Madden NFL 12 Reviewer Impressions: Presentation

[stlstudios189]

I love this time of year Madden gets us all worked up and at least one part of the game dissapoints us and it becomes a fun time here at OS. If they would just up the presentation and commentary to the max I think we wouldn't notice more of the little things.

[MAzing87]

Why are the players, specifically QBs, look as bulky as they do? I've played the demo over and over, and I was somewhat excited. After seeing some gameplay videos, something about Madden 12 just doesn't look right. I'll just rent it this time.

[DanielDJohnson]

Constant freezing, bad commentary, failed Ncaa classes imports, this is a very disappointing game....

[Pete1210]

Presentation is awful. Halftime is a joke.

[13whitebread]

Quote: Originally Posted by SGMRock

I see way more stuff this year being called wrong by commentators. Its bad enough they sound lame as ever but do they have to say stuff like. "And the Lions look to score again after getting the ball in excellent field position." Hmm after the defense just downed the ball on the 1 yrd line on a punt!!!!! Happens a lot, he said that when I had the ball at the 10, or 15 or 7.... He says lots of other things that are way off too. Collingsworth, don't get my started... I like the camera stuff, I like the starting lineup things coming out on the field too but after seeing them 1x you just skip them. :P I think its cool they show the offense and defensive lineup but its the same thing everytime. They always talk about the same player. So that also gets old, also in order to see a lot of the precentation stuff you have to make sure you don't press buttons to fast after plays or it skips them and you don't realize it. The halftime thing shows some of the big plays but it needs some sort of voice overlay to have it be cool. Just showing the plays makes it pretty vanilla.

I disappointed about the game and lackluster ratings it is sad this year I was really thinking of picking up madden. But after poking around on OPS I will not be picking it up but may go after the college game. The presentation and the commentating have always been my pet peeves. Madden especially the following this game has the announcers should be flawless.

[balcobomber25]

Madden 12 is like Tim Tebow all the potential in the world, but not enough talent to succeed at the next level. For every thing you love about Madden, you will find 3 things you hate about it. The top issues that need to be fixed in my opinion before this game can be taken seriously are:

Commentary! - This has been ongoing problem since they stopped using Madden and Michaels. While far from the best at least with them you got some comedy from Madden and actual play calling from Al. Gus Johnson is boring 80% of the game and then all of a sudden he will spring to life for one play. There have been times when I score a TD and he doesn't mention it till the kickoff. Chris Collinsworth is great in real life but his mindless rants last too long for a fast paced video game. Their is no chemistry between the two . I'm amazed how NHL 12 figured out commentary years ago and everyone is still playing catch up.

Presentation - All of the hard work that went into the NFL Film styles presentation is ruined by crowds that look like they are from PS1, boring team entrances and horrible audio. I want EA to explain to me when in the history of the NFL has there been so many empty seats at a Super Bowl game?? The copy and past watercolor crowd that has been reused for years now has to go. Instead of spending time on game modes that most people play once and forget about like "Ultimate Team" spend some time improving the little things that make a huge difference. Id rather see a full team entrance where the entire defense is announced than 2 guys randomly selected. I play the game with a Denon/Boston Acoustics audio setup and I can barely hear the stadium music. Follow in NCAA and NHL's footsteps and allow fans to use their own music in stadiums rather than hearing "crazy train" for half the teams.

Franchise Mode - All these "changes" that were supposedly made are slick new menus for the same boring franchise. Take a page from NBA 2k and allow us to actually play a game with guys before we draft them or run them through various drills. Free Agent bidding is a fun new addition but incredibly unrealistic and where are the player holdouts, demands for trades and why not have some off the field issues (I know i'm getting ahead of myself the moral police o the NFL would never allow it) One of the biggest head scratchers is why are 90% of the coordinators made up, they had the real ones in years past. How bout we fix "create a team" that has been rehashed since Madden 07. Some players like to take teams like Jacksonville with their 12 fans and move them to places where they can sell out. How about the ability to rebuild stadiums in the same city.

Sadly though until the exclusive deal is lifted I know we will see the same game every year with updated rosters and jazzy new game modes. Look back to when you had four NFL games to consider (Madden, 2k, Gameday and Fever) each game had to bring something new to the table every year to be successful. Madden is still playing catch up in the presentation department to 2K. NFL Fever had some of the best defensive AI of any game, something Madden is still trying to figure out. Everyone needs competition, competition brings innovation.