Chris' Madden NFL 11 Review - RaychelSnr's Blog

RaychelSnr's Blog

Chris' Madden NFL 11 Review

Posted on August 9, 2010 at 02:56 PM.

(50)

One note before I get started here, this is from a 'borrowed' retail version of the game, so my time has been kind of limited with the full game. However, I have played enough to feel good enough about putting a review out. I'll possibly add to this review in a couple more days with some more thoughts. So if, by some strange chance, you haven't made up your mind by then, hopefully those extended thoughts will help you one way or the other.

Pros

Running Game - EA once again nailed the running game in Madden like they did with NCAA. The blocking is much improved and the action in the trenches is just so much better than it has been.

The Feel - Madden feels as if it's big time again, which is always a good thing. I can't put my finger on exactly why this is, but the game has a different feel this year which I think helps the overall quality.

Atmosphere - I think the addition of stadium sounds, the authentic music and crowd chants, they're all moving in the right direction. While indeed, it could be said there is room for improvement here, I could say the same thing about every sports game.

Passing is tighter - The route running is much better this year, the animations are solid. I'm a believer in the passing game this year, although like I said on the Radio Show last night -- I have a slight fear the quarterbacks and passing game might be too tight over time resulting in an overpowering offense.

Dual Stick Controls - Madden's control scheme has gone from an abomination of button mashing to something more like NHL, with dual analog controls. There's A LOT more that can be done with these (see: Backbreaker), but the new controls are a big step forward for the franchise.

Pro-tak/Locomotion - I can't separate the two because they make so much of a difference with the game. I think this might be the big reason for the different feel of the game. I might add I really want to get some dual hit tackles and whatnot back in the game, we need more of a free form animation system still -- but don't kid yourself, Pro-Tak is the best system for tackling outside of Backbreaker ever, in some ways it could be comparable.

Purgatory

Animations - There's stuff that can be liked and disliked here. The skating is definitely toned down but not quite out this year. But the new additions are substantial -- but oftentimes not quite implemented in the most effective way. My emotions are mixed here.

Commentary - Lock Gus Johnson and Chris Collingsworth in the booth next year for a week, have them deliver thousands upon thousands of lines. Kudos to EA for the choice, these guys are perfect for Madden. But the repetitive lines and out of place over the top excitement needs to be tweaked.

Cons

Play Action Passing - This is a patchable offense I think, but the Play-Action passes are just off this year. Definitely a downer.

Special Teams - I think EA misdefined what the word special in special teams mean. Any good football coach will tell you special teams are a huge part of the game, they determine 'little' things like field position and whatnot. This aspect of the game, while not completely broken, is very close to that.

Defense - Whereas NCAA's defensive game was quite solid, Madden's has a bunch of issues from defensive behavior, to secondary play, really just a bunch of little issues that add up substantially. Let's not forget that defense is still a bore to play.

Franchise Mode - Let's just put it this way, both Dynasty and Franchise are abominations, they are boring, stale, and they have few redeeming qualities to make you want to play them if you've ever experienced them in the past. This hurts the game's replayability...a lot.

Superstar Mode - If the competition in this arena weren't so weak, I'd say Superstar mode was one of the worst of it's kind. Instead, I'll simply say it's a bore to play, there's no realism involved, and I see no reason you'd even want to touch this mode if you've played it any of the last couple of years. Bore of the same. (not a typo)

The Verdict

How the success from NCAA to Madden got lost in translation I don't know. But we now know NCAA is the best playing football game ever with Madden trailing it in just about every category on the gameplay front, albeit slightly. Madden is still fun to play on the field, and if you don't own Madden NFL 10 and if you are an NFL fan, this is a no brainer of a purchase. Madden NFL 11 is the best Madden yet on next-gen consoles, which is how it should be. However, if you are a casual football fan then NCAA is the best option for you -- unless you hate the college game. Madden is solid, above average, and definitely not a bad game. It's just not great, and people expect nothing less.

Chris' Madden NFL 11 Score:

My ratings explained.

Chris is the Executive Editor of Operation Sports and maintains this blog on the site. He is also a native Oklahoman and avid storm chaser. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisSnr.

Comments

# 1 uiucjpo @ Aug 9

Now this is how you write a review.

# 2 King LeJon #23 @ Aug 9

very well written. Thank you for the honesty.

# 3 uiucjpo @ Aug 9

I will disagree on one point. I think pro-tak is POTENTIALLY one of the best tackling systems ever.... when it engages. But it's not there yet. I'll gladly take the 2k canned 2 man tackles that engage every time you'd expect, rather than really nice pro-tak gang tackles that only engage maybe 1/3 of the time, with the other 2/3 the additional tacklers just bounce off like nothing happened.

But seriously, this is what a review should look like. Not a rehash of all the features, but actual impressions of the features. Very well done.

# 4 rudyjuly2 @ Aug 9

This review was more like it. Pros and cons - the way it should be. I don't care if a review isn't pretty and filled with headers and pretty things. Just give me the lowdown on the stuff I care about.

# 5 roadman @ Aug 9

Good review, but with no mention of gameflow/gameplan?

# 6 Randiesel75 @ Aug 9

Chris, liked the review, buddy. Short and to the point, with many of the items that were touched upon on the OS call last night.

# 7 MCNABB51BOI @ Aug 9

im sorry but you think NCAA is the best playing football game ever i cant take this review to serious.

# 8 RaychelSnr @ Aug 9

@McNabb51, name me one better then -- because unless there was a game I don't remember...nothing from the past generations compares to the overall gameplay packages of today's games. NFL 2K5 and the Madden's/NCAA's from past generations are a noticeable step down from today's games.

# 9 RaychelSnr @ Aug 9

@roadman - I'll comment on Gameflow in another article. I should've mentioned that in the first part, but I want to take a deeper look into it and what I think. If you need to know, does it retract or add to the gameplay experience I'll just say: both -- depending on a number of factors.

# 10 RaychelSnr @ Aug 9

@all -- This is the format the OS reviews will be moving towards in the future. But for the next release season (through December) you are stuck with the old, antiquated reviews

# 11 jWILL253 @ Aug 9

I will say this: Madden 11 is good, but it's not really groundbreaking anymore.

What I mean is, when a new gameplay addition came to the last gen Maddens, I got excited. IMO, both the Hit Stick and Vision Cone were executed to perfection. Nowadays, when a feature is added, I feel like "What part of the gameplay is THIS feature gonna break?" Ideas like Gameflow, Locomotion, and even the animations seem good, but they lack polish, and seem to show poor execution on the devs' part.

That's my only gripe with Madden 11: it seems that they lack execution with the features added. Maybe it's just me...

# 12 Pacman83 @ Aug 9

@ McNabb51Boi
Isn't "best playing" a point of perception anyway? No one can't take YOU serious, you don't even present a valid discussion point, nice trollish type reply though...

Away on topic, good reasonable review, although time will tell how the game will pan out. Animations are kinda stale, new engine is needed. Presentation/commentary also need improvement, as does game modes. With the state of Sports games today with these areas, i'd expect Madden to step it up, but at least we're getting somewhere.

Anyway thanks for the review man.

# 13 bigsmallwood @ Aug 9

@MMChris: madden 05 and 06 PS2/Xbox NCAA 06 Xbox, and NFL 2K5 are all better playing games on the field than NCAA 11. NCAA 11 is very good, but those games are not a step down.

# 14 swaldo @ Aug 9

Is your score 3.5 out of 4 or 5? Boy I'd like to see the hail-storm if you did the main Madden review and gave it a score of 7/10!

And personally I think 2K5/APF is still the king. Although I'll wait for a completely patched, tuned & slidered NCAA 11 to make up my mind completely on that. Would make for an interesting article and debate, but I certainly don't think EA nailed it so well as to make everyone forget 2K5.

# 15 RaychelSnr @ Aug 9

@swaldo: Check out the link below for an explanation of the rating --

http://www.operationsports.com/MMChr...lemental-post/

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