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<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Madden NFL 09   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Monday, August 18, 2008 Big Game Hunter / Madden NFL 09 Disclaimer: I'm not a football sim fan. Nor a football fan. So when the tired, yearly installments of football games arrive, inexorably churned out of the big publishers like the repetitious cash cows that they are, I look for something, anything to hide under. In essence, would rather review chewed glass. But I have to say… Madden NFL 09 was actually fun to play, even for the uninitiated. When you load the game, a virtual John Madden appears and gives you a "Madden IQ" test. The test consists of game play in which you run, tackle and pass in game. Despairingly, I am about as good at football in game as I am in real life. How did I do? Don't ask. I'm lucky the game didn't call me a nerd and give me a virtual wedgie. Gameplay is fast and furious and the player animations were very lifelike. Even the stadiums and crowds were detailed and adaptive to a point where I could taunt them with players dancing in the end zone after a touchdown, though no Philadelphia Eagle fans threw snowballs at me. So much for art imitating life. Commentators were fun and informative, but annoying as they gleefully talked about how much my team -- and therefore I -- sucked. For fans of the series, the usual suspects at Gamepro are giving the game a 8.0 out of 10, so you may assume the game is a must-have. However, as with any game, I recommend you rent before you buy. For the Xbox 350, PS3 and Wii. Justin Arnold, Big Game Hunter jarnold@heraldnet.com

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