Madden NFL 09 (Playstation 3, 2008)

Madden 09 supped up their engine, applied some cool new features and made it feel like American football overall.

It's a great looking game. The grass is heavily detailed, and the crowd is actually quite detailed even though they are pieces of paper, I can see what they're wearing and that they're all different to each other. Which is good despite the fact most sport games have the cut out crowds and you can't even see what gender they are, so they've put a bit of effort into this.

What really stands out though is the fact that the graphics actually are presented how they would be on TV. You've got a nice view of the pitch from the outside, then it zooms into the packed pitch inside where you'll see the player getting ready and the match begins. All with very nice graphics that are perfect for the PS3.

Each year sports games have masses of modes that you can choose from to play, and some of these years introduce new modes. Madden keeps it's classic Franchise Mode, along with a ton of other modes, new and old. They all take, obviously, a long time to successfully finish a season, and this is where gamers enjoy the fact that this will take them ages and it'll be something that they will want to work on.

Game play wise, it feels like American football and you can't just run and score a touchdown. You've got to work on it. Usually your opponents will just get in the way and take you down easily, but if you're skilled you can dodge your way round them and score the perfect touchdown. And tackling feels very good, you actually hear the sound of both players hitting each other.

Overall, Madden 09 is the best Madden on the PS3. With so many features, good presentation and game play, there's nothing more EA can do to improve the series. If you just like the thought of tackling or if you like the series, then you'll like this and it will be in your collection for quite along time if you play through all the modes. You won't be selling this one for a long time, it's one you should keep.