Madden NFL 11 News Post

Madden NFL 11 Review

02:01 PM - August 9, 2010 by RaychelSnr

The Madden name carries tremendous weight. It is a decorated franchise that has been equated with football simulation greatness at various points in its life cycle. At other times, some gamers have also been quick to point out its various flaws and have been very critical of the franchise as a whole.

The point is that gamers expect Madden to feature the tightest gameplay controls and an endless amount of on-field strategy. These are the types of expectations that Madden has to attempt to live up to on a yearly basis.

And so with the release of Madden 11 becoming a reality, the developers at EA Sports Tiburon are now going to be fed to the lions once again -- the Operation Sports fans surely being the harshest of critics in the forums of an impassioned sports gaming nation. The game has also been given to a gaggle of media members so they can review and examine every decision and every new feature.

But this year it would seem that the Madden 11 team has answered their critics with a resounding question of their own: Are you not entertained?

Madden returns this summer refined on every level (with some obviously being more refined than others). The gameplay is smoother, the graphics are more vibrant and the game has come to life with added vitality. This is the most entertaining Madden I have played since the Playstation 2 days.

Read More - Madden NFL 11 Review

Game: Madden NFL 11Reader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 96 - View All

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Member Comments

# 81 Pacman83 @ 08/09/10 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joec63


	Maybe not true for you but an element does exist that desires to see this franchise fail. You can bank on that.

What he said...Taz/BigSmallz are pretty reasonable, but other posts in this thread are ridiculous. It's like reviewers aren't supposed to like the game. Guys in here want to see the game trashed here and there, because they aren't happy with it. If reviews mean that much to you guys and you don't like the ones posted here, read through the impressions threads. Hang around long enough and you'll get and idea of the posters that are reasonable and realistic in their opinions/expectations and what to disregard (too positive/negative)...and still to each his own

Edit: Many reviews i read seem vague and don't address what i want them too, at this point i kinda expect it to be that way, leaving that incomplete feeling afterwards...seems to be the way now

# 82 joec63 @ 08/09/10 05:18 PM

Madden will always be Sim-Lite, good entertaining game of football. EA will not not do anything to rock the apple cart with the casual fans. The fan base is huge. You would think they would at least throw the diehards a bone and deliver the option of a true sim. Maybe they will, who knows. I don't have the time to invest in it anymore except a few games on the weekends. I'll still buy it because it's a good sim-lite game.

# 83 iverson3ag @ 08/09/10 05:20 PM

so has anybody figured out if the short replays and no halftime show is only for the ps3 or is it for the 360 as well

# 84 Dan Marino @ 08/09/10 05:25 PM

LOL @ this review. Another typical EA friendly review given by OS. How can they rate this game a 9 when a very very important aspect of the gameplay (the play action pass) is basically taken out? Hearing about the play action pass glitch made me sick.

OS you really set the bar with this review. Great job.

# 85 acidraindrops08 @ 08/09/10 05:35 PM

Ok, so they want to gear this game towards the casual game... Why? For a game that has such a large fan base, why not just worry about advancing the game. Why can't it be geared towards both? NBA 2k11 has 4 different gameplay options, Default, Casual, Sim, and forget the last.. Yet, the highest selling sports game can't figure out a way to reach both sides. Untouched franchise mode? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! Last gen, 2001 on had upgrades, maybe minor but they did update. You're telling me in 2010 that you couldn't possibly change anything?? It would almost make sense if they added some kind of groundbreaking feature, or state of the art gameplay. Nope... Jus gameflow, autosprint and locomotion. Passing may be touched up a bit, better blocking, sideline catches, but what after that? Look at NHL 11 for example, some of the best gameplay if not the best on the market. They managed to make huge upgrades to gameplay, enhance offline dynasty, eashl, an utimate team mode that makes maddens unplayable, and their not even done announcing info.... What a joke

# 86 Klocker @ 08/09/10 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsmallwood


	It is not about the review not matching what people want it to say, it is about the review not being objective. Further more people have the right to an opinion about something that seems to be better suited for the back of a box, rather than a review breaking down the game. Sidenote: I wish folks would stop saying people want Madden to receive low marks....nothing could be further from the truth. We simply want the review to be genuine and the standard to be upheld across the board...no special treatment.

the guy who played it admitted there were some flaws but said it was ENTERTAINING and he LIKED playing the GAME.

so that's what he reviewed... how the game made him feel, not every minutia of detail that some people can't sleep at night.

Personally I like the features that he outlined and I want a reviewer to tell me if the game is fun because that is ultimately why i play games. (I'm old and my time is valuable)

# 87 joec63 @ 08/09/10 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klocker


	the guy who played it admitted there were some flaws but said it was ENTERTAINING and he LIKED playing the GAME. so that's what he reviewed... how the game made him feel, not every minutia of detail that some people can't sleep at night. Personally I like the features that he outlined and I want a reviewer to tell me if the game is fun because that is ultimately why i play games. (I'm old and my time is valuable)

That's the disconnect I believe. The expectations, for at least the diehard fan base on OS, is looking for a detailed review of every nut and bolt where the majority of Madden sales are casual gamers looking for their football fix and they don't want or care to know about everything in the trenches. Maybe they should add a discalimer to all reviews. " This is a high level birdseye view of the game"

# 88 tonnyrat @ 08/09/10 05:58 PM

What people fail to realize is that this business (reviews and all) has an inherent conflict of interest. OS and other large gaming sites are given exclusives, interviews, early access and media by major gaming companies like EA. Do you think OS would have the same type of access if all of a sudden they started trashing the game? The things provided to OS by EA are often key drivers of site hits and are often major 'selling points' of the website. EA can cutoff access at any point in time or simply not provide inside scoops on what is arguably that best selling sports franchise of all time. Do you think OS would be happy if they didn't have anything exclusive to offer in order to increase viewership? This has been very apparent with IGN over the past few years but it shouldn't surprise you that OS might also be affected.

It's the same thing with investment research and the companies they're supposed to 'review'. I have seen it first hand where a company cuts off access and seizes to provide information because a 'sell' rating is issued. That company also refuses to use the bank's other services and, as a result, the bank loses clients and $$. While every research department issues 'sell' ratings, most of those 'sell' ratings are of companies who have no other connections to the bank/company and there is nothing to lose.

OS has a lot to lose if they piss off EA. This is why you should take site reviews with a grain of salt and focus on impressions from the forums. There is no bias there once you consider a large number of impressions and avoid the obvious trolls and fanboys. Remember hearing about paid reviews in GamePro and other magazines? This is just a more disguised version of the same problem. Nothing new and nothing out of the ordinary.

# 89 DGMikeBarker @ 08/09/10 05:58 PM

if it's good it's, but a 9 is for great games. Makes you question

# 90 adembroski @ 08/09/10 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsmallwood


	It is not about the review not matching what people want it to say, it is about the review not being objective..

A review is one man's opinion, and thus is is necessarily subjective.

Previews and 'fact sheets' are hard news. They state the simple truth. Whether a game is good or not is subjective, thus a review must be looked at as editorial. The idea is to look at a myriad of reviews and base an opinion on how your tastes fit the reviewers tastes.

Fact: Gladiator is a pseudo historic piece set in Imperial Rome during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus, circa 161 AD. The main character is a fictional Roman general who's family was unjustly murdered in order for the new emperor to secure his throne.

Opinion: Gladiator is a great film, with great acting, outstanding action sequences, and deep, sometimes disturbing characters.

A review is made up of both, usually, but a score on the quality of the game is a subjective opinion. A review is necessarily bias toward the writers opinion.

# 91 BezO @ 08/09/10 06:21 PM

I had a long response typed up, responses to a few folks, but I doubt the post would've come off well. I'll just say wow, that was a very incomplete review. Not what I would expect at OS.

# 92 bh446066 @ 08/09/10 06:32 PM

You have to almost apply a statistical regression analysis on the reviews (and the reactions to the reviews). You let the statistical outliers be just that, and discard them, and get a best fit line. I think the "best fit line" here is that the game is fun, good looking, and generally an improvement over the last version. This is particularly pleasing to me b/c this will be my first Madden on the current gen, and I have no preconceived notions about what to expect. If I have half as much fun playing it as I have NCAA, it will be well worth the purchase. I can always settle the offenses down by laying the slider hammer on them, so I'm not too concerned about that at all.

# 93 DGMikeBarker @ 08/09/10 06:35 PM

I read another review that covered every aspect of the gameplay and gave the game an overall okay. I read this review that covers every aspect of the game and you say it's great even after you mentioned Superstar and Franchise modes are lack luster. Note, I would have a problem with this review and score if they had left off important aspects of the game.

# 94 steelernation28 @ 08/09/10 06:35 PM

The main problem to me is that based on the radio show last night the reviewer didn't seem to spend a whole lot of time with madden 10, not being able to remember if some features in '11 where brand new or had been in last year's game. To me, really a lot of the point of a review for me is to see what has gotten better from '10 and what has stayed the same. This review certainly lacked that perpective. Most comparisons were to ncaa 11. I would have been a lot more interested to hear about the fixes made from last year's madden and the improvements made to the features introduced in madden '10

# 95 SBartlett @ 08/09/10 06:36 PM

well, last year i was super critical of this title. you can see my blog and go over the Madden10 review. i am high on this year's madden. i went into depth about the control of the game because i feel that is the most important aspect of the game - i touched on that a bit last night during the show. if you don't have tight controls, the rest of the career modes don't matter.

as far as defense, i think the locomotion and pro-tak discussion all ties together into the discussion of defense. it isn't changed drastically, but there are new animations and the control feels good. not really much else to be said.

i especially enjoy defending deep passes like we discussed last night. i just took that section for granted i guess and got caught up in how much the offense plays so well now with a balanced attack. i think Madden11 is better than NCAA this year, and Chris believes NCAA is the best football game of all time. while NCAA has the best dynasty mode for football, i strongly feel that madden's controls this year trump NCAA in many areas.

thanks for reading though!

# 96 DaveDQ @ 08/09/10 06:36 PM

The reality of this is Madden sits on and island by itself. You can pull out The Show and NBA 2K as games that are more polished and refined and then possibly compare them, but Madden has no other NFL game this generation to compare it to.

There's no gauge that says, "this is a better rendition or representation." So now you have a game that scores a 9 and people will tout that with nothing to hold it accountable. You have these issues that need be addressed and it's like they are excused because, "Well, that's Madden football. They never really did a great job with gang tackling." Yet, the game gets a 9 out of 10.

# 97 mva5580 @ 08/09/10 06:37 PM

Every year this stuff comes up; seriously it's like you could just cut and paste the Madden 10 board into the Madden 11 board, and on and on and on.

Is OS, to some degree, "in bed" with EA Sports? Yes. Their developers post on this site so that in itself lends to the credence that OS isn't going to be overly harsh on EA when it comes to saying things about the games because they want those developers to keep coming back so the people who run this site can say "Look, we have credibility; the people who make these games post here." So as long as EA developers post here, you have to consider that when it comes to anything written about their games.

But does that mean that they throw ALL of their objectivity out the window when reviewing something? No. Do you honestly think that if Madden 11 was a total garbage game, they'd still come out and give it like an 8 or a 9 and tell everyone to buy it? That's just not going to happen. You could say, that at most, there is a slight bit of hesitance in them to bash something that's decent when they feel that it should be great. Or just in the way that they word criticism. But you would HOPE that no matter what they were reviewing, the professional in them would word it in a professional manner anyway. Whether EA devs posted here or not.

No matter what these guys say, what they think, there is not 1 person who reads that review who should base their decision to buy the game on what that review is. It's up to YOU to play the game and decide for yourself. Download the demo. Rent the damn game. (I'm amazed at how many people just refuse to do this, I really am.) A review, to me, is not a review in the sense of "Should I go out and buy this game?" A review to me has always been a good way to read a comprehensive summary of a game to make me decide whether or not that game would interest me. Beyond that, it's up to me to decide whether it's worth my $60. And within the text of that review, and/or the experience of renting the game, the consumer needs to have the mental capacity to make the decision on their own. Stop using reviews as a crutch for your mind which should already be more than capable of deciding what you do and do not like.

# 98 ramenite @ 08/09/10 06:39 PM

Here's the problem with this review.

I've always felt OS was a pretty in-depth sports game site. Not a site for the causal sports fan who likes video games--but ones who almost like the games more than the sport itself.

Reading this review, was like reading a Ferrari enthusiast about a release of a new Ferrari, and it telling me the car is available in white, black, and red. And there's a slightly new layout of the cockpit. The hell with that, I want HP and Torque curves, I want 0-60, 60-100, and 0-150 times. I want the time it took to get around the ring. I want to know how it compares to other cars.

I read this review, and thought I was reading GamePro or IGN. Someone reviewing a game, and not a sports sim. It wasn't the kind of in-depth information I expected to read in an OS review. I expected Franchise mode changes, what are the changes to game mechanics? What issues were fixed from Madden 10? Is this something I want to migrate to. We didn't get any of that.

And seemingly not based on any of the above information, a review score of 9.0 was given. And considering there's a good portion of people still on OS that care about the above information, see things weren't really changed that much, and wonder where this score came from. That's why there's a lot of upset people here.

Now, I said it earlier this thread, but maybe OS has changed to the casual sports gamer. Ones that care about facemasks, socks, and if a QB has some specialty animation. Not gamers like me who care about franchise sim stats, player progression, and free agency rules. I've gotten the impression that to a certain extent is has. Compare posts users who have read the site a few years(5+) vs. members who haven't been here as long(less than 4). You'll see some differences in what people want.

If this change to the casual sports gamer is what OS is morphed into over the last few years, then this review is probably exactly what those readers want to read. But it's not what the people who have been here for a while want to read. And you're seeing the results in this thread.

# 99 SBartlett @ 08/09/10 06:45 PM

I did spend a good amount with Madden10, though. there are so many changes and fixes and it starts with the locomotion and how it changes the whole landscape of the playing field. bump and run coverages won't work on receivers with good ratings to get off contact. i feel the game play is THAT good and that's why the quality score.

as far as the game play modes, there's really nothing new there. in any case, i'm open to discuss it again Sunday night on the radio show.

# 100 roadman @ 08/09/10 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mva5580


	Every year this stuff comes up; seriously it's like you could just cut and paste the Madden 10 board into the Madden 11 board, and on and on and on. Is OS, to some degree, "in bed" with EA Sports? Yes. Their developers post on this site so that in itself lends to the credence that OS isn't going to be overly harsh on EA when it comes to saying things about the games because they want those developers to keep coming back so the people who run this site can say "Look, we have credibility; the people who make these games post here." So as long as EA developers post here, you have to consider that when it comes to anything written about their games.

The only time the developers have been here in the last year is to post a link to a blog.

You must be thinking of last year when Ian and Phil showed up from time to time, but they both don't post here any more.

So, I think the in bed remark is not true based on Madden 11.

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