Madden 12

The Madden NFL franchise has been the only choice for gamers who want to play some football for quite some time. Each new addition usually either hits the mark or stagnates and isn’t worth the asking price; how well does Madden 12 live up to the hype? Is this game worth the $60 price tag or should you skip it all together? Let’s find out!

Gameplay

I haven’t played a Madden game since Madden 07, but I jumped into Madden 12 and had no real trouble adjusting. There haven’t been a whole lot of tweaks to the gameplay; hiking, passing, tackling and all of the main movements that you will need to know are still there and haven’t really changed, though is easier to call out audibles on the line and hot routes with a special menu that is extremely easy to access.

There are several different game modes in Madden 12, with the regular franchise, exhibition and superstar modes all making a return to the game. The modes have been slightly changed from last year’s edition but there weren’t a ton of obvious improvements. Most of the changes were small and you really had to be looking for them to be apparent.

Presentation

Madden 12, like many of the Madden games, really lacks something in the presentation department. While playing the game, it is hard to get immersed into the action with the lack of color commentary and the very small amounts of ambient noise. Sound effects for the crowd are muffled, the commentators don’t sound natural and the game slips into a weird silence many times which pulls you out of the game. Most sports games do a very god job of making you feel like you are watching a broadcast on TV but Madden 12 rarely achieves that aesthetic.

There are things that the game does to make you feel like you are watching a broadcast, like the defensive and offensive lineups being shown on the screen like in a real NFL broadcast, but these elements of the presentation are few and far between.

Graphics on the players and the field look great, with the field itself looking very impressive. However, the fans look like a discombobulated mess of color, jumping up and down in unison and not looking nearly as impressive as the crowds in other sports games.

Certain game modes do an okay job with presentation, the most notable being Superstar mode. I personally really liked having the coach talk directly to the player before each play to explain what to do and what to watch out for. That seemed a lot like something a player would actually hear from a coach prior to the snap and it helps you know what you need to do for the play.

The different fields, the weather conditions and other small touches like that are all done pretty well and EA should be given credit for that. Those kinds of features have always been a strong suit of the series and Madden 12 doesn’t stop the trend.

The playbook has also been revamped with the default option being a “gameflow” design that only shows one play at a time and only in text form (ie the play itself is not sketched in a little box). This design is not the best for a player like me, who doesn’t really know plays by name. I haven’t memorized my team’s playbook and even if I had, I don’t really want to have to rely on my memory for that. I don’t mind it being there, but I wish that it wasn’t the default setting. I like to jump into exhibition matches a lot and sometimes I forget to change it before starting the game.

Ultimate Team

EA has been pushing the Ultimate Team mode for a while and it really shines through as the most polished and new feature of the game. Ultimate Team is a cross between a card game, fantasy football and the traditional Madden gameplay experience. Players are given a starter pack of cards that include players, uniforms, stadiums, coaches and playbooks. These cards can be traded, bought and moved around to create the best possible team.

The mode have been around since the 2010 installment of the game but this year’s version has brought a ton of new content to the game and has really fleshed out the experience. Trading cards, buying new packs and building your ultimate team is a very refined and unique experience that the game does quite well.

The basic premise of Ultimate Team is that players are given a starter pack of cards to begin building their team and they can either trade with other players or buy new packs to expand their team. The cards include all kinds of things like players, stadiums, coaches, playbooks and more. Expanding your team and earning coins by performance in games is the driving force behind the game mode and is very well done.

Players can buy a pack from the brand-new Legendary Pack line that will give them a slew of great high-value cards and the chance to get a Madden Ultimate Team legend card. A legend card will be a high-value card of an NFL legend from the past. For example, players can get the 1985 season Jerry Rice card or the 1986 NFL MVP Lawrence Taylor card. These legends will help teams to become even stronger and have an even better chance of winning games.

Players that bought the “Hall of Fame” version of the game have the unique opportunity to get a Hall of Fame pack of cards that includes 13 NFL Hall of Famers and former Madden cover athletes. Players will get cards like 2004 cover athlete Michael Vick or Hall of Famer Rod Woodson.

The biggest thing that fans of the mode had been clamoring for was trades of cards and EA decided to give the fans what they want and add in the mode. In the past, if you got two of the same card, there was nothing you could do about it. Now, if you get two of the same card or a card that you don’t really want, you can put it on the trading block.

Any kind of card can be traded in a 1-to-1 trade; multiple card trades are not available in Madden 12 but EA has stated that it is something the team is looking into for future games. When you put a card on the trading block you can specify a ranking range that you want for the card so that you aren’t spammed with junk offers. There is a fee associated with trading card but it is only activated if the trade is successfully completed.

Final Thoughts

Madden 12 is a competent game and the only real NFL experience that you are going to be able to get on the market. It does what it needs to do well, but it doesn’t do a whole lot more than that. The actual gameplay mechanics are solid, the modes are good and it overall isn’t a terrible game to play but it doesn’t have that special spark that I look for in a sports title. With a new sports title out every year, I really look for a significant change to the core of the game for it to be worth the $60 price point; otherwise you are paying for a glorified roster update. Madden 12 definitely brings some new things to the table, but it doesn’t bring enough to make this a must buy title.

If you haven’t bought a football game for this generation of consoles then this might not be a bad purchase but if you already have a Madden game that is less than 4-5 years old, then you might want to just pass this one up. The one real exception to this would be fans of the Ultimate Team mode. If you are really into the Ultimate Team mode in Madden then you will definitely want to buy this game for all of the updates and upgrades that the game brings to the table for you.

As a casual fan of both the sport of football and of the Madden franchise, I wish that EA had focused more on the presentation of the game and less on the Ultimate Team. I understand that Ultimate Team is very popular and it is very similar to fantasy football, which is huge, but it isn’t the core of the Madden experience. Things like better crowd effects, better commentary and really just a bigger focus on the ambient noise of an arena would have made the experience a lot better. I always feel kinf of empty when I play a Madden game as opposed to a game like NHL 12. While there might be more opportunities for play-by-play commentary in a sport like hockey, that doesn’t mean things like crowd noises and arena sounds couldn’t be better executed to make the game feel more like a real football experience.

If you are a fan of the Madden franchise and love to play Ultimate Team then this game is an absolute must for you, but if you are a more casual fan of football and already have a football game in your library, then this game isn’t worth full price. Madden 12 is available on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 right now.

Written By: James Pungello