fly over a playoff game as the national anthem plays in the background. But what’s not cool is playing through an entire season with one goal in mind – the Super Bowl. What’s not cool is having a lack of celebration at the game. The Super Bowl is more than just a game. It’s a presentation on a grand scale. It’s a show. I would have liked to have seen players come tearing out of their respective team’s large, inflatable helmets. I would have loved to have heard the commentators discussing the implications of the game, the importance of the Super Bowl. I wish EA Sports would have spent more time developing commentary specifically for the Super Bowl and playoff games. I would like to have the commentators recognize the weight of the moment. I would like to see the pre-game celebrations, and furthermore, I would love to see the half-time show at the Super Bowl taking place in the press box. Watching a band play in the background. I don’t need to hear the music – I just want to see that the Super Bowl is happening behind me. Not just another game with the Super Bowl logo stamped on the field and on the jerseys being the only thing differentiating between the biggest game of the year and any other game. I would like to have some sense of the importance of the game.

I know I’m harping – but it bugs me year after year that I play all season long, which can take a couple of weeks on Franchise mode to reach the Super Bowl, only to feel letdown by the final act. The only comparison I can make is playing through a shooter. You’ve come so far, here’s the final act, and the story falls flat. There is no final boss battle, no true conclusion. You feel as though the game has quit on you after such an exhilarating experience to that point. Madden NFL 10 need only have the players rush onto the field at the end. It need only have the commentators shouting and exclaiming about how your team won. I want to see the MVP receive his trophy. I want to see the players picking up the Super Bowl and carrying it around. I want to see the confetti covering the ground. Hear the cheering of fans. After all, I’ve played through an entire season just to see that celebration. Just to feel the gravity of that moment. Anything less is a letdown. And Madden NFL 10 tries but just doesn’t succeed. The Super Bowl celebration features ten seconds of confetti, a small celebration, and no commentary on the Super Bowl victory. It ends like any other game and I’m left wondering why I should fight so hard to get back again for another season. Games are supposed to take you to another world. Unfortunately, I have to imagine what it would feel like to win at the end because Madden just doesn’t replicate it.

THE FINAL VERDICT

Madden NFL 10 is a great football experience. The gameplay mimics real NFL football extremely well. The running game is difficult and requires finesse and timing. The passing game forces you to rely on the short game more than long bombs. The Superstar Mode does a great job of putting you in the shoes of a football star though it lacks some features when you’re off the field, and Franchise mode is deep, fun, and requires a good investment of time and effort.

The graphics and sound are excellent, though player models still need lots of work and I think are an important aspect of the presentation, and the new presentation improvements are generally a boon to the game.

The biggest problem with Madden is the lack of freedom within Superstar Mode and the lack of focus on the biggest moment in the NFL, the Super Bowl. But these distractions are not nearly enough to detract from an otherwise excellent game experience. The gameplay itself is fantastic, the graphics in general are beautiful, and the sound is better than ever. Madden is a deep, worthwhile addition to any sports gamers collection.

86%

You’ll love:

+ Realistic gameplay and new, wildcat offense

+ Mini games, in particular, Madden Moments

+ Fantastic new presentation additions

You’ll hate:

- Lack of celebration/fanfare surrounding the superbowl

- Lack of control in Superstar mode

- Some slight graphical issues