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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 624
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Re: Madden NFL 13 Impressions - Presentation (NO QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION)
The presentation is alright, being that it tries to mimic a CBS presentation in some areas, while simulating dead air on others. After playing NCAA so much these past months (and even that game's presentation was more scripted than a broadway play), I couldn't help but feel the game was completely lifeless at certain points. Everything leading up to the kickoff is great (even if it's the exact same presentation every single time you play), but once you get to the line of scrimmage, there is nothing eye popping. Where is the equivalent to NCAA's studio updates? Where is JB telling me what's going on in Baltimore, or Cincy, or Seattle?? Where is this live ticker they were singing on about? Where is ESPN? SC? Football Music played by ESPN highlights?? Bayless, Steven A, Greeny and Golic babbling on on monday mornings?
Actually, nevermind the last part of that paragraph, those things may be a bit more advanced... What about simple graphics like CURRENT STANDINGS?? PLAYOFF PICTURE?? TEAMS IN THE HUNT/PLAYOFF SCENARIOS?? UPCOMING GAMES?? Other than occasional HB stats and QB comparisons, there is NOTHING!!!
Pros --
intros are ok, nice to see the team-specific intros are going on in the background before nantz and sims start talking.
In CC mode, full intros only happen in "primetime" games, which I think is a nice touch. It makes them feel a bit more important, as they feel exactly the same once on the field.
The Main Menu looks pretty smooth, good graphics, less clutter (albeit at a price)
Cons --
--The Main Menu
I find this system to be impractical to say the least, especially in CC. I believe that EA Sports' idea of "innovation" is to completely confuse the hell out of you. Whether it be by switching up the controller configuration (which can't be changed by the user), or even changing the name of the mode, they change everything about a mode and call it something else to make it seem fresh, something they've come up with all on their own, and will change sports gaming forever.
--As mentioned above, the replays are exactly the same when scoring touchdowns
--If you play one game, 10-15 minute quarters, you will have seen everything the new presentation has to offer. You obviously won't hear every new piece of commentary (because there's only two teams playing), but graphically, that's it and that's all. Once you can predict exactly when a replay will trigger, or the order of the "halftime show," the game quickly becomes stale and lifeless yet again.
--The NFL logo on the replay swipe is horribly blurry, it looks like psONE. I've done countless logos and replay wipes for games like PES 2012 and NBA 2k pc versions, and in 5 minutes I was able to install HQ graphics on both games.
--Kickoff/Wildcard/Thanksgiving/Playoffs/Championship game on-field graphics are once again pointing the wrong way in most stadiums.
--The music
One of the welcoming features of Madden when compared to NCAA these past few years is the soundtrack (but only the fact that it has/had one, because the song choices were mostly poor for an NFL Football game). But now we don't even have that. Again, their idea of "innovation" is to completely strip something away, replace it with a mediocre, 20 minute song that sounds exactly like NCAA's theme music, and play it constantly throughout menus. This doesn't exactly make me say "Wow, they really spend some time with this new soundtrack, it just screams football, it personifies everything I see on Sundays, they really put some love into this, etc..." No. Not at all. On the contrary, it tells me "Hey, we were actually too lazy to search for new music, in fact we don't even know what the consumers actually like, and it might take some time/effort to see what exactly NFL music is, so we're not even going to do it. BUUUUT, here's this track we kinda worked on during NCAA, but with different effects/instruments to make it sound less like college and more like NFL. And even if it doesn't sound like NFL music, it does because we say so. Deal with it."
-- The Intro
Ray Lewis, again. Another rant by a player I don't even like, saying meaningless things to emotional music, and having nothing to do with the actual gameplay. Sure, it makes ppl want to put on some football gear and tackle the first person they see head first, but it has nothing to do with Madden football. Considering the state that this franchise is in, the intro does nothing more to me than a random youtube compilation done by some 12 year old using the most basic editing software.
Also, I hope they never touch another Mogwai song again.
It's small things like this that make me compare EA Sports to a mediocre student, who knows he has a research paper due requiring outside sources (to be read thoroughly) and a lot of time/effort. But this kid doesn't even like what he's studying, has no ambition for the future, and lacks creativity. So what's he going to do about the deadlines, the rough drafts, the outlines, time spent in the library, etc... He's going to do them the night before the deadlines, as fast as humanly possible, with Z_E_R_O attention to detail, and with absolutely Z_E_R_O revision whatsoever. We've all been there at one point, in middle school, high school, college, wherever. We typed up the paper at the last second, and before we turn it in we rapidly read through it, find obvious spelling/grammatical errors, but there's not a damn thing we can do about it, because you can't change something typed unless you type it again, but the assignment is already due.
Last edited by TexasFan2005; 08-28-2012 at 11:47 AM.
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08-27-2012, 10:17 PM
Re: Madden NFL 13 Impressions - Presentation (NO QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION)
