Madden 12 News Post

Madden NFL 12 Review (360/PS3)

03:56 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

# 101 jkra0512 @ 08/30/11 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by protoolsmp


	Hi im getting madden 12 for xbox 360 at 10am sharp. would like to join a mature online draft league. if anyone is starting something serious this morning and need a good owner to be at draft send me a message. THANKS

Wrong thread....try the Online sub-forum...

# 102 BlackJackRabbit @ 08/30/11 08:58 AM

It's amazing how much more positive the reviews were for Madden 11 than Madden 12, and Madden 12 is clearly better than Madden 11.

http://www.operationsports.com/revie...madden-nfl-11/

It seems like, to me, that writers are tired of the baby steps that this franchise has been taking this generation. The jist I get is " too little, too late." Madden has lagged behind the rest of the sports genre for too long, and writers aren't sugarcoating things anymore.

# 103 jkra0512 @ 08/30/11 09:05 AM

To the people making the point, "Well, football games are hard to make." Does that mean we should give developers a free pass? Also, when the SAME problems crop up year after year, should the consumer say, "Oh well, the game is hard to make, they can't fix everything...Here is $60, EA."

I agree that no game will EVER be bugless or glitch-less upon release, but as Chris pointed out in his review, some of the design decisions are questionable, at best. Is that because a football game is hard to make? I would let the argument go if it were the first or second edition on the current gen, but we are almost six years into this generation and they still haven't ironed out the details. Instead, the consumer is stuck dealing with the "three-year cycle," that begins every year.

There are some promising features such as the new Franchise additions, but that's not enough to warrant a $60 purchase for me, with many other features that need to looked at and tweaked...

# 104 tril @ 08/30/11 10:11 AM

the problem with Madden is probably the lack of sliders. All the complaints found in most sports games are usually corrected with a correlating set of sliders.
Madden developers should include mroe specific sliders. for every position. not just the core sliders found every year.

# 105 RaychelSnr @ 08/30/11 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SageWonder


	Taken from a previous thread(tired of people making this "no game is perfect" argument): NO ONE HAS EVER EXPECTED MADDEN TO BE PERFECT! What people do expect: 3+ year legacy issues/bugs to be fixed. An overhyped mode that hasn't been touched in 3 years to finally get an update. Things from "that other football game", such as head/ball tracking, WR/DB & OL/DL interactions, football fundamentals per position, etc, to finally be implemented correctly in Madden after 6 years of waiting. Basically, we just want the bugs fixed and for the gameplay to finally add these long-needed features that a 6 year old game had. Posted using the power of knowledge.

The 'no game is perfect' argument is a good one when factoring in buying decisions...Madden is a fun but not realistic game (and I said as much in the review). However when judging a game on our full 10 point scale, a 10 is essentially a perfect game. Many sites with a similar 10 point scale will give deeply flawed games 10/10 because they are great in so many other areas. In my time at OS, even under the old scale, we have never given a 10 and even 9.5s were exceedingly rare. I say that because now, most games will see lower scores but will still be fun and perfectly playable games.

The way the scale was designed is that anything over a 7 starts to be a very solid buy for most because those games are in the upper 25% of our scale. Anything from 5-7 is probably more for fans of the sport and anything below a five starts getting into 'don't buy unless' territory. So yes no game is perfect but we are going to be scoring games at OS with either the perfect simulation OR arcade sports experience in mind.

# 106 BenGerman @ 08/30/11 12:37 PM

Nice review. I'll probably pick this up eventually, but I'm definitely going to hold off until I absolutely need an NFL fix. First year I didn't pre-order Madden in a long time.

# 107 soxfan2815 @ 08/30/11 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMChrisS


	The 'no game is perfect' argument is a good one when factoring in buying decisions...Madden is a fun but not realistic game (and I said as much in the review). However when judging a game on our full 10 point scale, a 10 is essentially a perfect game. Many sites with a similar 10 point scale will give deeply flawed games 10/10 because they are great in so many other areas. In my time at OS, even under the old scale, we have never given a 10 and even 9.5s were exceedingly rare. I say that because now, most games will see lower scores but will still be fun and perfectly playable games. The way the scale was designed is that anything over a 7 starts to be a very solid buy for most because those games are in the upper 25% of our scale. Anything from 5-7 is probably more for fans of the sport and anything below a five starts getting into 'don't buy unless' territory. So yes no game is perfect but we are going to be scoring games at OS with either the perfect simulation OR arcade sports experience in mind.

I agree that many sites are giving way too many games a 10/10. That system is overused. I think the new scoring system here is throwing a lot of people off. I don't know if it's just that most people haven't been informed about the new scoring system yet or what but even for me it's a little confusing. I'm just curious what you would give Madden under the old system? What would a 7.5 equal?

# 108 BenGerman @ 08/30/11 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMChrisS


	The 'no game is perfect' argument is a good one when factoring in buying decisions...Madden is a fun but not realistic game (and I said as much in the review). However when judging a game on our full 10 point scale, a 10 is essentially a perfect game. Many sites with a similar 10 point scale will give deeply flawed games 10/10 because they are great in so many other areas. In my time at OS, even under the old scale, we have never given a 10 and even 9.5s were exceedingly rare. I say that because now, most games will see lower scores but will still be fun and perfectly playable games. The way the scale was designed is that anything over a 7 starts to be a very solid buy for most because those games are in the upper 25% of our scale. Anything from 5-7 is probably more for fans of the sport and anything below a five starts getting into 'don't buy unless' territory. So yes no game is perfect but we are going to be scoring games at OS with either the perfect simulation OR arcade sports experience in mind.

Really glad OS moved to this kind of scale. It always annoys me when Game Review sites work on a 6-10 scale rather than a 1-10.

# 109 Bgamer90 @ 08/30/11 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenGerman


	Really glad OS moved to this kind of scale. It always annoys me when Game Review sites work on a 6-10 scale rather than a 1-10.

EXACTLY.

Most sites never give scores lower than 6 and most sites hand out 8's an 9's freely just due to the game itself having a lot of hype and/or being from a big name series.

So with this new rating scale on OS, a 7.5 would probably translate to around a high 8 or a low 9 on other gaming sites.

But anyways, I don't really care about numbers in reviews. I am more so into the review (the text) itself.

There are many that just look at numbers. So with that as well as the fact the many sites give out 8's and 9's frequently, it's no surprise why 7's are considered bad and/or "games that I shouldn't buy territory".

# 110 Bgamer90 @ 08/30/11 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackJackRabbit


	It's amazing how much more positive the reviews were for Madden 11 than Madden 12, and Madden 12 is clearly better than Madden 11. http://www.operationsports.com/revie...madden-nfl-11/ It seems like, to me, that writers are tired of the baby steps that this franchise has been taking this generation. The jist I get is " too little, too late." Madden has lagged behind the rest of the sports genre for too long, and writers aren't sugarcoating things anymore.

To me it seems that since Madden didn't add a gimmicky commercial feature this year that sites that aren't really into sports games aren't noticing the changes (or are just not interested in them).

# 111 noonan2112 @ 08/30/11 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkra0512


	To the people making the point, "Well, football games are hard to make." Does that mean we should give developers a free pass? Also, when the SAME problems crop up year after year, should the consumer say, "Oh well, the game is hard to make, they can't fix everything...Here is $60, EA." I agree that no game will EVER be bugless or glitch-less upon release, but as Chris pointed out in his review, some of the design decisions are questionable, at best. Is that because a football game is hard to make? I would let the argument go if it were the first or second edition on the current gen, but we are almost six years into this generation and they still haven't ironed out the details. Instead, the consumer is stuck dealing with the "three-year cycle," that begins every year. There are some promising features such as the new Franchise additions, but that's not enough to warrant a $60 purchase for me, with many other features that need to looked at and tweaked...

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You said it man.

I might be a little tough on them at this point, but boycotting the product is the only choice I have. Six years into the next generation of consoles and we still have to put up with this junk year after year. At this point, we should be playing a game that blows us away every single time we turn it on.

By the way, I don't WANT to feel this way and am not a negative person by nature. I love the game of football as we all do. It's just shame that we have one gaming developer of the most popular sport in the world. That one developer has disappointed me time and time again.

# 112 jmik58 @ 08/30/11 01:45 PM

So glad the sub-par gameplay didn't get a free pass because of all the siny makeup on the rest of the game.

# 113 jwilphl @ 08/30/11 02:46 PM

For those that do buy the game every year, I would like to issue a warning about criticizing the game for lack of innovation. Games are extremely complex presently and it simply takes a lot more time to complete and polish a game. Since the inception of the new generation, I have not been particularly fond of the one-year cycle for sports games, simply because I feel they are far too repetitive and there isn't enough progress because developers get broken up by the constant launch cycles.

That said, I work around this issue by simply not buying the same game year after year. I used to do that with certain games, but needless to say I learned my lesson. I think it is also fair to say that the market in its present state, consisting of unregulated monopolies across various sports titles, has an adverse affect on game development. There is little incentive for developers to "do their best" to improve the game in consecutive years. Perhaps the market will eventually correct this issue by seeing a decline in game sales, but I think so far, that has failed to occur.

I have no opinion on Madden '12. I played the demo, and it was just okay, but I have no intention of buying the full version. That said, for my own personal preference, NFL 2K5 is still the best overall football game and experience I've had. It is a shame that a game 7-years old now can maintain that title. I have nothing against Madden, and I have enjoyed the game from time-to-time (although mostly on last-gen). But the game in its current state still has far too many shortcomings to be worth a $60 purchase every year. The same holds true for other titles like NCAA and NHL. I really believe competition would help the industry, and if I was knowledgeable enough I would probably start my own development company to eventually break into the sports-gaming field.

I don't think we will ever see the day where we get an optimum Madden or the like experience, for various reasons. Part of this is due to the technology cycle where developers essentially have to reset their progress and start from scratch in order to adapt to new technologies. Part of it is also technological limitations and developer competency. It would indeed be difficult to figure out a solution to each of these problems all at once.

# 114 BrownsFan72 @ 08/30/11 03:57 PM

I dont know...I havent been happy with Madden in yrs and think this is the best in a long time. I think its a 9.0 I like it better than NCAA and it got a 8.5

# 115 ruffdhc @ 08/30/11 07:03 PM

To me Madden 12 is not a bad game. It seems like EA took a page out of 2K's book and tried to get back to the basics of football. After playing the game for about 5-6 hours it was the same old presentation but for a team like the bucs things go old quick. Now with the more mainstream teams Chris always had something to say and the presentation was good. The run animation was not that good and often was wondering if i was running or jogging. Also the ratings could stand a tweek or two while some teams dont have one person with a 90 overall and 1-2 players with a 90+ speed rating but it seems that speed doesn't as big of a roll as in past Maddens. Over all the game is good and maybe the best madden yet.

# 116 Elite49 @ 08/31/11 12:17 AM

It says 7.5 Good

Then below that Pretty Good...

Its only "Good" don't try to coat it

# 117 bkrich83 @ 08/31/11 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elite49


	It says 7.5 Good Then below that Pretty Good... Its only "Good" don't try to coat it

How insightful.

# 118 D Apocalypse @ 08/31/11 12:50 AM

Just skimming through some of the comments made on here, it seems most are reading too much into the review that OS gave the game and the negativity that the forum members have towards the game. Let me tell you all that I have hated the last 3 Maddens I have owned and played but this game is the best in the series for next-gen consoles. I know I'm still in the new version honeymoon but I can reassure you guys that this is a really good game.

# 119 JohnDoe8865 @ 08/31/11 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D Apocalypse


	Just skimming through some of the comments made on here, it seems most are reading too much into the review that OS gave the game and the negativity that the forum members have towards the game. Let me tell you all that I have hated the last 3 Maddens I have owned and played but this game is the best in the series for next-gen consoles. I know I'm still in the new version honeymoon but I can reassure you guys that this is a really good game.

This is what I am most concerned about, and why I'm going to try to wait at least 3 weeks to a month before considering buying Madden 12. The "honeymoon period" happens with ALL new games, not just sports games or EA games. People love a new game because it offers something new, different, or at the very least feels that way at first.

But usually after 2 or 3 weeks of solid playtime, a game starts to reveal "warts" if you will, things that didn't bother you as much at the beginning, begin to add up. The little things that niggle at you early on, start to nudge you a little more. The flaws that were easy to over look start to mount in frustration if not corrected (patched).

Again, this happens with every new video game, be it Madden, NBA 2K, The Show, Assassin's Creed, Deus Ex, etc. It is part of gaming. I'm trying to stay very impartial and read every side of impressions as much as possible, even though I may come off as more negative to some.. if you know my post history, or just who I am, you know that I'm not like that. I rarely hate a game and even more rarely make it a mission to bash or derail a game.

My point is, I want to see and hear more impressions when the honeymoon period is over. I think this is the most reasonable approach to those on the fence about buying the game. If you aren't sure about laying down your money for ANYTHING, wait for user reviews/site reviews, impressions etc. Not just games. I don't think I'll be buying any video game for the rest of this generation 1st day anymore.

I'm unhappy with the general attitude of most game publishers, that being release it, then patch it. I don't agree with that approach as a consumer or a gamer. I'm exercising my right as a consumer to be informed, and if more people did that, instead of going in semi-blind and full of hype and hoping it lives up to a standard you've set for it, there would be 50% less complaint threads IMO and a whole lot less unhappy gamers. There also might be the side effect of more responsive action from developers and PR people if 1st week sales (very critical in the VG industry) didn't meet projections year after year. This is not an anti-EA crusade, or a crusade at all really. It's just being smart about how you spend your time and money, especially in a down economy.

Long-winded I know, but that's my 2 cents so far on the issue.

# 120 wallrose @ 08/31/11 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xylocaine


	Fair score, this game is a really LAZY release in almost every area. EA needs some football competition.

Does any realize some of these new features where back on ps2 and 2k5 thats why open competition is needed if 2k was still making games Ea wouldnt of half assed superstar mode and for all of you saying im just another 2k fan so youre saying you would support and give up your hard earned money for a half *** job every year

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