Madden 12: The Best MADDEN Ever?

[Thinking Out Loud]

I actually feel really confident in saying yes to this question right now, considering everything that's been said and shown about Madden 12. I think the previously most highly regarded Madden to date has been Madden 05 which I think Madden 12 is vastly superior to. Granted I only briefly played M05 for a month or two after 10 months of playing multiple seasons of NFL2k5 and while waiting for NFL2k6.(We all know how that turned out)LOL. Aside from all the obvious graphical upgrades, the franchise, DPP, gameplay, visual presentation and online community features announced for Madden 12, are unmatched in Madden history.

I think a lot of the concerns and issues with Madden 12 would be greatly reduced if people just put this year into perspective. There has been 6 years of EA trying to maximize profit through marketed name recognition and DLC while reducing production costs by piecemealing, patching or ignoring major core issues for whatever reason.

This year, EA has focused on producing a great Madden football game for their core fan base and gong forward it seems they will build on that for a great NFL football game. I think this year people should judge Madden 12 against past Maddens, next year judge Madden 13 against past NFL football games and in the future judge Madden 14+ against the entire current sports gaming genre.

I would have preferred that a Madden of this caliber came along much sooner but better late than never. I don't think anyone can reasonably argue that EA didn't have to first make a great next-gen Madden football game before they could ever hope to make a great NFL football game.

They finally seem to have produced a next-gen Madden football game I can enjoy which makes me very optimistic about them producing a superior NFL football game next year.

[Skyboxer]

Waaaaaaay to early to say whether it's the best ever. That will take a few games played before I can even give an opinion on that.

[RedZoneD25]

I will reserve judgement until late November-early January when the final patch comes out. Looking very promising though.

[jfsolo]

My gut tell me that I will have more fun playing this game then any other NFL game ever. So in my book that will obviously make it the best Madden ever. It will be easier for me to make that call then most, because I won't be bringing any baggage from the the last 22 years into my evaluation of the game.

[sniperhare]

Every new year of Madden has been the best to me. But my comparisons only go back to 06 on the 360. Man that was a terrible introduction to football gaming.

I got good sliders in 11 and only got tired of it because of the offseason. Now that it's been improved I'll probably be playing 12 until June of next year.

[Thinking Out Loud]

Quote: Originally Posted by Skyboxer

Waaaaaaay to early to say whether it's the best ever. That will take a few games played before I can even give an opinion on that.

I understand that may be the case for some but for me, similar to what Jfsolo posted, this looks like the most enjoyment I will ever get from playing a MADDEN football game.

I can actually see myself using all the features shown thus far and even the new online communities that were touched on. I will be using the upgraded Gameflow to enjoy more of the on field visuals, online communities with individual leader boards/rankings to finally enjoy online ranked games, Gameplan in practice mode to hopefully enjoy being able to assign formation personnel before games/create preset 1st-2nd-3rd string sub packages and so many other first time enjoyable opportunities available in Madden 12.

I can actually see myself trying to play a franchise by myself and I have NEVER done that with any football game. With the addition of DPP, Madden 12 might actually feel more like a collection of individual player personalities on each team than just a random dice roll against the CPU from play to play.

Even this early I don't see how Madden 12 could turn out not to be the best Madden ever. Granted, I personally don't feel like that's a high bar but it is necessary progress that's required for the ultimate goal of EA creating the best NFL football game and maybe eventually one of the best sports games, ever.

[raiders81tim]

Still think Madden 05/06 on the ps2/xbox will be better games. Madden 12 really isn't doing anything new outside of DPP(Which I think will be great for football games). Six years later Madden should be, imo at least, completely dominating the past gen Maddens and it isn't.

[Skyboxer]

So if sim stats screw up after 1 year or fatigued players never get subbed for..it will be the best Madden ever?
That basically my point. I know the game is looking to be fantastic, BUT how many times were there at least one glaring issue?

That's the reason I'll wait and hold any acolades just yet.