Early Verdict: Madden NFL 09 Is Teh Suck!
I reported yesterday that two of the upcoming August EA Sports titles had their demos released, Madden NFL 09 and FaceBreaker. The demos have only been out for 24 hours now and the bad news is already coming in! Looking through some forums and blogs, it isn’t looking pretty for fans of sports games - though most people who buys these games don’t read reviews or previews, so Madden will probably sell out anyway - and over at The Blog for Sports Gamer they have some great write-ups on the two titles:
Here is a sampling of their reactions:
- “Bill Abner (longtime sports video game editor who’s worked for Computer Games Magazine and GameSpy) got (a retail copy of) Madden early. Basically, the verdict: it’s complete shit,”
- “Have you tried the demo? All I can say is what the HELL was EA thinking? A HOLOGRAPHIC JOHN MADDEN?… I don’t think I’ve ever been so turned off with a game before. Add into that Bill Abner’s comments that in the full game, there are NO CPU Sliders, because hey EA knows your difficultly level, and I just cancelled my preorder.”
- On the game difficulty testing: “At this point, I was actually laughing out loud. The actions of the secondary blocker for the running back show you that the CPU AI for the game is broken… before you actually get to play it. Talk about a time saver.”
- “The funny thing is that I saw at least one instance where I allowed an 8 yard completion, but still got a passing grade for that particular test. Then on the next play, they made a 2 yard completion where I knocked them out of bounds… and failed the test.”
- Some thoughts on FaceBreaker: “Facebreaker was EA’s attempt at bringing fun games like Ready To Rumble over to the next gen? Well they have done it — except it’s without the fun,” and “I think we’re all better served to just avoid EA’s attempt to try and make a horribly simplified fighting game with an absolutely awful control scheme,”
A final quote on EA: “Seriously, if this is the company that we have to rely on for the future of sports games… the genre is doomed.”
To be fair, Madden titles have been slipping consistently for the last few years as EA rushes the production of each and scrambles for more and more ridiculous feature sets, while doing little to address issues that deal with game play and the simple fun of the game. The fact they have an exclusivity contract with the NFL doesn’t exactly force them to improve due to possible competition.
Have you played either of the demos? What did you think? Tell us in the comments below!
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I haven’t got around to playing the Madden demo yet but I did play the Facebreaker one…. and it was horrible!!! I couldn’t even really comprehend it. You had to switch between offensive and defensive and two other things, and like above the controls are HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE. At least I have Soul Calibur IV hahaha
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Soulcalibur’s awesome.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Madden’s a joke. Every year it’s the same damn game with a new box. oh but this year the grass is lighter GREEN… AMAZING!!!
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I thought Madden was actually ok …also realize I haven’t played madden since 2005 on the first xbox ….but Facebreaker is complete do-do …..as said ….horrible controls
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I’ve been disappointed with the Madden Franchise for the past few years now. Getting the exclusive right to make all NFL games just caused them to become complacent and it’s sad. Every year it seems to worsen. I’ve played for a long time and ritually stood in lines, pre-ordered, you name it. I’m done. Like Strahan I’m retired. I will never buy another Madden game again. Bring back 2K.
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:34 pm
What do expect? NCAA 09 was horrible…and buggy as all get out. Is it any shock that Madden 09 would be too?
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I have been reiterating this for many years. I work for a major game retailer and trying to tell a madden fan that their game is crap and the same thing every year, is like getting George W. to say something intelligent.
August 2nd, 2008 at 4:19 pm
You people have got to be kidding me. The demo is probably going to have some bugs. It a Demo. Madden I think has taken a lot of neccessary steps to gaining back the respectable face that they once had. The new camera rocks, there will actually be booth commentary, the player models look great, fields look great, and the game controls good. The Madden IQ might not work THE BEST but it will work better I am sure when it launches. I really enjoyed the demo and felt like it made things conform to my skills. I think Madden 09 will be the best one we have seen in years.
August 2nd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
TheGhost: Bill Abner has a retail copy and says it’s a piece of shit.
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:43 pm
you all are idiots. You are basing this on what the hologram stage where decide your skill level. you also have the option in the game to turn that off and go with the the old skill levels. guess if you actually played madden you might know something about it.
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:36 pm
@theghost:
The game comes out on the 12th, i doubt they have enough time to fix what is already BROKEN… Wanna know how bad the game is?
I made Jeremy S. do a 5 yard out, and EVERY SINGLE TIME he drops the ball…. EVERYTIME! I must of ran that play 20 times just to see if he really can’t catch? OR the game is just whack like that… Not only that but for those 20 times he’s WIDE OPEN, so it’s not like anyones knockin’ the ball away from him…
MADDEN 09 is a JOKE, only reason why i’ll buy it is because of my love for football.
BRING 2K FOOTBALL BACK and F*** EA!
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Please someone come out with a roster update for NFL 2K5…. Please!
August 3rd, 2008 at 1:58 am
2k Fanboys cant even wait for the release, and for the Bill Abner comments look how many reviewers said GTAIV was gold and go to whatever store people trade in games and see how many copies of it there are. At least wait for the game to release to start bashing please
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:00 am
BTW the demo has the best gameplay of any football game today
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:06 am
2K might be a part of EA soon.why bash madden? i have played madden since 2001 and i think the game is awesome! i even sold all of my 2K games just to get madden 09 because of bill apters stupid ass-lame ass article! NOBODY TELLS ME WHAT GAME TO GET AND WHAT GAME I SHOULD’NT GET! oh yeah and you 2K fanboys!2013 is 5 years away! FUCK TTWO and FUCK 2K i hope EA or MICROSOFT buy their selfish asses out!
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:13 am
yo operation sports forums you can find updated rosters for the best football game of all time 2k5 they have updated roster and that game is still played bcuz no one has topped it yet. Have fun madden o9 ea sheep.
August 3rd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
HAHA BILL ABNER YOU’RE AN IDIOT. Jumping the gun before you even logically analyze situations. “The funny thing is that I saw at least one instance where I allowed an 8 yard completion, but still got a passing grade for that particular test. Then on the next play, they made a 2 yard completion where I knocked them out of bounds… and failed the test.”
There are the sections of the test out of 5 chances. If you pass 2 in each section you will advance to the next section. You’re a retard so when you knocked the guy out of bounds that was you’re stop in that section of drills. In the other instance where you allowed an 8 yard gain, you must of already stopped the cpu twice. You’re a moron mr. abner. 3 Topics were covered: sliders, holographic madden, and apparantely broken cpu ai. You being a retard and not following your blockers is your fault. Sliders, i can agree with you that it should have been there, but you make a huge deal about it, when gameplay is most important. And big deal a holographic john madden, THATS SO IMPORTANT TO THE GAME JUST BECAUSE MADDEN IS HOLOGRAPHIC I SHOULDN’T BUY IT. Abner you’re fucking shit.
August 3rd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Bill Abner’s been a video/computer sports game editor for 12 years.
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:50 pm
[...] but it’s interesting to note that while sports game reviewer extraordinaire Bill Abner was down on Madden NFL 09, he seems to be enjoying NFL Head Coach 09. He’d long had a dream of a football management [...]
August 4th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I haven’t played Madden since 2005 because of the high level of difficulty. Unless you are a football fanatic and understand every facet of the game, it is really difficult to be successful in the game. The new options for Madden really excite me because they will help me become better at playing the game, and even give me a better understanding of the sport. I also really like the new handicap feature that will let me play against more exprienced players without getting beaten by double digits. Madden 09 will have a ton of great new features to make the game more accessible to everyone. The demo doesn’t even touch on everything that they’re going to include. Please don’t make stupid comments about a game sucking unless you do your research and understand what you’re talking about.
August 4th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
[...] We’ll see if EA Sports is serious, since early reports are unkind. [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
“BTW the demo has the best gameplay of any football game today.”
No… actually the PS2 version of Madden has had better gameplay the past 3 years and probably this year too. It’s sad that when they made the Next Gen version of Madden, they didn’t base it off of the Current Gen game, they dumbed the game down and removed half the features just so they could put a couple of the features BACK into Madden each year.
We’re still missing formation shifts, vision cones, and the playcalling screen still sucks. Why use a cursor to highlight the play you’re about to run?
August 5th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I like how everyone who supports madden in this blog starts there paragraph with “you all are idiots” or “you all are retards” or “Abner is a moron”
Wow, you guys make great logical arguments!
First off, just cause it’s the internet doesn’t mean you can use language that would offend your mom.
Second, Abner has made multiple logical points that suggest that the Sports gaming industry, I mean EA sports gaming industry, seems to hash out the same game every year and that the system used to make the madden game is broken. I can give EA the benefit of the doubt that they don’t address EVERY single problem, however it is UNEXCUSABLE that the same problems from prior games reappear in this game. Also Abner’s intelligence isn’t something that should be put into question just because he’s reviewing a video game.
Third, Madden seems to have a system where instead of making huge leaps of improvement to the prior years games, it decides to make tiny baby steps of improvement just to please those who love football. The AI that learns how you play sounds like a good idea, but if something’s broken then it’s broken. Abner has a complete copy of the game, and if he says it’s broken then it’s broken. I’m positive that there will be people out there who will refute this because they experienced a good difficulty level, however there are definitely going to be people who realize that the system does not work and needs to be fixed.
Fourth, someone said that people are just testing out the demo and demo’s have mistakes that can be fixed. True, HOWEVER, seeing that the game is due for launch August 12th and probably has about more than a million copies burnt onto disk ready to be launched worldwide, I would say fixing a problem that a demo has nearly impossible. On top of that it’s NEVER easy to fix problems in games, and no it’s not as easy as 1 2 3, that’s why so many people are hired to test games before launch so that problems can be addressed. What you’re playing a demo to entice you to buy the game, not something that is going to be fixed just because you say so, and besides why would EA listen to one measly gamer?
Fifth, For everyone who is a die hard madden fan ready to type away at their computers ready to call me a retard, point out my spelling errors, and refute all my comments: I’ll only acknowledge your comments if you speak to me appropriately, and not in a condescending, you don’t know anything matter. If you really enjoy madden, I suggest you do what you were already going to do, just go buy the game. Also, a example of a bad argument: “OH YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT CAUSE MADDEN IS GONNA SELL LIKE A GAJILLION COPIES AND IT’LL SHOW YOU THAT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT”. Um, sure, but I already know madden is going to sell just because it’s virtually the only football game on the market. People have no choice, if they want football, they must buy the game. Just cause madden does sell out on the first day doesn’t show it’s a great game, it shows lack of choice. Oh another bad argument “WELL YOU CLEARLY DON’T PLAY MADDEN CAUSE YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT!!!” God, look, yes I have played madden, and 2K, and NFL Gameday. I’m going be honest though to me, personally, madden is the most frustrating. People say that if someone does bad in the game it means they lack skill. Well I’ve Won and Lost to the computer just because the game has so many glitches. Other games made me feel like I was actually executing plays effectively, but Madden makes me feel that just calling plays will suffice. My dislike for madden is not because I’m bad at the game, but because there are just too many problems with it. So please if you’re going to respond to this, point out things that maybe you like about the game and things that you do think could improve. But once again another bad argument would be saying that new rosters, new music, and new interface make this game great cause they don’t. They simply don’t.
Lastly, as a VERY big football fan I would encourage the NFL to please just drop the Madden license. This doesn’t mean people wouldn’t buy madden anymore, as a matter of fact I think it would help Madden if anything. It just opens up the competition that every single game on the videogame market faces. It forces them to be all that they can be and get the best game possible on the market.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
However, if you visit Bill Abner’s blog, he’s raving about NFL Head Coach 09, which has had a normal development cycle. (Last one was 3 years ago.)
August 6th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Yes Not Able to choose your own difficult will suck but every one of yall that say your not getting will end up getting madden has had the nfl lisence since madden 2005 now i’m only 17 but i realize a good game when i see one you cant even argue that the 2k games are even close to the ea sports maybe live 07 and 08 with 2k7 and 2k8 basket ball but madden dominated espn football but did not out sell them with madden 05 now you have to play what ever ea comes out with suck it up shut get ready for another season of great football… xxChamPaing3xx xbox live
August 6th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
madden has been the best ever and will be forever and 2k did not stop it in the past and will not stop it in the future
August 6th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Actually, NFL 2K5 was outselling Madden NFL 2005 easily. EA had to basically strongarm the NFL into exclusivity. And to make sure 2K couldn’t compete, they bought the Arena Football League license, too.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
^^^ NFL 2K5 was not selling out Madden 2005, you are an idiot.
Don’t say stuff you don’t even know.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Um, 2K5 outsold Madden by over 1.5 million copies.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:24 am
You know what I want madden to change…I want unique fans. And not just one or two. I want an entire unique stadium of fans… not the same fans that always cheer non stop. It’s like their jacked up on 12 cans of red bull doing the same cheer for hours. Can’t they actually sit down? What about a close up shot on the fans to show they are unique? noo, madden won’t do that, they haven’t for the past 4 years
August 8th, 2008 at 2:41 am
Do you know how much processor power that would take?
August 9th, 2008 at 10:27 am
I love madden because I love football. But seriously, the last good game was NFL 2k5.
How hard is it for EA sports to just put the damn ESPN scoreboard logo, and espn logos on everything. Have some ESPN halftime stuff? At least try to use the damn ESPN license. All we get is “espn radio” yay…
August 9th, 2008 at 11:33 am
NBA Live 07 had PTI. The game was awful, but it was nice to see Tony and Mike.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:12 am
Ummmm. 2k5 outsold madden because it was 25 dollars no one seems to have pointed that out. The only 2k game better than an ea game is nba because live sucks. I have madden and the camera is sweet I could care less about the test because all I do is play online.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:01 am
And Madden sales were *dropping*. What’s your point?
August 11th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
2K5 WAS BETTER THAN ANY MADDEN GAME BECAUSE IT FELT AND STILL FEELS LIKE YOU’RE PLAYING A GAME OF FOOTBALL.YOU GOT OLD TIME TEAMS,REFS ON THE FIELD,ADJUSTABLE CAMERA ANGLES,1ST PERSON FOOTBALL,CUSTOM SOUND TRACKS, AND YOUR LINEBACKERS COULD ADJUST YOUR DEFENSIVE LINE BY SIMPLY TOUCHING THEM BEFORE THE SNAP.BEFORE THE SNAP IN MADDEN MEN JUST RUN THROUGH THE LINEMEN LIKE THEY ARE INVISIBLE(POOR JOB EA)2K5 HAS REAL PLAYER FACES,HALFTIME SHOW ETC.. MADDEN HAS TRICKS INSTEAD OF GAMEPLAY.ONLY COMPETITION BRINGS OUT THE BEST,UNTIL EA HAS IT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE SUBPAR GAMES. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE HAD TO PLAY NBA LIVE INSTEAD OF NBA 2K,OR HAD TO PLAY NHL 2K INSTEAD EA’S GREAT HOCKEY GAME.COLLEGE HOOPS 2K IS GONE WHAT WILL BE NEXT. YES I HAVE A RETAIL COPY OF MADDEN 09 AND IT FEELS LIKE NFL BLITZ ON SPEED.WE SHOULD DEMAND BETTER FROM EA.EVERY YEAR WE WAIT FOR A NEW MADDEN BECAUSE THE ONE THAT WE HAVE IS SO POORLY DONE, YET PEOPLE STILL PLAY NFL 2K5. IF U REALLY ENJOY MADDEN FIND A COPY OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP VERSION ON THE SEGA GENESIS IT IS A GREAT GAME OR SUPER TECMO BOWL ON NES THEY BOTH PLAY BETTER THAN MADDEN 09. MADDEN 09 IS NOT A BAD GAME IT JUST NOT FUN, ITS TOO FAST AND ARCADE LIKE, DOSE NOT FEEL LIKE THE GAME OF FOOTBALL. IT TRIES TOO HARD TO BE TO MANY THINGS.i JUST WANT TO PLAY SOMETHING THAT CLOSELY RESEMBLES AN NFL GAME AND NOT FEEL FORCE FED. PETER MOORE AND THE DESIGN TEAM OF MADDEN MUST NOT HAVE PLAYED FOOTBALL OR THEY WOULD REALIZE THAT THEIR PRODUCT IS WAY OFF
August 11th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I only play online, so as long as the “disconnection glitch” is fixed and i don’t have to worry about loosing when I’m winning then i am OK.
Bring back the hidden play selector so the Madden Challenge is more fair.
August 12th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Madden 08 was good, 07 was good, madden 06 was good. Ever since I own ESPN 2K5..and it blows! Gameplay in that game just made me want to go play madden 2001 again, in that case I went off and bought my first madden copy in 2005, which made me buy the game series since then.
Haven’t bought Madden 09 yet, but when I played the demo the gameplay was quite similar to the one in NCAA 09, which means its looking fucking amazing.
Don’t see why you all would hate on it, just because its missing some features on the next gen, or “repetitive” doesn’t mean its bad. People still buy it, right? If they didn’t they wouldn’t be releasing this game year after year.
August 12th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Madden 09 sucks. On the wii is even worse than the others. the graphics suck the gameplay sucks. its way to animated and you have to use miis which is freakin’ retarded. John Madden is a Mii which is stupid. it has absolutley NO new features. Worst Madden EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 13th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Save your money! Got back to madden 08!…. I been buying madden since they got the contract from NFL.
Ok here is my experiance with XBox 360 on Madden NFL 09. I just bought the game.
The graphics HORRIBLE, Madden 08 have better graphics. This game really reminds me of “PC Version of madden”… If your a XBOX 360 Fan you will know what I’m talking about. The feel and gameplay is totaly diffrent from a “PC VERSION” well not now anymore.. This madden 09 for Xbox 360 it looks the same, feels the same. The game play really sucks! I had that they changed some controller buttons from the “Full-back, OR other players “RB” to “LB”… This got me sacked couple of times. Since one of my favorites play relies on a “RB” pass on madden 08. Wich is not “LB” hate it, hate it. One thing that I did like, Is the action were you can bluff on game play. But the graphics is horrible.. I’m BEST on defense blitz! Not anymore, With madden 09 it makes it anoying to blitz…
I’m very disapointed. But what can we do? this is the only NFL game their is avaiable.
I’m just going to go back to Madden 08. I just wish they will at least update the ROSTER on 08.
August 14th, 2008 at 1:54 am
Yeah it is the best football game out becuase it is the only one out. EA has no competition which is no good for anything, especially video games. I’ve played madden 09 and yes it is terrible. EA just made it look good but nothing is different. Same old glitchy game.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:27 am
yes its me again.I’ve been playing madden 09 and reading comments of the game on the net.Ea must pay people to write positive game reviews or people are on crack.football is about coaching not letting the computer tell you what you must do.in NFL 2k5 i can assign any defensive player to cover or double another player,if i want my middle LB to double an outside receiver i can,I need control of all 11players,i want my FS or SS playing man and everyone else playing zone i can.EA for madden to truly be great we need control to make our own blitz packages.To much of madden is computer controlled and lacks coaching…you pick a play and pray the programmer will have people in the right places.Not being able to adjust my defensive line by tapping the player with A LB is the worst thing i have seen. Its funny to watch men run through each other prior to snap yet no one mentions the poor physics.The grass and turf look awful yet people say that it looks good.madden’s animations are poor. I want my runningbacks to put their hands down to keep their balance or turn sideways to squeeze through a hole, move the football to avoid getting it hit by a defender…all things that runners in 2k5 do without any button presses.maybe ea will hire some good game designers and we will get a good game of football one day. All sports games need game sliders.no more tricks ea we what gameplay..no rewind,virtual practice ie. we what control of db’s,blockers that block,DE’s that rush the passer, players with their real faces,why not just hire the 2k team to make you a game or go out and play a game of tackle football and see if your games comes anywhere close ,
August 15th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
this game for ps2 is a peice of crap they say you can do the lambeuo leap you cant bleachers you can run through u have the same the dances every once in a while u get
a slam dunk total peice of crap games more choppy than ever if you realy want this game you better have ps3 something else or it will be a crapy time i would advise no one bye it waste of money
August 15th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Ok i have madden 00-09 just bought it.The graphics suck. I am trying to get best bye to refund my money,or swap for a differnt game. Did you guys get paid for this,or was it volunteer work.I mean great ideas, just not alot of work on the designing of the game.The stadium shown at the beginning of the game is the best graphics of the the whole game.When in Franchise mode,and training looks the players are on a stair master and the field is moving buy them.Virtual training a great idea. They look better on the field than the real players.Just color in a team logo and a number and that’s what the rest of the game should look like.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Did they finish this game in may and just release it now.Why is shockey with the giants and strahan is not retired?
I even caught a mistake on some of the facts they post while game is loading.At least they fixed the stats a little,we don’t have 7 running backs with 2100 yards.This game sucks..madden 99 was better
August 18th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Expect a roster update when the season starts.
August 20th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Worst madden ever one of the things i used to have problem w/ was the players on the sideline no names they all do the same motions over and over again i was thinking this year, 2009 ON PS3 w/ everybody raving about graphics that maybe that would be diffrent. Nope even worse now theres no chain gang, fans look horrible, they look like real bad virtual fighter characters and why cant u run the damn ball i play w/ san diego, every time i run the holes just close up u cant break a tackle cant run to the outside i line up w/ 3 or 4 wideouts to run the ball and the def is in 3-4 audible to a pass play and bam now their covering my reicevers the worst football game ever and i played em all im going back to tecmo bowl
August 30th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Tecmo bowl was a great game!!! Thats back when games were just fun and simple.. Now its all about graphics first and gameplay second. Well Madden09 did NEITHER!!! graphically for ps3 at least… it sux! Its grainy and the collision detection needs a huge overhaul.. Competition is non existant so its the same crappy engine tweaked just like last gen. On the otherhand look what competition did to EA for hockey!!! NHL09 is probably going to be the best hockey game and possibly best game EA has ever produced!!! That’s truly a next gen title and prob gets half the manpower Madden gets… hmmm wonder if its cuz we keep buying it because there’s nothing else out there!!! Not that i liked nfl 2k but, at least it gave EA motivation…
September 5th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
this game is the worst game I have ever played in my life!evey frikin pass you throw is INTERCEPTED!the graphics are great but the rest of the game is worthless!I hated mine so bad I actually threw it away!so you ask ……..why didnt you sell it on ebay?why didnt you give it to a friend? well ….. everybody hates the game so much no one took it so I THREW IT AWAY!!!!!! i am so mad right now!no, I am not the kind og gamer that freaks out when he looses or whatever!this game is a disrace tho the video game consoles!
September 9th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
theghost & JOHN LANE,
YOU GUYS MUST WORK FOR MADDEN OR SOMETHING
SCCRRRRRREWWWWWWWWWWW MADDENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN, SSSCCCCCCCCCCREW YOU MADDEN SCREW EA SPORTS.
WE NEED 2K NFL!!! 2K IS THE BEST TO THIS DAY.
September 9th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
i hate madden, its soo bizare and weird, made by a bunch of weirdos that prob live in the U.K anyway f you madden we need 2k nfl back
September 16th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
I bought madden 09 last week, the first few times I played it I thought it was just me, but after a week I realize this game still sucks after all these years. I would gladly trade this game for a kick in the nutz.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Madden is ok. But 2K5 Blows Madden out of the water…i wish 2K games could come out with Football…wow…ea would be hurting
2K!!!!!!
September 21st, 2008 at 3:37 am
I have been a Madden fan for a long time. I like football SIM. The game should be challenging and stats should be close to real NFL play. This year’s Madden is a HUGE step backwards. Madden 08 was MUCH better in too many ways to mention. EA needs to get it together for next year.
October 17th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
WoW!…i thought i waz the only one who missed 2k!…Madden is good but 2k5 was Great!
December 19th, 2008 at 6:49 am
I have to agree with a lot of people above when they say that 2K5 is better than any Madden game ever created, for these reasons. Madden has gradually become tailored to those people who love fast-paced, high scoring, high octane football games. On offense, running game is almost nonexistant and quarterback play is greatly increased no matter what the rating of your QB is. On defense, its impossible to get key third-and-short stops, and the only plays you will make are in the secondary, when cornerbacks seem like LeBron James and jump 10 feet in the air to snag an INT and take it to the house. Big hits are all too common, again tailored to the plethora of idiots who only want shitload of offense and exciting defensive plays. Player ratings are insignificant; you can have a god-awful receiver and quarterback, and make the tandem look like Brady to Moss. EA Rewind is just a moronic addition. AI still isn’t completely sharpened, as sometimes players will just stall and not carry out their assignments. This is especially annoying in pass-protection and on defense, specifically in the short yardage runs and deep one-on-one coverages. Virtual trainer, you kidding me? Plus, Tom Hammond is the most boring commentator ever introduced to the series. I wish they would also add some specificity to the commentary. What I mean is, I don’t want them to say “This quarterback can throw ball good :)!” Instead, say, “That was a perfect pass thrown by Peyton Manning,” or something of the sort. The extent to which they attempt to do this is maybe when you make a big play with a star player, and Cris Collinsworth will mention his name. The creators of Madden need to sit down, watch a full slate of 16 NFL games, watch how the teams play, and translate that play accordingly to the game, so it’s accurate, realistic, and still fun. Until then, bring back 2K, at least they got it right.
December 27th, 2008 at 12:00 am
I have tried to play Madden 06-09 and I HATE how Madden plays, presentation, controls, etc etc. Its annoying to play and very frustrating when you play defense…no realism at all. I have been a fan since the 1st 2K NFL game and I am sorry….us 2K “fanboys” are fanboys for a reason, its far more superior. One of the only reason I kept and power on my PS2 is to play NFL 2K5 and the only real advantage Madden 09 has over 2K5 is updated rosters and some of the graphics. EA is garbage…I literally HATE them. They are wusses with no confidence and saw that Sega’s 2K’s series was owning Madden and used their $$$ to take out the competition. (Thats weak EA) I thought Madden 09 was going to be good and just after a day…I felt depressed I wasted $60 on CRAP!! 2K can make a better sports game hands down…at least I can enjoy NBA 2K9 which by the way make NBA Live 09 look and play like utter garbage!
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:55 pm
2K Sports is the savior. Madden MUST give up there dumb contract wit the NFL and allow 2K to make a good NFL football sporting game. (The contract is up in 2012).
January 7th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
this game suckks the tear have glitches no joke do not buuyyy