A highly hated on game that deserves a little more praise.
Unfortunately, it also eliminates good things from the previous Maddens such as the trophy room. I don't know why they did this, but I always liked keeping track of my progress while playing but oh well. I can live with it.
One of the biggest improvements is the "Pro-Tak" system. No more of the same tackles you used to see in Madden '09 and above. I don't know how else to describe it. The tackles are different every time.
This brings me to the newly implemented "gang tackles". I thought this was pretty cool. Yeah, it should probably take more than 2 people to tack down Richard Seymour after he intercepts a pass and that's what this is about.
I like how you can't run full-speed after one step. EA actually added acceleration which gives more of a sense of realism.
It's an improvement. A+
Next up is the "fighting for the fumble" feature. I thought it was pretty cool at first, but then it got old. I hate button mashing. However, I think it makes it more fair than a technical flip of the coin. At least it gives you a chance to recover the ball.
The create-a-team feature is still alive and well. I would have liked to see more options for logos, though. Maybe even a feature where you can make your own logo at EA Sports and upload it from there, but whatever.
My franchise team is set in Boston, Mass and I could have swore I heard the city name "Boston" be said at the beginning of the game. It creeped me out seeing as I had to type it in. I wasn't really paying attention either, so I thought it was in my crazy, paranoid head.
However, at the Extra Point I heard it again. So now I knew I wasn't crazy and was rather impressed by it. That they can say a name that I had to type in. It wasn't even Microsoft Sam style, it was really smooth. Perhaps it was pre-scripted for major city names, but still.
Finally, my favorite improvement has to be the Extra Point and the Halftime Reports. See, in franchise mode after your game you can choose the program Extra Point. This updates you on what's happening around the league. Updating you on scores and players of the week. It's all put together pretty smoothly.
The Halftime Report is the same deal. At halftime you get to see scores of the rest of the games going on/that went on. I haven't gotten too far into my franchise yet but maybe there will be other things in these reports, such as standings and division leaders.
Now it's time for the jeers.
My major disappointment was with the Superstar mode. It was my favorite career mode in Madden '09. I logged 3 seasons into that thing. It had things like E-Mail and having to pick your agent. But they scrapped the E-Mail idea and already had an agent hired for you. In '09 you got E-Mails from your coach saying how well you did or how he wants you to be the leader of the franchise. You got E-Mails from your mother and your #1 fan Dexter. Admittedly it got old after a few years pro seeing the same E-Mails over and over, but it added personality to your Superstar in a way.
I'm sure they could have improved it somehow but instead decided to do away with it.
Next up on my jeer list is the referees. I'm glad they finally put them on the field but this isn't how I dreamed it. Staring up at my ceiling at night for hours thinking about the referees on the field. Instead they are a frigging nuisance.
Whenever there is a play for a wide receiver to run behind the middle referee I end up throwing the ball away because the receiver can't reach it. Why? Because the receiver doesn't even make an effort to go around him and the ref doesn't even try to get out of the way. They end up rubbing against each other for a good half of a second which is enough to screw up a 3rd down conversion.
One time during a kickoff return I decided to play chicken with one of the refs. I ran at him full speed to see if he would get out of the way. He doesn't even make an effort to move until I run right into him.
Stupid AI is STUPID. FD*
I think that's all I have to say on this game. I'm in the middle of a franchise game right now with my created team vs the Rams. I decided to make a review when the referee screwed me over for the eleventy billionth time.
I'm not big on multiplayer in these Madden games, but now that there is co-op I will give that a try and possibly update this review with my impressions.
I know there are things I haven't touched upon such as the new Madden Moments, the soundtrack, the commentary, John Madden talking while the commentary is going, and EA selling the other half of the game in DLC, but this review is way longer than I wanted it to be.
I'll just say the music is fine. It doesn't have a big enough impact to make or break the game so I don't really care for it.
Overall I will rate this game an 8.0. It's good but not great. It could have been better and might have been if they worked on it for more than a year. The cheers outweigh the jeers, for most of the cheers are something that was needed in these games for some time while the jeers are just something you will have to deal with but will get over.
*A new grade in Canada standing for Failing with Dishonor.