Madden 12 News Post

Madden NFL 12 Review (360/PS3)

02:56 PM - August 29, 2011 by RaychelSnr

In many ways, Madden NFL Football is the most anticipated, discussed and debated game in our genre each and every year.

The lead up to Madden NFL 12 has brought a new wave of optimism for the series, as many issues fans have had with the series were promised to be fixed, tuned or tweaked. In many ways, the Madden team has accomplished their goals of moving the series forward. Unfortunately, those expecting a return to greatness for the series are going to be disappointed.

Read More - Madden NFL 12 Review (360/PS3)

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

# 41 Bull_Dozer @ 08/29/11 05:12 PM

I hate bringing up 2k5.... but seriously, the WR/DB interactions are still light years ahead of Madden.

# 42 statum71 @ 08/29/11 05:19 PM

For all the guys who shove aside presentation......

I know (and agree) that gameplay is number one. But its not the only element to a sports game. Thats why every single review I'm seeing about Madden is mentioning how horrible audio and commentary is killing the experience in this title.

So other things besides gameplay do indeed matter.

# 43 wallofhate @ 08/29/11 05:22 PM

I agree with your review I think you hit the nail on the head for the most part. I just hope this is a step forward to a huge leap of improvement like other titles.

# 44 ccoaxum @ 08/29/11 05:24 PM

i don't really care about what people say about the game, i think its alot better when it is compared to the past games, it can be better tho. plus i got the game for $27 dollars so i'm not even trippen either way.

# 45 spankdatazz22 @ 08/29/11 05:55 PM

Kudos to the in-depth OS review this year. I feel far better informed than I ever have in years previous; I think collectively it was by far the most in-depth football review I've ever read. I thought the Gameplay and Franchise sections in particular were very detailed and well-written/balanced and focused on details I felt were important. I really want a NFL game and I'm positive M12 is the best Madden this generation. But ultimately, that's not saying all that much as most of us know. As badly as I want a football game I'm not sure I want to do [essentially a $40 rental, if I trade it in for $25-30 in a couple months] that's gonna give the equivalant of a quick sugar rush and not much meat (for me). In the absence of competition reviews like these should help the game improve substantially in the long run though

# 46 Tomba @ 08/29/11 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spankdatazz22


	Kudos to the in-depth OS review this year. I feel far better informed than I ever have in years previous; I think collectively it was by far the most in-depth football review I've ever read. I thought the Gameplay and Franchise sections in particular were very detailed and well-written/balanced and focused on details I felt were important. I really want a NFL game and I'm positive M12 is the best Madden this generation. But ultimately, that's not saying all that much as most of us know. As badly as I want a football game I'm not sure I want to do [essentially a $40 rental, if I trade it in for $25-30 in a couple months] that's gonna give the equivalant of a quick sugar rush and not much meat (for me). In the absence of competition reviews like these should help the game improve substantially in the long run though

Madden 12 IS the best Madden this Gen.
Last Gen The Best Madden was Madden 2003 believe it not on GameCube.
The Best football game is still on Last Gen with NFL 2k5.
But 2k5 was surpassed by Madden 09 on Xbox 360 in many ways thanks to new tech.

Madden 10 and 11(edited not so much) where mere placeholders for what Madden 12 is.

However much of what worked in madden for 10 and 11 are not changed much in Madden 12.

But madden looks and feels SO different than previous years that is a shame to not pick up and play this year.

Graphically and animation wise its wowed me.

# 47 SteelerSpartan @ 08/29/11 06:07 PM

I think this was a fair review....

The series has finally regained and maybe even surpassed its glory years(04-05) form...

but its 2011.....and that just doesn't hold up as well anymore in the wake of the other heavy hitters in the Sports Game Genre

# 48 alangst @ 08/29/11 06:16 PM

This is a fair, tough review of a good game. Pretty much what i would expect from a webpage called OperationSports. Keep it up.

# 49 DeuceDouglas @ 08/29/11 06:18 PM

It seems like we've gotten past the point of there being a whole lot of major flaws and now the nitpicking of other little issues has begun. That's probably a good thing because it means Madden might be working it's way to a more and more polished game.

-The playcalling has been the same forever and I've never heard anything about how unrealistic playcalling is in the reviews until now.

-Same goes for defense. I don't know how you could really make it any more exciting.

-The new kick meter being a step backward is a joke. I don't think I ever missed a single kick with the old RS kick meter. I could literally be in a completely different room and make every kick because it was that easy. Maybe they should go back to the Super Nintendo style kick meter the circle goes up and down for power and then side to side for accuracy. They need to take the arrow out of it though because that is what makes it so easy.

-Overshadowing an obviously greatly improved franchise with things like 'clunky menus' seems a little degrading in the overall scope of things but maybe that's just me.

# 50 fliplm0de @ 08/29/11 06:27 PM

From what i've been reading from the final build and those who got the game 3 days early this is pretty accurate. Yea the game looks nice too bad it doesn't play as well.

# 51 bukktown @ 08/29/11 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeuceDouglas


	It seems like we've gotten past the point of there being a whole lot of major flaws and now the nitpicking of other little issues has begun. That's probably a good thing because it means Madden might be working it's way to a more and more polished game. -The playcalling has been the same forever and I've never heard anything about how unrealistic playcalling is in the reviews until now. -Same goes for defense. I don't know how you could really make it any more exciting. -The new kick meter being a step backward is a joke. I don't think I ever missed a single kick with the old RS kick meter. I could literally be in a completely different room and make every kick because it was that easy. Maybe they should go back to the Super Nintendo style kick meter the circle goes up and down for power and then side to side for accuracy. They need to take the arrow out of it though because that is what makes it so easy. -Overshadowing an obviously greatly improved franchise with things like 'clunky menus' seems a little degrading in the overall scope of things but maybe that's just me.

That's the perplexing thing. The game is not, on the whole, more polished.

# 52 SGMRock @ 08/29/11 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fliplm0de


	From what i've been reading from the final build and those who got the game 3 days early this is pretty accurate. Yea the game looks nice too bad it doesn't play as well.

It plays better than the last 2 or 3 years. The offline franchise mode is tons better. Clunky menus or not its tons better. I see a lot of people being turned off by the review, but right now I think the 2012 release build is better than the 2011 patched game. If you liked 2011 this is a step up in Gameplay and Franchise. Commentary sucked last year and still does but if you want the game for gameplay and offline franchise I think its better than the last 3 years.

# 53 damaja @ 08/29/11 06:50 PM

It appears to me that madden/NCAA is approaching the fate of NBA live, where the game simply didn't progress to satisfactory levels. The only difference is live had competition that ultimately caused EA to cancel it. I haven't bought madden in years because it was no longer fun playing offline. For me, if only EA would make ratings matter in the game that would bring the strategy aspect back to the game. Right now, great players vs scrub players don't reflect well in the game. I've never played a game where on defense I had to strategize how to stop a great wr or rb. To me the only significant gameplay enhancement was when a few years ago there was talk about stretching the ratings to differentiate players. But they didn't go far enough with that idea.

# 54 jkra0512 @ 08/29/11 06:59 PM

I really like this review and the impressions from OS...seems as though this wasn't sugar-coated like the NCAA review. This write-up, along with several others, have given me enough info to not buy it right away. I'll get it used and not give my money to EA. Sad I won't have a football game opening day, but I'd rather keep my sanity and my hair from not yelling at the game for doing something stupid.

I was really hoping this game would serve as a great rebound to NCAA, but it's not looking like it. *sigh* At least EA makes a good hockey game, I'll buy that first day! lol

# 55 schnaidt1 @ 08/29/11 07:02 PM

i have been loving this game. not since madden 04 have i been so into a football game. last few years i buy madden, play it a week. then im either too pissed off, or too bored with franchise mode. this year, although there are some annoyances. im loving how every game feels fresh.

this game isnt deserving of all the 9 ratings it has got this year or last. and i think 7.5 is a great rating for this game cuz in the past the 8.5 and 9 ratings madden got should really have been cut in 1/2!!

if u consider that, then this madden really is worth buying. im getting it after my season ticket expires

# 56 Whaaaazuuuuup @ 08/29/11 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schnaidt1


	i have been loving this game. not since madden 04 have i been so into a football game. last few years i buy madden, play it a week. then im either too pissed off, or too bored with franchise mode. this year, although there are some annoyances. im loving how every game feels fresh. this game isnt deserving of all the 9 ratings it has got this year or last. and i think 7.5 is a great rating for this game cuz in the past the 8.5 and 9 ratings madden got should really have been cut in 1/2!! if u consider that, then this madden really is worth buying. im getting it after my season ticket expires

i agree with you bro. there comes a tinme where you need to stop nit picking a game to death. MADDEN will NEVER be NFL2k5, which in my opinion is the MJ of football video games. we all knew what to expect when EA got this license and unfortunately we'll have to endure it til 2014 since they signed an extended year.

that being said, MADDEN does a fair job and is better than last yrs, which i played regularly up until 2 weeks ago. til a new development team starts making MADDEN just expect minor tweaks as improvements...

# 57 tril @ 08/29/11 07:32 PM

Too many negative reviews. Man we need another football developer badly.

# 58 rich7sena @ 08/29/11 07:49 PM

Its perplexing to me how this game got a 7.5 as opposed to last years 9. All that Madden 11 added from Madden 10 was Gameflow, strategy pad and a broken difficulty system (all of which were negatively received). I suppose the ambition that Madden 12 undertook didn't deliver on all accounts but it still laid out a foundation for future games. I didn't agree with the score Madden 11 got last year and while I don't believe this is the same reviewer from last year, there needs to be some consistency with the scores on the same site.

# 59 mellamoaaron @ 08/29/11 07:59 PM

I still don't get how a game that is substantially better and a big jump in the series got rated lower than a game that was basically 10.5.

I loved NFL 2K5, I might have had franchises with EVERY team on the game, yet Madden 12 surpasses it, in my opinion. I've never had so much fun playing against the CPU in a game since then, and this has surpassed it. I've lost games and I didn't get mad, I knew I lost because I wasn't executing correctly. WR/DB interactions are something they can work for next year, but as it is now I'm happy that I bought this game.

# 60 scottyp180 @ 08/29/11 08:03 PM

I miss the days when it was worth being excited for the release of a new NFL title. Back when you didn't have to question if it was worth buying or if it was better than the previous years game. Now you need to hold off at least a year inbetween games just to get your moneys worth.

I remember when the EA/Madden hate mostly came from loyal 2K fans but each year it seems that more and more people are noticing the lack of effort that is put into to this game year after year and it's reflected in the games review. Its like EA doesn't care that Madden, which use to consistently get review scores of 9 and above, hasn't reviewed that high since the 360 came out.

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