http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/100/1005603p1.html
uly 20, 2009 - If you're a diehard fan of the NFL and you're also a gamer, chances are you foam at the mouth when your calendar turns to August. Not only does that mean that the NFL season is almost underway, but it's also a signal that the latest Madden game is about to hit store shelves. For wives everywhere that means losing their beloved men to very long nights of playing only one feature: Franchise Mode. For Madden NFL 10, EA Sports made several key additions to their bread-and-butter gameplay mode that they're hoping will appease the throngs of fans who feel that it's been stuck in the mud for the last few seasons.
The first thing that you'll notice when you select "New Franchise" from the main menu is the newly designed franchise hub. It's clearly modeled after an ESPN/NFL Network studio and does a good job of delivering key information and making you feel like you're a part of some sort of Sunday football broadcast. You first see this menu when venturing through the new team selection screen for your franchise. Here you'll find a stylized presentation of key players, the attributes for each team, their record last season and their salary cap room for the upcoming year.
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Once you're done with that, it's time to kick things off with preseason football. I'd advise those of you who usually simulate right through the preseason (myself included) to hop into a game and take a look at the new broadcast-style presentation elements that have been added to Madden 10. Every game now begins with a little bit of a background story on where you're playing and the rivalry – if any – between the two teams. You get cool shots of fans filing in and buying items from concession stands. It's all much more immersive than the cheesy and detached exterior shots from Madden 09. This sort of treatment permeates other areas of a game, like when the clock hits zero on the first-half and you get to watch your players trot into the locker room, slapping hands with eager fans along the way. None of these bits of personality have been in Madden before and it's great to see them finally included.
The New Franchise Hub
The redesigned franchise mode also presents a new weekly wrap-up show called the Extra Point, hosted by NFL Network's Fran Charles. Here you'll find a nice wrap-up of who did what for the previous week as well as a look ahead to upcoming matchups. The commentary and "analysis" from Fran Charles and Alex Flanagan from NFL Network is admittedly light. I enjoyed the fact that you can scroll through a list of subjects on the right side of the screen and select which you want to see. If you only want stats and a quick recap from your game and check out who the offensive and defensive players of the week were, you can easily do that.
The franchise hub not only presents easy access to the Extra Point Show by pressing the Y button (or triangle on PS3) and your next game by pressing start, it houses all of the information you'll need to run your franchise. The first thing you'll notice is a news stream called Top Stories. It's constantly updating with what other teams are up to. If someone is injured in practice, re-signed or picked up off of free agency, Top Stories is where you'll see it. And no, it's not just a weekly wrap-up of news; you can actually see new stories pop up as you scroll through other listings.
Elsewhere you'll find team management to rearrange rosters, check out your injury report and other info. NFL Info lets you into the hall of fame world, view NFL records and look at current standings in the league. The coaching menu allows you to sub players, set audibles and change your coaching scheme. Finances lets you view your income, expenses, player salaries and contracts.
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Click above to watch the new halftime show.
The franchise hub changes a bit in the off-season as you'll be able to relocate your team, design a new stadium, make improvements to your current stadium and view an assortment of other information that we've seen in the past. Of course, all of that is leading up to the all-important NFL Draft. I haven't had the time to get all the way to the draft in my franchise just yet, but EA Sports is saying that they've crafted more than 8,000 rookies for use in the draft and that there's new AI logic governing moves made by you and the CPU. Hopefully that means that you won't be able to swindle teams out of all of their first-round picks this year.
Another new aspect to Franchise Mode is coach boosts. Depending on who you sign, they could bring special abilities to your team. For instance your defensive backs or defensive line could get an attribute boost if you sign the proper coach. Sadly while I was picking out my assistant coaches I wasn't able to see how much money I had available to spend. There was no salary requirement for each coach either. I had to click on a coach's name to see their asking price and how much I could spend.
One of the many cool on-the-field moments that happen pre-game.
There are also plenty of other little tweaks that have been made to Franchise Mode that diehards are sure to appreciate. The draft will now have disappointments and late-round flukes so the next Terrell Davis of the world could be somewhere in the 8,000+ unique rookie players in the game. Player progression has been tuned so younger players progress faster than those old blokes who are more set in their ways. Injury frequency has been ratcheted to match what happens in a real season. Here's hoping that doesn't get too debilitating over time.
