It’s August and that means that it is Madden season. This is the time of the year that girlfriends and wives make travel plans with their lady friends because their men become mutes as they indulge in their favorite pastime.  But this year, Madden finds itself getting sacked behind the line of scrimmage when it comes to advancements.
Graphically speaking, the game looks remarkable. The animations are crisp and really give the game a television feel. The new animations for wide receivers are much more than a visual enhancement as well. Wideouts will drag their feet when catching a ball by the sidelines and will reach and bend in ways that are very much like their NFL counterparts. It’s a very pretty game to say the least.
The commentary has also received a boost thanks to vibrant Gus Johnson coming in to relieve the snore inducing Tom Hammond. Johnson’s first year giving play-by-play is solid and adds a bit of excitement to the game. However, you can tell it is his first time as some of the audio sounds very choppy. I anticipate that to be improved upon by next year.
The game modes are your standard fare for the long running franchise. Franchise is still the same, online play is similar to last year and the Superstar mode has seen zero enhancements. That‚Äôs not a major issue given that the game has been around for as long as it has. The play calling system has now been tempered to the casual gamer who could care less about the X’s and O’s of football and just wants to pick up and play. Gameflow is where the AI will select a play for you with one button press and the gamer can focus on the action on the field. If you are a die hard Madden player, this addition doesn’t mean much. But as Madden looks to appeal to a broader audience, it is a solid addition.
But what the game does well is immediately shot down when it comes to game play. Madden is simply maddening. For Madden experts, you’ll find that the difficulty is either too difficult or too easy. Although there are sliders put in place to assist fine tuning, there is far too much trial and error to find the perfect setting. Playing a few games on All-Pro, I easily managed to rack up over 200 yards rushing with 5 minute quarters and deliver 20+ point thrashings to the CPU. But the All-Madden setting is like allowing the Saints to play against Division II college. Simply put, it’s cheap. On offense, the CPU is able to shed multiple tackles with ease, complete 3rd and longs at any time as your defense is rendered useless and the only way to keep up is by scoring at a pace that is ridiculously frantic. When the CPU wants to win, it will. There’s really nothing you can do to stop it.
Even though the game is still enjoyable when played with friends or online, Madden 11 is a step backwards for the long running franchise and perhaps the game is in need of some competition in order to right the wrongs done to the series.
Pros
- It’s Madden!
- The game looks gorgeous.
- Gus Johnson is awesome.
Cons
- Not many enhancements to the gameplay from last year
- The AI is cheap
- Gameflow is useless
Rating: 3 out of 5
