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.

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Game: Madden NFL 11Reader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
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Member Comments

# 101 JkA3 @ 08/09/10 07:19 PM

I tell you, I like the review - it was well written and through out. I don't, however, agree that the game gets a 9. But that's just my little take!

# 102 Risin @ 08/09/10 07:19 PM

I don't want to offend anyone, but this is the review OS should be pimping.

http://www.operationsports.com/MMChr...nfl-10-review/

Even though this reviewer admits he didn't spend ideal time with the game, he does a great job laying out the positives and negatives.

It definitely seems a ton more credible, and less likely to stir up the "EA and OS are BFF's" talk.

# 103 bukktown @ 08/09/10 07:22 PM

I hope that O.S. will modernize the sports game review process and label these reviews as 'pre-patch/beta' and give the definitive review after the code is finally finalized. Of course with Madden that is usually November or December.

# 104 adembroski @ 08/09/10 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tazdevil20


	This does create a bit of a conundrum doesn't it? You can look at it from the standpoint that the execs/devs will see the reviews and say, "we've done it right, everything is good now, we can go back to being lazy and complacent."

There has not been a two year stretch in which Madden has focused more on the sim aspects of the game. Only two games, to my knowledge, in any sport have done so; FIFA and NHL. The third year of both was phenomenal, and they keep improving.

Quote:


	OR, like you state here, they could take it as the game's more sim direction is not the right direction and we have rings and madden trainer ;-) I think the fear of the former is more apparent on sites like these. Everyone is happy about the improvements and direction, but they are far from where we want them. It seems to be a bit of a crap shoot each year if they build on something that was implemented the year before. It really would have gone a long way if they enhanced pro-tak (which I always thought was a great idea) to have real dual hit tackling. It would have gone a long way if online franchise was actually implemented, rather than half done before being abandoned. Maybe adaptive AI could have been enhanced to actually work. Instead, we get gameflow (not a terrible addition IMHO, as I think gameplanning is very cool), but at the expense of what else? It seems like there is never a complete offering. Something has to be done at the expense of something else significant. Why not make a complete effort? Other franchises do it, Madden USED to do it.

Again, going back to NHL and FIFA. Both were extremely bare bones for a couple of years. They both had catching up to do. Madden isn't in second, it's all alone, so it has to simultaneously rebuild from the ground up, and build onto the existing foundation. This unfortunately means that the mark we're looking for is a longer trip for Madden than it was for both FIFA and NHL.

Quote:


	So, I do respect your feeling on this matter as you clearly want this game to progress in the direction many of us do, but does a higher review score really do that when it's still lacking in major areas? Hopefully, you are right and it gives the dev team more leeway to do things how they would really like to.

A high review score doesn't do anything for Madden one way or the other except help convince Peter Moore and others that Ian and Phil should be permitted to continue what they're trying to do. Personally, if I had Moore's ear I'd be telling him to back off and let Phil and Ian design the game without input from above.

When a review raves about Locomotion and Run Blocking, this is a win for the community. It is proof that there are people outside the hardcore sim community that get it, and that the gaming public at large will appreciate these features (though both are better thought of as core gameplay, not "features", like GameFlow or Franchise Mode).

Over the past two years, we've seen some downgrades. Foot planting/sliding, suction, collision detection were all better in Madden 09 than they are now. To me, this is a small price to pay for the infinately more realistic game we have now... better game speed, far better blocking, locomotion, WR/DB interaction, QB drops, WR route running... none of those are perfect by any means, but compared to what we had under David Ortiz it's night and day. I will take the risk that Madden will never reach perfect simulation under Phil Frazier if it means we never return to the days of David Ortiz.

I, for one, remember the truly dark days when football gaming was utterly dead. I bought Madden 09... it was the first NextGen Madden I owned, and I don't think I would have if it hadn't come with Head Coach. Madden '06-'08 weren't football, period. They were excuses to hold a tournament and nothing more. APF 2k8 was a huge disappointment to me with all the AI flaws that cropped up since 2k5, and when I absolutely needed football, I played Madden PC... with LOTS of 3rd party support, but even it lost my interest as it became more and more archaic.

People seem to think I've always been this huge fan of Tiburon and that's not the case at all. I remember how terrible Madden was, so I'm thankful I have something playable now. I'm certainly not satisfied, but I'll take a flawed Madden 11 over a perfect Madden 09 any day. It hasn't been perfect in execution, but the eye is on the ball and its finally moving forward.

# 105 Klocker @ 08/09/10 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adembroski


	There has not been a two year stretch in which Madden has focused more on the sim aspects of the game. Only two games, to my knowledge, in any sport have done so; FIFA and NHL. The third year of both was phenomenal, and they keep improving. Again, going back to NHL and FIFA. Both were extremely bare bones for a couple of years. They both had catching up to do. Madden isn't in second, it's all alone, so it has to simultaneously rebuild from the ground up, and build onto the existing foundation. This unfortunately means that the mark we're looking for is a longer trip for Madden than it was for both FIFA and NHL. A high review score doesn't do anything for Madden one way or the other except help convince Peter Moore and others that Ian and Phil should be permitted to continue what they're trying to do. Personally, if I had Moore's ear I'd be telling him to back off and let Phil and Ian design the game without input from above. When a review raves about Locomotion and Run Blocking, this is a win for the community. It is proof that there are people outside the hardcore sim community that get it, and that the gaming public at large will appreciate these features (though both are better thought of as core gameplay, not "features", like GameFlow or Franchise Mode). Over the past two years, we've seen some downgrades. Foot planting/sliding, suction, collision detection were all better in Madden 09 than they are now. To me, this is a small price to pay for the infinately more realistic game we have now... better game speed, far better blocking, locomotion, WR/DB interaction, QB drops, WR route running... none of those are perfect by any means, but compared to what we had under David Ortiz it's night and day. I will take the risk that Madden will never reach perfect simulation under Phil Frazier if it means we never return to the days of David Ortiz. I, for one, remember the truly dark days when football gaming was utterly dead. I bought Madden 09... it was the first NextGen Madden I owned, and I don't think I would have if it hadn't come with Head Coach. Madden '06-'08 weren't football, period. They were excuses to hold a tournament and nothing more. APF 2k8 was a huge disappointment to me with all the AI flaws that cropped up since 2k5, and when I absolutely needed football, I played Madden PC... with LOTS of 3rd party support, but even it lost my interest as it became more and more archaic. People seem to think I've always been this huge fan of Tiburon and that's not the case at all. I remember how terrible Madden was, so I'm thankful I have something playable now. I'm certainly not satisfied, but I'll take a flawed Madden 11 over a perfect Madden 09 any day. It hasn't been perfect in execution, but the eye is on the ball and its finally moving forward.

Great post

# 106 turftickler @ 08/09/10 08:23 PM

Here is my review of Madden 11. It is better than Madden 10. The gameplay does feel to be more improved, but after I played Backbreaker, I feel like I am missing come realistic collision detection.

The bad:
1. Players slide off of each
2. Ball physics are terrible and look ridiculous
3. Poor collision detection
4. Same 5 tackle animations
5. I hate the camera shaking when players get hit
6. I hate the camera stoppage during INT's (Just let the INT's play out like in real life and stop swirling the camera)
7. Where is the player lock that NCAA 11 has on defense?
8. Animations are too robotic

The good:
1. Graphics are good
2. Player models are better than last year
3. Slightly better gameplay
4. My copy will remain on the store shelves this year (How can this be good you ask?) Well, I save $65.

# 107 NBASLAM2001 @ 08/09/10 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turftickler


	Here is my review of Madden 11. It is better than Madden 10. The gameplay does feel to be more improved, but after I played Backbreaker, I feel like I am missing come realistic collision detection. The bad: 1. Players slide off of each 2. Ball physics are terrible and look ridiculous 3. Poor collision detection 4. Same 5 tackle animations 5. I hate the camera shaking when players get hit 6. I hate the camera stoppage during INT's (Just let the INT's play out like in real life and stop swirling the camera) 7. Where is the player lock that NCAA 11 has on defense? 8. Animations are too robotic The good: 1. Graphics are good 2. Player models are better than last year 3. Slightly better gameplay 4. My copy will remain on the store shelves this year (How can this be good you ask?) Well, I save $65.

5 tackle animations? Stop trolling bro.

# 108 TreyIM2 @ 08/09/10 08:33 PM

Quote:


	While the passing game has received some attention, the offensive linemen AI on play-action passes seems to be broken. If you call a play-action pass with a designed rollout, it�s almost an automatic loss of a play because somebody will usually blow an assignment. I have noticed that the linemen are protecting the pocket instead of where the quarterback is rolling to during these plays.

Yea, very noticeable in the demo, as well, and this is not the first review of the retail game that mentions this issue. Hopefully, EA realizes this is an issue and plans to patch it and/or people complain to them enough that it gets patched. Either way, PA is a HUGE part of my throwing since I run a ton (NCAA 11 knows the drilly. lol).

Quote:


	On the Playstation 3, replays have been cut short and there is no actual halftime show. It is more like a group of quick highlights of the first half. While it�s not a huge negative, the added detail of a quality halftime show can immerse you in the game

Now, this part, I just don't understand. I won't say more but this just makes NO SENSE, EA, on the PS3. NONE WHATSOEVER!!!

Ahem, at any rate. I'm getting a bit more excited about this game, now, after seeing this review and the Gametrailers review. NCAA 11 is holding my attention something fierce and not being a big college football follower, this is huge for this game to do this to me. There are things I like in NCAA 11 over the Madden 11 demo but I will see what's the what come tomorrow with the retail version of Madden 11.

# 109 MATRIXakaCHAMP @ 08/09/10 08:33 PM

look either you are going to buy madden 11 or you are not if you think it plays too much like M10(which i thought was very good) then dont buy it and keep playing M10 but trust me yo will go buy it when you keep hearing others talk about how good it is and if you decide not to trust me you are not hurting EA it will sell without you

# 110 roadman @ 08/09/10 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turftickler


	Here is my review of Madden 11. It is better than Madden 10. The gameplay does feel to be more improved, but after I played Backbreaker, I feel like I am missing come realistic collision detection. The bad: 1. Players slide off of each 2. Ball physics are terrible and look ridiculous 3. Poor collision detection 4. Same 5 tackle animations 5. I hate the camera shaking when players get hit 6. I hate the camera stoppage during INT's (Just let the INT's play out like in real life and stop swirling the camera) 7. Where is the player lock that NCAA 11 has on defense? 8. Animations are too robotic The good: 1. Graphics are good 2. Player models are better than last year 3. Slightly better gameplay 4. My copy will remain on the store shelves this year (How can this be good you ask?) Well, I save $65.

Surprising and shocking.

/sarcasm.

# 111 bears5122 @ 08/09/10 08:59 PM

You guys have this rated higher than NHL, NBA 2K, The Show, and FIFA. So is this the best sports game of the year at the moment?

# 112 stlstudios189 @ 08/09/10 09:53 PM

I will agree the reveiw is still super positive I am pumped for this game for the first time since 2005!!! No way the game is a 9 with little franchise improvement but what ever man. Only 4 hours to go

# 113 pietasterp @ 08/09/10 10:50 PM

I will preface this by saying I have only played the demo, not the entire retail release game. I can't agree or disagree with the reviewer re: the game content, but it seems to me that the review was much different than what I generally expect from an OS review. I don't want to say it was better or worse, and this is not a criticism per se, but it does seem that the overall tone was much more "IGN" than "OS". There seemed to be a lack of hard-hitting analysis of the minutiae that only OS'ers would care about, such as the already-mentioned near complete lack of detail about the defensive and special teams aspects of the game, and a lack of attention to detail about the mechanics of gameplay. Does the defensive AI start taking away flats/slants if you go to the well too often? What kinds of averages per carry/per game is he seeing over the course of a season? I'd like to hear more about how the blocking has been revamped; is it still "big-on-big", or do the lineman truly zone block?

Of course, no review will address every question people will have about a game, and someone is always going to disagree with whatever number someone puts on the game (which is why I think in-depth reviews should leave out a number...After all, Pauline Kael never finished a review of a Scorsese film with "8.5 (good)"...). I'm also not arguing about the overall tone of the review - after all, if a game is good, the review should have a positive tone. I understand reviewing this game is a thankless job; I mean, you might as well put a big target on your a**, especially in a place like OS, the second you even say anything about Madden. But I feel that on the whole, the review lacked a certain incisiveness and "next-level" depth that I expect from OS. Perhaps the reviewer was under time pressures that we aren't privvy to (don't OS reviews usually take a while to come out, giving the reviewer a chance to thoroughly play-test the game?) or else he was under space constraints (thus not allowing him to go in-depth on every detail). Or maybe he just thought the game was really good and reflected that in the review. I just wish the hard-core sports nerd aspect wasn't given such short shrift in the one place I can normally come to see someone get legitimately upset about improper blocking technique from a fullback on a 1-yard gain. I want OS to be more Tim Kurkjian and less Stuart Scott. But I guess that's really my problem...

# 114 DLaren @ 08/09/10 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OS Madden'11 Review


	"The run blocking has been tuned so well that I hardly ever want to throw the ball."

Quote:

Originally Posted by OS Madden'11 Review


	"The locomotion and momentum improvements in Madden 11* feel like a throwback to the Playstation 2 days"*

Quote:

Originally Posted by OS Madden'11 Review


	"With the new locomotion engine, the player differentiation is now greater than ever."

Quote:

Originally Posted by OS Madden'11 Review


	"the route running appears to be refined this year."

I am in complete agreement with these observations and these are the primary reasons why I am enjoying this Madden'11 title so much.

# 115 TombSong @ 08/10/10 04:30 AM

WOW. I am indeed shocked. Man, the irony. I thought having the devs here was a good thing. This "review"
has shed some new light on that. Is this the price a site must pay to have these guys speak here ?

I have been playing Madden 2011(THE RETAIL VERSION) since Saturday. There are some things I like about the game but man even if I was high on happy juice and promised King Solomons mines, I could never bring myself to write a review of the game like the one I just read.

Pro-tak, locomotion, animations, players skills(abilites) are STILL behind that of older games. The Franchise mode is last years franchise mode, and THE hyped gameplay feature game flow cannot even be used in mulitplayer games online because if you use it, you might as well be letting BOZO the clown call plays for you.

Defensive backs mirroring WR routes and running the route before the WR's(not as bad as NCAA but its there)
You not being able to add on to a tackle and are essentially reduced to being a spectator as pro-tak allows the RB to steam roll through your defense. This is the pinnacle of football greatness ?

There are two old games that already do 99% of what madden has just accomplished and do it better in a lot of aspects and a new game that has those "physics" applied to it for real that the madden guys said could not be done this gen.

With all that said how on earth can the review I just read even be possible ? It aint even about the score, or whether you like the game or not. This goes beyond that. Truth is truth and that review read like one of those late night commercials you see about some 19.99 home gym that will let you look like the Hulk in 4 weeks.

# 116 Nza @ 08/10/10 05:55 AM

I think the argument there is more to do with the review being overly positive than not accepting another opinion. M11 had plenty of short comings and disappointments known well before release, but the review seems to keep the mention of these to a minimum. I'm sure much of the positive observations and impressions in the review are valid, but there is more to Madden than the good parts.

I use to review games for a living - it was not easy to write a balanced take on a game with the depth hardcore fans of its genre expect. It's also true that pressure exists in the industry to give good scores to big releases - gaming review scores now days hover somewhere between 7-9 out of 10 for probably 90+% of reviews. The pressure the industry applies forces 4/10 games to become 7/10, and 6/10 games to become 9/10. To portray actual 9/10 games, media started adopting .5 scales, i.e. 9.5. It seems the difference between 9 and 9.5 these days is massive when it comes to actual game quality - more than 6/10 vs 9/10.

Combining the two, I find it hard to believe the consensus of OS Madden gamers would see M11 as a 9/10 game, if only because there is so much more that could be done in Madden to only allow for 1 more point to perfection. If everyone tried really hard to outline what they want in Madden and didn't compromise, and compared that to what actually is in Madden, 9/10 seems a little silly.

# 117 SGdirtyburt @ 08/10/10 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tazdevil20


	I thought this reviewer summed things up nicely here:

The EA team has added a new 3 vs. 3 Team Play modes that lets any combination of up to 3 players on each team take on each other head to head. Each squad will be in control of a single offensive and defensive unit. On offense players would control the skilled players like Running Backs, Quarterback, and Receivers, and on defense you can choose the Lineman, Linebackers, or Secondary. While he team play is a cool feature, how many people have really asked for this when the online franchise has virtually been left untouched with little support added to a mode that lack any real depth. The Locomotion engine is great, but will see players �skate� across the field at times causing great tacklers such as Ray Lewis miss tackles on easy plays. The two main problems with the GameFlow feature is plays that are not working being called too often, and the player not knowing which specific play is called on offense or defense. I�m all for EA Tiburon making the game more accessible to the casual gamer, but what are they really learning by using the GameFlow feature if they don�t even know what play is being called? If EA could patch in the name of the play into both the offense and defense it might have a really good feature to teach the casual fan about the real NFL game. In years past, the NCAA Football series has always been the red-headed stepchild to the Madden series, but with all the improvement made to NCAA this year, will Madden NFL11 finally feel what it is like to have the shoe on the other foot this year?

Thanks for the kind words Taz

# 118 sportyguyfl31 @ 08/10/10 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ANDROMADA 1


	I like the review. I don't see the problem with defense in general. I have used the Texans for most of my games and have kept the offenses in check. Sure I give up big plays from time to time but the major difference from my point of view is I don't feel "cheated" when it happens, unlike Madden 10 when players were warping all over the place. The thing that guys are not keeping in mind is this. Great players play good, and Bad players play bad. There seems to be a misconception out there that everybody can play at an elite level at every position and that simply isn't so. If you have marginal corners and safeties you will get marginal coverage. Ditto for ever other position. You must play to your teams strengths. No more hiding in a cover 4 all game and letting the CPU get cheap interceptions for you. You have to earn them now... Thats all I got for now fellas

That's music to my ears.

# 119 Blitzburgh @ 08/10/10 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveDQ


	I understand where you are coming from, but this is a discussion forum. We post things for discussion and discuss what is posted. Now, I agree to come on here and write one sentence that says, "Meh...Madden sucks" is ridiculous. However, rather than it being the hopes of seeing Madden score bad, I think it's more along the lines of a strong number of football gaming fans that are certainly displeased with what this title has done this generation, and from that they would like their thoughts and judgments to be affirmed. There's nothing wrong with that, and seeing this game score a 9 on a site that has traditionally held sports games on a high level of accountability is a bit frustrating.

I couldn't agree more....

# 120 roadman @ 08/10/10 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TombSong


	WOW. I am indeed shocked. Man, the irony. I thought having the devs here was a good thing. This "review" has shed some new light on that. Is this the price a site must pay to have these guys speak here ?

Really?

When is the last time Ian posted here?

Talk about irony, he hasn't posted in these parts for almost a year and you feel that has influence over the review?

All they do is an EA rep posts links to blogs.

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