Madden 11 The Review - bigsmallwood's Blog

bigsmallwood's Blog

Madden 11 The Review

Posted on August 10, 2010 at 04:08 PM.

With football season right around the corner, Madden 11 has arrived. And so has the crew's new mantra: Simpler. Quicker. Deeper. Does Madden 11 deliver?

Lets jump right in:

GAMEPLAY

New Additions:

GameFlow: This new way of play calling is a great idea in theory but clumsy in it's execution. The CPU AI will call boneheaded plays quite frequently, especially on defense. For example of 3rd and inches they will call a deep route, when you have a running back like Brandon Jacobs or Frank Gore in the game. Even more puzzling is the AI's decisions on Defensive calls. They fail to adapt it's play calling to match what the offense is doing at the time. So if Tom Brady is lighting it up in a 4-5 WR set, don't be surprised to see the CPU calling an all out blitz.

All is not lost with GameFlow. They do allow for you to create a gameplan for offense and defense. This works out better than just allowing the CPU to call random plays for you. GameFlow is a welcome addition for newcomers and veterans of the Madden series alike. One fun aspect of it is that if you wear your Xbox 360 headset, the coordinator will talk to you through it.

Auto-Turbo

The ability to just run the ball without having to worry about slamming down on the speed trigger is a GREAT addition to any football game! It allows for the AI to determine when to turn on the speed in the open field or when daylight appears. The folks at EA did a wonderful job with this new addition and it works very well.

Locomotion/Dual Stick Controls

One of the great uses for Auto-Turbo is that it allows you to use Dual-Stick controls. Executing spin moves, jukes and high-stepping out of a tackle never felt better. You also have the ability to lean forward left or right, to avoid contact with a player. While the controls are usually smooth, you may want to hit the practice mode to work on chaining together moves.....it will pay dividends in the actual game.

Locomotion is very similar to Pro-Tak and probably should be scrapped in favor of Real-Time Physics. Locomotion is not the same as physics, however the locomotion does make a difference in the game. There is a good amount of weight to the players and you feel that shift in weight when switching directions or attempting to on the fly.

Core Gameplay

The AI in Madden 11 is a mixture of good, bad and just flat out ugly. The AI is at it's best when presenting a mismatch between good and bad offensive lines taking on good and bad defensive ones. You must use strategy when choosing your blocking scheme.

The run blocking is MUCH improved and it opens up a running experience not felt since last gen. However, there is nothing worse than watching your offensive linemen stand up and dance in place while Demarcus Ware and three other defensive linemen end up in the backfield untouched. Repeatedly. Another head scratching moment is when your Defensive lineman has the chance to sack the QB, yet he stands there like he is blocked out by an invisible force field.

QBs consistently throw INTs or just toss the ball away in situations where they should have taken a sack. This can be frustrating to the user experience, as is the number of dropped balls. They are in the NFL for a reason and it should be noted that Randy Moss catching a ball, taking two steps and dropping it w/o contact is Maddening. There are certain bugs and issues that have no business still plaguing Madden 11 after six years on next-gen.

Injuries are pretty realistic this year. There are a number of injuries just as there are in an actual NFL Season. So be prepared to make changes to your team!

Throwing the ball downfield feels and looks great! As does defending these passes. QBs throw for realistic percentages in Madden 11 and will also miss receivers. This is helps make Madden more realistic in a way that refutes the old Robo-QB. Even Peyton Manning will miss a receiver time to time. For the first time in a long time, it feels realistic to play as a Cornerback on defense against elite receivers or scrubs. You always have a chance to make a play, which is a departure from previous iterations of Madden. Gamers should have fun playing pitch and catch on the gridiron this year!

Sliding and Special Teams

No this is not a new feature...at least not one that was intended to make the game. Sliding is a rampant problem in Madden 11 that will cause you to miss tackles, catches (WR and DBs) and watch in wonder. The first game I fired up, featured a sliding Devin Thomas on the kick off return. He did not jog over to receive the ball, he slid over. And if that was not enough there was nothing more baffling than to watch my Special Teams let the defenders run past them leaving me to take on 9-11 members of the other team ready to annihilate me. On punt returns, unless you send the house at the kicking team, your players will run all the way back towards you (some run into you) rather than working their blocking assignments. AI on Special Teams needs to be tuned up. Most kickoff returns will not advance past the 20yd line. Punt returns are wild cards due to the poor blocking.

Gameplay as a whole feels pretty solid despite the hiccups that occur throughout the game. With the exception of special teams there is nothing that is a game killer in Madden 11.

Presentation

There are more replays this year in Madden 11 which is a departure from having to play on "Advanced" play calling style in Madden 10 in order to see a replay. There is a cool swipe that goes back and forth across the screen. There are still stat banners and Gatorade 3 Impact players of the game. The problem is that while it is cool to see the stats, there is no direction or definitive style in what Madden 11 does. There is no ESPN presentation like NCAA 11 or NFL 2K5, nor is there anything that makes it feel uniform. There are cut scenes aplenty...problem is quite often they are out of place. I threw 3INTs with Donovan McNabb in the Super Bowl and he and his offensive linemen chest bumped and slapped each other high fives as if he had just thrown a TD. This is a problem that was around in Madden 10 as well.

The Extra Point in Franchise mode is the same as last year....literally. Verizon is shown in the banners, as they should since they are the new sponsor, but the analysts say the Extra Point is brought to you by SPRINT! Cris Collinsworth, who is an excellent announcer in real life, quite a few times will say Tom, as in Tom Hammond, instead of Gus Johnson. And Speaking of Gus Johnson, he brings the much needed excitement to Madden commentary. Gus tends to scream out on big plays and crucial moments in the game, however, he and Chris Collinsworth don't sound like a commentating duo and what makes it difficult to understand is why Collinsworth uses about 97% of his same lines from last year. Not to mention the commentary is about behind the action on the field.

Presentation is not near what it should be.

Frachise Mode and Superstar Mode

No changes. Period. This is inexcusable for Madden to not have changed any of the parts of these two modes. Super Star Mode desperately needs changing and Franchise mode needs to have some flair and creativity in order to keep gamers interested.

Overall
New additions like locomotion, Game Flow, and dual-stick controls help make Madden 11 a fun game to play if you love football. However, if you see it on Sunday, there is a chance you will not see it in Madden 11. While this years Madden doesn't exactly feel like Madden 10.5, it is not a game that I would recommend to a gamer who has Madden 10 in his or her library already. Congratulations EA, (Ian, Phil, and Co.) on making a Madden 11, Simpler and Quicker.

I purposely left off Deeper. Madden 11 lacks depth and that is what keeps it from taking the quantum leap it is capable of. EA Sports needs competition to push it to great heights as is evident with the NBA series. It is disappointing that after 6years Madden 11 is the peak of what we have as an NFL game. Is it a good game, absolutely. Would I say Madden is exceptional? No.

To be a champion you must defeat a champion. Madden 11 is further proof that the EA Sports is still chasing after the elusive title and they may actually comfortable doing so without any competition.

Positives
*Locomotion: You have to experience it to appreciate it.
*WR/DB interactions
*Teams play to their strengths/weaknesses and it can be a real chess match!!!
*Game Flow
*Gus Johnson "Rumble young man Rumble!"
*Defense is a shining spot. Running game is fantastic!
*Replays (finally!)
*Realistic Stats in Franchise mode. No more running backs running for 3,000yds.

Negatives
*Commentary can be behind the action at times (often) and Extra Point needs to be overhauled.
*Sliding and lack of penalty variety
*Replays Cut-off
* No Half-time Show, Lack of Animations, Same Cut-Scenes from Madden 10
*Lack of Progress over 6years on Next-Gen systems

Final Verdict: 7/10 Replay value: Moderate

Comments

# 1 bigsmallwood @ Aug 10

For Better Commentary future Madden games can learn a lot from the FIFA Series, MLB, 2K5, NBA 2K etc. These are all games with OUTSTANDING commentary.

# 2 bigsmallwood @ Aug 10

Real-Time Physics can really benefit this game and yes it IS possible.

# 3 mactraxx @ Aug 10

Good review, well spoken. Agree on all parts!

# 4 bigsmallwood @ Aug 10

Appreciate it mactraxx! I hope that people are able to decipher what is fact and fiction with this years Madden. Too many reviews just glorifying this game as if it has made significant progress.

# 5 bigsmallwood @ Aug 10

ANd what are these storylines that Gus talks about in the beginning of the game? We never get to find out what they are.....

# 6 goalie @ Aug 11

yes, i agree about the commentary especially. it doesnt always seem super-connected to the game.

# 7 bigsmallwood @ Aug 11

@goalie: I am not sure how the commentary is not connected....this is something that seems to have been overlooked badly. I can only hope that it is something that can be patched.

The Cutscenes are problematic as well...Last night I was playing as the Cowboys and picked off the Bengals (Palmer) and the cutscene that played after showed Carson and his Linemen celebrating...just all kinds of wrong.

# 8 10yard-Fight @ Aug 11

Lack of progress over 6years on next-gen systems... Damn, just realized how long we've been in this gen...

# 9 bigsmallwood @ Aug 11

@10yardFight: People are acting like Madden is in it's 2nd year on next gen....its been 6 YEARS! People are acting like what I've been saying about Madden is unreasonable....I'm like NO they have had plenty of "next-year"s....and the Lead Game Designer, who shall remain nameless, always says he wants constructive criticism, yet when people give it to him and his team, we are said to be bashing. In reality I just want a great football game from EA if since we don't have "choice" like the other sports games.

# 10 bigsmallwood @ Aug 12

The Challenge System is severely flawed in this game....they need to adopt 2K5's system where you can actually choose what you challenge.