Take Madden 10, update the rosters, and pull out the core mechanics that make it so great - That's Madden 11.
Concept:
Once again, EA is back at it with the newest addition to the long running Madden franchise. Does it live up to expectations? To put it simply - no. As much as I have always stuck up for the series in the past when hearing negative comments regarding the game's similarities to the previous, "Madden NFL 11" just ended my generosity. EA took "Madden NFL 10", cloned the gameplay, updated the rosters, changed the menu screens, and ripped out everything that made that game so great. Now even if they were to have just completely cloned the game, that would be more respectful. What they did instead was take out the game's best qualities. For example, "Madden 10" was, by far, the most realistic sports game I have ever played in terms of difficulty consistency. You would complete a pass if the ball was well thrown. You would get a big gain if you found the holes. You would make defensive stops when you made a great play call and acted quickly. But no, not this year. You can throw a pass to someone who is wide open, only to have the ball picked off by a guy no where NEAR him, because he decides to go Chuck Norris on us, while the receiver keeps running his route. On the other hand, you can throw a little lob pass into triple coverage with someone like Darrius Heyward-Bey as the receiver, and end up in the end zone. Running stayed the same in the sense that open holes will give you the yardage you deserve, provided you take advantage of it. However, the defensive system in "Madden 11" is so flawed that you will frequently find MULTIPLE holes to cut through and move upfield with. You can close your eyes and still end up in the end zone. Put yourself in the defense's shoes in situations like that. You can make the perfect play call, and still end up having a slow halfback go 95 yards untouched, or have a ball thrown right to the defender, only to have it dropped or have the receiver make an intensely awesome catch. Along with the lack of realism this year is EA's greediness. I have never in my entire LIFE, seen such an effort to suck more green out of the consumer's pockets. Everything costs money. It has gotten to the point where you can lose your team's best players in Franchise mode. And I don't just mean that players can get hurt occasionally. Of course that DOES happen in real life. But here's a situation that doesn't happen in real life. This really happened with me. I started a franchise with the Houston Texans. I simmed the preseason as I always do, and began the regular season ready to go. On the first snap of the game, Matt Schaub breaks his arm. So out of anger, I turn off my console. About an hour later, I retried it. On the 5th play of my opening drive, Schaub goes down with a torn ACL. Out for the season. I tried it again. This time, Andre Johnson went down in the 3rd quarter. I know what you're thinking at this point - "Well so what? How does that have anything to do with EA's money addiction? It's just an annoying game flaw." Well yes, it is an annoying game flaw. But what is sickening to me is that you can actually purchase a DLC at the in-game "Madden Shop" that allows you to play someone who has been injured. Coincidence? I don't think so. Why would the game be so rigged to the extent of having your team's most important players get injured if there was not some underlying purpose? There is seriously no answer to that question, and it disgusts me. You can also buy tokens to improve your team in Ultimate Team mode, as well as improve your superstar in the Superstar mode. Also, online play now costs money. If you don't buy the game new, you have to purchase a license to play online with other players...and that's not to mention the fact that this is quite possibly the worst online connectivity I have ever seen. All of these downloads slowly melt a deep hole in your wallet. Another thing that I just cannot understand is the game's depth chart issues. In a fantasy franchise I did with the Browns, weird things went down. Players played in positions that they shouldn't be in. It may not sound like a big deal, but I've had games decided by this. In one of the first games with the Browns franchise, I noticed that my kicker was on my offensive line. I couldn't even make that up if I wanted to. My kicker. As an offensive lineman. Really? The first time this happened was in a critical 4th and 1 position I had gotten myself into when down by 5 with just over a minute remaining. I hike the ball, step back in the pocket and am sacked immediately. I ended up losing the game 38-33. After the game finished, I went back and looked at the replay. Guess what? The reason I got sacked was because of my kicker. Of course this wasn't surprising given the situation, but come on. The other guy just walked up to me as if Lloyd (kicker) was not even there. It was that easy. I'm not saying I would've won for sure, but I definitely think I had a solid chance given the situation. Due to the game's problem, though, I will never know. This happened multiple times throughout the season. The one that I saw the most, however, was in the cornerback/safety position. Once or twice a game, a corner would let up some kind of ridiculous play that makes you really scratch your head. After close observation and replay, however, I concluded the obvious: the guys in those positions were actually wide receivers. Wide receivers are grayed in on the depth chart for those positions, but they are 25 overall, not to mention the fact that I have MORE players on my roster than is required for the given positions. This is incredibly pathetic, and really something that needs to be addressed by EA. The whole game's experience needs to be addressed, actually.
Graphics and Sound:
I've been looking, and besides a couple different cutscenes, the game's graphical presentation has been left unchanged. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since last year's was so good looking. But still, this is a new year. Leaving things the way they are makes the game feel unfinished. In terms of sound, "Madden NFL 11" falls flat yet again. The soundtrack fails miserably in comparison to last year, and the new commentating by Brad Nessler is enough to make you turn the commentary complete off. That's all I have to say.
Gameplay:
I think the majority of the gameplay information was covered in my bashing of the game in the Concept section, but there are a few notes I can add in. The game runs very smoothly, and glitches are rare. It's very natural feeling, maybe even more so than last year's. Unfortunately, that's not nearly enough to save this game from sub-par mediocrity.
Overall Opinion:
"Madden NFL 11" fails miserably in comparison to previous games of the series. Yes, if this game was made years ago, my opinion would be a bit better in favor. However, a company as experienced as EA cannot seriously sell a game that is significantly worse than the previous year's just because they know people will buy it, along with the countless amounts of worthless DLC purchases along with it. I will continue to play this game for now, so don't be surprised if you see me doing so on Xbox Live. I need my Madden fix, and I need the updated rosters...unfortunately for us consumers, that's exactly what EA's mindset was in the production of the game. As terrible as it may be, people will still buy it, play it, and pay for the pointless little extras thrown in all over the place. That's why I am giving "Madden NFL 11" a 5.5/10.
The Good:
Smooth gameplay; Fun and addictive
The Bad:
A total copy of last year's game, just with more faults; Everything is an add-on that costs money; An obvious lack of testing before release