Madden NFL 09 All-Play will be one of the biggest titles this year, even amidst continued Wii shortages.
Year in and year out, Madden NFL is consistently the best selling video game across multiple consoles. The annual releases each August push millions of copies to football starved fans enduring a summer season when the game industry releases few big titles.
Brett Favre, a sure bet for the Football Hall of Fame and legendary quarterback for the Green Bay Packers was selected to be the athlete featured for the cover of the latest entry, Madden 2009. Of course we're all well aware by now how the tribute to the temporarily retired player panned out, but how is the game itself?
This year's Madden has very special significance to football fans in Wisconsin, of course, and there are sure to be a fair number of people picking it up for the first time because of the Favre cover.
Indeed, the game's publisher EA Sports prepared for this with its creation of Madden NFL All-Play for the Nintendo Wii, a new series that aims to be more inclusive and allow first time players to join in on the fun by offering simplified controls and options.
Now for my dirty secret: Though I've saved Earth from international, paranormal, and extraterrestrial threats thousands of times over, I've never played Madden NFL. As the only licensed pro football title on the market, the game is as complex as the sport it simulates, making it daunting to anyone not already familiar with its nuances.
However, one warm August morning, I donned the green and gold and made my way to a game store with the aim of hitting the (virtual) frozen tundra of Lambeau Field by that afternoon.
After buying the Wii version and heading home, I slid the disc into Nintendo's small white box and was greeted by this friendly, and re-assuring message:
All-right Brett! Let's roll!
After a brief profile set-up, I started a quick game. I selected a team and an opponent, and was given the option of turning "All Play" mode on or off. How deceptive! As it happens, the more complex Madden NFL is still buried here as an option. I'll have to try that later. So, I began an unlikely exhibition game as the Packers against the New York Jets.
Determined to put the new controls to the test, I didn't look at the instruction book before starting. As it happens, before the coin toss there is a quick run down of the basic gestures you'll have to do.
Nintendo's innovative controls made Wii Sports a hit, and it's clear EA wanted to duplicate that success. At the snap, you'll point the Wii remote up to hold the ball up, ready to throw, followed by a swing forward (like you're throwing the ball) to send it sailing out to a receiver, who will have a big friendly green or red light above their head to let you know who is or isn't open, respectively. This makes completing a pass, quite frankly, brainless and easy.
Once you've got the ball, you'll use the analog stick on the Wii nunchuck to run it down the field, and fend of attackers by shaking your Wii remote. After scoring, an on-screen prompt will command you to wave your arms to initiate an endzone victory dance. After a few hand motions not fit for description in a family publication, the Packers won this match 49-7.
The depth of Madden NFL is still there. A new "call your shots" option lets you position your team on the fly, just by pointing the remote at the screen and drawing a path. You'll still have access to a massive playbook too. Unless I wanted to run a certain play (or simply do something screwy like faking a punt for my own amusement), I defaulted to the Madden pick.
Here, a friendly animated "Mii" version of John Madden offers his advice, as well as some words of wisdom. Additionally, random Mii characters will play the role of referee in your games. How amusing this feature is depends greatly on how creative you've been building Mii avatars. After my brother called a game I also got John Locke, Robocop, and internet phenom Tay Zonday.
For those frustrated by this simplified control scheme, they've taken it to an even casual level: 5 on 5.
This mode is based on more neighborhood football rules, with only five players from each team on the field, each with big Mii heads. The playbook is simplified to four basic options, and passing and running are all performed with just the Wii remote. This gam etype supports up to four players, and could easily be the NFL variation of Wii Sports that EA Sports wants to appeal to. It's very easy to pick up and play, and may get people who don't normally play Madden or even follow football take a shot. Could Madden be the next craze in retirement communities?
Beyond these pick-up-and-play modes, your options get either very complex or very simple. Superstar mode returns from previous versions of Madden, allowing you to create a rookie player, get signed, drafted, and trained, eventually playing your way to the top. Franchise mode allows you to manage a team, either an existing NFL franchise or one of your own design.
Both of these modes will seem quite interesting to newcomers, but they're holdovers from the Playstation 2 version of the game, and the lack of definitive Wii controls in menus makes this very obvious. There's also some "Party Mini-Games" but they're nothing that will force friends to put down their little plastic guitars and take notice.
The Nintendo Wii's WiFi capabilities are utilized on Madden All-Play, allowing persistent ranked matches and casual exhibition games. Signing on is a snap, and strangely a lot smoother and easier than any in-house Nintendo title I've previously played. When you reach the online lobby screen, it'll display your win/loss stats, as well as the number of people currently playing at the time. I had no trouble finding a match before promptly getting torn to shreds. I guess even if the game is designed to be friendly to newcomers, online challengers aren't as forgiving.
As for cover-boy Favre, a title update is already available putting #4 in a Jets uniform, though with in-game options you can transfer him to free agent status and then trade him to any team you like, thus correcting history's mistake. For those inclined to embrace the change, you can print out a new game cover for free from EA Sports. If you're holding on to fears that the Madden Curse -- a widely accepted belief that the game's cover athletes will be injured or run into bad luck the year they're featured -- will take Favre, you may want to take a look at the facts.
Madden NFL 09 All-Play will be one of the biggest titles this year, even amidst continued Wii shortages. A quick look at Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 variations of the game reveal a much more graphically rich experience, so if you want a better looking game those consoles might be the way to go.
Seasoned Madden veterans may be turned off by the simple play options, but younger and less experienced players will be able to jump in very easily and can graduate to the more advanced variations in future years. In that regard, the game does exactly what it set out to do: rescue a bloated and complex franchise and give it new life. Madden NFL 09 All-Play is rated "E" for everyone, and I can honestly say everyone can play.
