The yearly installments of EA Sports' games are going to be making their rounds in the next couple of months. Year in and year out, EA makes adjustments and improvements to these key franchises in order to warrant yearly purchases from its fan base.
One of these storied franchises is the long heralded Madden franchise. After several less than stellar next-gen outings, EA seemed to take notice of the not-so-great comments from fans and message boards all across the net and decided to revert to what made their series great to begin with.
So why should we all be excited with this effort being put forth by the folks at EA Sports? Here are five reasons we should all shell out $60 this August.
5. New Passing CameraThis seems to be one of the newer items that has garnered less publicity than several other new additions. Gone seem to be the days of evading sacks and scrambling right, only to see half of the available receivers because the screen is cut off. This new camera zooms out with the QB, and looks really smooth as it captures every available receiver in a sort of dynamic way.
The improvement of the camera shows that EA is really listening to its fan base, as this has been a complaint now for a couple of years.
4. "New" Breakaway Tackle SystemNow, I say "New" because this was sort of initiated last season with Tiburon's branching technology that they implemented for the breaking of tackles. So why is this number four on my list? Well, because whether it ends up being successful or not is a huge deal. With the new Euphoria engine people are expecting EA to use a new physics engine in Madden; but if this system they are implementing now shows improvement then maybe Euphoria will not be deemed a necessity.
Through several previews and videos, the system does look to be making progress and hopefully it will surprise the lot of us.
3. Fixes To Exploits and BugsMadden '08 brought the weapon system and with it came some problems. The biggest problem was that of spectacular catches; the most elite receives were almost impossible to stop. This was especially prevalent online, when facing teams such as the Lions, Patriots, Bengals, and Cowboys. The receivers would make the same high leaping catch no matter what situation, and it would take double teams and hit sticks to hopefully stop it.
The producers have insisted that they toned down these animations and there will be no more spectacular catch exploits. Another key fix includes franchise mode simulations being more realistic, with the producers promising no more 2,000-yard rushers for example.
2. Online LeaguesYeah, it’s not online franchises, but this is a great start. No more using League Daddy to sort through statistics, and hopefully fewer communication issues. Now we have 32-team NFL leagues to fill our needs. There's still some things lacking, but it's a start.
1. Improved Presentation Including New Play-by-Play TeamIf any of you know me, then you know by now how much I have been waiting for a new play-by-play team. The radio announcer is gone and Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond enter. These two may not have been the most popular choices, but it is something to work with and with me being a fan of Collinsworth I welcome him with open arms.
New announcers are not the only improvement to the presentation, as the folks at Tiburon have implemented a new play call screen as well. The new screen now has stat overlays that show current stats throughout the game in progress. Even John Madden himself makes an appearance at various points in the game.
So there you have it, Madden 09. There are plenty of other features that I did not mention but that does not mean they aren’t worth your time. Of course, if you have any inquiries about Madden 09, take a look around Operation Sports for the latest details.
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