Unfathomable Devolution: Madden NFL '09 (Wii) Review
Posted on
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
by Gary A. Ballard
It's that time of the year again, that time when the air starts getting colder and football fans everywhere are inevitably disappointed by another year's rehashing of the familiar Madden NFL video game formula. And to celebrate the annual disappointment, it's time for me to review this year's version of that storied, beaten-to-a-pulp franchise for the Wii. Yes, most versions of the game could be reviewed with a simple, one-line hyperlink to archived reviews of a previous year's entry. However, it is an annual tradition, and I feel compelled to offer at least something new on each version that I play, so without further ado, I present my review of Madden NFL '09 for the Nintendo Wii.
This game plays like last year's version, only without some of the bugs that plagued '08.
Wow, that was easy.
With the snarky, obvious joke out of the way, let me delve a bit further into why this game is not worth purchasing. Other than the obvious and completely predictable retreading of the well-worn game engine, there is one great reason not to buy '09. The game has devolved. Yes, they did seem to fix some of the bugs I complained about last season. They did seem to make it a bit easier to tackle and pull off some of the special moves. They even added a great new feature: "Call Your Shot," which allows the player to pause the game at the line of scrimmage, select a receiver and create a route on the fly, allowing a much more flexible form of audibles than in the past (though the audible system is otherwise intact).
But the game has taken a serious turn for the worse in the graphics department. It has literally devolved from a slightly-stylized version of realism into a color-saturated world of brain-stabbing eye pain. 2007's version was what one would expect: an X-Box level graphic treatment of football, complete with shadowing and good texture work. No, the Wii versions will never approach the hi-def level of the 360 and PS3 versions, nor should one expect them to. But this year's version has taken all the depth and "realism" from the textures and instead substituted great swaths of overly bright color. Grass fields look like astroturf carpets, barely indistinguishable from domed stadiums. While this in itself would only be disappointing, their choice of color palettes for screen interface elements exacerbates the problem. Each receiver on pass plays has an icon dictating which button to push to throw to that receiver. However, the icons are not only bright, they are surrounding in neon-colored halos, ostensibly to denote which receiver is actually open. However, the colors chosen are so bright and the field behind them so bright and devoid of texture that the icons just blend into one big mess of indecipherable retina rape. The game looks like a tie-dyed Fisher-Price toy. It's excruciating. Fortunately, I can safely say that comparisons to '07's graphics prove that it isn't because the hardware can't handle decent graphics, it's because of a conscious decision on the part of the art directors at EA Sports.
This art direction has been evident in last year's FIFA product, and it has to stop. While it's perfectly acceptable to use this style in the Mii-inspired mini-games like the 5-on-5 game added to NFL '09, it is absolutely unacceptable in the regular game. Not only does it make the game ugly, it makes the game unnecessarily difficult to play. It makes the player fight the interface, which the Wii-mote is supposed to alleviate. I've seen EA Sports teams do better - the PS2 version of FIFA 08 is a perfect example. I don't know if the art style is meant to be "casual-friendly" (it's not) or just to follow what they consider a Wii-themed branding, but it has to stop. As I said in the FIFA 08 review, these games have built-in audiences that expect certain things. Adding mini-games to attract a wider audience is fine. Fucking up a game's interface in some retarded attempt to attract a wider audience that alienates previous fans of the series is destined for failure.
As a result of their design choices, I was unable to finish two full games. Had I spent full price on the game, I'd have been extremely pissed. The game has devolved from a reasonably decent version of videogame football into a cockup that isn't worth a rental. I did not get to the Online or 5-on-5 modes or any of the other new modes in the game, because the basic gameplay was just so offputting. If you can manage the retinal assault of their awful art design, the game is probably just as good as last year's version with fewer bugs. But if bright colors cause you physical pain, avoid Madden NFL '09. Your eyes will thank you.
This game plays like last year's version, only without some of the bugs that plagued '08.
Wow, that was easy.
With the snarky, obvious joke out of the way, let me delve a bit further into why this game is not worth purchasing. Other than the obvious and completely predictable retreading of the well-worn game engine, there is one great reason not to buy '09. The game has devolved. Yes, they did seem to fix some of the bugs I complained about last season. They did seem to make it a bit easier to tackle and pull off some of the special moves. They even added a great new feature: "Call Your Shot," which allows the player to pause the game at the line of scrimmage, select a receiver and create a route on the fly, allowing a much more flexible form of audibles than in the past (though the audible system is otherwise intact).
But the game has taken a serious turn for the worse in the graphics department. It has literally devolved from a slightly-stylized version of realism into a color-saturated world of brain-stabbing eye pain. 2007's version was what one would expect: an X-Box level graphic treatment of football, complete with shadowing and good texture work. No, the Wii versions will never approach the hi-def level of the 360 and PS3 versions, nor should one expect them to. But this year's version has taken all the depth and "realism" from the textures and instead substituted great swaths of overly bright color. Grass fields look like astroturf carpets, barely indistinguishable from domed stadiums. While this in itself would only be disappointing, their choice of color palettes for screen interface elements exacerbates the problem. Each receiver on pass plays has an icon dictating which button to push to throw to that receiver. However, the icons are not only bright, they are surrounding in neon-colored halos, ostensibly to denote which receiver is actually open. However, the colors chosen are so bright and the field behind them so bright and devoid of texture that the icons just blend into one big mess of indecipherable retina rape. The game looks like a tie-dyed Fisher-Price toy. It's excruciating. Fortunately, I can safely say that comparisons to '07's graphics prove that it isn't because the hardware can't handle decent graphics, it's because of a conscious decision on the part of the art directors at EA Sports.
This art direction has been evident in last year's FIFA product, and it has to stop. While it's perfectly acceptable to use this style in the Mii-inspired mini-games like the 5-on-5 game added to NFL '09, it is absolutely unacceptable in the regular game. Not only does it make the game ugly, it makes the game unnecessarily difficult to play. It makes the player fight the interface, which the Wii-mote is supposed to alleviate. I've seen EA Sports teams do better - the PS2 version of FIFA 08 is a perfect example. I don't know if the art style is meant to be "casual-friendly" (it's not) or just to follow what they consider a Wii-themed branding, but it has to stop. As I said in the FIFA 08 review, these games have built-in audiences that expect certain things. Adding mini-games to attract a wider audience is fine. Fucking up a game's interface in some retarded attempt to attract a wider audience that alienates previous fans of the series is destined for failure.
As a result of their design choices, I was unable to finish two full games. Had I spent full price on the game, I'd have been extremely pissed. The game has devolved from a reasonably decent version of videogame football into a cockup that isn't worth a rental. I did not get to the Online or 5-on-5 modes or any of the other new modes in the game, because the basic gameplay was just so offputting. If you can manage the retinal assault of their awful art design, the game is probably just as good as last year's version with fewer bugs. But if bright colors cause you physical pain, avoid Madden NFL '09. Your eyes will thank you.
Labels: Madden, NFL, Nintendo, Video Games, Wii
posted by Gary A. Ballard @ 9:30 AM
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