Just another gimmick of an actually football game produced by EA.
The new things show improvement but at the same time they are a step backwards. The whole new thing about being a coach is cool but it doesnt really make the game any more fun. Huge drawbacks to connected career mode are the absence of editing players in any way, fantasy drafts, bringing custom made rosters in, and playing/controlling other teams. That pretty much ruins the mode because all you can do now is play games, practice, and scout which sounds good but sometimes the same old thing gets boring. The new tweet system is cool but again, it doesnt add much fun to the game.
I was the most excited for the gameplay since I played the demo and fell in love with it. For some reason however, the gameplay feels a little different from the demo and seems like its missing something. Players fall down all of the time like their made out of noodles and they get tackled really easily. On the bright side linebackers dont jump 10 feet in the air to swat the ball down anymore but interceptions are much more common this year. Its a normal thing to have at least 4-5 interceptions a game for the user in this game. The gameplay is a lot harder this year on both sides of the ball as well. The opening presentation is good with Jim Nance and Phil Simms and I like how they fixed most of the commentary problems. You will hear repeated lines once in a while but its not a huge deal. One thing that gets me is that there is no more editing sliders during a game. Dont really understand why its not available anymore but it just isnt.
The worst part of the game in my opinion is switching through the menus. They are slow and laggy and are confusing even when you know where to find everything. You would think that paying $60 for the game would make everything perfect but unfortunatly it isnt.
Here is how I rate everything
Connected Careers: 6.0
Gameplay: 7.0
Presentation: 8.5
Menus: 3.0
Features: 5.5
Do NOT get this game brand new like I did. Its deffinently not worth $60. If you can rent it or get it used for half the price then go ahead and try it. For me though and many other of the hardcore madden fans this is garbage.