Madden NFL 12 Reviewer Impressions: Gameplay

[RaychelSnr]

Madden's gameplay is a strange sort of Jekyll and Hyde act this year. While on one hand, I really want to love the gameplay for all the things it does right, there's always a bit of creeping anger and disappointment when I experience the things Madden doesn't do quite so well.

Madden is far from a bad game. I'm about 15 games into my Madden experience, and it's pretty easy to conclude that Madden is anything but a bad game. It's just that to get to some realistic results, the game cuts so many corners and seems to be asking me to suspend my own disbelief to find enjoyment in the face of some lacking realism.

On the basic surface level, if you've played NCAA Football 12, you sort of know what to expect from Madden 12. If you've played an EA football game in the last several years, you've also played a large part of what Madden 12 has to offer. What Madden does differently is important to the core gameplay experience and will probably define whether you, as a hardcore fan, are willing to spend the $60 on the game.

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[roadman]

Wondering if slider adjustments help the offline people with some of the issues.

[CigarCityBandit]

The play calling element on the defensive side of the ball you described is really bothersome compared to the way you called plays back in 2k football where I picked where I wanted my linebackers and secondary and then could decide what I wanted my front four to do-slant left, slant right, spread out, stunt left, right or both. You really had serious control over how you rushed the passer and what everyone behind those guys did to the offense. EA could learn a little from just something as simple as that play calling scheme.

[Tyrant8RDFL]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Reviewer Impressions: Gameplay

Wondering if slider adjustments help the offline people with some of the issues.

Was-up Roadman!

I'm sure to a certain degree it can aid the situation. The one glaring issue for me was the feel of the game, and threshold alone aided it for me. Game play feels better now, and I'm on normal speed.

I will have to say what is stated above is pretty accurate.

[Armor and Sword]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Reviewer Impressions: Gameplay

The play calling element on the defensive side of the ball you described is really bothersome compared to the way you called plays back in 2k football where I picked where I wanted my linebackers and secondary and then could decide what I wanted my front four to do-slant left, slant right, spread out, stunt left, right or both. You really had serious control over how you rushed the passer and what everyone behind those guys did to the offense. EA could learn a little from just something as simple as that play calling scheme.

I can't disagree at all with this. I loved the tiered play calling system on 2K5.

It would be nice if Madden adopted this system and made it an option for hardcore sports gamers and left the conventional play calling (and gameflow for the real casual crowd) for those that just want to pick up and play.

I understand why Madden has not adopted that tiered system as they don't want to make it cumbersome for the majority of their buying base but it would be nice to see the option. 2K11 and The Show nail this aspect of giving the gamer hardcore, mid level and casual options.

[cgalligan]

Pretty much the same story we've been reading every year... It always seems like the game, is SO CLOSE, yet SO FAR away from being whats expected...

[F0rl3fclov3r]

Weak that no defensive player lock view is in the game. Audibles (now confirmed) are terrible in the demo in comparison to the ease of NCAA 12. Either way I'm dropping the money like I always do and taken fools to the house.

[stlstudios189]

I think this is gonna be a fun year on the boards. 15% of gamers will love Madden 12. While 15% hate Madden and 70% will be in the middle saying its fun and such. I think this review sums it up, Madden is better but, still not great.

[jmik58]

EA cutting corners to get results while throwing realism out the window... sounds familiar *cough* NCAA *cough*

[TearsOfPurple]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Reviewer Impressions: Gameplay

Weak that no defensive player lock view is in the game. Audibles (now confirmed) are terrible in the demo in comparison to the ease of NCAA 12. Either way I'm dropping the money like I always do and taken fools to the house.

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Madden will always be Madden. I personal love Madden still. I don't nitpick over small things that don't matter to me. But hey, I guess others have the right to complain.

The only reason I play Madden is for the franchise mode. They improved it greatly, so it's enough to warrant my $45 (got some GameStop store credit)

[Turbo Lax 33]

At the end of the day Madden is a video game, not a recreation of actually playing the game. If you want the experiences the writer has nitpicked about, the only way you will ever get it is by actually playing the game of football, not a video counterpart.

Perhaps because I grew up playing video games when Atari football with its 3 men on the field all moving together was the only video game choice, I am more tolerant of games being just a game? At any rate I find this type of article counter productive. THe writer may think he pointed out an equal number of positive and negative issues but the article read to me like one big gripe fest.

I will be buying Madden and I will understand and look past the unrealistic events that will occur at times, after all I'm playing a video game.....

[D Apocalypse]

This is the most enjoyable next-gen Madden I've played since 08. True it isn't perfect in certain areas but for me the gameplay and presentation improvements make it a definite purchase for me and thanks to my $20 credit I earned from Amazon from my NCAA preorder, this game only cost me $39.99.

[rudyjuly2]

Wow. A little tough on some things that we know have been there and continue to be there (defensive play calling as one). It's true that there will be limitations until we get a real physics engine. Continuing tweaks just won't get there.

That said it was a very detailed review. Thanks for that. I'm looking forward to getting this game on Tuesday. I do agree there is no reason to not have NCAA's audible system (although I think it's too open and should be restricted to matching personel sets) and I'd like to see similar controls.

[JT.Iverson]

skipping on madden this year, although i might rent it for a few weeks

[DJ]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Reviewer Impressions: Gameplay

I appreciate the honesty in, not only this partial review, but in a lot of the other reviews that are filtering out for Madden 12. My only question is, where were these reviews last year? Madden 11 had just as many flaws as have been pointed out so far in Madden 12, yet Madden 11 received far higher scores.

Still, I'm glad to see the cookie-cutter reviews disappearing and the journalists doing their duty of holding EA to the flames and calling them out, so to speak, for minimal year-to-year improvements.

I'm headed to the store today to cancel my pre-order. I may pick Madden 12 up at a later date, but for now, I'm fine with hopping on my PS2 and playing Madden 09.