This should be a much shorter review than the PS3/Xbox 360 version because for one day only I’m trying something new and for this I will cut to the chase and supply you with the main details you’ll need to make your decision on whether or not to purchase this game. I must point out that, unlike with Tiger Woods 10, I haven’t played a recent Madden game in a few years so my opinions are purely based on my experience with this release.

In my review of Tiger Woods 10 for the Nintendo Wii I pointed out that it was much more enjoyable than the version on the PS3 and Xbox 360. What made that game come to life is the use of a recent accessory, which I had my doubts about until testing it out for that review, the Wii-Motion Plus. We all understand how a golf swing works and it’s easy to appreciate, even for those who haven’t played the game before, how a 1:1 motion accuracy would be of great benefit to such a game. We also understand how throwing an (American) Football works and I’m sure most of you will agree that a 1:1 motion accuracy when playing a Madden game on the Wii would at least be a wonderful option to have. I could be wrong in that assumption because the developers of this game clearly weren’t thinking that way when they decided to leave out an option to use the Wii-Motion Plus accessory.

This is a Wii game so don’t expect the graphics to blow you away. The look of each player reminds me of Team Fortress with the exaggerated physical builds from thin and streamlined to huge and bulky. To be fair on the artists this is one way of avoiding the fact that even at full stretch the Wii can’t come close to competing with the near photorealism of the Xbox 360 and PS3. I quite like the cartoon style of this game and the console would be much better off if other developers took the same approach. So while the graphics aren’t great they do get pass marks from me because it was a wise decision to avoid stretching the system’s capabilities to breaking point.

As far as I can tell the soundtrack is identical to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions and for me that deserves a pass mark as the selection of songs is very good. The sound effects is where things start to fall down. The speaker on the Wii-Mote can be a nice addition to games and No More Heroes is a perfect example of a title in which this small speaker is put to great use. In that title the Wii-Mote speaker emits the sound of your (Lightsaber) sword as well as being used to listen to phone-calls at various intervals in the game. In Madden NFL 10, in what feels like using the speaker just for the sake of it, you hear a voice shouting some nonsense at you such as warning you when a large man is about to smash you in the face before you can throw the ball.

When a game is released on all major consoles the first thing I hope is that the Wii version makes use of special game mechanics so it stands out as more than just an ugly relative. I really wish I could tell you that Madden is as good as Tiger Woods in this respect but I can’t truthfully do that. At the very least I hoped I’d be able to hold the trigger, swing my arm, and release that trigger to throw the ball in the direction of one of my receivers but that’s not how the game works at all.

Asking us to point our motion detecting controller at a screen to press a button, or a combination of a butting press and a basic hand gesture, in order to pass the ball to our team-mate is just plain silly. I am sure that not everyone will share the same experience as I did but I also found that the game itself was a little too easy for my liking. Pointing in a direction and pressing a button will have the ball reach its destination far more often than not and this begins to ruin that exciting feeling of uncertainty I had in the PS3 and 360 versions.

There are far better sport titles on the Wii, Tiger Woods 10 is the perfect example of how a sport title can work well on this console, and from what I can tell the previous Madden surely couldn’t have been as dull as this one. To sum up my experience with this game, I found the graphics to have an interesting style and the music was very good but I was bored throughout. Think this is best avoided, even for those who consider themselves to be hardcore American Football fans.

6/10

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