Madden NFL 10 - 8/10
Madden NFL 10 is the closest thing to "real" TV sports you can find on a console, complete with sponsorship stings for the likes of Snickers and Sprint so beloved of US networks. This one is the best of the bunch so far, with so much happening in cutaways (from brawling refs to coaches yelling from the sidelines) that it's easy to temporarily lose focus on the plays themselves, which would be a crying shame given how very impressive they are.
Graphically, Madden 10 is something to behold; fast, fluidly animated and almost broadcast quality on PS3. Technically, there's plenty to get to grips with, including the new Pro-Tackling system, designed to show off massive pile-ups and gang tackles while allowing your quarterback to shimmy round tackles or pass the ball right up to the moment of sacking. There's even a mini-game for when two players simultaneously dive for control of the same ball.
All this combined with improved offensive AI (although there's still a few quibbles in defence), excellent online modes and an improved Franchise Mode that positively blitzes you with content; from team news, injuries and star signings to dealing with the media, setting salary caps and designing whole new stadia. Not every change yields a clear improvement, however. You can't schedule practice sessions before a game in Franchise mode and what you can arrange involves the same plays repeated over and over with no corresponding improvement in stats. Arguably, this may also be truer to real life but it's hardly satisfying if you're stuck with anything less than star players.
The new two-joystick control for ducking out of tackles is also unlikely to please existing fans when it's still easier to use left joystick and right trigger to pass while retaining control of the ball. And like the recent Tiger Woods game, audio commentary is still repetitive and disappointingly random – fast becoming a trademark of recent EA sports sims. So no, Madden 10 isn't perfect, but there's so much in there that is genuinely jaw-dropping you have to give credit where it's due. Crisp, photo-realistic animation, better balanced player stats and PSP support for planning plays offline make Madden 10 possibly the best reason yet to take time out to master the intricacies but considerable rewards of NFL.
