Andrew Hart appears courtesy of Mac Talks NFL
Formats: Xbox 360 (Tested) | PS3
Developer: EA Tiburon
Publisher: EA Sports
Release Date: 2nd September 2011
In America the annual release of Madden is treated with the same sort of hype, midnight queuing and general level excitement that we Brits just about manage for Wimbledon. It’s that big. Even the players look out for it, anxious about their ratings and have been known to voice their displeasure if they feel fit. And yet it generally passes us by, because as a country we’re not obsessed with the gridiron game.
Well, I am.
But not all of us, and if you are a fan then this is a very busy and exciting time of year: the pre-season is wrapping up, the rosters are being confirmed, the tickets for the game at Wembley Stadium are going on sale and we’re all busy with our fantasy football teams, as well as waiting for this year’s Madden to be delivered.
This year EA have gone out of their way to make promises about improvements, which is not something they usually do. As with all the EA Sports stable there is often the feeling that it’s a roster update and nothing more (and yet it still gets bought by the truck-load) so for them to have made these statements, to have said they’ve listened to the fans and acted accordingly, is noticeable. Let’s see if they’ve delivered on the “100” or so changes that the box proclaims.
The first thing that you notice is that the menus and screens look a lot better than previous years. The game has been polished and is slick in terms of its presentation. I can take or leave a lot of the music (I prefer guitar-based stuff, so consider last year’s music vastly superior) but it’s there adding to the overall effect. This does seem to come at a cost though, and there are some delays and ‘hangs’ in the menus. But one thing that does work well, both in Superstar and Franchise modes, is that the game wants to get you playing. If you just follow the on-screen prompts, you go from game to game with no distractions along the way – you have to choose to go into the other screens when you want rather than being forced into them.
In-game
As each game starts, you’ll get TV-style presentation galore: Overhead establishing shots of the stadia, the home team coming out, with flags, fireworks and cheers and much celebration, jerk-O-vision style cameras… This continues through to the coin-toss and even to kick-off where the camera is now at the side of the pitch until the ball is close to coming down, when it reverts to the standard wide, above the players shot that we’re used to. This is very flash, very immersive, but also very repetitive – I found myself skipping it all pretty soon. But once the game starts, it’s clear there have been big steps forward.
GameFlow remains, but has evolved giving you the choice of Gameplan / Pass / Rush on offence and Gameplan / Aggressive / Conservative on defence. All the same options for pre-snap adjustments remain largely as they were last year, but I really liked this simple change to calling a play.
Not much has changed on the offensive side of the ball and you’ll settle in very easily if you’ve played before. The defence has upped its game, and I found it tough going, especially as my usual easy passes weren’t always there – the game rewards you for paying attention and that’s right and proper.
But you don’t mind getting tackled, as it now looks so good! You’ll see your players bouncing off tackles, wrestling themselves free, pushing off, before finally getting down. In just a few games I’d seen a wide variety of different take-downs, the majority of which looked very realistic indeed. This level of variation really adds more than you’d imagine.
Kicking now has a new power/accuracy meter and I’m still struggling with it. In my first couple of games I missed two short field goals and a PAT. I’ve yet to get a touchback on a kick-off too. It’s definitely taking some getting used to.
Overall, the feel of playing a game is both better and smoother than last year. It’s definitely a step up.
Game Modes
Madden Moments return, though now with a scoreboard so you can see how you shape up against your friends. You do have to be connected to Live / PSN and the EA Sports servers to play them though, but an improvement on previous years versions is that the moments are “as was” the case for the actual moment. No commentary snafus, not wrong stats, players, uniforms, etc. when you’re playing. That said, I did notice that kick-offs are still from the 35 yard line, but other than that, it’s a small change that has a big impact.
Superstar mode appears to have been streamlined. Gone are the interviews, tests, the agents, mini-games and the nonsense with DNA. Instead you get three choices: Rookie (playing as one of this year’s rookies, Draft (enter the draft and see what happens) or Walk On (pick a team and try and make the line-up). Once you’ve made your choice it’s training camp for 10 reps, then a game, then repeat. I like it very much.
Franchise is where the bulk of the changes have been made this year and there are some really great additions, a lot of which are highlighted in the flash little video that plays when you first start a franchise game. The main ones are:
Dynamic Player Performance and Consistency – players can go on hot or cold streaks. Inconsistent players will delight and infuriate you as they play above and then below their abilities.
Free Agency – where this was a confusing drag before it’s now an exciting, short-lived and frantic time – just like free agency should be – with all players that are being offered contracts getting two minutes to complete deals – you might have to give up on one player to secure another purely as the time is too tight to get to both. Where a game makes you consider your options and make choices, I like that. Which brings me onto the biggest and best change yet:
Expanded Rosters and Cut Days. By allowing up to 75 players at the start of the season, the Pre-Season now matters. As you progress through the pre-season your rookies’ stats will start to take shape, both their rating and their potential. And after each game you have to make cuts to reduce the number until you are ready with your final squad after the last game. I really, really liked this. The CPU will mix up your squad in these games in a way that’s completely reflective of the real world and you’ll have some tough choices to make.
There are so many other additions that you’ll struggle to get to them all straight away. One of the loading screens is begging me to take a team to Los Angeles and no doubt you won’t be able to resist the temptation to try that at some point. In fact every loading screen proudly announces some new feature or addition and that you’ll be sure to experience as your season progresses.
There’s also Madden Ultimate Team, which allows you to create, trade and compete with your dream rosters and a wealth of Online options from quick games to full leagues.
There are some downsides though. The rosters are a mess, including a mixture of last year’s teams and this year’s rookies. I know this’ll be sorted very soon (once rosters are confirmed in real life) but it’s really quite jarring indeed. The game also takes well over a minute from pressing Start at the load screen to actually getting into the menus, that’s really annoying. And the commentary… well, let’s just say that’s it’s not great. On occasion it really clicks and you’ll get a smooth and even-toned play-by-play followed by a good piece of related colour commentary. But more often than not the tone is all over the place and Chris Collinsworth will then tell you something that you’ve heard him say before. It’s the weakest part of the game.
As an annual release, Madden 12 has kept its core but introduced new components as well as expanded parts of the game that already existed as well as expected improvements to look and feel of the game. It’s not a shut-out, but it’s a convincing win.
There are still things that I’d like to see Madden introduce and improve, but if this policy of listening to fans and responding remains, then this series will keep getting better and better.
An 8? I haven’t played it yet, but I’m not sure if I should move up from Madden 11. From the sound of your review, I might give it a shot, thanks!