Without Favre, Green Bay has no chance.
How do you distill the most complicated, true-to-life videogame sports series into an iPhone game? Instead of clearly aiming for either the casual football gamer or simulation nut, Madden NFL 10 tries to reach both players. It's fun overall, but each side of that audience will find faults.
Football fans still get a lot in the iPhone game. All of the teams, stadiums, and players are represented, with EA promising paid, downloadable updates to rosters as the real season continues. You can dive into a single game, or play through a full season of this year's schedule; including trades to craft an only-in-the-game super team. Dozens of plays are available, letting you call the right moves on offense and defense.
You can't audible, but you can re-draw pass routes just before the snap.
Casual players will appreciate smaller touches. Instead of calling offensive audible, you can re-route receivers by drawing a new path with your finger. You'll tap an open player to throw passes. While the game clock counts down with NFL rules, there's no play clock or penalties, letting you pick up and put down an in-progress game at anytime.
But all players will be let down by the controls, pushing an on-screen joystick and tapping superimposed buttons. Ball carriers feel sloppy, unable to nimbly change direction. There's no tutorial mode to teach with passing, kicking, and tackling drills either.
That mess of buttons changes in context, but you'll mostly scramble for the stopwatch icon.
Plays unfold too quickly to feel like you're in command; you'll constantly poke for the stopwatch button to slow down time and execute fake-out movements, interception attempts, and other precise actions. The time manipulation only barely works; we wanted the whole game to feel more responsive versus slowing it down when needed.
Ads!? Are you kidding? You'll have to look up that phone number yourself. At least you can't dial from the app.
The graphics and animation look good at first, but grow disappointing. You can clearly see what's happening, but the ball rarely looks like it's caught or handled; it teleports from flight into possession. Players rarely tackle, and instead just run into each other and fall down.
Casual and fanatic gamers will enjoy aspects of Madden, but sloppy controls keep it from fully winning either group.
Good player animation away from the ball. Re-route receivers
by drawing a new path. Authentic players, teams, and stadiums. Tapping
receivers works well to pass.
Most controls feel sloppy. No in-game tutorial or training
camp modes. Clunky opponent AI mismanages the game clock and makes other basic
mistakes. Madden-and-friends spoken play commentary repeats almost immediately.
DirecTV text ads appear at the beginning, halftime, and end of games.
