Madden, it’s either the object of your affection or you’re one of the many scrutinizing the game year after year.  Chances are, you still play the game regardless of which category you fall under, or you’re left reminiscing the days of NFL 2k5.

Madden, the video game, has been around for 20 years now and is the subject of so many age groups, tournaments, and is easily one of the most recognizable games out there.  When you hear the name Madden, you almost always think of the video game first before you even think of the former head coach.  Over the past few years though his name was still dominating the cover, it felt as if the presence of John Madden within his own game was slowly but surely slipping away.

Things have changed this year as EA boasts over 85 features added or tweaked to the game, commentators are actually back, Madden IQ, online leagues, and a ton of detail to the small things in Madden.  With that being said, are these features actually enough to add noticeable change to the game?

First things first, this is the closest Madden has come visually to the CGI representation we saw a few years back before we were all disappointed by Madden 2006.  The stadiums as a whole are beautifully sculpted, and the field textures are some of the best I’ve seen in the business.  Player models actually look distinctive allowing you to tell the difference between different positions and different players.

Snow and rain games are going to be played more than ever this year, as players get incredibly dirty in the rain games and you can even see the snow pile up against the barracades of the stadium.  While the addition of the dirt to the players jerseys welcomed, the degree to which it’s applied is rather ridiculous at times.  The further you get into rain games, you’ll soon notice that you cannot tell the offensive players from the defensive.  It may be true that some games have that much dirt or mud added to the jerseys, but even the light rain games look like the Steelers vs Dolphins rain game back in 2007.  While it can be overdone at times, and even though the helmets remain spotless throughout the game, I applaud EA on adding this feature and I’m sure it’ll be balanced out enough for next year’s version.

When you first jump into things on Madden, you’re given the opportunity to train your Madden IQ.  Your Madden IQ is basically compiled up of your skills for rush offense, pass offense, rush defense, and pass defense.  After running through the medley of drills, you’re shown your grades on each performance and based on those grades you’ll find the game extremely well balanced for you.  Madden IQ is a brilliant concept, and while it doesn’t seem to have reached it’s full potential, it’s a well thought out way to keep your game and stats realistic.

The IQ adjusts based on how you play, so even if you throw 5 picks in a row, the game is slowly dropping your passing offense rating with each pick allowing things to not be as difficult for you.  Through the twenty to twenty five games I played with the Madden IQ, I never found myself winning by anymore than 15.  Using the IQ, you’ll find yourself actually having challenging seasons allowing for so much more replay value for the franchise-aholics out there.

What I did find plaguing by Madden IQ was how incredibly easy some of the drills are, leaving the gamer with a much higher rating than what they may truly have.  A lot of gamers are going to find themselves extremely overmatched in the actual game due to the fact that they were completing so many passes or breaking so many runs.  If Madden IQ returns, which I hope it does, I think they should have an active eleven on eleven roster for the drills, making it incredibly more realistic and keeping the IQ as close to accurate as possible.

RBs can make your life miserable if you know how to use them right in Madden 09.

With the addition of Madden IQ, Chris Collinsworth shows users what they did wrong or which receiver they should have thrown to on that interception in the "Backtrack" moment.  A well done feature and ads realism in terms of the broadcast, but a lot of users will find themselves mashing the "A" button after they have a turnover so they’ll more than likely skip over it.  The more casual gamer may benefit from this a little more than the hardcore, but it’s still rather well done.

Speaking of Chris Collinsworth, he’s a blessing for commentary in sports video games.  While I don’t think they recorded quite enough lines for him, the lines he does present in the game are on point and provide a ton of insight.  He recalls past plays or highlights from previous years, and his commentary is actually thought out and relevant.  Tom Hammond, on the other hand, is well, not impressive at all.  He seems to carry on that tradition of dry and vague commentary that we’ve seen from a few announcers in the series over the past few years.

The gameplay features small tweaks here and there, but a lot of the focus is put onto the running games ability to continually branch and break tackles.  Once again, it’s a brilliant idea and possibly should have been in the series a few years ago, but it leaves runningbacks way too powerful.  As with the additions of the playmaker tool in 2004 and the hit stick in 2005, this year’s brilliant feature is too powerful and really needs to be toned down.

Backs can hit the pile, and with a quick mashing of a few buttons, they’ll find themself breaking through a wall of defenders and to the house.  Gang tackling on the runningbacks is well done, but all it takes is a tap of the "B" button a few times and then it’s back off to the races.  If EA tones this down, or just bumps up the success rate of the gang-tackling over these backs, the future will be fine.

Slide protection, playmaker controls, endzone hotspots for celebrations, and a breakaway cam are just a few of the features added to this year’s Madden.  While the endzone hotspots are a great addition, the highlighted spots within the endzone upon scoring just scream cheap.  Take the same concept, and fade them out a considerable amount, and you achieve the same effect, just a little more respectably.

Madden feels great and plays well, and while it can be frustrating as hell sometimes, this year’s version is simply one of the best.  In terms of the user control, you can finally feel the difference between using Peyton Manning and David Carr, but when the computer gets the control of some of the same quarterbacks, you’d be surprised at the results.  You’ll often find yourself playing against some of the lesser skilled QBs in the league, and you’ll be pulling your hair out at times when Jamarcus Russell completes fifteen straight passes on your elite secondary.  The game should be challenging, of course, but the super quarterbacks are more apparent than ever.

NCAA Football 09 received the online dynasties, and after a few small bugs they played out to garner a lot of fan approval.  With Madden, gamers do get online leagues that include stat tracking as long as you enable unique rosters, but EA missed out on a huge selling point if they had just included online franchises.  Imagine being able to take your rookies from six to seven years deep into your online dynasty into an online franchise, or being able to integrate an online franchise with an online dynasty, the possibilities just make your head spin.

Online leagues do offer a good deal of competition, and a humongous amount of games being able to be played in one league (easily over 300).  The only problem is that a few years ago gamers may have been praying for leagues, they’ve just been ruined by getting a taste of how beautiful online dynasties are in NCAA Football 09.

Franchise and Superstar mode are relatively untouched from their previous years in the games, but still have enough meat to satisfy the die-hard users.  With that being said, Franchise and Superstar modes are going to need added pieces or functionality to them withiin the coming years before gamers sound off against them.  Whether they go the route of online franchise like NCAA, or they go with an MMO style Superstar mode similar to what NHL 09 is doing, something has to be done.

Madden NFL 09 is the only licensed NFL football game out there, but it’s a much welcomed improvement over the years past.  With such a small development time year in and year out, the team over at EA Tiburon does excellent work and should really be applauded at times rather than overly scrutinized.  Though we have had some lackluster Madden games in the recent years, EA has taken huge steps into involving the community more than ever to provide input and feedback onto the game to get as close to a Madden utopia as possible.

With a variety of features added, Madden IQ included, Madden NFL 09 is the best Madden that has ever hit the market.  Does it have its shortcomings and problems?  Obviously it does, but it still delivers the most realistic experience you’ll be able to find.