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When you first fire
up Madden the first
impressions of the
game are
outstanding. Not the
game itself… the
opening video. The
franchise has teamed
up with Drew Brees
this year and he’s
done an outstanding
job being an
ambassador for the
game. The opening
video features Brees
doing some talking
about football with
some clips and
highlights scattered
while he’s talking.
Great opening video
and one of the best
opening videos I’ve
seen ever. This is
the highpoint for
this year’s Madden.
Whether that is a
good thing or not… I
haven’t decided yet.
The reason I say
this is because of
some key changes
made within the
game. The first few
games you play if
you’re a seasoned
Madden guy are going
to be frustrating.
Last year’s big flaw
with the game was
the halftime show
and the weekly show
featuring NFL
Network staff. It
was a good idea, but
people found out
that after the first
5-10 games, they
didn’t care to watch
it anymore and it
was too slow to skip
through. They
learned from this
and took it out,
(leaving the weekly
show but keeping the
same video from
that) but they also
didn’t learn from it
and put another
presentation feature
in the game that’s
five times more
annoying.
Other than the
fantastic opening
video, the first
thing that you’re
going to notice when
you start an actual
game with default
settings is the
coordinator
communication
feature. The
offensive or
defensive
coordinator for your
team talks to you
through your headset
(or TV speakers if
you don’t have one
plugged in) and the
text from the audio
appears on the
screen as well. It’s
fine the first half
of football you
play… maybe even the
first game you play,
but after that it’s
so incredibly
repetitive that
you’ll search
through the options
feverously to turn
it off. The audio is
irritating, but
twice as bad is
seeing that text on
the screen.
Something about that
just rubbed me the
wrong way
immediately Other
than the coordinator
feature which fails
miserably, the other
thing that’s
quirkier than it has
been in previous
years is the
pre-snap menu. It
gets slightly better
on the offensive
side of the ball
with a better
audible system, but
it’s hard to do
anything in the
pre-snap menu
because it uses the
D-pad… really it’s
just a bad system
this year and they
need to bring back
last year’s.
The pre-snap menu
and the coordinator
feature are the two
main problems with
Madden, although
commentary is
another thing that
people who played
the last game a lot
are going to have a
problem with. Gus
Johnson does the
play by play in this
game. He’s great and
it’s fine. The only
problem with his
play by play is it
doesn’t come off as
fluent as games
previous. The pace
of it is done wrong
in places and it can
sound weird. He says
lots of stuff- you
just won’t hear the
variety very much.
Chris Collinsworth
does the color
commentary with Gus
and he says maybe
two things new from
last year. After
spending a few days
with the title I
heard possibly two
new things that I
didn’t hear from
Collinsworth last
year. The audio is
really inexcusable
this year. You can’t
write 50 new lines
and have
Collinsworth record
them, but you can
have Gus let us know
that the red zone
stats are brought to
you by Old Spice in
ten different ways,
Verizon brings us
the drive summary,
and Preparation-H
brings you the sack
totals? Okay, the
last one was fake,
but you get what I’m
saying? It’s fine to
have ads in games.
It helps pay for
them, but put the
effort that you put
into your ads into
the rest of your
content.
The
other main problem
with the audio is in
the menu music.
Underoath doesn’t
provide a bunch of
screaming tracks
that the older
audience would find
offensive. Instead,
this year they
completely wiped out
any remaining
evidence of new
music. Playing AC/DC
and Kiss over and
over. The NFL films
music is there too,
and it’s fine, but
the addition of
these cookie-cutter
songs without
anything new speaks
loads on how bad the
music supervision
was with this title.
It’s bad when I can
be more impressed
with the music in
Diary
of a Wimpy
Kid
than with Madden.
Mix in some new
music and introduce
something new while
helping an industry
that needs it, or
just completely
remove the ‘normal’
music and stick with
an NFL Films
soundtrack. The
music is just one of
many things that
have been dumbed
down and have gone
too far. There’s
nothing new in the
Franchise mode
either, it’s the
exact same as it was
last year, down to
the menu system and
it needs to have
some new additions
to it… direly. The
dumbing down hasn’t
just been done in
the presentation,
and It’s not just in
the music, but you
can see examples in
gameplay too.
The kicking system
changed back to the
timing of a button.
You know… like it
was in the 90’s on
your Sega Genesis?
The analog down and
up was getting a
little mundane but
it wasn’t bothersome
and it was still
challenging to try
and make longer
kicks. They need to
bring it back… like
now.
Those are all of the
main problems with
Madden and that’s
more than the last
two versions of the
game had put
together. All of
those negatives
still don’t outweigh
the positives
though. The movement
of the players is as
realistic as it’s
ever been and
everything looks
twice as good as it
did last year.
They’ve gotten rid
of the spring button
so running the ball
has more to do with
how hard you’re
pushing up on the
analog stick, it
doesn’t sound like
it should work, but
it does. The pace of
the running backs
and receivers is
good and running the
ball is twice as fun
as it’s been in
previous years due
to the new system.
You’ve also got the
dual-stick control
while running with
the ball, which
works fantastic once
contact has been
made. You get to
lean your ball
carrier for extra
yards and twist and
turn your body so
you can avoid
fumbles and other
costly mistakes. I
can gripe about the
vanities of Madden,
but the gameplay is
still outstanding.
Some new game modes
have been introduced
to the game this
year to go along
with some great
gameplay. The first
and most notable
mode is the new 3 on
3 online Team Play
feature. You and
five friends can
pick teams and play
it out against each
other with every
player getting
assigned to a
specific part of the
team- QB, RB, and
WR. It’s a solid
online mode that
casual fans who love
online gaming will
enjoy.
The other new mode
is the Ultimate Team
mode where fantasy
football and
‘normal’ madden are
combined to create a
unique gaming
experience where you
earn points and
rewards to make your
team deeper and
better to compete
online with. It’s
not going to be the
best mode in the
game, but you can
definitely have some
fun with it.
The problems with
Madden don’t
outweigh the good,
but it’s just
disappointing to see
some things fall
flat in the
franchise. I thought
there were some
problems with last
year’s game with the
NFL Network shows
strewn across
throughout- this
year’s problems are
worse. Your hardcore
fan base in Madden
plays this game a
ton. They get it
early and play it
frequently until the
next update comes
the following year.
There are millions
of these people and
it’s why the game
has become so
successful. This
hardcore fan base
doesn’t need things
dumbed down for them
so the Wii crowd can
come to the party.
That’s what’s the
most depressing
thing about Madden…
It’s fine to make
money and make
something that’s
marketable and be
out to make a
profit. There’s
nothing wrong with
that at all, it’s
what the world is
today. But when
making money becomes
an issue over
content provided
something is wrong.
The product
placement is
overbearing, the
dumbing down of the
game to make it more
accessible for the
casual gamer, and
the general cash
machine attitude
over powered the
ideas to make the
game better and to
make an amazing
product. Even though
NCAA Football 11
features some
product placement,
it’s a better
football game; it’s
better than this
year’s Madden. It’s
more sophisticated
in every way
imaginable.
The frustration with
Madden will come to
you the first few
games you play if
you’re an avid
follower of the
franchise. I found
myself literally
screaming at the TV
from being so upset.
But after a few
games and a few
tweaks of the
options it’s still
Madden. It’s
disappointing, but
the standard is so
high that it’s not
that bad. Everything
with Madden had been
perfect the past few
years, that’s what
we’re used to. When
it has a lot of
flaws… we notice. An
update might be in
the cards to fix
some of these
problems… it can be
done. But for now
Madden isn’t as good
as what it could and
should be and after
four years of
excellence on this
generation of
consoles, this game
takes some steps
back trying to make
some steps forward
for everyone.
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