Madden NFL 12 Review (360/PS3)

[adfletch71]

Haven't got the game yet and still on the fence. From what other posters are saying, there are issues from past years that haven't gotten fixed yet. Blocking, wr/cb interaction, punt return and kickoff blocking..etc. I think Madden has tried too dum down it's consumer base with it's interations over the years, thinking this is how the NFL should be. Thank GOD for NFL2k5, backbreaker and ALLPRO2k8, NBA2k11 and THE SHOW. These games have set a standard in the sports gaming world and anything less is unacceptable at this point. Each one has its flaws for sure, bu the fundamentals are they for each sport. Madden has gotten better, but it's more than intros and better tackling, the engine is dated and flawed to it's core and needs a major overhaul.

Presentation is better, but can't compete with NBA2k11 or MLB2k11 commentary or presentation package. The game is beautiful, but so is the SHOW and it's commentary and presentation is stale. So hopefully there get there butts in gear for 2013 and focus on the fundamentals of gameplay and presentation that is up too par this generation. We need immersion and MADDEN is lacking that for sure. Please fix the penalties, add more and make them relevant and add more depth to the challenge system....PLEASE!!!! Cam Weber, u have 3 years, "don't talk about it, be about it"!!! MAKE US A GAME WORTHY OF NEXT GEN!!!

[BenGerman]

Quote: Originally Posted by MMChrisS

The 'no game is perfect' argument is a good one when factoring in buying decisions...Madden is a fun but not realistic game (and I said as much in the review). However when judging a game on our full 10 point scale, a 10 is essentially a perfect game. Many sites with a similar 10 point scale will give deeply flawed games 10/10 because they are great in so many other areas. In my time at OS, even under the old scale, we have never given a 10 and even 9.5s were exceedingly rare. I say that because now, most games will see lower scores but will still be fun and perfectly playable games. The way the scale was designed is that anything over a 7 starts to be a very solid buy for most because those games are in the upper 25% of our scale. Anything from 5-7 is probably more for fans of the sport and anything below a five starts getting into 'don't buy unless' territory. So yes no game is perfect but we are going to be scoring games at OS with either the perfect simulation OR arcade sports experience in mind.

Really glad OS moved to this kind of scale. It always annoys me when Game Review sites work on a 6-10 scale rather than a 1-10.

[Bgamer90]

Quote: Originally Posted by BenGerman

Really glad OS moved to this kind of scale. It always annoys me when Game Review sites work on a 6-10 scale rather than a 1-10.

EXACTLY.

Most sites never give scores lower than 6 and most sites hand out 8's an 9's freely just due to the game itself having a lot of hype and/or being from a big name series.

So with this new rating scale on OS, a 7.5 would probably translate to around a high 8 or a low 9 on other gaming sites.

But anyways, I don't really care about numbers in reviews. I am more so into the review (the text) itself.

There are many that just look at numbers. So with that as well as the fact the many sites give out 8's and 9's frequently, it's no surprise why 7's are considered bad and/or "games that I shouldn't buy territory".

[Bgamer90]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlackJackRabbit

It's amazing how much more positive the reviews were for Madden 11 than Madden 12, and Madden 12 is clearly better than Madden 11. http://www.operationsports.com/revie...madden-nfl-11/ It seems like, to me, that writers are tired of the baby steps that this franchise has been taking this generation. The jist I get is " too little, too late." Madden has lagged behind the rest of the sports genre for too long, and writers aren't sugarcoating things anymore.

To me it seems that since Madden didn't add a gimmicky commercial feature this year that sites that aren't really into sports games aren't noticing the changes (or are just not interested in them).

[noonan2112]

Quote: Originally Posted by jkra0512

To the people making the point, "Well, football games are hard to make." Does that mean we should give developers a free pass? Also, when the SAME problems crop up year after year, should the consumer say, "Oh well, the game is hard to make, they can't fix everything...Here is $60, EA." I agree that no game will EVER be bugless or glitch-less upon release, but as Chris pointed out in his review, some of the design decisions are questionable, at best. Is that because a football game is hard to make? I would let the argument go if it were the first or second edition on the current gen, but we are almost six years into this generation and they still haven't ironed out the details. Instead, the consumer is stuck dealing with the "three-year cycle," that begins every year. There are some promising features such as the new Franchise additions, but that's not enough to warrant a $60 purchase for me, with many other features that need to looked at and tweaked...

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You said it man.

I might be a little tough on them at this point, but boycotting the product is the only choice I have. Six years into the next generation of consoles and we still have to put up with this junk year after year. At this point, we should be playing a game that blows us away every single time we turn it on.

By the way, I don't WANT to feel this way and am not a negative person by nature. I love the game of football as we all do. It's just shame that we have one gaming developer of the most popular sport in the world. That one developer has disappointed me time and time again.

[jmik58]

So glad the sub-par gameplay didn't get a free pass because of all the siny makeup on the rest of the game.

[misterkrabz]

Glad to see reviewers are starting to recognize reality. For years Madden has been reviewed favorably despite the litany of bugs, annoyances, and overall sluggish game play and questionable design decisions. What’s funny is I find this year’s game actually better than anything they have produced on next gen to date yet the reviewer’s scores are lower than recent years past and they’re finally being critical about the inexcusable over sights by EA. Maybe the Madden Kool-Aid drinkers are finally having a “come to Jesus” moment that most of have been at for 7+ years?

[jwilphl]

For those that do buy the game every year, I would like to issue a warning about criticizing the game for lack of innovation. Games are extremely complex presently and it simply takes a lot more time to complete and polish a game. Since the inception of the new generation, I have not been particularly fond of the one-year cycle for sports games, simply because I feel they are far too repetitive and there isn't enough progress because developers get broken up by the constant launch cycles.

That said, I work around this issue by simply not buying the same game year after year. I used to do that with certain games, but needless to say I learned my lesson. I think it is also fair to say that the market in its present state, consisting of unregulated monopolies across various sports titles, has an adverse affect on game development. There is little incentive for developers to "do their best" to improve the game in consecutive years. Perhaps the market will eventually correct this issue by seeing a decline in game sales, but I think so far, that has failed to occur.

I have no opinion on Madden '12. I played the demo, and it was just okay, but I have no intention of buying the full version. That said, for my own personal preference, NFL 2K5 is still the best overall football game and experience I've had. It is a shame that a game 7-years old now can maintain that title. I have nothing against Madden, and I have enjoyed the game from time-to-time (although mostly on last-gen). But the game in its current state still has far too many shortcomings to be worth a $60 purchase every year. The same holds true for other titles like NCAA and NHL. I really believe competition would help the industry, and if I was knowledgeable enough I would probably start my own development company to eventually break into the sports-gaming field.

I don't think we will ever see the day where we get an optimum Madden or the like experience, for various reasons. Part of this is due to the technology cycle where developers essentially have to reset their progress and start from scratch in order to adapt to new technologies. Part of it is also technological limitations and developer competency. It would indeed be difficult to figure out a solution to each of these problems all at once.