Madden NFL 10

Madden NFL 10

EA’s latest brings improved performance for the big men wearing crash helmets and stockings, all thanks to Pro-Tak (not to be confused with prozac).

While the sport of American Football is far more involved and free-form than the stop-start succession of set plays would suggest, videogame grid-iron has a tendency to reward rigid strategies. In other words, find something that works and stick to it to the bitter end. If that doesn’t work, settle for a similarly predictable, though hopefully unstoppable, Plan B. Our experience with Madden NFL on console has so far been along such lines of rock-scissor-paper-stone, albeit with improved presentation each year and closer control of the Quarterback and receivers.

But now EA has coined a new animation technology that it calls Pro-Tak, which replaces the predictable with the procedural. Madden NFL 10 is all about the Pro-Tak; it transforms the whole experience as far as we’re concerned. More complex and realistic physics-driven animations of the players lead to much more thrilling in-the-moment events with each play. We encountered our first Pro-Tak revelation within minutes of our game between Cardinals vs. Steelers, where a receiver fumbled the ball that was almost intercepted but heroically recovered by a team-mate on his six. After this we knew we weren’t heading for the same old same old.

It’s amazing to think that before Madden NFL 10 we relied on one individual after another to bring down the runners. If the first tackle wasn’t good you’d be praying that you had at least slowed the runaway train to give another defensive player time to make a second attempt. But with Pro-Tak you can now have up to nine players in a gang tackle. Get down and stay down!

Pro-Tak really is a breakthrough for the Madden series and EA’s adopted "Fight for Every Yard" slogan says it all. We found ourselves identifying the movements of each player as opposed to thinking of realistic-looking character models with pre-determined roles. Just because your running back is under pressure doesn’t immediately equate to a lost cause any more. This is going to make competition much more meaningful on the same sofa or online.

Speaking of which, EA has invested a great deal in the online area for Madden this season. Players can now compete in co-op mode, encouraging more of us to brave pro-level engagements. You can also sign up, for a small fee, to EA’s Elite Madden league, with exclusive tournaments and news updates.

The new Madden is sure to be taken very seriously by fans already committed to the sport. And we dare say the new videogame freedoms could persuade the rest of us to give FIFA 10 a rest every once in a while!

4 out of 5