Madden NFL 10 (Wii) - Review by Chris

Introduction

Another year has gone by and so it's time again for EA's various sporting games to receive their yearly updates. The Madden NFL series of games has had a rough side, so to speak, on Nintendo's Wii console, with EA slowly and begrudgingly moving to accept the controller and the console for what it is. With this year's effort, EA hope to show that they've mastered and got to grips with the console as a whole and hope to have provided the most authentic take on the sport of American Football on the Wii. But is the end result one which will please fans of the sport or merely end up a fumble on their behalf?

Gameplay

The biggest fear for these yearly sport updates is that all you'll be getting is a roster update to move it in line with the current ones. Fortunately, or not as some of it is the case, EA have provided some new modes specific to the Wii version of the game to change up the gameplay. The biggest inclusion is the ability to choose whether or not you want to play through a match in the standard 11 against 11 format or the new 5 against 5 one. It's an interesting change that has clearly been included to appeal to those new to the sport and ease them into the game. As a result, it is useable in all 3 of the new modes on offer, which again does make it much more accessible than previous offerings. The only problem is that these new modes are hit and miss. Madden Showdown is primarily a multiplayer offering, allowing up to 4 players to take each other on in short and quickly played out games. These games feel more arcade-y than the rest of the game, allowing for game changing mechanics to be used to change up what you'll be playing. For example, turning on the Tug of War changer gives players one run with the ball, with the opposition taking over on the next play from where ever the ball stops. Other changers such as Fumblitis make it difficult to catch the ball at all if you go into contact and so it makes for a more strategic game, one that can be very entertaining.

The other news modes include Huddle-Up, where two players can play out a match with one controlling the on pitch action while the second player uses their controller to knock down opponent players with these knock downs either being tethered to a limit or made unlimited for each down but the fun diminishes when the hits are put to unlimited. The final new mode is the Road to the Superbowl, where again up to 4 players can take part in an entire season, or half or simply the playoffs should they not want to play the entire season, in the hope of winning the Superbowl. The ultimate goal is the same as that of the old Franchise mode but there are no management aspects or alternatives outside of the week by week play here, just the matches and so it shows itself as more of a poor man's season mode rather than anything that was particularly necessary for inclusion.

People may be wondering where the usual modes have gone, such as Franchise and Superstar modes. Well, they are included but you have to unlock them before you can actually play them which is downright wrong because compared to these modes, the new ones don't really match up for anything other than multiplayer, which seems to have been the big focus for this year's title. When you do get them unlocked, though, you'll have freedom to play through them whenever you want and with these being the more substantial single player offerings, these will be the modes that make people come back for more. Just don't expect any significant changes to them as there are none.

Controls

EA have long struggled to get a competent control scheme in place for the Madden games. Luckily, they seem to have nailed it, albeit with some unnecessary options, here. The series relies heavily on buttons, something the Wii-mote doesn't have, but the pointer capabilities of the controls have been put to use to alleviate some of this issue, with it now being as simple as pointing at the receiver you want to through to and pressing A. It's simple and accessible, making for a more enjoyable experience. The new pointer controls also mean that you no longer have to cycle through the players systematically when playing defence to get to the player you want, only to find you've gone passed them. There are some uses of waggle, which will be initiated when you are tackled and you shake the controller to get free of the tackle but it does really feel natural or work well. Kicks are now undertaken with a swing of the Wii-mote but it's so unresponsive that you'll a forceful swing to get a good kick only for the game to not recognise it and instead, recognise the back swing. While they may have improved the controls, there's still plenty of work to do to make them fully workable.

Graphics

EA's biggest change for this year's iteration of the Madden series comes from a change in the visual style. Gone are EA's lacklustre attempts to make a realistic looking experience on the console and in its stead comes a more exaggerated visual look, found in some of EA's other sports titles this year. The new visual style gives everything a cartoon-y look that is, on the face of it, appealing but beneath the surface, it's a strange and altogether baffling move. While the Wii may not be able to produce the higher quality graphics seen on the other consoles, this new visual style fits what EA have been trying to do with their sports games on the console since its launch yet it does detract from the overall strength of the series, with Madden being known for providing the most realistic American Football experience on all consoles. That said, everything looks good and runs smoothly with issues from prior games have been ironed out but new ones have arisen specifically the interface when in the huddle, which is crammed to the right hand side of the screen and not nearly as accessible as it was in previous games, which does beg the question as to why they'd change it.

Sound

As with previous years, EA has provided a decent set of tracks to listen to in the menus, with this unfortunately being the only place you can hear them. Tracks from the likes of Alice in Chains, Black Sabbath and Kid Rock make up the mix, with the game generally providing something for everyone but you'll rarely spend much time in the menus to be able to listen to it and the game doesn't play the tracks between plays, as in earlier titles, which is a shame. Commentary isn't provided by John Madden for the Wii version which seems like a cop-out as he only makes an appearance when suggesting plays. The commentary team here does a decent enough job but it doesn't seem as natural as it could be.

Special features

As with their other sports titles, EA have shown again that they are serious about pushing online gaming in their Wii games. As such, Madden NFL 10 comes complete with a full online mode, using EA's Nation setup. It may not be as prolific as the other consoles in terms of options, but you can play against players from all over the world as well as being able to upload your custom rosters and franchise files to your own specific space on EA's servers for your friends to download as they wish. The only real problem with the online experience is the lack of users to play against, as trying to get matches prior to this write up proved to be difficult. But when you do, it's an enjoyable experience with minimal communication issues.

Final comments

The Madden franchise has come a long way on the Wii and while it is said every year, this year's offering is by far the best on the console. Yes, the game seems to be more focused on local multiplayer than providing something for single players but all the necessary modes are included. It's just that because there are so many modes, the game is trying to do too many things and never does any of them as good as it should do. EA really need to reel in what it is they want to do with the series on the Wii so as to make it as complete and authentic as the versions on the other consoles. The new visual style will undoubtedly divide those who are fans of the franchise but it shows EA are at least thinking of how best to use what is available from the console it just needs the substance now to be as good as it can be.

Pro: Plenty of modes on offer, multiplayer is well catered for, new visual style is well presented
Con: The new modes bring nothing to the overall experience, commentary isn't as good as it should be, controls still need some work
Final score: 8.4

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