 |
There’s no question that the gameplay in Madden NFL 11 is great at its core, but some of the AI tuning slants the game too heavily in the offense’s favor. Both Online Team Play and the inclusion of Gus Johnson are fantastic and add a lot to the package, but I can’t help but feel that the moneymakers of old have been cast into the darkness. I think it’s clear that this year’s Madden is geared toward the mainstream football fan; someone who just wants to come in after playing a game of catch outside and get their hands on some real NFL talent. For that audience Madden NFL 11 delivers. However, if you’re the type of player who sits alone in your living room combing the free agent wire for a player to add to your beloved franchise, I think this year’s Madden is going to leave something to be desired. 8.5 Presentation Gus Johnson coupled with the cool new Super Bowl presentation and replay elements help bring the look of this year’s broadcast closer to Sunday than ever. 8.5 Graphics Player details are solid and the animation work on the field just keeps getting better and better every year. Moments of slowdown during some graphical transitions are a downer. 8.0 Sound Gus is a great addition, but they need to re-work the technology running under the hood so his dialogue isn’t so fragmented. Soundtrack could be more imaginative. 8.5 Gameplay It’s a great game of football at its core, some of the AI decisions are more annoying than helpful. The added offensive firepower might please mainstream players, but it will upset hardcore fans. 7.5 Lasting Appeal Madden’s typically deep Franchise Mode has been totally left out in the cold. Online Team Play is great, but it’s not the rock hard, never-ending activity that Owner and Franchise Mode once were. 8.0 OVERALL ImpressiveRead full review
There’s no question that the gameplay in Madden NFL 11 is great at its core, but some of the AI tuning slants the game too heavily in the offense’s favor. Both Online Team Play and the inclusion of Gus Johnson are fantastic and add a lot to the package, but I can’t help but feel that the moneymakers of old have been cast into the darkness. I think it’s clear that this year’s Madden is geared toward the mainstream football fan; someone who just wants to come in after playing a game of catch outside and get their hands on some real NFL talent. For that audience Madden NFL 11 delivers. However, if you’re the type of player who sits alone in your living room combing the free agent wire for a player to add to your beloved franchise, I think this year’s Madden is going to leave something to be desired. 8.5 Presentation Gus Johnson coupled with the cool new Super Bowl presentation and replay elements help bring the look of this year’s broadcast closer to Sunday than ever. 8.5 Graphics Player details are solid and the animation work on the field just keeps getting better and better every year. Moments of slowdown during some graphical transitions are a downer. 8.0 Sound Gus is a great addition, but they need to re-work the technology running under the hood so his dialogue isn’t so fragmented. Soundtrack could be more imaginative. 8.5 Gameplay It’s a great game of football at its core, some of the AI decisions are more annoying than helpful. The added offensive firepower might please mainstream players, but it will upset hardcore fans. 7.5 Lasting Appeal Madden’s typically deep Franchise Mode has been totally left out in the cold. Online Team Play is great, but it’s not the rock hard, never-ending activity that Owner and Franchise Mode once were. 8.0 OVERALL ImpressiveRead full review
Every year, the Madden series has certain change that usually sets the entire tone for the game. Last year it was on reworking the game simulation to make everything seem a lot more authentic. This year, the developer’s wanted to make the game “simpler, quicker, and deeper,” and after playing the game, it’s easy to see that EA Sports succeed. The main highlight this year’s game is the new Game Flow play calling system, which was designed to more closely resemble real games where the coach gives the quarterback the plays to call based on each situation. This makes picking a play a lot faster. Madden 11 also features a game planning component to use together with the Game Flow system, users can adjust their game plans for any situation. Cool idea! This is done through a five-star system that will be used when trying to decide which plays to formulate in your game plan. Seems madden complicated at first buy you will master it in no time. As for actual game play, the game plays a bit faster than its predecessor, though it’s not too fast like NFL Blitz. The biggest changes in speed are noticeable in different players with very different speed rating attributes. In Madden NFL 11 speed, agility, and acceleration are the main three elements in physics and speed, and it’ll be easier to see which players are taking advantage of their respected skills. Example, A receiver that isn’t the fastest guy on the field, but his in-game acceleration is quite high, making him seem faster in the game. Also, no more sprint button, so now players will run pretty much based on simulated skill, which usually takes effect once the player gets passed the secondary and knows that it’s literally a footrace to the end zone. Now the players perform harder jukes, and the truck stick effect now portrays even more strengths for ball carriers and tacklers, giving the player a more authentic pushing and fighting feel. For me the new functionality with the truck stick is a welcome addition, Now your team has a lot more control with audibles in the line of scrimmage with calls that are set to all four directions. If you see that the defense all of a sudden switched, you can counter by changing your intermediate pass to a short run. Each audible gives you options for pretty much every situation. The drawback to this is that there are a lot more now, if you'r the person who likes to play fast, with the accelerated clock, this could be a disadvantage. One of the most unpredictable changes made was in special teams, specifically with the kicking game. The system has totally changed. Instead of the old aim your arrow and move the right stick down then up motion players have become accustomed to. Now it’s a two-click system. You aim your ball, and then you press the trigger once for power, and once more for accuracy. You have to be careful though, because it’s really easy to mess up with the accuracy. I actually missed a lot of extra point attempts and kicked a lot of kickoffs out of bounds because of this, definitely practice this, it could become a big advantage. One of the more interesting new features is the ability to play the Super Bowl without even going through Franchise Mode, and you can use any team against any team. This is a great update to a series that’s definitely improving year after year. It looks like the developers are finally at a comfortable spot with the foundation of this generation’s Madden games. Thanks for reading! 2MaxMartRead full review
I get the Madden every year, but this year I also bought Backbreaker, and I can tell you that EA gives us EVERY YEAR the same thing, which does not change the game as it should be on the next gen consoles. Sure Madden is always fun and I'm having good times playing this offense-oriented version, plus it is the only franchise providing us the official game of the NFL, but... Take a look at what an English company can bring to an American game, Backbreaker should be a lesson to EA, every play is completely FREE, no motion capture for the entire game, and the CPU doesn't cheat (yes EA, harder mode should mean CPU smarter, and not human controlled team more stupid, look for what I mean on the web, you'll understand, CPU CHEATS) !!!
Graphics-96/Sound-94/Controls-85/Blast Force-88/Overall-91 First off, I'll start by saying that this is in no way the same game we've seen on the PS3 for the last 4 years. I'm probably not alone in saying..."Thank God!" The Madden messiah is here after abysmal back to back showings on PS3 (c'mon, Madden 10 was TERRIBLE with a capital T!). This is just shy of a complete overhaul for Madden 11, with numerous additions to graphics, gameplay and features. Tons of animations are added, making the graphics better than ever, and the slowed down gameplay helps showcase it further; more on game speed in a sec. The controls are as good as they can be; the sprint button is all but gone, but you won't need it anyway. The franchise mode is more or less the same with a few improvements and more streamlined menus, but it's the gameplay improvements that really help it's cause the most. Now, this game's slower, but it's ok; there's realism there. High frame rate means high detail, which means very high realism in Madden 11 footbal games. The great thing with the addition of the gameflow feature is there's a balance between harcore simulation and pick up and play. The play is basically picked for you, and you have to run it effectively. If you're willing to put in the time to customize not only audibles on both sides of the ball beforehand, but prioritize your gameflow plays, you'll be richly rewarded. Games go faster, even with Accelerated Clock set to "Off." It's also more realistic...you can hear the coordinator's play call on a compatible headset for crying out loud! The two biggest improvements are in response to the worst features 09 and 10 implemented in-game. The long ball is back, injecting this franchise with some much needed offense, and much needed fun. Also, the commentary...boring, boring, boring. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Gus Johnson! It's in the game, and Gus brings YOU in the game like noone else can or ever has! Two big problems just a bitter memory; obviously EA's listening...finally. This game is worth it, unless you're a Madden master, you might spend a few weeks alone on clearing trophies (which are a lot more flexible/attainable, btw). The positives go on for well over a hundred yards. This things already highly underrated! Go get it and prove the spinsters wrong!Read full review
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Video Games
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Video Games
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
