Typically every year Madden comes out with a new feature or two that is focused on and what makes it different from last year’s Madden. But with this Madden, it seems like EA (Electronic Arts) went back to the roots of Madden. They did add a few features. Online franchise which fans have been begging for for years has finally come. Also the new Pro-Tak system allows multiple people in a tackle instead of just two which predecessors have only allowed.

However a lot of stuff from last previous Madden?s in back. Such as the Madden Test, which changes your difficulty level on how well you do in the test or how well you do in the game. Also the main menu is changed to be more organized and easier to panel through.

The franchise modes (on and offline) have not changed at all, and since most Madden players spend most of their time setting their team to be the best possible it can be. But during the game and after weeks, there is a new show called The Extra Point. This show is hosted by NFL Network’s Fran Charles and Alex Flanagan. The halftime show is somewhat not well done. The commentary is poor but has potential, and to me guessing, will be better next year. It is something that is good and lets you know what is going on around the NFL, but as I said, very poorly.

The weekly show is a little better. It states the Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week. But it seems like your player never gets any of these awards (if you are playing 5-minute quarters). The players who get it are typically guys who should get it but they get like 3 rushing touchdowns or 5 passing touchdowns or something of this matter. The reason why they get this is due to the fact that the simulated games are set at full games which are 12 minute quarters. Now you can go and play 12 minute quarters but that is your choice.

The online franchise is great but it has some problems. Free Agents have NO salary restrictions. But players in the franchise can negotiate this and not allow it but it should be something that is not an issue. Also CPU trades can happen as well but the commissioner can turn this off which it is you can trade with the CPU and the CPU will always give you that desired player. This can give you a SUPER-ELITE team.

The Pro-Tak system works extremely well. The running game finally feels right and the best running game I have seen in a Madden game yet. The power running backs finally have that POWER. It?s cool with running with Marion Barber and have around 5 guys on you and you just jolt out of all of their grasps. Or running with Adrian Peterson and just being an elusive back that he is and just breaking all of the tackles. From previous Madden?s, it seemed like the ball carrier always pushed forward, but this year, you can pull the running back ?back.? This feature just makes it feel like you are working for those extra yards.

On default settings, you can?t just keep passing it to the same receiver or just giving off the ball to the same running back because they become tired and just can?t handle it. So they are then subbed in and out due to stamina issues. But this just makes it a more realistic experience. Also injuries in Madden are way to frequent. A player can get hurt and be a minor injury and you then have the option to bench him for awhile or game, or you can tell him to come back and play which can just cause a worse sever injury such as a career ending (which I had playing with the Dallas Cowboys and having Marion Barber breaking his vertebrae).

Now Madden 10?s graphics look superb compared to last year’s game with players having great visuals with actual hand towels to hand warmers. This is the most authentic NFL game to date. We know have referees in the game but sometimes they appear to frequent, such as close calls (well most of the time not) on whether you got a first down or not or crossed the goal line for a touchdown. This is a cool feature but WAY to frequent. The animations of the game are spectacular with it looking more realistic than ever with players getting grabbed by their shoulder and getting spun around or a small cornerback trying to tackle a big running back and just pushing him out of bounce or getting run over.

The commentary could have been good but Chris Collinsworth isn’t the problem. It is Tom Hammond. He lacks the great punch that a football game needs. And also they didn’t add much commentary of which they had from last year’s Madden.

EA seems like they made a good game with a new engine for this year’s Madden. They need to do a little tweaking for the next one. But hopefully they can do a lot more next year due to them having a deadline and a lot of that time was in making the engine. The running game and passing game for that matter are better than last year’s even though you might throw more interceptions than you want to or ought to. The Pro-Tak system is good, and I don’t know about you but I have been wanting a game where more a lot of people can tackle a person especially with the dog piles fighting for the ball button mashing as fast as you can. But all in all, Madden 10 is still the best Madden experience to date with a more realistic gameplay than ever.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.