Lockout or not, you can always bet yourself that EA is going to continue their highly successful Madden franchise, and while the Lockout may have messed a little bit with the initial roster placement of players, it didn't stop EA from producing Madden 12 on time for the upcoming football season. Bringing some interesting new additions towards the realism of the title, the game itself is still very similar to Madden 11 in the terms of gameplay. Not much has changed over the current generation of Madden games, but subtle tweaks, specifically to "fan desired" components, are helping to re-shape the Madden experience as we die-hard fans know it.
gameplay
While there may be changes in the overall context of the title, the pure Madden experience is still solid and unchanged. There may be a few new animation additions here, as well as some tweaks to the A.I. and how players are rated, but the bare-bones gameplay mechanics are very much unchanged from the previous next-gen titles. Players still auto-sprint (you can turn it off if you want), there is still a "highlight stick," and there is still the ever so tempting hit-stick on defense. Passing, running, and all other facets of the game still feel very fluid.
Passing is a little more difficult this year, as QB's now receive "consistency ratings" atop the already known ratings of power, accuracy, throwing strength, etc. Consistency ratings attribute to how well a quarterback will do from "week to week" in the instance of a franchise, or MUT. Bad consistency ratings mean that there can be a mass fluctuation between the rating that a quarterback posses one week and the rating he receives for the following week. A better consistency rating means that the quarterbacks ratings will not fluctuate up and down so drastically between games. Aside from that new addition, it is hard to really find what has changed in terms of mechanics.
Franchise mode is much the same, but with a few tweaks and a neat fan-raved addition. You can still take any team you wish, or a created team, through a season and be in complete control of all of their coaching and playing decisions, all while simulating or controlling the team through each game. So what's new when it comes to Franchise mode? Not much. You can still control as many teams as you want per season, but you can now change which teams you want to control at the beginning of each season after that. You had to create a new Franchise completely if you wished to do that in previous titles. You can now also trade away and trade for draft picks that are "upcoming." Meaning that you can use draft picks from future years as collateral to secure players from other teams (or take other teams future draft picks for some of your prospects). Combines, and enhanced drafting, make the Franchise mode an almost mirror image of the actual NFL process.
NFL Superstar is back in full force too. You can create a superstar (or import one from NCAA 12) and assign them a position, of which you will be in control. Take your superstar to the draft, training camp, and in real game situations in order to build and shape them into whatever you wish. This game mode is tailored more towards those who wish to play as one, and only one, position on the field. The A.I. will be responsible for all of the other controls, including players and play-calling. For example, if you wish to play as a QB you will be responsible for handing the ball of and throwing it, but once it leaves your hands the computer will take over. Intricate little additions like "hearing" the play calls through your headset or TV from coaches make this a fun game type for diehard fans looking for something different. However, this game mode is not much changed from the previous next generation Madden titles.
MUT (Madden Ultimate Team) is back too, with a few positive additions from the original debut that showed up in Madden 11. MUT allows a player to craft a team and then receive a random pack of starter "cards." These cards contain players, stadiums, play books, uniforms, and coaches, each with specific "contracts" that can be used to craft teams. Players can then purchase new packs of random cards in hopes of building a decent team to compete with. The issue with this is that card packs (decent ones) cost Madden coins, which can be hard to generate on your own as it can become a tedious task to rack them up. You can "purchase" card packs and coins directly with MS points, but that can become costly over time. So, in order to help "remedy" this situation, EA implemented a trade and auction system into the MUT of Madden 12. Players can now trade cards outright, or even place them on the auction block for Madden coins. Legendary Packs are now available too. These card packs generally contain high value cards and give the player a chance to receive a "legend," which is a high value (often famous) player from era's past. The downside though, is that legendary packs cost over 500 MS points, and can not be purchased with "coins." This begs the question as to why EA is forcing players to pay real money just to have a "chance" at getting good players.The simple answer might be, that they can, having almost completely cornered the football video game market.
Create a player, team, uniform, and even a playbook this time around. All of these creation tools are much the same as they have been with previous titles(with the addition of the playbook). Playbook creation isn't exactly "creation" in the terms of crafting plays, but rather, gives the player the ability to pick from hundreds of NFL plays from numerous playbooks and culminate them into one that is creatively theirs. In a nutshell though? Still much unchanged. Good, and solid, but unchanged.
An interesting new addition too is "team-play" which allows up to three individuals to play against up to three others online. Each player can choose a specific aspect of the offense or defense to control (WR's, DB's, QB, etc.) or can simply control any player on the field on the fly. Team-play is something that has been very revamped and focused on. It is obviously something that the fans really desired and it is refreshing to see that EA listened to the communities wants and needs for the title. Team-play allows to you play with others completely over the internet, all communicating through the microphone. And I must say, I was very satisfied with the way that the servers held up. There was virtually no lag and the game held up very seamlessly.
Yet, with all the good, must come the bad, and while the game is very well put together it does fail in the sense of good "online play." While the online gameplay is flawless when it works, it rarely seems to "work." What I mean, is that the servers are plagued with disconnects, failures to communicate, and game ending connectivity issues. EA has already taken all of these things into consideration and has heard the outcry from the fans. There have been promises to fix and eliminate the issues, but only time can tell if those promises will be delivered.
In its purest form, Madden's gameplay is essentially "the same." It is simply "tweaked," but not so much in the actual mechanic. The tweaks come in the form of game types and styling.
graphics
Realistic and next-gen, yet painfully low-quality in certain aspects of the game. The stadiums, and players, look great. Sure, some players and coaches could look more like their real world counter-parts, but for the most part the organics are done very well. The "fan" animations and persons in the stadium are very well done too and are a very big upgrade from the low-quality "paper like" individuals we are used to seeing in most sports titles. But where some graphics shine, others fall. The helmets of each player look amazingly realistic, with mirror-gloss finishes and high resolution decals. Yet, the uniforms, are sometimes very lacking in detail. Not necessarily a "bad" graphic, but one that is obviously of a different tier than the helmet. Bonus points however, to the realistic grass stains and helmet dings that appear on players after a hard fought game. The animations are done fairly well. In terms of gameplay they are pretty spot on, but when it comes to the animations that are done after the plays are over, it can be a pretty disheartening experience for the eyes. Popping, players passing through solid objects, mouths moving in awkward positions (attempting to speak but ends up looking way off). All in all, the graphics aren't bad. I wouldn't classify them on the same echelon as some of the more artistically driven titles on the market, but they should hold their own in terms of the "next-gen" expectations.
sound
Wonderful, as always. A menu soundtrack that is over-toned by pleasing menu sounds and audibles. The in-game sound is very well done. Taking tracks from real NFL audio and really driving home the realism of the experience. Hard hits, crowd-cheers, and stadium announcements and commentary are all captured seemingly flawlessly. Better yet, each team and players have their own specific audio tracks that the commentators follow, making the experience all the more personal. Madden has always had superb audio when it came down to it and Madden 12 is no exception to this rule.
replay value
Endless, in a sense. At least until the next release in the franchise. But, in all honesty, with all of the gadgets, game modes, and online communities, it is hard to really express how much replayability this game actually possesses. Sports games are notorious for replayability, but Madden is attempting to take that to the next level. Tired of running franchises? Make your own player, fine tune him. Tired of playing with cookie cutter teams? Make your own. Sick of the normal stadiums? Make our own. The creation tools in this game are the front and center for replayability. Because, once you (if you) ever get tired of the stock, then you are free to express yourself on the canvas that Madden 12. Add a massive online following and the ability to play not only against your friends, but side by side with them, and you have something that is the epitome of "endless." This game will only get old if you grow tired of football. Diehard fans are going to find a very hard time putting this title down, and those of you who aren't football fans will always find new challenges and things to try, giving you a great game that will last considerably longer than most.
bottom line
What more is there to say? Madden 12 is simply the continuation of possibly the most realistic and in-depth football series that the gaming world has to offer us right now. Look at it as Madden 11, with shiny new paint and accessories. Madden 12 may not be the BEST of the Madden titles, but it is definitely carries the most depth and creation. When stacked against its prior counterparts, Madden 12 is a wealth of new additions that only help to push the progression of football fantasy faster in the right direction. The realism of Madden is only getting better as time progresses and Madden 12 shows us that the NFL is not all about tossing the ball around. Its about coaching, individual players, deep play calling, and bitter rivalries. Madden 12 places all of these things at the forefront rather successfully and brings together a title that is a stand alone from its predecessors, due chiefly to its attention to detail. If you're looking to throw and run the football, you can essentially get that from any "football" game on the market. But if you're the diehard NFL junkie, the one who eats, sleeps, and breaths football, then Madden 12 is going to be the closest thing you'll get to having the full NFL experience. Be a player, be a coach, be essentially whatever your football heart desires.
Review by: Russ Boswell
Posted: 09/16/2011
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Gameplay:
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8.5 |
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Graphics:
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7.5 |
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Sound:
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9.0 |
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Replay Value:
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9.5 |
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Bottom Line:
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8.5 |
