Madden 12 News Post

Madden NFL 12 Reviewer: First Impressions

02:07 PM - August 26, 2011 by ChaseB

Madden NFL 12 is a new hope for gamers desperately waiting for a great football title on this generation of consoles. Prior history of the series reveals a history of big promises followed by merely adequate execution. While Madden has been good in prior years this generation, it has not been great, and most fans expect greatness.

One could argue that's a creation of the EA hype machine, but in reality it could just as easily be attributed to Madden being the only NFL game in town.

But we aren't here to talk about that. Instead, I'm here to talk about initial impressions of the retail version of Madden 12, so here are some quick-hitting initial thoughts from my first experiences with the game.

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Game: Madden NFL 12Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 44 - View All

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# 21 mdiggitydawg @ 08/26/11 06:15 PM

WOW opening the article with a comment on the menus? Really? I care about the freaking menus? That being said...sounds like frustration to me. This will sit in the wrapping until I see how major a patch is due out (since I'm still waiting for my NCAA Patch and have played only 4 games two months later).

I just don't have much faith in this series any more...I sincerely hope I am proven wrong.

# 22 radney @ 08/26/11 06:19 PM

I'll reserve judgement for self until I get the game on Tuesday. You can have 10 guys play the same exact game but yet you'll get 10 different opinions. Everybody looks for something different.

# 23 DaChiefs @ 08/26/11 06:26 PM

Front Page Sports Football with Barry Sanders on the cover!!! That was my favorite game for a while. You could change game plans at half time. It even had highlights from other games. The draft was fun. For its time the graphics were great too. Ahh...the good ol days.

# 24 AceOfSpades1898 @ 08/26/11 06:47 PM

All I see on this site is how madden failed again. But if you look at it, they are doing good. Maybe one of the reasons FIFA, NBA2k, or MLBshow is better is because there are not as many things going on at the same time. In football you have 22 guys all doing different things at once. Other sports like nba2k can make big leaps because they only have ten to worry about.

# 25 BEARYChi @ 08/26/11 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wEEman33


	You should! FIFA and PES are looking killer this year!

FIFA 12,NHL 12, and NBA 2K12 is Must Haves.

# 26 adambaseball @ 08/26/11 07:17 PM

thanks for telling me in your review to come back and read your review tomorrow. and thanks for not telling us any details about your first impressions about anything.

# 27 rudyjuly2 @ 08/26/11 07:30 PM

Madden should add the player lock camera on defense (even though I don't like it myself) but playing defense in Madden is a lot better than NCAA imo. Just based on the demo the improved control over your player and the slower passing speeds make playing pass defense a lot better in Madden than NCAA. In NCAA I am always a step behind in coverage and I feel useless. I didn't feel that way about Madden.

# 28 spike83 @ 08/26/11 10:02 PM

There is really no excuse why the Madden series should not have Defensive Player Lock. Chase hit it on the nose when he said playing defense is just plain boring. More than likely, it will be introduced as part of a whole new marketing campaign next year (or thereafter) touting defense (remember the Ray Lewis cover?) and stating it's another innovation to the game. Sorry EA, money is tight and that said, this year's version is a NO BUY for me. My 60 bucks is going toward FIFA 12.

# 29 BrownsFan72 @ 08/26/11 10:41 PM

Im enjoying it and think its the best madden in years... certainly since 05...

# 30 stlstudios189 @ 08/26/11 11:13 PM

really already guys the darn game has been out for what 1 day to those who paid for it to get it early. the article is light because he played one game. That's what I like about OS they actually take their time on reviews here. Madden football is coming this year for Christmas so I have 3 months to take all this in loving it.

# 31 Eski33 @ 08/26/11 11:54 PM

This game is fun as hell. Let the nitpicking begin. I havent enjoyed Madden in a long time. It isnt perfect but miles better than last year. The animations are awesome and the overall feel is fantastic. Throw in a hugely improved presrntation package.

Best Madden in years.

# 32 JaymeeAwesome @ 08/27/11 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adambaseball


	thanks for telling me in your review to come back and read your review tomorrow. and thanks for not telling us any details about your first impressions about anything.

You do know that is your #1 goal in journalism. You need to keep the reader thirsty and coming back for more. Works in advertising too, like you haven't went to go watch a movie because the trailer you saw rocked. Chris is genius, you have to acknowledge that.

# 33 JaymeeAwesome @ 08/27/11 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lofeazy


	Soccer has 22 guys playing at the same time to.(For a longer time.)The avgare football play is like 4 to 6 seconds.(somebody correct me if I am wrong.) Boy I am already see the 22 guy on the field excuess to much in the review threads (3 so far).Whats next the fields to small for all 22 players.

Soccer may have 22 players on the field but only 2-3 are engaging each other at once. With football you have an average of 10 players engaged with each other. I bet if you compared the artificial intelligence code between the two games, football will have at least 50% more code than soccer.

# 34 TearsOfPurple @ 08/27/11 12:32 AM

Are people really complaining? Wow. Everything I've read in the impressions sticky has sounded GREAT. People these days...never happy.

# 35 Dungeoncrawler @ 08/27/11 12:50 AM

Physics and collision-detection problems...ball passing thru receivers hands...during practices, qb's can be lit up by aggressive defenders...sounds like a pass for me.

# 36 Armor and Sword @ 08/27/11 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SGMRock


	I agree with mva5580, love me some Front Page Sports Football! I agree that us hardcore football sim players wont ever get what we want because we are not the masses they shoot for when they make these games. Hockey is my primary sport as a fan and even NHL isn't as hardcore as I would like it. They love the big hits and goalie fights.... :P But I think NHL and FIFA are definitely closer to the real thing and as mva5580 said I doubt football will ever get to that point. I think the average player wants a game somewhere between true sim and NFL Blitz.

And this is why Madden has been an amazing franchise.

They have nailed this. It is why I love this game. Plenty of sim elements....but also a lot of fun and action for the video gamer in you.

Another aspect that rarely get's mentioned anymore is how awesome Madden is to play with a buddy (or your son) but not online, In person....how 20th century!

# 37 Vikes1 @ 08/27/11 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armor & Sword


	Another aspect that rarely get's mentioned anymore is how awesome Madden is to play with a buddy (or your son) but not online, In person....how 20th century!

I agree with ya, Armor.

Although my son and I haven't played Madden together in quite a while, but we did have a lot of fun playing vs each other, when we did. [NHL is our game of choice now]

But again I agree....Madden imo too, is still lots of fun to play vs someone you know.

# 38 cmehustle @ 08/27/11 08:48 AM

I personally have a lot of faith in madden. This is the best Madden I played this generation, and even though it seems like baby steps I think that each one has gotten progressively better. Nba 2k also did the same thing and then all of a sudden they dropped a monster. Madden has that potential to do the same thing. I will admit though it is fustrating waiting year after year for that great Madden to come. With that said Im really diggin Madden this year, the most I have since PS2 days.

# 39 zoguloth22 @ 08/27/11 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmehustle


	I personally have a lot of faith in madden. This is the best Madden I played this generation, and even though it seems like baby steps I think that each one has gotten progressively better. Nba 2k also did the same thing and then all of a sudden they dropped a monster. Madden has that potential to do the same thing. I will admit though it is fustrating waiting year after year for that great Madden to come. With that said Im really diggin Madden this year, the most I have since PS2 days.

youl be waiting along time seings they been doing madden for over 20 years now. I'm 45 years old ill be 60 years old before we see EA do football right i guess.

# 40 elbos2k @ 08/27/11 11:40 AM

I prefer better presentation and graphics than improved gameplay mechanics. When you play a person online (non-ranked) or offline, they play for fun and sometimes cheese the hell out of a good play. Not caring about any gameplay mechanics. In online ranked games, you'll always play a freakin cheeser.

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