An improvement of sorts...
Madden 13, however, represents the first time on this console generation that I have enjoyed extended gaming sessions with Madden, and this fact alone has made it worth the purchase.
I will offer the following observations with the caveat that I rarely play online, so my comments only concern the offline content:
1. The vaunted Infinity Engine- People considering whether or not to purchase Madden 13 need to know this: The game engine is terrible. It was terrible when they released it six years ago, and it is terrible now. The Infinity Engine does not come across as a totally new engine, but rather as a feature or overlay to the traditional Madden mechanics. And yes, it improves the game play- particularly the smoothness of running plays in real time. What it does not do is enhance realism or produce anything like real-world physics. In fact, the collisions and physical interactions one sees on screen are the farthest thing from realism one can imagine: players who tumble on the ground for no reason, arms clip straight through bodies, awkward tackle animations that result in odd and, in some cases, strangely homoerotic poses. This is all highlighted by the game's insistence on numerous and very long instant replay sequences which serve only to accentuate the flaws of the "engine". Yes, every tackle looks different, but few tackles look good. And the "classic" Madden graphical flaws are still present, such as spirals that reverse rotation in mid-air and comical running animations. Despite all of this, however, the improvement in game play over previous versions make all of this wackiness somewhat endearing, almost in the same way that early 90s translation errors made certain JRPGS endearing. The Infinity Engine is less a revolution and more of a gimmick along the lines of "Liquid AI" (for those who have followed the series for a while)-a marketing slogan that is essentially a set of tweaks that make the game more enjoyable to play. It does nothing to cure Madden's fundamental woes, but it does make the terrible game engine playable and, in this version, enjoyable.
2. QB Mechanics- Two in-game mechanics really add a good bit of fun to the package. It seems that the developers have severely toned down or perhaps turned off the dreadful auto dropback feature from previous games. In an attempt to simulate the fact that certain plays require QBs to take a 3 or 5 step drop, it locked in the drop animation and did not allow you to step up in the pocket to avoid the blitz. This year, it seems that you have more control over the QB from the point of the snap. This maybe a little too "arcadey" for some people, but it gives the game more of the classic Madden feel. In the same vein, the pass trajectory system works nicely. More so than in previous iterations of the game, you have more control over leading your receiver and dropping passes in over the coverage. Passes no longer warp to their targets.
3. Aesthetics- The dynamic lighting really adds an element of visual realism to the game. The lighting for each weather pattern in each stadium seems uncannily accurate, to the point that a night game in Dallas produces the same lighting effect in the game as it does on TV. The 3D grass and helmet reflections look terrific as well. EA should be given credit for producing this level of graphical nuance.
4. Frame rate- The frame rate in this game still lags. On field animations stutter during cut scenes and there is absolutely no reason for the game to freeze for a few seconds when cycling through uniforms. This has been in an issue in almost every version of Madden on this console generation and several other EA sports titles. It is totally unacceptable from a AAA property.
5. Career Mode- I have not done too much with the new career mode, but I am not so much disturbed by the inability to play offline multiplayer franchises as I am the omission of a simple season mode where you can control all 32 teams. For years, I would simulate the current NFL season in Madden week-by-week, playing as many games as possible and seeing how the in-game results would differ from the actual NFL outcomes. I would then make all sorts of trades and roster adjustments and do it all again. This, for me, was one of the major drawing cards of Madden. I can live with a single team offline franchise, but I would rather have the season option.
6. Xbox Live Limitations- If you have an Xbox but do not have a Gold subscription, most of the online content (beyond multiplayer) is locked down. This will be a huge problem if it extends to midseason roster updates.
As always, Madden is far from perfect and the game never properly tries to correct all of its most glaring flaws. One can hope that EA will do this on the next generation of consoles. What Madden 13 does is make this flawed package playable and fun for the first time in six years. The fact that the game can be recommended because of this speaks to how putrid the franchise has been, but at least video game football fans have a fun football game to accompany the 2012-2013 season.