Much like taxes, the Madden NFL series is an absolute certainty to rear its head every year. Often the butt of jokes for its lack of innovation from year-to-year, this year’s version does little to change the perception. That isn’t to say that there aren’t new additions to the 2009 edition of Madden football–but that’s to say that the differences are minute and, for the most part, broken.

While the additions to Madden are horribly flawed, the core game of football remains intact from last year. That’s a compliment to Madden 09–I enjoyed the gameplay improvements, the amount of new animations that were included, and the overall feel of Madden 08. The leap from Madden NFL 07 to 08 was enormous, at least in Madden terms. But with 09, it feels much more like a shuffle step forward for the franchise.

The biggest new addition to Madden is “Madden IQ”. Essentially, as you play through each football game, the game tweaks the difficulty in four areas: Rushing, Passing, Rush Defense, and Pass Defense to match your particular skill level. If you’re good at running the ball, but can’t pass to save your life, the game will recognize that and make passing easier for you by lowering the difficulty, while raising the difficulty for rushing. (This works the same way on the defensive side of the ball) The real issue with the entire system creeps up when you take the “Madden Test”, which in theory is supposed to test your current skill level. The problem with the Madden Test, particularly the running portion, is that you have two or three blockers for one attacker, while only having to press button prompts (think quick-time events) to avoid the defense. This means that if you know where the A and B buttons are on the controller, the game will set you up as an “All-Madden” running back, when all you did was click a few buttons. Why they did not have you run actual plays with a full offense and defense set-up is a mystery to me–in its current state it is fundamentally broken. The passing test is a little better, but still flawed, as you’ll only have to deal with the cornerbacks messing with your receivers. When you get into an actual game, there are more than just cornerbacks to contend with–meddling linebackers and safeties will significantly complicate your passing game.

If you bypass the test, however, you’re able to make better use of the adaptable difficulty. You’ll start off at what would be considered the “normal” difficulty (all previous difficulties are still selectable if that’s the route you wish to take) and then allow the AI to tweak itself from game-to-game. The tweaks are subtle and probably couldn’t be pointed out from play-to-play, but I noticed after a couple of games where my passing game was struggling and the difficulty had been reduced, receivers started to run better routes, dropped fewer passes, and linebackers and safeties didn’t harass my receivers as much as they had before the difficulty adjustments were made. The concept, while definitely needing some tweaks in its implementation, stands as one of the two reasons why football fans will want to pick up this year’s edition of Madden. The other, is that Madden 09 finally brings online leagues to the table. It would seem a little odd to praise the game for implementing a feature that should have been included four years ago, it’s still great news for the hardcore Madden fan.

All of the modes from previous Madden games are intact and virtually the same. Franchise and Superstar modes are here, as well as the option to play a quick exhibition game. The biggest addition to the single-player is “Madden Moments”, where you can relive some classic football drives and plays from real NFL football games. So, if you’re a Dolphins fan and want to relive the moment your team didn’t become the second team ever to not win a single game in NFL history, that option is available to you. I did not play all of the moments, but thumbing through them, they didn’t seem to be of the “epic” variety (Joe Montana to Dwight Clark) but as it stands, it’s a nice diversion from grinding it out in franchise mode.

The online is lag-free, the graphics are updated and look good, and the gameplay, while unchanged, still plays great. But fundamentally, can the new additions justify purchasing the new edition of Madden? As a causal football and Madden fan, no, there’s not. The new elements to the game were high in concept and poor in execution, leaving you with a game that is without a purpose for existing. (Besides a huge paycheck) Hardcore Madden fans can justify purchasing it with the inclusion of online leagues–but for the rest of you that don’t care about that, stick with Madden NFL 08.