by Shopmaster

It's early, real early, really, really early to give a first impression on Madden NFL 09, but to not share with you guys my thoughts would be cheating you and laughing at you at the same time. I’ve only played three games at this point, been here for about 5 hours, and only played two people but already I’ve found hidden gems, reworkings of key parts, and a new love for a game I’ve loved for 20 years.

Ok, I got shut out my first two games, but I think I was just in awe of what I was seeing on the field. The game looks incredible. Now when I say incredible; please keep these two things in mind, 1 this game is still 3 months from ship so there is room for improvement and 2 it really looks a lot better than 08 already.

There are some hidden gems that probably won’t make the news but when you get a big user hit, the controller shakes as well as the screen and it’s done very nicely. There are fg nets but no chain gangs. Another nugget is the player bluff. You can show your opponent 3 plays, 2 fake ones and then a real one. I really like this when playing head to head as well as the new play calling method where you can hold down the LT (360) or L2 (PS3) and then press a button. I think this will definitely ease the mind of those who hate the playcalling now.

There are some great things that have been reworked for Madden 09. One, is the skill level. You can now play with different skill levels offline. Now this does not carry to online but I thought it was a nice touch. Like if your skill is really low instead of you having all these buttons, you will have like a Techmo Bowl interface with like 4 plays on offense. I think it’s cool because now my son can play me and I don’t have to explain everything to him.

Graphically the game is way beyond 08. Grass, presentation, turf, player models, everything looks good. The one thing you’ll notice is the crispness of the play art. Now the play art is above the ground with a drop shadow and glows which is really cool. Another thing is that the little circle that is usually on the field where the ball is going is red now. And the last gem that I found is that play maker is baaaaacckkkkk! So remember when Vick would roll out and then play maker his WR to go deep or across the field, get ready for that. I personally hope it’s toned down but I haven’t had enough time to work on it.

Other notes:

For all your tournament players, the strafe catching is back, but I must warn you that the DBs are much more aggressive and can jump just as high as any spectacular jump. I haven’t tested it all the way, but I did see Trufant (SEA) jump just as high as Randy Moss, so that right there is tuff.

You can formation audible Audible + Right Analog: down for run, left for playaction, up for deep pass, and right for short pass.

No more running through players between plays. They just push the other guy out the way.

I’ll have more but these are my first impressions.
Later

- Shopmaster