Madden 10 with Bowmore

So here is some of what happened in my first full game:

All settings were on default, just an exhibition, 15 mins with accelerated clock runoff of 15 seconds. Redskins vs. Browns.

Now... I know that playing with full clock time like a real game doesn't work well in almost any sports game, let alone Madden, but it was worth a shot. Hey, you never know.

Final score 44-30 Redskins.

The first three quarters were fine. It was a 21 to 10 game and I was thinking that this was good. Stats were there, Portis was starting to find his grove. Campbell was playing well, nothing outrageous. He did have a couple good passes, but a couple way off the mark as well. I was in Madden love, so to speak.

Then the wheels came off in the 4th quarter. I'm keeping in mind that this is just one full game so I won't go on and on about things. But I do have the last two iterations of the game to go off of, plus about 4 of the titles around the Sega Genesis days. I feel like if I'm up in a game the CPU AI gets crazy toward the end.

I had two interceptions for TDs and a 57 yard bomb to Cooley. Quinn had a 74 yard bomb to Hubbard. The Browns also had a couple solid drives in which it seems there was nothing I could do.

Either way... 15 min quarters are waaaay too much and the default difficulty setting is too easy (or was it just the Browns?). I'll dial it back to 12 (as usual) and bump the difficulty. I'll also mess with how often and well the AI runs the ball. the Browns had 449 yards total offense, with only 36 on the ground. I know the addition of Haynesworth was going to be a good thing, but, come on.

I ended up with 389. 120 on the ground. Campbell was 13-18 and a 151 rating. Quinn was a ridiculous 23-43, 439 thru the air with 4 INTs.

Again, just one game on out of the box settings. Overall, the 1st three quarters felt very right and were very enjoyable. However, much tweaking to go before I get in the the franchise modes.

Menus look great, overall graphics and gameplay are solid. We'll see where it goes from here.