The new gameplay features steal the show here, though, particularly the aforementioned highlight stick and the new lead blocker control. With lead blocking, you can take control of an offensive lineman, tight end or fullback, and lay down the lead block for your running back, clearing a path towards a big gain. Teams (and their corresponding halfbacks) with excellent fullbacks will probably benefit the most from this, like the Chargers and their stud blocker Lorenzo Neal, who runs point for Ladainian Tomlinson, serving as his eyes and leading the charge through the defensive line (no pun intended). The system works well, for the most part, and there's some strategy to deciding what kind of block to utilize based on your situation. You can cut block to take someone's legs out from under them, and you can even intentionally hold the defender, which may or may not be caught by the referees. There are occasional animation issues that come up, where players will run into each other without engaging in their locked-up animation, but these aren't as memorable as the times when you get to knock someone's helmet off. What ever happened to the ambulance driving onto the field after an injury and running players over? I miss that.

The NFL Superstar: Hall of Fame mode is your meatiest single-player option and allows you to engage in some of the off-the-field activities that this cleaned-up version of the NFL presents. If this were a simulation of the real NFL, I'd expect to be able to get arrested for driving around with loaded guns, physically assault my spouse or check myself into drug rehab after being arrested for driving while under the influence. And it wouldn't be the NFL without a scandalous sex cruise on the waters of Lake Minnetonka! Instead, your athlete, raised by a delightful mother who always remembers to email her son, tries to make his break in the NFL, going either the trash-talking egotist route, like a Terrell Owens or Chad Johnson, or that of the consummate (but boring) professional, like Marvin Harrison or Jerry Rice.


Your created athlete will attend weekly practices (which you'll probably sim through to save time), land movie roles (which require you to memorize a line or two of text and then pick it out of a group, like an SAT question) and bring it on game day, hopefully one day landing in the Hall of Fame. There are regular interviews where you'll establish your player's personality, and you'll even work through an agent, who'll drum up some publicity and hopefully land you those big-money endorsements that players yearn for.

The best part of this new Superstar mode is the way that the game focuses entirely on your player's contribution to the team. You don't call the plays; the coach does, using that team's unique offensive and defensive playbooks. You're not the QB on offense unless he happens to be your superstar. If you're a tight end or wide receiver, you'll line up and run your route, hoping he tosses the ball in your direction. The camera zooms in over your shoulder in a unique, close-up camera angle, which may be difficult to get used to at first, but really puts you into your designated position. If you're a WR superstar, for instance, and the team runs a sweep in your direction, it's up to you to lay down a good block on the opposing cornerback before he gets a chance to tackle your running back. I had lots of fun with a running back as my created superstar, even on passing plays, where I had to play the protection role, keeping my QB from being sacked. Never before in a Madden game have you had the chance to lay down a good block on a tenacious opposing pass rusher like Julius Peppers. And even if the resulting touchdown went to your wide receiver instead of yourself, it feels absolutely great.