OS Fact or Fiction: Is Madden for Real This Time?

Feature Article

Submitted on: 09/06/2012 by Chris Sanner, Jayson Young

Chris Sanner: Fact.

Someone compared Madden NFL 13 to NBA 2K10 in a blog post of mine earlier last week. I think that's perhaps the best comparison I can come up with for the game. Yes, there are still numerous issues which crop up, and yes the new engine is with many quirks, but the foundation has been laid down now to the point where next season we could see a game that really creeps into greatness when things are polished up even more than where they are today.

The infinity engine really does make a huge difference in the game and gives it a much different feel and with some more tuning and tweaking via a couple of patches I'd suspect Madden NFL 13 ends up a very darned good game as it is. Then attention turns to Madden NFL 14 and what we should expect. If even half of the legacy issues are figured out, the missing elements from franchise are implemented into connected careers, and presentation is expanded upon -- all realistic goals -- Madden will be at the same level without a doubt as it's peers.

This year, you saw not just the Infinity engine and it's various benefits in each facet of the game -- but you also saw Madden move forward in the passing game with a new approach to icon passing which is subtle yet good. You also saw the game balance itself out a bit more than in year's past, at least to me. I've had some of the best games I've ever had in EA Football in Madden and while the game still cuts corners in realism, you can nitpick other series in the same way and arrive at the same conclusions. What matters to me at this point is that Madden is good, balanced football and it's now just a couple of real steps away from incredibly realistic football as well.

What is missing in this series now are subtle things that, if/when they are implemented will truly take this series into the Game of the Year conversation.

The Madden team made a brilliant decision to make big moves here at the end of this console generation. So long as they don't blow up the bridge and start over when the new consoles hit late next year I'm sure the franchise is set for a bright future from this point onwards.

Jayson Young: Fiction

The only areas where Madden NFL 13 performs at or near the top of sports gaming are its redone online franchise mode, spectacular dynamic lighting and highly detailed NFL stadiums. In all other aspects, Madden NFL 13 remains significantly behind the standards being set by industry leaders like FIFA, MLB The Show, NBA 2K and EA NHL.

While Madden NFL 13 looks attractive in still screenshots, its warts start appearing as soon as the ball is snapped, with weightless, exaggerated player movement, outdated blocking interactions, dumbfounding AI decision-making, outlandish Monday Night Raw collisions and inhuman limb contortions created by the new Infinity Engine. If beautifully animated franchises like NBA 2K and MLB The Show are poetry in motion, then Madden NFL 13's gameplay is a third grade spelling bee in motion -- unpolished, unsophisticated and full of glaring mistakes.

With an abundance of missing options and lost features, Madden NFL 13's offline experience is arguably worse this year than it was in Madden NFL 12. Virtual Twitter feeds are cool, but not at the expense of coach mode, NCAA roster transfers, fantasy drafts, roster editing, player editing, custom playbooks, custom gameplans, defensive camera perspective, multi-user offline franchise, etc.

Another potentially great mode, online team play, remains completely neglected, having made zero improvements since its Madden NFL 11 debut. EA's own FIFA and NHL series offer the ability to field full teams of human players and compete in online clubs or leagues, yet Madden NFL 13 remains limited to one-off 3 vs. 3 matches that don't even include fatigue or injuries. Madden NFL 13's online team play feature is actually worse now than when it debuted, due to the removal of the "behind the defense" camera.

High sales numbers don't always correlate to high product quality, and this console generation, EA Tiburon's Madden franchise has essentially become the Metallica of sports gaming -- still selling copies by the truckload at retail, but failing to satisfy hardcore fans who remember how great the brand used to be and how far it has fallen in recent years.

Madden NFL 13 Videos

Member Comments

# 61 roadman @ 09/06/12 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PVarck31


	Just wanted to point out something I noticed here. The last site poll asked how we felt about Madden 13. And the vast majority voted great, or good. Yet in this article the vast majority pretty much hate it. Not trying to be a "smart guy." I just find it interesting.

Honeymoon period over with or others are playing the game.

# 62 SteelerSpartan @ 09/06/12 11:09 PM

Fiction.....

Especially for the type of Football Gamer I am

To me this game feels like its made for a bunch of Online League Managers. And everything else outside of that realm was an afterthought/rush job...

If your not playing in an Online League then I don't know how you could stomach all the craziness that ensues with

The CPU AI Clock Management
CPU Team Management Logic(Roster Moves/Draft/Schemes)
Unrealistic Stats
Sliders that are broken in CC
Broken Auto-Subs
Limited/Scripted nature of an Offline/SP CC....You can't even select the CPU's Uniform(Among Many others)

+plus

still deal with all the Legacy Issues messing up the works in the gameplay.

Infinity is in its infancy....It brings some needed variety to the tackling but doesn't extend much beyond that

The Revamped passing game was an admirable effort but Im starting to wonder how much mileage we'll get out of that....Are they just going to say "whelp we don't have to add much to that for another half decade now"

Adding 430 new animations to that area of the game was good....but Every year it should be getting attention and additional 100-300 new ones....Same goes for the rest of the areas of the game

The Penalties/Fatigue systems woefully misrepresent what goes on in the real NFL

And we could talk for ages about what the Player Movement system lacks and how awful the running animations look...+How the CPU AI still pursues Tecmo Style.....And even with this GameChanger program, we don't know how EA views this area of their game

Do they even want to develop a realistic momentum system and take away the ability of Zig-Zagging in the name of their "Fun Factor"

Im just not even going to talk about OL/DL and Pocket Formation/Pass Rush.

And to top it all off...They went all Bizarro with the Presentation again....How the hell did do you do that Tiburon.....You spent all that money to have the pros come in and show you the proper Replay angles.....and then just say "F** It" the next year??????
Even after everybody loved that in 12

# 63 leathrneck34 @ 09/06/12 11:15 PM

They need to simply incorporate a arcade or sim slider lol like need for speed used to have and other racing games have. So those who love zig zagging and poor juke animations and bricks for OLinemen can have em and rack up their 75-55 games all day long. Meanwhile the sim gamers can have their authentic football simulation 13-7 games. Not to say even playing sim you can't have a 45-39 game here and there but not every game.

# 64 SamoanSteelerFromAus @ 09/07/12 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelerSpartan


	Fiction..... Especially for the type of Football Gamer I am To me this game feels like its made for a bunch of Online League Managers. And everything else outside of that realm was an afterthought/rush job... If your not playing in an Online League then I don't know how you could stomach all the craziness that ensues with The CPU AI Clock Management CPU Team Management Logic(Roster Moves/Draft/Schemes) Unrealistic Stats Sliders that are broken in CC Broken Auto-Subs Limited/Scripted nature of an Offline/SP CC....You can't even select the CPU's Uniform(Among Many others) +plus still deal with all the Legacy Issues messing up the works in the gameplay. Infinity is in its infancy....It brings some needed variety to the tackling but doesn't extend much beyond that The Revamped passing game was an admirable effort but Im starting to wonder how much mileage we'll get out of that....Are they just going to say "whelp we don't have to add much to that for another half decade now" Adding 430 new animations to that area of the game was good....but Every year it should be getting attention and additional 100-300 new ones....Same goes for the rest of the areas of the game The Penalties/Fatigue systems woefully misrepresent what goes on in the real NFL And we could talk for ages about what the Player Movement system lacks and how awful the running animations look...+How the CPU AI still pursues Tecmo Style.....And even with this GameChanger program, we don't know how EA views this area of their game Do they even want to develop a realistic momentum system and take away the ability of Zig-Zagging in the name of their "Fun Factor" Im just not even going to talk about OL/DL and Pocket Formation/Pass Rush. And to top it all off...They went all Bizarro with the Presentation again....How the hell did do you do that Tiburon.....You spent all that money to have the pros come in and show you the proper Replay angles.....and then just say "F** It" the next year?????? Even after everybody loved that in 12

Adding 430 new animations to that area of the game was good....but Every year it should be getting attention and additional 100-300 new ones....Same goes for the rest of the areas of the game

^Yes. Every year hundreds of animations should be added. How about 100-200 new tackle/break tackle animations? If they did that every year imagine the replay value of this game on the sheer experience of seeing new tackles after playing it for months on end.
Instead they touch up presentation and features (that still leave so much to be desired) and only sprinkle in a few animations here and there. I'm sick of seeing the same one on one tackle animations especially the slow drawn out ones that are just an eyesore.

Im strictly a gameplay guy and i'm not fond of bringing up the 2k series but I was seeing new animations in APF 2k8 three years after I purchased the game which astounded me. I'm baffled that so much hype is around presentation for this years game and then i play my first game and get sick of the replays after the first few plays.

I just don't understand how people can say this game is the real deal when the Oline and Dline interactions are as simple and predictable as an nfl game on N64 or PS1. Oline and Dline is the most important aspect of football, ask any coach, yet this is below mediocre in M13 - a next gen game.

Check out a vid from that Ryan Moody fella if you can't see the huge discrepancies with it. APF mopped the floor with madden in that area which is sad for a game made years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUUevrKCm_8&feature=relmfu

# 65 DJ @ 09/07/12 12:48 AM

Faction (see what I did there?)

Yes, Madden's developers should be applauded for not just updating Madden 12. Introducing the Infinity Engine was a bold step forward, especially considering it was added so late in the Madden 13 development cycle. Is it perfect? No. But, I like the fact that EA actually made a step outside of its comfort zone.

The commentary is much improved and the crowd feels more alive, although both still have work ahead.

Connected Careers is another sign of EA trying something new. Again, not perfect and I understand the push-back from those that want to play the game the way they see fit. I don't agree with CC being the ONLY way to play Madden, and would like to see EA bring back other modes of play going forward. With that said, CC does freshen up a beyond-stale Franchise Mode, even in its limited state. The potential for this mode is great, and I hope EA continues to build upon it.

With all that said, Madden still feels well behind MLB The Show, NBA 2K and FIFA in terms of a complete sports title. Madden still doesn't have the life and excitement you find in NBA and FIFA, and lacks the simulation excellence of MLB The Show. In many ways, Madden feels incomplete compared to the games I've mentioned above. Modes, animations, you name it, never seem fully fleshed out. The overall immersion is still lacking.

Madden 13 is an improvement over what we have been presented with on this generation of consoles, but let's be clear: much work is left to be done. I do think with the current people in place that Madden will get there, I just don't know if it will be as quick as everyone would like.

I'm enjoying Madden 13 for what it is. I could nit-pick the game over and over and convince myself to trade it in tomorrow morning, but I refuse to do that. I bought this game for entertainment and so far, Madden 13 has proven to be a good purchase.

# 66 Gotmadskillzson @ 09/07/12 01:09 AM

It is a made for tv movie. It has it's good parts and it's bad parts. But being it is made for tv they weren't allowed to push the boundaries of creativity and had to keep everything PG.

Game is fun.....

Connected Career Mode, didn't live up to the hype, IMO they should have saved that for next gen when they had everything working and included in it already. Good idea in theory to have one centralized mode. however it was missing too many things that people were use to doing. It was way too catered towards online league play and that was it's ultimate down fall.

Feel bad for them in a way because they been working 2 years on it. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if it gets totally scrapped come next year.

# 67 roadman @ 09/07/12 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gotmadskillzson


	Feel bad for them in a way because they been working 2 years on it. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if it gets totally scrapped come next year.

I'm not so sure on that.

It's been in the planning stages since 4 yrs ago and worked on for two. I doubt if it becomes protak 2.0, especially since Josh Looman has stated this will be a stable (CCM) for the next decade.

# 68 SamoanSteelerFromAus @ 09/07/12 01:26 AM

I dont know about a lot of people, but I simply don't give a sh*t about a virtual twitter feed.
For one, I dont' even use twitter and two; I don't really get much satisfaction seeing my name in a scripted side bar of quotes that will repeat themselves sooner than later.
#Gimmick

# 69 maddcatt @ 09/07/12 01:35 AM

FACT

I only play online and I'm having a blast playing this game against friends

It's a new engine and it's hardly perfected yet, but I only see great things in the future with madden
....once this new engine is perfected

I'm 46 yrs old and this is the most fun I have ever had playing a football game and that's all that should really matter when playing a sports video game.

I don't ever expect perfection when trying to emulate a real NFL game ...i'm just happy being able to play any kind of football at my age, even if it is just a video game ...LOL

Keep it going EA ..you are sure headed in the right direction

# 70 frankwyte81 @ 09/07/12 02:17 AM

Fiction. Madden can never be real unless it fixes at least 75% of it's legacy issues. They also need to revamp the blocking system and a.i. Their working with old tech with horrible programming. This is the distinguishing difference between EA Tiburon games and 2K sports, PROGRAMMING. I really believe EA programmers are out of touch with the games they make, old guys sitting at their desk drinking tea and eating briskets.

The Infinity engine is a step in the right direction but it's not the answer at the moment. A lot of people are riding the high of the engine and ignoring the same problems that plagued this franchise for years. I can't ignore them, they hamper gameplay. The same people saying this game is where it needs to be, their either EA Sports fanboys or they don't know football or you can talk to them in a month when NBA 2k13 comes out and see if Madden stands up to that. I was a fan of Madden in the Playstation 1 and 2 days, but this generation, the Madden team can't figure it out. When the infinity engine allows for realistic wrap-up tackles and real-life collisions, not tackles that look like the players were shot by a shotgun at close range like what you see in Madden 13. Also when the blocking, a.i. logic, cornerbacks that jump like Olympic high jumpers are gone, football with no physics are gone, footballs going through wrist or fingers are gone, when weight and momentum really matters, player specific animations and other legacy issues are improved, then Madden will be improved to my satisfaction.

# 71 SamoanSteelerFromAus @ 09/07/12 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankwyte81


	Fiction. Madden can never be real unless it fixes at least 75% of it's legacy issues. They also need to revamp the blocking system and a.i. Their working with old tech with horrible programming. This is the distinguishing difference between EA Tiburon games and 2K sports, PROGRAMMING. I really believe EA programmers are out of touch with the games they make, old guys sitting at their desk drinking tea and eating briskets. The Infinity engine is a step in the right direction but it's not the answer at the moment. A lot of people are riding the high of the engine and ignoring the same problems that plagued this franchise for years. I can't ignore them, they hamper gameplay. The same people saying this game is where it needs to be, their either EA Sports fanboys or they don't know football or you can talk to them in a month when NBA 2k13 comes out and see if Madden stands up to that. I was a fan of Madden in the Playstation 1 and 2 days, but this generation, the Madden team can't figure it out. When the infinity engine allows for realistic wrap-up tackles and real-life collisions, not tackles that look like the players were shot by a shotgun at close range like what you see in Madden 13. Also when the blocking, a.i. logic, cornerbacks that jump like Olympic high jumpers are gone, football with no physics are gone, footballs going through wrist or fingers are gone, when weight and momentum really matters, player specific animations and other legacy issues are improved, then Madden will be improved to my satisfaction.

...PREACH...

# 72 bukktown @ 09/07/12 03:56 AM

Fact.

For the first time this generation Madden can leave the kiddie table and sit with the grown ups.

Between the demo, early release and retail, I feel like I've been playing it for a month and I still can't get my fill.

# 73 swac07 @ 09/07/12 06:05 AM

(Fiction)I agree with Jayson Young

# 74 TreyIM2 @ 09/07/12 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theylie


	Sooooo, NBA2K works only with blu ray now. Its seems 2k can deliever a top notch product year after year. They not limited with disk size... Your point makes no sense.

To u it doesn't because I neglected to get into the gaming engine's limitations. 2Ks games have differently built and structured engines, if u don't understand that. I think too many ppl comparing EA's to 2K's game don't think about that. 2K's games would also be even better with Blu-ray, too.

Also remember that the Visual Concept folks, who used to work on EA Sports games, developed the 2KSports gaming engines so they basically took what they learned from working with more rigid EA Sports gaming engines and improved upon them

# 75 je_2512 @ 09/07/12 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreyIM2


	I say FACT - I think this new dev leader is making good on trying to make this game better and more realistic. Remember, the team, what, doubled in size for Madden 12 while there was still hangover from what the Ian team had done setting up 12 and this team has now had 13 to build on all by themselves and they've done a good job. Now, the one thing that bothers me, and makes me mad, is what they will possibly need to alter, drastically or otherwise, for 14. EA usually has to taper, cut and move things around to be able to implement new additions and changes on with these current systems. The, uhh, maddening part is how much better this game could have possibly been LOOONG AGO, even with a smaller Madden dev team, if MS just went with effin Blu-ray. Bigger disc space increases the data capacity of what devs can do on one disc. DVDs hold this game back and causes all that tapering, cutting and moving around. Anybody want to take this personally and argue this, again, go educate urself. Not trying to start some debate. It's FACT and there ARE games on PS3 that only needed one Blu-ray disc when that very same game had to be released on multiple DVDs for the 360. MS messed that up for all of us. If EA still had wanted to double up on the team with having Blu-ray copacity for both systems, sheesh, Madden would probably be approaching if not already at legendary status with 13.

Bull!!!
Ea has stated on multiple occasions that disk space is NOT an issue, at least not yet!! Don't believe me? Look at Last years dev groups posts!
Your putting the blame in the wrong place...I now believe it's an issue of either talent, or desire, as to why this game fell short once again.

# 76 josephid @ 09/07/12 09:04 AM

Fact and fiction, fact part, it plays like a sim, fiction, I like the fact that I throw a lot of interceptions. I would rather have to worry about where to throw and fear a pick, then mindlessly chuck the ball up.

A great game is both sim and arcade.

# 77 tril @ 09/07/12 09:32 AM

Its neither fact nor fiction.
I agree that Madden 13 on the field is the best effort for EA in a while. Ive skipped alot of years so I cant compare Maddens yearly releases. I can only compare gameplay with the verisons that Ive owned from the past.

I agree with what Jayson said about the weightless, exaggerated player movement, outlandish Monday Night Raw collisions and inhuman limb contortions created by the new Infinity Engine. It would have been niice to see injuries tied into these inhuman limb contortions.

Its unfortunate that EA didnt test this game more before release. It seems as though, EA needs a solid expereinced qc team. The bugs, and game play features that get by are really head scratchers.

a quick example, which happens to bother me alot is: How does one give camera options to quick game modes, and not offer it in on line or off line ccm mode. They say its becuase of server issues in head to head competition, thast fine, but wouldnt smomeone in the decision making process still include it in the off line ccm mode. There are still more off line gamers than on line.

excluding a basic season or mutli-season mode, while revamping fracnchise mode was also a huge misstep.

Presentation is solid this year but still incomplete.

Knowing EA theyll somehow take a step back next year by ommitting something that has potential t in this years version.

# 78 jwtucker710 @ 09/07/12 09:38 AM

Partially "real" & "fiction." Without repeating on what most posters have already said, this year's Madden is the best since, in my view, 2005. The new collision/tackling system (or Infinity engine) seems to work most of the time, but is littered with glitches, some of which are annoying, and I sure hope EA can work in a patch to correct these. I understand it is not an easy task of programming to instill motion to that of life-like proportions. However, watching a player get hit and then somehow have a certain kind of programming seizure is unacceptable.
Have not delved into the new "career" mode yet, as it has replaced the Franchise mode. Another issue that I have is the chance to import your NCAA 13 players. This is the first time they have prevented this. Why? I don't know if a patch would be able to implement this, but it would be a great addition.
Other than that, I like this year's game. Plays very realistic but other times it proves it's just another video game.

# 79 phenom2311 @ 09/07/12 11:42 AM

Definitely fiction.

# 80 scoonie05 @ 09/07/12 11:48 AM

Polls doesn't matter to them, only sales. Point blank!!!......Money talk and BS walks. FACT

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