Madden 12 News Post

Madden NFL 12 Reviewer Impressions: Gameplay

10:59 AM - August 27, 2011 by RaychelSnr

Madden's gameplay is a strange sort of Jekyll and Hyde act this year. While on one hand, I really want to love the gameplay for all the things it does right, there's always a bit of creeping anger and disappointment when I experience the things Madden doesn't do quite so well.

Madden is far from a bad game. I'm about 15 games into my Madden experience, and it's pretty easy to conclude that Madden is anything but a bad game. It's just that to get to some realistic results, the game cuts so many corners and seems to be asking me to suspend my own disbelief to find enjoyment in the face of some lacking realism.

On the basic surface level, if you've played NCAA Football 12, you sort of know what to expect from Madden 12. If you've played an EA football game in the last several years, you've also played a large part of what Madden 12 has to offer. What Madden does differently is important to the core gameplay experience and will probably define whether you, as a hardcore fan, are willing to spend the $60 on 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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Member Comments

# 1 roadman @ 08/27/11 11:12 AM

Wondering if slider adjustments help the offline people with some of the issues.

# 2 Tyrant8RDFL @ 08/27/11 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	Wondering if slider adjustments help the offline people with some of the issues.

Was-up Roadman!

I'm sure to a certain degree it can aid the situation. The one glaring issue for me was the feel of the game, and threshold alone aided it for me. Game play feels better now, and I'm on normal speed.

I will have to say what is stated above is pretty accurate.

# 3 Armor and Sword @ 08/27/11 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CigarCityBandit


	The play calling element on the defensive side of the ball you described is really bothersome compared to the way you called plays back in 2k football where I picked where I wanted my linebackers and secondary and then could decide what I wanted my front four to do-slant left, slant right, spread out, stunt left, right or both. You really had serious control over how you rushed the passer and what everyone behind those guys did to the offense. EA could learn a little from just something as simple as that play calling scheme.

I can't disagree at all with this. I loved the tiered play calling system on 2K5.

It would be nice if Madden adopted this system and made it an option for hardcore sports gamers and left the conventional play calling (and gameflow for the real casual crowd) for those that just want to pick up and play.

I understand why Madden has not adopted that tiered system as they don't want to make it cumbersome for the majority of their buying base but it would be nice to see the option. 2K11 and The Show nail this aspect of giving the gamer hardcore, mid level and casual options.

# 4 cgalligan @ 08/27/11 11:42 AM

Pretty much the same story we've been reading every year... It always seems like the game, is SO CLOSE, yet SO FAR away from being whats expected...

# 5 F0rl3fclov3r @ 08/27/11 11:45 AM

Weak that no defensive player lock view is in the game. Audibles (now confirmed) are terrible in the demo in comparison to the ease of NCAA 12. Either way I'm dropping the money like I always do and taken fools to the house.

# 6 stlstudios189 @ 08/27/11 11:51 AM

I think this is gonna be a fun year on the boards. 15% of gamers will love Madden 12. While 15% hate Madden and 70% will be in the middle saying its fun and such. I think this review sums it up, Madden is better but, still not great.

# 7 jmik58 @ 08/27/11 11:54 AM

EA cutting corners to get results while throwing realism out the window... sounds familiar *cough* NCAA *cough*

# 8 TearsOfPurple @ 08/27/11 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F0rl3fclov3r


	Weak that no defensive player lock view is in the game. Audibles (now confirmed) are terrible in the demo in comparison to the ease of NCAA 12. Either way I'm dropping the money like I always do and taken fools to the house.

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Madden will always be Madden. I personal love Madden still. I don't nitpick over small things that don't matter to me. But hey, I guess others have the right to complain.

The only reason I play Madden is for the franchise mode. They improved it greatly, so it's enough to warrant my $45 (got some GameStop store credit)

# 9 Turbo Lax 33 @ 08/27/11 12:05 PM

At the end of the day Madden is a video game, not a recreation of actually playing the game. If you want the experiences the writer has nitpicked about, the only way you will ever get it is by actually playing the game of football, not a video counterpart.

Perhaps because I grew up playing video games when Atari football with its 3 men on the field all moving together was the only video game choice, I am more tolerant of games being just a game? At any rate I find this type of article counter productive. THe writer may think he pointed out an equal number of positive and negative issues but the article read to me like one big gripe fest.

I will be buying Madden and I will understand and look past the unrealistic events that will occur at times, after all I'm playing a video game.....

# 10 D Apocalypse @ 08/27/11 12:06 PM

This is the most enjoyable next-gen Madden I've played since 08. True it isn't perfect in certain areas but for me the gameplay and presentation improvements make it a definite purchase for me and thanks to my $20 credit I earned from Amazon from my NCAA preorder, this game only cost me $39.99.

# 11 rudyjuly2 @ 08/27/11 12:07 PM

Wow. A little tough on some things that we know have been there and continue to be there (defensive play calling as one). It's true that there will be limitations until we get a real physics engine. Continuing tweaks just won't get there.

That said it was a very detailed review. Thanks for that. I'm looking forward to getting this game on Tuesday. I do agree there is no reason to not have NCAA's audible system (although I think it's too open and should be restricted to matching personel sets) and I'd like to see similar controls.

# 12 DJ @ 08/27/11 12:13 PM

I appreciate the honesty in, not only this partial review, but in a lot of the other reviews that are filtering out for Madden 12. My only question is, where were these reviews last year? Madden 11 had just as many flaws as have been pointed out so far in Madden 12, yet Madden 11 received far higher scores.

Still, I'm glad to see the cookie-cutter reviews disappearing and the journalists doing their duty of holding EA to the flames and calling them out, so to speak, for minimal year-to-year improvements.

I'm headed to the store today to cancel my pre-order. I may pick Madden 12 up at a later date, but for now, I'm fine with hopping on my PS2 and playing Madden 09.

# 13 roadman @ 08/27/11 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ


	I appreciate the honesty in, not only this partial review, but in a lot of the other reviews that are filtering out for Madden 12. My only question is, where were these reviews last year? Madden 11 had just as many flaws as have been pointed out so far in Madden 12, yet Madden 11 received far higher scores. Still, I'm glad to see the cookie-cutter reviews disappearing and the journalists doing their duty of holding EA to the flames and calling them out, so to speak, for minimal year-to-year improvements. I'm headed to the store today to cancel my pre-order. I may pick Madden 12 up at a later date, but for now, I'm fine with hopping on my PS2 and playing Madden 09.

I don't have the game yet, but when I do on Tuesday at midnight, I think I will have a much more enjoyable experience with 12 vs 11. First time I never completed a season in Madden was Madden 11.

Just didn't hold my interest.

# 14 HammerOfGod @ 08/27/11 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F0rl3fclov3r


	Weak that no defensive player lock view is in the game. Audibles (now confirmed) are terrible in the demo in comparison to the ease of NCAA 12. Either way I'm dropping the money like I always do and taken fools to the house.

It's comments like this that we'll continue to get very poor effort out of EA in making this game better. As long as people continue to drop money on this crap, EA is just going to put out the exact same thing every year. I've never passed on NCAA until this year, and I've passed on Madden every year since '06 except for giving '10 about two weeks.

The games just aren't good.

# 15 khaliib @ 08/27/11 12:46 PM

Very, very skeptical.

For the last 3 years I've read Pre-pre release impressions and they've "All" included statements "It's not a bad game" and/or "it's an improvement from last year" while noting the same negatives that are year-in, year-out.

It just seems that as usual, everything sounds good on paper (sort of to speak) but the reality is that very little change will be seen.

For some reason, with these two football releases, the whole football gaming atmosphere feels "Blah" compared to years ago.
I just have this "don't expect too much" attitude with EA's football games nowdays.

I know some will argue it's still too early, but to read that some of the same issues still exist that the gaming communities have beaten them over-the-head to correct and issues advertised with pride as being gone still there, I just throw my hands up.

Man, all this time and not "ONE" impression through the years that says "WOW! What a game. This is football at it's best".

It's always "it's an improvement".

I remember the days of Super Techmo Bowl in college where hundreds of students would skip classes just to play some football.

It was Heated and Hardcore with a football game that doesn't boast half the capabilities of the current football releases, yet it was exciting and you couln't wait to play.

Guys lost girlfriends over spending too much time playing this dumb football game "everyday".

With all the super-duper gaming systems and T'v's, you would think we would have our minds blown away, but that "something" for 2012 football just doesn't seem to be there as in the days of old.

# 16 radney @ 08/27/11 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turbo Lax 33


	At the end of the day Madden is a video game, not a recreation of actually playing the game. If you want the experiences the writer has nitpicked about, the only way you will ever get it is by actually playing the game of football, not a video counterpart. Perhaps because I grew up playing video games when Atari football with its 3 men on the field all moving together was the only video game choice, I am more tolerant of games being just a game? At any rate I find this type of article counter productive. THe writer may think he pointed out an equal number of positive and negative issues but the article read to me like one big gripe fest. I will be buying Madden and I will understand and look past the unrealistic events that will occur at times, after all I'm playing a video game.....

I agree with all this. A video game can only be real but so much. I will say just from the demo, I like Madden '12 way better than '10 and '11 combined.

# 17 DJ @ 08/27/11 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	I don't have the game yet, but when I do on Tuesday at midnight, I think I will have a much more enjoyable experience with 12 vs 11. First time I never completed a season in Madden was Madden 11. Just didn't hold my interest.

I hope you do enjoy the game. Within 10 minutes, I regretted buying Madden 11 last year and no amount of patches and slider-tweaking ever made that game enjoyable. I don't want to go through that feeling again this year, so I'd rather wait.

# 18 Perfect Zero @ 08/27/11 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turbo Lax 33


	At the end of the day Madden is a video game, not a recreation of actually playing the game. If you want the experiences the writer has nitpicked about, the only way you will ever get it is by actually playing the game of football, not a video counterpart. Perhaps because I grew up playing video games when Atari football with its 3 men on the field all moving together was the only video game choice, I am more tolerant of games being just a game? At any rate I find this type of article counter productive. THe writer may think he pointed out an equal number of positive and negative issues but the article read to me like one big gripe fest. I will be buying Madden and I will understand and look past the unrealistic events that will occur at times, after all I'm playing a video game.....

I understand that it is just a video game, but at this stage of development it should play a better game. The "Atari" comments make me cringe every time. This isn't 1985 any more, it's 2011, and we should expect better advancements in gaming. I feel that OS did a good job pointing out both sides of the argument, and realize that in today's gaming world, you have to advance realism.

I also love the comment "If you want the experiences the writer has nitpicked about, the only way you will ever get it is by actually playing the game of football, not a video counterpart." Unfortunately, I'll never grow a rocket arm, become two inches taller and grow a blue jersey with the name "Manning" on the back of it. Most people want to experience the game with the Colts or Cowboys or whomever. Going out in the back yard and playing toss up isn't going to make me Peyton Manning. Playing video games helps in this experience.

# 19 Armor and Sword @ 08/27/11 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ


	I appreciate the honesty in, not only this partial review, but in a lot of the other reviews that are filtering out for Madden 12. My only question is, where were these reviews last year? Madden 11 had just as many flaws as have been pointed out so far in Madden 12, yet Madden 11 received far higher scores. Still, I'm glad to see the cookie-cutter reviews disappearing and the journalists doing their duty of holding EA to the flames and calling them out, so to speak, for minimal year-to-year improvements. I'm headed to the store today to cancel my pre-order. I may pick Madden 12 up at a later date, but for now, I'm fine with hopping on my PS2 and playing Madden 09.

Wow. Surprised. I thought the demo was real good. Much better than 10 and 11. With all the franchise enhancements and DPP To me this is a slam dunk for my NFL fix. I was happy with Madden 11 on the field...not 100% wow or blown away, but using playmakers sliders and cpu gameplanning I had a good 2 full seasons with Madden and a fantasy season I enjoyed.

If you think it is more of the same I can understand and I would wait till a price drop in December. But I think for offline franchise buffs this game is going to be a lot of fun and offer some great elements we have been pining for since the leap to next gen.

# 20 SGMRock @ 08/27/11 01:20 PM

Chris the things you said about suction blocking and the DBs clipping through WR or skating around them are the exact same things I said about NCAA 12.

Many times you are at say a right angle to a blocker blitzing the QB and if you graze a lineman you will get sucked sideways into a block. No way this would happen on Sunday, a 240lb LB running at 3/4 speed toward a QB is not going to be stopped that easy, the OL will have to grabe him with an arm on the way by and hold him to save his QB. This is where a full physic engine would be a huge help I guess. I mean OL are strong but they will not stop and turn a LB in his tracks sideways and hold him in a blocking animation you would normally only see if their were going head to head to start with.

The warping around of the DB's is the worse thing. It's like body position doesn't mean anything. Like a 5'11" 180lb DB can just go right around a receiver like Calvin Johnson that is 6'5" and 235 take position and INT or bat down the ball. I would have less problems with mind reading DBs and better zone coverage if this wasn't happening, if the receiver could actually box out the DB like in real life.

Also I agree with what you said, it would be nice if WR's were smart enough to find the wholes in zones and sit on them like real pro WR's do to give a passing lane for the QB.

Last but not least the leaping LB's, I go back and replay these a lot when they happen in both NCAA and Madden. It seems in the replays they are not really going up that high, its just that the ball is so low. Instead of trying to fix leaping LBs they should fix the ball trajectory.

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