Madden 10 was better... Before some major patch-work -_-
Now let me start off by saying that I was coming off of NCAA Football 11, which was a fantastic game. The last Madden I played was Madden 10, which I gave a very poor review.
Once of the first things I noticed was the flashy intro, which I bought into. I was really hoping that this game would be decent, but as soon as the menu loaded, my hopes were shot. The menu design was horrid, clunky, and made my 1080p 24" monitor feel like a 10" 240p CRT TV set. But still, I gave it the benefit of the doubt.
So, I navigated the menu to see what was new since Madden 10, and I saw the customize uniform option. I was hopeful because I, personally, thought the Raiders' uniform could use a little more black. This feature was a major disappointment and a waste of space. All you can do is mix and match different pieces of current uniforms, which isn't really customizing, at least not in my book. After all, NCAA Football 11 had this feature right before you were about to play, with presets too! There is no reason to make this a separate menu entry.
After that disappointment, I went to check out the rosters. As I was checking the stats of my favorite players, I noticed a new stat: "Red Spice Swagger." WTF does this do? And I would hardly say Sebastian Janikowski has a 97 "Swag" rating.
After that, I stopped exploring and started to check out features I was familiar with, this time Player Creation. Overall, I thought this feature was ok, but a little watered down from the previous Madden. Though my character did look a little light for being 5'10" and 255lbs; he looked a lot closer to 190lbs.
With a tiny flicker of relief that EA didn't butcher the creation-side of things too badly, I went to Create A Time. This was more or less the same from Madden 10, with one big exception: the roster. Either the NFL downsized about 70%, or Madden forgot to add a lot of the lesser-known players. And it's hard to believe that an NFL team has less than 50 players because that's just barely enough to have a second-string, much less a 3rd string and special teams.
I now have my team! YAY!!! :D Time to start a Franchise, which also looked more of the same. Tweaked some settings, and I felt very comfortable here. This didn't seem too badly watered-down, amazingly. So after I got my Depth-Chart set (The computer has no respect for positions; ie having my second string center starting as a Right Guard), I started my first game against the Vikings, with a Run Balance/3-4 playbook.
===LOADING===
[presentation starts]
What the... ':/
The presentation was sudden, and the voice acting was worse than Madden 2005. Seriously, I've seen better presentation from ESPN NFL 2K5. Now, I'd hate to bring this up, but if I can STILL compare a game that's 7 years old to the best selling (granted the only) NFL game, it says wonders about EA's motives when they release a new edition to the Madden series.
The player models were off scale, and the field was even worse. For a split second, I though I was playing in the AFL; and by that I mean the Arena Football League, not the American Football League.
And time for the kick-- Wait, what's with the Kick Meter!? That's a few steps backwards to say the least. What happened to the right-stick kicking? I found that to be perfectly adequate. But this "new meter" reminded me of the one from NFL Blitz, except way easier to work. In fact it was too easy, and took too long.
Immediately after the kick I noticed the new engine. I felt it was very incomplete and needed A LOT of refinement, if that is even the correct term to use. But I just kept playing trying my absolute best to give this game a fair chance.
After a very quick 3 and out and a excellent punt return (the easier special teams is something I liked), I went to work on offense. Sure enough, the play calling menu also jumped back a few generations. It felt like a blurry, clunky, less-responsive version of Madden 2005's. It takes real programming talent to do that when you're working with hardware that is exponentially faster that the PS2's.
My first play was one of favorite plays, which I almost always execute very well, the HB Toss from the I-Pro formation. And--WTF! Why is my Fullback IN my direct path and NOT blocking ANYONE!? Needless to say, I got hit for a loss of 3. The next play, I ran a HB Counter, same formation. Same exact thing: The Fullback was IN my way, not blocking. He felt more like a linebacker instead of a Fullback. Hit for a loss of 1. After that, I started running from the Singleback formation. So after a few successful runs later, I figured a deep PA pass would get them! Desean Jackson is burning the CB, and the safety was on a blitz. It decision was obvious, a lob for a TD, or so I thought. Aaron Rodgers overthrew desean jackson! How the **** do you overthrow the fastest WR who is WIDE OPEN!? After stalling in the Redzone, I settled for a very easy Field Goal.
Forced another punt, and my drive stalled again. This time I nailed 48 yard FG. Vikings up on O again, inside their 20. Pick 6 FTW!! So, after this, I finally started to ignore the clunky engine and started enjoying the game, if only for a brief minute. Vikings again, inside their 20. Peterson goes between the Tackle and Guard for a 80+ yard rush on a 3-4 defense running a Pinch. One in a million, and total BS considering he broke 3 of my defenders (I don't have a single player on my team below a 70 average, and my LB's consisted of Lamarr Woodley, Brain Cushing, and a created MLB 99 overall).
Trotting through the second quarter, I punted and forced a fumble. I was expecting the football to bounce around like a... er... well a football. It bounced around like a shot (the ball in shot putting).
Ultimately, I ended up shutting off the game before the second half, despite the fact I was up 20-7. The controls sucked (what's with the control pad? I preferred triangle to adjust my coverage... after all most people are RIGHT handed.), poor presentation, a very incomplete game engine, and massive advertising, it was obvious this game was never intended to be a decent football game. As I mentioned earlier, EA's intentions are very clear: Money. And just the very nerve that any editor would give this game an 8.5 overall makes me think someone paid off the editor...
=====AFTER APPLYING LATEST UPDATE=====
So the above specifically refers to the ORIGINAL 1.0 release. I just downloaded the latest update, and it seems there was some major behind the scenes work.
The Run game now is actually pretty fun, and its great to see a fullback that actually blocks instead of standing in the way; the blocking AI is much better than before. Ball physics are better, and presentation seems to be touched up, but just a tad. Still pretty bad with a lot of fake enthusiasm and bad timing. Kicking the ball is still bad, but the mechanics are much better overall. The graphics are a hit or miss, and the scaling appears to drastically in the other direction. Specifically, I just played a game where I had to kick a 43 yard field goal, but it felt like 70 yards; needless to say, it was actually 43 yards, and Janikowski nailed it with room to spare.
Another improvement is controls. I've noticed some lag with the truck-stick, but it wasn't perfect in NCAA 11 either. Adjusting coverage can now be done either with the control pad or triangle. I found myself using both.
While the latest update addresses a lot of the mechanical flaws with the game, it still isn't a great game by any means. There is still way too much advertising, and the presentation shouldn't be that bad. It was much better in Madden 10. Madden 11 still feels like it took a few steps backward in many regards. It's mediocre overall now versus the abysmal abomination I gave it before and the fact that EA released such as broken game for $60 is beyond me. If I'm paying $60 (good thing I don't), there damn well better be someone testing it out and revealing all the obvious flaws to the developers BEFORE the release. The consumers should NEVER discover a major and obvious flaw for a $60 premium, and the advertising doesn't help either. I was under the impression you pay premiums to *avoid* ads, but I guess EA has some pretty deep pockets to fill...