Football season is up and running, in real life and virtually on your home video game system. Madden 12 came out at midnight today and as usual their are new features to the Madden experience. No game mode additions but enhancements to the franchise mode and more. Check out the full story of the new Madden after the jump.
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The very best video games are those that permit gamers to dwell inside a world in which they would never otherwise be allowed. In particular, sports games give those of us born without superhuman speed or strength the chance to dominate when we would normally be asked to pay a stunning sum just for the privilege of sitting up close.
The Madden NFL Series from EA Sports began in 1988, and it consistently ranks among the year’s 10 best-selling games. Madden is a staple for sports gamers, and is firmly ingrained in the culture of sports, spawning ancillary businesses: tours, television shows, guidebooks. It has been a must-play game long enough that not only have most N.F.L. players grown up playing the game, there are now N.F.L. coaches weaned on Madden: Raheem Morris, the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, once joked that he majored in Madden in college.
The latest iteration, Madden NFL 12, is out Tuesday. Madden 12 offers no new game modes from Madden 11, instead focusing on adding to the pre-existing. The franchise mode has been deepened, with additions like the ability to trade picks from future drafts. A bidding system adds suspense to the free agency period, although it can be a confusing experience, at least the first time around. While trying to sift through menu layers and decide where to best spend my money, and simultaneously keep tabs on available players, I somehow ended up winning the bidding on a highly rated defensive end, even though depth at defensive end was my franchise’s biggest strength. I ended up sweating, wondering if I’d hurt my franchise for years to come.
Some graphical updates make the look of the game more realistic. This year, for instance, we see green stickers on helmets wired for sound, plus a new “degradation system†that accurately displays wear and tear on uniforms. When the weather is bad, small raindrops occasionally land on the camera lens. While playing zone defense, defenders point to receivers as they cross into other zones; you can almost imagine them yelling, “You get him!†Game presentation has been pumped up, particularly pregame introductions and the coin toss, which are now shown with an unstable, hand-held-style camera that adds to the anticipation of the kickoff.
Other adjustments add realism to the game play. Tackling has been revamped, requiring more precision from defenders than before. Cornerbacks are quick to jump short passes to wide receivers, and middle linebackers seem more aware of passes between the hash marks, making it tougher to squeeze the ball in on intermediate crossing patterns. In Madden 11, passes into coverage too often ended up bouncing off an unsuspecting player’s helmet. That has been addressed in Madden 12, and in general, the artificial intelligence of the players seems much improved.
Madden 12 has such a commitment to replicating the N.F.L. game that even gamers who are experienced with the franchise may find themselves struggling to catch up, at least initially. The insider lingo can be daunting, as new defensive formations include “4-3 Over Plus†and “Sub 3-3-5 Odd,†and offensive formations include mouthfuls like “Gun Normal Y-Flex Tight.†To simplify or speed up the games, as part of the GameFlow feature you can rely on your offensive coordinator to suggest plays. Unfortunately, my coach kept suggesting we run the ball in the two-minute drill, despite being out of timeouts; I audibled to passing plays.
In a game so focused on realism and without any glaring errors, it is only the little things that detract from the overall experience. I played an entire season in franchise mode and saw no blocked punts. Pass interference was called so infrequently, I wondered if it had been turned off in the game’s options. The game’s announcers, Cris Collinsworth and Gus Johnson, get locked into talking points, and the commenting frequently lags behind the game play. (In an Atlanta-Chicago game, while Dunta Robinson was in the midst of an interception and long return for a touchdown, Collinsworth talked calmly about what a complete running back Matt Forte has turned out to be for the Bears.)
While it’s not an evolutionary leap from Madden NFL 11 to 12, there is no escaping that Madden 12 is a game that both gamers and N.F.L. fans will want to play. Even though it hurts to admit it, the truth is, the most egregious mistakes in Madden NFL 12 were my own. There were times I would drop back to pass, anticipate a receiver coming open, but pass the ball too late, resulting in an interception. While my initial reaction was to throw my controller at the TV and blame my quarterback — “Come on, Sanchez! Hit the open man!†— there’s no escaping the understanding that when playing Madden, there’s no one to blame for poor decisions but yourself.
They havent made a good madden since madden 10