I was fearful that when EA bought exclusive rights to the NFL license they would be tempted to sit on their laurels and not put any effort into the Madden games. If you think about it, why would they? People are going to buy it whether it's the best game it can be or not. I'm sad to say that my fears have been realized.
This is not a bad game, not by a long shot. But it's not nearly the game it would be if the ESPN (2K) series was still around.
How can the 360 version still be so stripped-down when compared to the other consoles? And why are the graphic/gameplay issues that were prevalent in last year's game still an issue now? Why could 2K implement gang-tackling years ago, and yet EA still doesn't have a proper tackling model?
I'm disappointed that EA is proving to be a profit-first, gamer-last organization. This game has huge potential with all of the power available in the 360. I'm willing to bet that then the PS3 is released EA will put more effort into the game because Sony owns the market. For now, I sure wish I could get a copy of ESPN Football.