There aren’t many games on the iPhone platform that can match games on the big 64-bit boxes for production value — but Electronic Arts Mobile‘s Madden NFL 10 can, and does, fantastically. Unfortunately, it also has one gaping hole.
All the gorgeous bells and whistles from EA’s Playstation or Xbox version are there (even if the eye-candy is a little on the chunky side): details like authentically rendered stadiums that’ll let you play under Gillette Stadium’s lights during a Pats home game, or in the Superdome during a Saints one; pithy commentary by the game’s namesake and kick-ass music by the likes of Metallica and AC/DC (but user-created playlists are also supported); and a very deep player-roster function, which includes players from the ’09 season but will smartly let you download roster changes or alternate team jerseys via in-app purchase for a buck or two.
Play a single game or an entire season, or add the playoffs — including the Superbowl — with a free in-app update (not sure why EA took this route instead of just updating the game, but it doesn’t really make a difference). The game comes with a comprehensive list of play selections; in fact, no football game I’ve played has more blitz options I couldn’t recognize. Actually playing the game is fairly easy, and EA did good job of packing a 100-yard football field into the iPhone and keeping it from becoming disorienting. The touch controls — like tapping on the receiver you’d like to throw the ball to, or a neat feature that slows down time and allows the controlled player to carry out actions like jinking, or swatting the ball away from a receiver —are well thought out, make sense and work well with the iPhone’s interface.
In some ways, though, this game seems to play like a QB who’s been repeatedly sacked. It was hard for me to see if my play decisions had much of an effect on the game. For instance, my short passes seemed just as likely to be intercepted as long passes, and my blitzes almost never resulted in a QB sack — and seemed to have no effect on my pass coverage either, with the opposing team’s plays just as likely to result in an incomplete whether a blitz was occurring or not. But, ok, I’m a casual football fan, maybe I’m just not that aware of what should or should not happen.
The rel problem, though, is hugely frustrating: I was not yet into even a day of testing when the app refused access to a game in progress — and no amount of restarting, begging or hurling insults at my iPhone would recover the lost game. That’s it. Gone. Having to restart a game every time this happens would probably drive me insane. Without the bug, the game is a vibrant simulation of a football season; with it, it’s a route to frustration. Pity, because it has a lot going for it; hopefully there’ll be a fix soon.
If you want to buy the game though, now’s the time — it’ll be on sale at the App Store(normally $7, now $5) all Sunday.
Verdict: 2.5/5 Nails the atmosphere, takes big hit on stability.
Update: WHO DAT!
