There are certain things we can count on happening. The sun will rise and set. The tides will come and go. And a Madden game will be released. Does the MADDEN NFL 10 demo hold the promise of continued domination, or does this game stumble like Madden telling a Brett Favre story? Go beyond the break and into The DEMO-lition Zone to find out…

The Madden franchise is a juggernaut, no doubt about it. The franchise has such a following that even when the game hasn’t made significant changes, its sales are still considered successful by the standards of the video game industry. The game is being released on 08/14/09 and no doubt it will do quite well. The demo manages to give us a little taste of what to expect, and while it won’t blow your mind, it will wet your appetite.

As with most Madden demos only two teams are playable. In a little bit of a twist though, they are not the 2 teams that contested for the Lombardi Trophy. Instead you choose between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. No complaints though, as the two teams are well matched and balanced enough to give you a good feel for how the game plays on both sides of the ball. This game does have a few new tricks for players to enjoy. As a quarterback you now have an “avoidance stick”, which will let you dodge rushers and buy a few seconds of time for your receivers to get open. You also must compete for fumbles when there is a dog pile on top of the ball. This year the theme is fighting for every inch. Gang tackles aren’t just for prison, they are now a prominent part of the Madden experience. Players can move their running back into a crowd, and then switch to another player to help move the crowd in the direction they so choose. This makes crowd control vital as it can result in being pushed back for a loss, or gaining 5 or more yards after the initial tackle. The new character animations look incredible. The gang tackle animations look awesome as well. The players all seem to have good collision detection and real weight behind them. While Eli Manning couldn’t move a large pile, Brandon Jacobs was able to be more effective.

The demo is very short, with the quarters being about 2 minutes long. I found this made it easy to win since there isn’t much time for a slow methodical running game. You can easily eat up the clock and keep the ball out of your opponents’ hands. It’s clear however that the goal wasn’t to show you all the bells and whistles. There is no commentary at all, and a ticker along the bottom of the screen informs you about the new features. Once again the presentation is top notch, and even the few menus you navigate in the demo are very well done.

It’s easy to become jaded with this series at first glance. Some years are definitely better than others. From the few things the demo shows it looks like this may be a real highlight version of this powerhouse of a series. While I didn’t like hearing John wax poetic about how great his Turdunkin is, I like this demo and recommend you check it out. If you are not a huge Madden fan, this may peek your interest enough to make you want to finally jump in the pool and experience the joy these games bring to many. Me likey!