Madden NFL 09

I really attempted to enjoy this game, as I have played past years' versions with some enjoyment, but it has simply been too many years of releasing the same thing without fixing fundamental problems. Super-athlete DB's, WR's who are ignorant to the out of bounds markers while running routes, offensive linemen who routinely o'lay defensive linemen without taking a step, defensive linemen who get routinely flipped in the air despite being ranked in the 90's, etc.....

I think that it boils down to this: If you are fan of one of the top five teams in the NFL, then you will probably enjoy the game because your team will be stacked. If you are on of the rest - then be prepared for frustration. There is definitely something going on with the AI that calibrates the games to what EA thinks should be the outcome (even with mid-season roster updates).

My main gripe is that everyone has been complaining about the same issues, year after year, without EA really doing anything to improve the game. I have bought Madden for the past four years, but this year will be the last. And tomorrow I will be returning it to the store to salvage whatever value it has left.

I had high expectations with this being the 20-year anniversary and all, but this is just another bad rehash of the same old flawed game. Too bad there is no competition due to exclusive rights agreements.

Although not perfect, this is the best madden yet on next-gen systems. They definitely need to fix the challenge system for next year,but other than that it's totally playable for a change. The seller for this purchase was excellent. I received the game in 4 days in excellent condition just as they described it.

This is a game with breathtaking next-gen graphics and is fun to play, but there are some deeper problems I've found. The hit stick is far too effective, the quarterbacks(no matter how sorry their ratings may be) complete about 80-90 percent of all passes, and I can't put together ANY kind of a rushing attack. So, if you like playing football just for fun with your friends you'll probably find this one to be quite impressive. But if you're a hardcore football gamer you'll see some problems and unrealistic stuff going on in this game.

I owned this title on x box and went to x box 360. It takes a little longer for things to deveolope on 360, but the learning curve is a little steeper, not being used to the 360 commands.
Like other Madden titles though, once your play a while, it is probably the most enjoyable, addictive and versatile games there are.
Every mode possible, training, very deep Franchise mode...just a plain blast! Highly recommned this game.

I have bought the new Madden every year since 1997. Some years the updates are pretty drastic, and sometimes they are barely noticeable.

2009 stands out as a serious upgrade to the Madden franchise.

The graphics are OUTSTANDING, it looks like watching a game in high-def. The play seems more realistic. You have better control over the ball carrier.

There are several new features. When you score a touchdown, there is a highlighted area, if you go for the highlighted area it will go to a cut-scene animated celebration. You can even do a Lambeau Leap.
There are players designated as "play makers" and are shown with special icons under the player. Some are better run defenders, or pass defenders, or elusive runners, or spectacular receivers. It would be nice if there was more detail about HOW this affects game-play, and what each icon means but it is not well documented.
There is a "Rewind" option that allows you to "take-back" the last play and re-run it. So if you throw and interception to left and the CB runs it back for a TD you can "Rewind" the play (it actually runs in reverse) until just before the snap. You can then choose to throw with different timing or throw to a different receiver. By default each player gets 1 "rewind" per game, but this is configurable from 0 on up.
There is a new virtual trainer that will allow you to practice some of your game skills on both offence and defense. They will also test you on these games to rank you, presumably for online matchups.

Overall, I think it's the best Madden so far, well worth the upgrade.

I own the PS2 and the Xbox360 versions of Madden 2009. The XBox360 version is beautiful, yet unplayable. The game engine is sooo poor. Recievers regularly running out of bounds. Zero run blocking, not poor blocking, zero blocking. The blocking intelligence does not work in this game. Way too often an offensive lineman runs around people instead of blocking them. QB accuracy is a joke. Perfect accuracy too often and then can't hit the broad side of a barn when the game is on the line. Horrible. Beautiful graphics though. Excellent animation. If the game play of the PS2 version could be combined with the display of the Xbox360 version, we'd have the best Madden ever. I love playing the PS2 version. Not at all like the 360 version. Fun Fun Fun! With poor graphics... and sometimes slow frame rates. I played the 360 version for one month and went back to the PS2 version. If you are commenting in forums about this game, understand the PS2 version is a completely different game than the Xbox 360 version.

Like most people I found the game to repeatedly freeze up on me at random times. Sometimes I would go entire games without freezing, and sometimes it would take only a few minutes.

Other then the obvious functionality issues. The player movement seems somewhat worse then usual. It feels as though your player is floating around instead of actually running.

The best aspect of the game is definitely the rosters. It seems they finally got most of the rosters correct, most times the game is released to early and the rosters are quite a bit off then what the team actually is fielding.

Overall it just seems like they shipped an unfinished product. Freezing up is unacceptable and far too many people have had this same problem to just blame it on a select few discs.

It just seems that they shipped an unfinished product.

As a life long Madden fan, I was really disappointed with this game. As one person stated earlier, the deep passing game is next to impossible. It went from way too easy in previous Madden titles to rediculously hard. I've played a few dozen games and have still never completed a deep fly route. In contrast the run defense is way too easy. I don't think an opposing back has ever carried the ball beyond 3 yards on my defense.

Also, the player progression in the franchise mode is terrible. The only way to build up a player is to go through their training drills each week. That is beyond boring.

Madden 09 is decent gameplay. Some have had Freezing issues, but I guess I am one of the fortunates. I enjoy the franchise mode, but aspects are just repeated or could be tossed altogether. Good, but not stunning. Really 3.5 but was nice and rounded to 4.

this is a descent game, however its kind of flawed in many ways. for starts, the new virtual trainer determines what skill you should play on, however when u play on ur skill level its ridiculously hard, either that or the virtual trainer is ridculously easy. it set my standards to all madeen and i go to play the game and get crushed and sodomized but the computer. its not fun when you can only get 15 yrds rushing and throw 10 ints on "your skill level". as usual, madden cheats like hell. if u think the comp isnt going for an onside kick as soon as you pick your play you cant change it and they kick an onside and recover it 90% of the time. this game pisses me off so bad sometimes i just wanna smash it into a thousand peices. every pick u throw is a freakin pick 6!! i guess ull just have to see for urself! 2k series def needs to get back i nthe game!

Madden comes out with yet another great game. the "my skill" feature is great and this way it adapts to your playing style.

i like it i aint got no problem with it. it's really fun to play.

Nothing is as frustrating as having to start your franchise over in Madden. Last yr i played it on a 360. This year was on my ps3. It freezes every time i manually train anyone. And only every now and then during games, loading, saving, instant replays, basically anytime i do something. Get it on PS2, dosnt freeze as much at least for me.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!! It has not only a freezing issue on all platforms, but whatever is wrong with this game causes your system to overwork itself or something and it destroys it. I couldn't count how many people on the EA Madden thread (there was 56 pages of complaint posts) about the game freezing and about it destroying the hard drives of their 360. Until they get the bugs figured out with this don't bother!!

This is pretty much like the other Maddens except for slightly better graphics. Also, in this verion Tatum Bell is not suspended and Cedric Benson does not immediately run into his own offensive linemen and collapse. Aside from these mistakes the game is nice and accurate!

I gave it 4 stars because in the month of owning it, it has crashed about 3 times. I didn't think games crashed anymore...

I have been playing Madden for more than 15 years and have purchased a new copy almost every one of those years. The gameplay is always enjoyable and the visual appeal is consistently high - even this year. The problem, unfortunately, is much bigger than gameplay and graphics.

This game does not work. It freezes constantly in the middle of games, making it frustrating to play and impossible to make progress in a season or franchise (in my opinion, the most fun part of Madden). I'm not the only one that has had this problem and I know it's not just a case of returning a defective copy for a new one. The EA forums are filled with posts of rapidly angry Madden customers whose games do not work. Many of these people have returned their discs for new copies - 4 or 5 times!!! - and every copy they play has the same problem. It gets worse.

The game has actually killed many people's consoles! Killed. After trying to play the game and having it freeze multiple times, many people experienced freezing problems with other games that had never frozen before. Some people were unable to play games or DVDs in their console after trying to play Madden 09. Some had their hard drives stop working completely. Thankfully, I have not yet had this fatal problem. But I fear it could happen at any moment, and my console is no longer under warranty. But if you search for "Madden freeze" at the EA forums, you'll see how many people have had this happen.

A few of us have been able to minimize the freezing problem, by doing this: after every single game or training session, save your progress and restart your console! Every single time. Apparently (even EA admits this) the freezing seems to occur when you try to load the "game engine" multiple times within the same session. So if you try to train your players before a game (one load) and then play a game (another load) without saving and restarting the console - you can almost be sure your game will freeze. Maybe in the 1st quarter, maybe in the 4th quarter. Maybe your console will freak out and die! Who knows.

Because of all the complains on their message boards, EA is obviously aware of the problem. Supposedly they are working on a patch to fix this issue. The game was released on August 12 - almost a month ago - and since then their product has literally destroyed people's consoles. By their own admission, they have to balance their time spent working on this patch with time spent on next year's version of Madden. That's how much they care that their product is faulty and even potentially destructive. I have also heard complaints - via the EA forums - that many people experienced serious defects with last year's version of the game and EA had also promised a patch to fix the issues. Unfortunately, the patch was not released until almost the end of the NFL season - about 4 months after the game was released. So I'm not holding my breath while I wait for the patch they say is coming.

If I had known all this before I pre-ordered the product, I would never have purchased it. That's why I want everyone else to know what's in store for them. I highly recommend nobody else purchase this game until EA decides to release a functional product. It's criminal that they can release software they KNOW doesn't work (and actually build hype about how great it is for months) and then just move on to the next thing without any consideration for their customers' experiences or, for that matter, property damage. Unfortunately, EA is the only company licensed by the NFL to use the real teams and players, so they have zero competition in making true-to-life NFL video games. And this is what we get as a result: a terrible product and worse service.

I have Been Playing Madden online since 2004. The 2004 online madden was GREAT! but every year since it has just gotten worse and worse. The server is very very slow, the online game play is laggy. EA should be ashamed of them selfs, if I ever see an EA employee in the street I will no doubt spit in his face.

Great graphics but again EA being the Monopoly that they are finds a way to ruin things and their cockiness won't accept the fact they messed up.

My game freezes randomly. In franchise mode I know for sure if i play a second game it will freeze if the first game doesn't already. It has froze online and on the play selection menu sometime the instant replay will be all black and white (think like old tv static with no reception)

They patched the game the first week becuase there were so many bugs.

I called EA on Sunday and the Tech guy EVEN SAID "I have a 360 and it freezes on me too we have been receiving alot of calls about this...THE PATCH SHOULD BE OUT IN LIKE A MONTH"

Isn't this why EA has game testers? to find bugs to find glitches..Like I said before the cockiness is too point where we are the BETA we test the games but we don't get paid we pay to test the game.

I can understand bugs but a game that completely freezes or says unreadable disc (new game no scratches) is ridiculous.
The one thing you can always say with a EA game good graphics as far as gameplay, controls, and overall enjoyment????

EA Sports is abusing their monopoly on NFL football right now, and it is very disappointing showing compared to past years of this title. My biggest gripe is that the on line play is buggy, and it is far less entertaining than the last seven years I have purchased it.

I have mixed feelings about this game, I thought last years version played better. This years version's presentation was much better though. The play by play is light years ahead of the awful guy last year.

Gameplay wise I was a bit disappointed in the passing and return game. The players on kickoff return are way too slow, there is no way to get a touchdown return with Devin Hester the fastest player in the NFL. He is always and I mean always caught. He's just too slow, I think they were trying to make up for last year, where it was way too easy to get a kickoff return TD. Well they did it they made it impossible.

Likewise the passing game has become impossible to get a deep pass down the field, where in years past it was way too easy to get a bomb everytime. Now the defense can get an interception on any deep pass pattern way too easy, the frequent tipped pass interceptions are totally out of whack. Plus having no velocity on touch passes means it takes forever for the ball to get to any pattern where your trying to put the ball over the defenders head. Again totally out of whack. You only have a bullet pass that either gets intercepted, or hits reciever in the head or defender. Then the slow over the top touch pass that will get knocked down or intercepted. there is absolutly no way to get the ball down field to an open reciever, it just never gets there. I had my reciever 5 to 8 yards down field for an easy touchdown, your QB can't get it to him.

All this being said the game is still fun in the short passing and run game, and it looks beautiful. Still the game is broken, they failed this year. I'm still keeping mine in hopes of patch to fix some of this stuff but I won't hold my breath for EA. Disapponting. Of Course EA still wins the Superbowl, because ? You guessed it, it's the only game in town. I would say if you want this game, buy but don't pay full price. It's not worth it Half baked gameplay equals half price. I wish I had paid half.

Thanks to Madden IQ, I'm actually getting challenged by the AI. Games have been close and exciting for the most part. It's engine is definitely improved and the graphics are wow. The only thing missing is a "be quiet Collinsworth" switch. Backtrack is cool but his in game comments are repetitive beyond belief. If I hear about his special feelings for Tony Romo one more time...

Given the amount of hype that Madden generates every year, I would have expected a more polished/complete product. I've been playing for about a week and I have noticed a few glitches (some serious, some not):
1) My son restarted a game in franchise mode (a paused game, a controller on the floor, and a toddler are not a good combination) the game restarted with a player in the middle of an 8 week injury back in the roster (and seemingly healthy).
2) The time of possession calculator is often wrong on drive summaries (minor, but JV).
3) Chris Collinsworth says about 10 things. This wouldn't be a big deal if he was Lee Corso or John Madden, but after a while (much like real life) I find myself furious whenever he opens his mouth.
4) Playing as the Eagles, I was told at the start of concurrent games that I had a big rivalry with both the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last time I checked, that wasn't true (again, a minor flaw).
5) When did they freeze the rosters? I'm not complaining about Brett Farve not being on the Jets, but Shockey was traded from the Giants in mid July, and he's still on the their roster.
6) The same players get hurt every game at least once. I like simulated injuries, but come on.
7) After all this bashing, I have to say that I am glad they got rid of the Madden Cards thing (that may have vanished prior to last year's game, I don't remember).
There have been a few more minor items. All told, it's a fun game (I'm still playing), but EA has some work to do for next year.

you can google it, so i'm not the only one... my 360 freezes about every other game in franchise mode, very annoying and apparently EA is not doing anything about it. some people have had trouble with any other game they play after madden freezing, but i haven't played any others so can't vouch for that.
great graphics but game play is about the same as normal.

Plays like John Madden 2008, but a few buttons have been switch around on the controller. The biggest change is the run game, best ever! The players respond to you controller better, very smooth. You still can make moves like a stiff arm, juke etc, however no more LT rushing for 500 yds a game. Unless you have some serious skills! The AI changes with your rating, so the better you are, the harder the game becomes. The other huge plus is the graphics! Other then that, same game as John Madden 2008.

For the first time in over a decade of playing Madden I am completely disappointed. The actual game play itself is very enjoyable, and the graphics are terrific. However, the menus with their freezing and glitching suck the fun right out of the game. Simply trying to reorder the depth chart or sign a free agent in franchise mode leads to endless glitching and freezing. This is the first year that I have played the game on an X-box platform, and really could not be more disappointed. I am on my second copy of the game, hoping that I had simply purchased a faulty copy the first time, but the same errors occurred yet again. I do not understand how EA could release a game with so many faults, and cannot express my disappointment enough. If I am going to pay $60 for a game I would expect it to be at least playable! EA really dropped the ball on this one!

When the 360 first came out, the game I most anticipated was Madden, especially after seeing the Video preview on my original Xbox. I was blown away by the intro graphics. Luckily, I didn't buy into graphics alone because that year produced one of the worst Maddens since its debut. Pretty graphics don't equal gameplay. Seldom did I play Madden on the Original Xbox or the 360, I highly enjoyed Microsoft's NFL Fever and of course the infamous 2K series.

After EA consumed the NFL license like a three headed NFL Video Game Monopoly monster, NFL fanatics were left stunned and with no choice. We needed our fix and EA was the only one now producing our favorite drug.

With little hope or promise due to no competition, we just reluctantly waited for EA to do the right thing. Each year in great anticipation bringing great disappointment. Each year bringing it's own ugliness with 08 being a slight exception. Each game with all-inspiring Graphics that bogged down heavily on fluidness and gameplay because of intense choppiness.

This year EA finally dealt us cards that could bring in the big pot. Number one change being the overall fluidness of play which feels still a lot like Madden (Graphically and style) but with 2K-esque speed. Now we're talking. Graphics are barnone the best I've seen, which is usually the case with Madden but finally they paired in with decent gameplay.

Graphic Score: 5 out of 5. Fluid and numbing realistic animations from tackling to celebrations all hone on playing your favorite team and players down to style and mannerisms.

Gameplay Score: 4 out of 5. Finally Madden sees the light. With 2k-esque speed and Madden style control, we get the best of almost both worlds. Madden is the Microsoft Windows of Video Game football, that could either be taken as an insult or praise. Passing has always been one of Madden's strong suits and it is no different here. After all, Madden paved the way with button-assigned receivers and routes. Hold Y to possess a catch, tap Y to make a big play on the ball such as diving catch or a leaping catch. This is a great feature because you can secure the ball on a pass that's in your bread basket or make a tremendous play on a ball that is just out of your reach with one button. It's also great for making picks with your secondary. Routes are fantastically done and are no less remarkably fun to run or to pitch to. Madden also gives you a tremendous amount of on-fly options with no-huddles, audibles, sending receivers in motion and hot routes. The running game has always been somewhat weak. Especially for me considering I'm a Giants fan and that has always been 70% of our offense. However, because of the lack of balanced speed between the line and the runner, Madden makes the running game unrealistic. Let's take Jacobs for instance. He's fast, real fast, rated a 90 but I'm constantly getting caught by opposing defensive lines or backs who somehow close in on him out of nowhere. Which I guess would be fine but Jacobs is also notorious for his bull rush power and knocking guys over. Very seldom am I able to break tackles with him in Madden and think they should make some re-adjustments. If I'm one on one with a guy, there is no question Jacobs will win the battle but this is not the case in Madden. Furthermore, if I take a big hit with Jacobs, he goes flying like a rag doll (would never happen, the guy is the biggest RB in the league) and may lose the ball (also would almost never happen). But this is a bias opinion because you could easily say that a) I'm not good at controlling the runner, despite my rushing IQ being one of my highest attributes (All Pro). b) I just feel that my favorite player doesn't get the respect he deserves.

Sound Score: 3 out of 5. The commentary in 09 is by far the best since John Madden himself did commentary (with Pat Sumerall and Al Michaels) on Madden which to be honest I still miss, especially after a big hit "booom!" -- that never got old. Chris Collinsworth does a superb offering here as it feels more like a live televised event with his color commentary. I always liked him. The crowd noise seems flat not offering a whole lot of depth nor excitement.

AI Score: 4 out of 5. I really like Madden IQ despite some of its criticism here. I like the idea that the CPU AI dynamically changes based on your score and keeps things balanced not making Madden overly difficult nor too easy. Hey, if you don't like it- turned it off or set it to the predetermined difficulties. You have options so there is really no room to complain. If you do well in a certain area, your IQ in that area rises making slightly difficult for you in the next game and vice versa.

Overall: 4 out of 5
Fun factour: 5 out of 5.

Roster: What I especially don't like is that you have to be a Gold member to enjoy roster updates. For me, this means the Shockey is still on the giants and Boss is second string with no one behind him. It should Boss and Mathews. Also mind boggling, Strahan is still on my team. Didn't he retire. Furthermore, the Jets still have Pennington.

You can update the roster but you have to create a game on Xbox live to be able to do so. Furthermore, you have to be a gold member to play Xbox live.
Madden should just have made that option on the regular menu. I don't like that they went this route, I'm sure Microsoft had a hand in this.

I have been following the Madden franchise for years. Mostly since 1994 I have bought it almost every single year. As of late they have been having problems coming out with a great product. Madden 06-08 had been epic failures in terms of how they executed. This year is finally different.

There are around 85 new features and changes to Madden this year. Some of them good, some of them not so good. The new Rewind system will likely be ignored by hardcore gamers because it's cheap. Mostly you can get a mulligan for a bad play if you choose. Most people that played HATED that. Also the IQ system is not that great. You can get 30 yards rushing off of 20 attempts and still be bumped up to All-Pro. I don't think it really assesses you that well.

The graphics are truly stunning. I work at Wal-Mart and was running the game yesterday for people to try out and everyone stopped by to gawk at how amazing the graphics were. The view from outside the buildings are breathtaking. The players finally move like real people. Their bodies cock back when hit sticked. Necks fly backward and legs crumple. It's very realistic.

The gameplay itself is also a high point. You have total control over your players. Passing has become a lot easier in ways because your QB's skills are finally totally in control. The players actually play to their abilities. It shows when one of the Achievements is "Get 7 TD passes with Atlanta". Talk about difficult.

Commentary is much improved. Gone is the radio and in with the two man broadcast team. I still feel like Madden doesn't know whether it wants to be a down on the field type of game or a broadcast type of game. It takes more broadcast this time around but still keeps the down on the field feel.

Also a fun (and frustrating) part of Madden is Madden Moments. You get to relive a plethora of moments from the 2007 season. From the Bills loss to the Cowboys on Monday Night Football to Devon Hester burning the Broncos. Some of them make you recreate history. Some make you reverse it by stopping it. Either way there are plenty of them and they are NOT a walk in the park.

I have played Madden from Sunday to today on both PS3 and 360 and I must say 360 has the edge. Much better graphics and smoother I believe it's the clear winner this year. The button layouts also compliment the 360. Don't listen to the naysayers, this year Madden came to play.

Since EA has the rights to the NFL, the quality of Madden has declined over the last 3 years. Using a radio announcer on TV is the result of an annoying monopoly over American football videogaming. Now that Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond are announcing, it has a great presentation. They even have the Sprint half-time report!

Graphics - 5/5 for actually improving the graphics greatly. I feel like it is next-gen. Only 2 blue boxes show up in the endzone during a score (only glitch thus far).
Sound - 5/5 Collinsworth and Hammond have overturned Madden and the radio guys!
Gameplay - 5/5 the new football IQ helps to determine your skills on O and D in 4 categories (on rushing/passing each side). There is even a Matrix-like rewind for newer players to get a "football mulligan"
Fun - 5/5 you may want to get the Collectors' Edition since it comes with Head Coach 09 and Madden 93. I miss Madden 93 when they really were the innovators in football gaming. It just took them 15 years to actually make the game fun again!


I was really sad to see 2K5 go since the presentation was excellent that year for 2K Sports. Madden has been flat for years. The marketing of EA wants to make you think they improved something other than updating the current year rosters, but EA actually put out a quality NFL game this time.

To check out the features go here: http://www.easports.com/madden09/fullsite/features.jsp?itemID=nextgen

After carefully playing the game for the first time for about an hour, I could tell right away that Madden NFL 09 is very similar to Madden NFL 08. One minor thing I noticed is that it had slightly improved visually over last year's edition.

I believe one thing they have improved in substantially is the visual effects. The faces, in my opinion, have been enhanced to fit NFL counterparts better, as well as jersey and arm muscles have been modified to look more realistic. I also noticed a little improvement on the stadium and player shadow to add more clarity and visual. Moreover, I like how the field has more fuller precipitation, footprints in the snow, and better looking field grass than Madden NFL 08.

As a Madden NFL fan, I believe there are not much difference from Madden 09 to Madden 08. I still think Madden 09 needs to improve more on the animations and better camera presentation. But overall, I believe Madden NFL 09 is slightly better than Madden NFL 08, but the improvements on made on Madden NFL 09 is not at all significant.

In my opinion, Madden's gameplay and features have always seemed to stay the same. However, for the first time in the franchise it feels like a whole new different style of play. The game is much more realistic, and feels very authentic. ALso, there are over 85 new freatures ([..]). Overall, it is a must have.

I'm not going to pretend like i didn't like anything about this game thus far. I've played a few games already, and I was amazed by the graphics that i got off of a tube television and how smooth the graphics looked compared to the other games. The game also allows a customizable difficulty level to mold to your playing type, whether you are a great passer, great runner, great pass defender, or just love to stop the run. Overall, I'm giving this a 9.5/10, but obviously 5/5 stars. If you love the madden games, you'll love this. The reason for taking it down to 9.5 is due to the continued use of the highlighted plays, which allows for your opponent to view your play as you pick it. I still think that is the dumbest thing. Other than that, I love the game, very easy to pick it up, and the controls are very similar to that of the older versions. Also, new added tackling techniques, you can pick which type of tackle you choose.