

Last year’s version of Madden was a big improvement, but still suffered from a large number of bugs. Well all that seems to have changed with this year’s version. Even the small improvements come across as significant.



For example, when you trained before a game in past versions, you would run the 40 yard dash for a speed improvement, or bench press for strength. It felt like doing the NFL Combine every single week, which is very unrealistic. Well now they have completely taken that out of the Franchise mode. The players are evaluated at the end of every seasons, just as they should be.

The Franchise mode can be controlled online via a PC, but this is through the “Online Franchise” mode. Essentially you can create a “Online Franchise”, and this makes you the commisioner. You can have up to 31 other players that control their respective teams. Or if you want, you can just have yourself and 31 other A.I. controlled teams and still have PC access to your franchise.

Pregame, Postgame, and Weekly shows have been implemented as well into Franchise mode. As well as a central hub that appears on the left side of the screen showing all necessary information to the gamer. Gameplay wise is a huge difference. Everything is smoother, and when controlling the ball carrier it feels like you can actually move the pile, because you essentially can. Now on the opposite side of the ball you feel like a force to be reckoned with. This is because your defense swarms to the ball and will have huge gang tackles to take down the ball carrier.

This is honestly the first time in about 3-4 years that I have been looking forward to Madden more than NCAA Football. That is not taking anything away from my experience with NCAA Football at E3, because it was phenomenal. But the new Madden felt that much better when I played it. There weren’t any of the hiccups that we all experienced in the past years’ versions.

Keep your eyes peeled for Madden 2010 when it hits stores in August. Below is a gameplay video from the E3 show floor.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTyxvSpVd8o&feature=channel_page[/youtube]