The NFL has a lot of similarities to rugby: There are two teams. They play with an oval ball. The one team has to get the ball into the goal area, while the other team tries to stop them by tackling the player with the ball…oh wait, in NFL you can tackle anybody. Uhm…both sports have crowds. OK, so rugby and American Football are nothing alike. They can’t even get their own game right, and thus play football with their hands! So for us South Africans to understand the game of football might seem like a lost cause. However, having played quite a few NFL games before, and watching my share of Superbowl and football movies, I have a good understanding of the rules. And I have come to a simple conclusion: Madden NFL 10 is the best football game ever. Now when do we get a rugby game of the same quality!?

Be a sport!

Sporting games have always been kind of hard to get just right. The sport in question already has a whole set of rules and if the game can emulate those rules then the game should be, in theory, a carbon copy of the real thing. But this level of accuracy normally makes the game less fun to play. Making the game more fun often makes it lose the realism that makes it accurate. Madden NFL 10 manages to strike a perfect balance between fun and realism. For the best part of this review I will assume you know what football is and how it’s played.

As is the norm these days with most sporting titles, you can jump into a quick game with the two teams from the cover, or you can dig into a career mode. In NFL it’s no different except your career mode is called Franchise mode, as you will be taking one of the team franchises all the way to the Superbowl. In the Franchise mode you have to manage your team, their training, their starting line-ups, their outfits and even salaries. As fun as this micromanagement can be, you soon set it to auto and just get down to the actual matches.

Also available is the “Be a Pro” mode, where you can pick a player or create your own, and play the entire season as this one player. This may be fun in a game like FIFA, where every member of the squad has a chance to at least touch the ball, but in Madden you are at the mercy of the coach. When you play the wide receiver you will be dashing like a fool only to receive the ball once or twice in a game. If you play this mode, make sure you are the Quarter Back to get maximum game time.

TV on your game on your TV

Starting a match reminds you of flashy ESPN productions. You have your commentary running you through the teams, pointing out players to watch. There are jets flying over the beautifully rendered stadiums. And you also have huge 3D logos of the teams crashing onto the field, all dramatic like. The crowd carries different flags and banners supporting their favorite teams, and after touchdowns you get a close-up of some hillbilly fans taking their shirts off and celebrating. After the coin toss its game time!

Playing the game can get very technical. On the offense you get to go through your playbook and pick a play that you feel will pay dividends. These are all grouped into different types of plays, like long passes, short passes, running etc. If it gets too confusing you can always ask the man himself. Madden can give you advice on which plays to call and often follows these with a good explanation of why this particular play will work. At the snap it’s up to you, the quarterback, to make on the fly decisions of who to pass the ball to: to hand it to the running back, or make a dash yourself. The amount of buttons might seem intimidating, but becomes second nature after a few short games. When a receiver catches the ball, you have a new set of commands on the right stick to choose how the player sidesteps. Pushing forward makes him grind his little legs and it’s possible that the stronger players can even break free from tackles. If you manage a touchdown, you get to kick for goal and the controls are just like a mini-game of Tiger Woods.

Best defense is an offense

I thought playing on the defensive would be less exciting. I was wrong. Preventing the opposition to reach 4th down and they have to punt it down field can be equally exciting. There are different ways to tackle the ball carriers, or block the runners. Just before the snap you can also call to your team who to look out for if you think you know their play. This will focus the defense on a particular player. It’s also important to balance your defensive play between watching the runners and the backs, making sure you cover all of them. When a ball is fumbled a manic amount of button pushing ensues as your players try to fight for the ball. Kind of like real football, I guess.

Each play carries realistic tackles and the TV replays let you cringe over and over again. If you feel your touchdown was spectacular enough, or if you want to show off your hard hitting tackle to the losing team, you can upload your replays to EA Sports’ website. The site is chock full of replays, some truly astounding, and some pretty lame. It’s a nice touch though, and allows you to brag a little with your mates. During halftime you get to see a match summary, and also catch up on the other games that are being played at the same time.

Injuries happen

Your players can get injured during each play, even though they are so heavily padded. Rugby players seem to do just fine without pads. In true television style a little report will state a few plays later what the extent of the injury is. If a player has a strained muscle, the coach can still bring him back onto the field though. The player will hold his sore muscle and even run with a limp. Nice touch!

If you feel that the teams and players are too limited you can create your own players and teams. Creating a player does not have a huge amount of options available when it comes to the player’s looks. Let’s be honest, they all wear helmets most of the time anyway. Where the customization gets complicated is with the players skills. A simply huge amount of options are present, yet there seems to be no cap on the amount of points you can assign the player. I created a super quarterback with enough muscle and speed and accuracy to beat any team all on his own. Customizing the teams can also be fun. Chop and change logos and colors and soon you will have a team that somehow resembles your favorite rugby team.

All games are getting more and more online focus, and Madden is not about to be left behind. As I mentioned you can upload your replays, or even entire matches, players, teams etc. It also has a live update of player’s injuries and team changes as and when they happen in real life.

Tough to be hard, hard to be tough

The difficulty of the game deserves its own article, but I can summarize it in one word: holy moly! You can set the difficulty for passing, rushing, passing defense and rushing defense, each with a variety of sliders. This creates a huge amount of leverage and makes the parts of the game you dislike easier to bear with. The game is quite hard though. Playing on Pro level will mean tighter games and a few losses. But with enough training you will soon be playing like a real pro. Playing on the All-Madden level is just crazy. Maybe it’s because of my rugby brain.

Finally there is the training. If you have never played an NFL game the training is critical. But even a seasoned campaigner will have to go through the more advanced training to get the most out of all the plays. Different little tactics will be explained, and you will have to get an average of 70% before you can move onto a more difficult training, or move onto the next type of training. Getting that 7 out of 10 turns into its own little mini-game and is not only informative, but quite a lot of fun.

Action Replay

In the beginning of this review I said I will assume that you know the basics of NFL. But even if you don’t, Madden NFL 10 lets you get into the game with a few easy tutorials. It will be easy to pick up but just like the real thing, it will take ages to master. I can really recommend this title to any sports fan who craves a good contact sport title. It manages to be a simulation with enough leniencies to be fun. But even so, the game has a few small faults. The biggest one is the limitless amount of points you can assign your player, making him an invincible monster. Secondly, it is not rugby.

The good: Very realistic, yet still fun.
The bad: It’s still not rugby.
The ugly: My skinny ultra QB running through the whole opposition team.

Purchase: