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Oct 23, 2009 Web Exclusive By Jim Scott

Please note: This review is based solely on the Wii configuration of Madden 10. I played the Xbox360 version, which was much better, and confirmed the fears/concerns/complaints of this review.

You can almost hear the graphics designers sighing as you begin Madden 10. They really seem to have put next to no effort into the look of the Wii version. The players look vaguely like bubbles, or the variations on hockey players seen in Nintendo's Ice Hockey: tall and skinny, fat, and regular. Without the thrill of awesome graphics, a lot of pressure falls on the game play.

And this is where Madden 10 falls completely flat. The people at EA seem to be advertising their love for the Wii, and one would have hoped that their games would play as expanded versions of Wii Sports. Madden 10 doesn't. The game makes little use of the advantages of the Wii controls; it seems EA clings too desperately to what has worked for them in the past. Rather than reinventing Madden, they try to import it as directly as possible. The passing system (and what is more important—or fun—in Madden?) needs to be totally overhauled, because it is awful. In its simplest incarnation, one points at a receiver and flicks a wrist, which obviously doesn't mimic throwing a football at all. In its most complicated, it's not much different.

Clearly, the game will lose some of its shucking and jiving in the import, but EA must do a better job of making it fun and challenging enough. Giving it some good looks of its own wouldn't hurt, either. (www.maddennfl.easports.com)

Author rating: 3/10