Madden 12....

[Cuda1447]

This game blows. Madden blows in general. The gameplay is the same it has been for 6 years. One year its QB Cone, the next its weapons. This year its dynamic player performance. Maybe if it all worked and all was in there, but just changing one gimmicky thing each year isn't innovation. Graphics look fine... but gameplay is UNIMPRESSIVE when I had this same gameplay over half a decade ago. The menu system is atrocious. Franchise mode might be decent if it was easy to navigate etc...


For those players that want to SIM games and create a team that way, the mode is still shit. Can ANYONE tell me what the hell under the coaching options the strategy option means? So for QB it says strategy with two options, scramble or pocket and then a 0-100 slider on priority. What the fuck does that actually do? It's been in the game forever and I still don't understand what the hell it does.

 

[tdawg]

My last one was 2010, and I think I will stick with it for another year. They need to hire those 2k people for programming and recording the announcers. NBA 2k's announcers are amazing.

NBA 2K's announcers may be fluid, but the available script has no depth. I'm sick of hearing Doris's comments about the same player on my team game after game and the announcers making the same comments in every game.

Play more than 2 games in league mode or my player mode and you'll know what I mean; the announcers are more than annoying.

And that Sprite Spark BS, come on. I was in a game that went into the 4th quarter all tied up and Doris still had to come on and give one of the teams the Sprite Spark "award" and the announcer had to comment how that run in some imaginary quarter put the team in control of a tied ball game. </rant>

 

[Sulaco]

NBA 2K's announcers may be fluid, but the available script has no depth. I'm sick of hearing Doris's comments about the same player on my team game after game and the announcers making the same comments in every game.

Play more than 2 games in league mode or my player mode and you'll know what I mean; the announcers are more than annoying.

And that Sprite Spark BS, come on. I was in a game that went into the 4th quarter all tied up and Doris still had to come on and give one of the teams the Sprite Spark "award" and the announcer had to comment how that run in some imaginary quarter put the team in control of a tied ball game. </rant>

Yeah, but c'mon, there's STILL no comparison...it blows the announcing of ANY EA game out of the water.

I'd be thrilled if EA would actually put some effort into the presentation. It's sad that NFL 2K5, 7 years ago, from a much smaller studio, on last generation's hardware, sold for $20 new, still blows the latest EA offerings out of the water in terms of presentation. I mean, it's laughable. It's not even close. There's no excuse for that. Zero.

But I guess EA is too focused on perfecting the gameplay...:sneaky:

 

[IndyColtsFan]

NBA 2K's announcers may be fluid, but the available script has no depth. I'm sick of hearing Doris's comments about the same player on my team game after game and the announcers making the same comments in every game.

Play more than 2 games in league mode or my player mode and you'll know what I mean; the announcers are more than annoying.

And that Sprite Spark BS, come on. I was in a game that went into the 4th quarter all tied up and Doris still had to come on and give one of the teams the Sprite Spark "award" and the announcer had to comment how that run in some imaginary quarter put the team in control of a tied ball game. </rant>

True, it is annoying, but the amount of sheer screw ups in commentary I heard in my two games of Madden 12 was atrocious. I don't remember a previous Madden game being that bad. Seriously EA, WTF?

EA seems to think that by throwing in a new gimmick every year, reskinning the interface, tweaking the graphics a little, and adjusting sliders (come on, we all know that's what they do when they 'improve' AI), you get an exciting new football game. I feel bad for buying it, but at least I saved $20 and I will trudge through it and hope patches make it better.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

But I guess EA is too focused on changing sliders behind the scenes and then claiming they changed gameplay...:sneaky:

FTFY.

 

[fatpat268]

Hmm.. I guess I'll just keep playing Madden 08 PC with the FFXI mod (2010 rosters). I'm hoping a 2011 roster mod comes soon (if it hasn't already yet). It still has online play through direct IP-to-IP connection.

The demo for Madden 12 felt good, better than Madden 11, but I know I'll just disappointed simply because it's not different enough from Madden 10 or 11.

 

[dougp]

This is bullshit, the game constantly locks up for minutes at a time and the fucking ridiculous pauses are odd. Why is the QB sitting there under center for 25 seconds when the game clock is stopped? WHY?

JFC.

 

[chalmers]

Many people gave valid reasons as to why you guys shouldn't buy it, but you bought it anyway. You're contributing to the problem. DONT BUY THE GAME....maybe EA would fix it then.

But next year, there'll be a Madden 13 thread with comments such as:

But they've inserted (insert new gimmick here)!!!@U!)(#*($#!@!#!!
The graphics are amazing now!!!!!
I wanna give this game a shot, I haven't bought it for a couple years.
etc
etc
etc

Then halfway through the thread after the game releases, everyone will realize the game sucks and complain. This cycle will continue year after year after year all the while EA's executives are laughing their way to the bank.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Many people gave valid reasons as to why you guys shouldn't buy it, but you bought it anyway. You're contributing to the problem. DONT BUY THE GAME....maybe EA would fix it then.

But next year, there'll be a Madden 13 thread with comments such as:

But they've inserted (insert new gimmick here)!!!@U!)(#*($#!@!#!!
The graphics are amazing now!!!!!
I wanna give this game a shot, I haven't bought it for a couple years.
etc
etc
etc

Then halfway through the thread after the game releases, everyone will realize the game sucks and complain. This cycle will continue year after year after year all the while EA's executives are laughing their way to the bank.

Meh, I (and many others as well, since sales were down) didn't buy it last year and that didn't cause EA to magically change their ways. I won't buy it next year either at a minimum, as I am on 2 year cycles for sports games. At least I got the $20 credit from Amazon. There is no way I will ever buy a Madden game at full price again.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I do think it is comical how they've tried to dumb it down over the last two years. What is next year's new gimmick going to be -- they have a video window showing Madden with a gamepad playing the damn game for you?

 

[MetalMat]

I do think it is comical how they've tried to dumb it down over the last two years. What is next year's new gimmick going to be -- they have a video window showing Madden with a gamepad playing the damn game for you?

Eh, I know how to pick plays and I will go back to doing that every so often but I like the play calling. Still liking the game, on game 4 with my Saints Franchise.

btw, peyton manning and dallas clark in my main fantasy league.

 

[Sulaco]

Meh, I (and many others as well, since sales were down) didn't buy it last year and that didn't cause EA to magically change their ways. I won't buy it next year either at a minimum, as I am on 2 year cycles for sports games. At least I got the $20 credit from Amazon. There is no way I will ever buy a Madden game at full price again.

Or just buy used, like a week after release. That keeps money out of EA's pockets, you'll save ~$5, and gives it (usually) enough time for the first "patch" to be released.

 

[GregGreen]

A few comments from my 360 playing self:

1. I haven't noticed really any of the bugs you guys have mentioned with pauses, commentary dropping, etc.
2. How could they get the kickoffs any more wrong. In '11, I could routinely get touchbacks. In '12, I have yet to see one (in four games, so not a huge sample, but big enough).
3. Been playing with my Bills. I feel like they really broke something in the passing game compared to last year. LBs can jump about 50 feet in the air so they routinely get a hand on the ball if you throw it over the middle. Also, in the past, I found it easy to throw the ball where the receiver is supposed to be in a few seconds. I know what the plays are and I know when the receiver is going to make his or her cut. Now, if I throw the ball before the cut, the receiver stops making a cut and it goes right into the coverage that the cut would be avoiding. Maybe I was just exploiting issues with '11, but it's certainly annoying to me right now.

Also, I'm not sure if it's more annoying that year after year Madden still has issues or that year after year, we have to keep hearing bitching about how 2K5 is the greatest game ever made. Enough's enough. You go and read a review about Madden and 90&#37; of the comments are about 2k5 is the best ever. Hell, 25 to 30% of the comments here say that.

 

[Sulaco]

Also, I'm not sure if it's more annoying that year after year Madden still has issues or that year after year, we have to keep hearing bitching about how 2K5 is the greatest game ever made. Enough's enough. You go and read a review about Madden and 90% of the comments are about 2k5 is the best ever. Hell, 25 to 30% of the comments here say that.

In reference to my earlier post, I was purely talking about the presentation side. Gameplay can be pretty much debated and tweaked, but for presentation, it's cut and dry (at least in this case).

And in that case, it needs to be mentioned. There is no excuse for it. The premiere sports game in the world (at LEAST North America), from the world's largest video game developer, is trounced in this area by a 7 year old game on last generation's hardware.

EA could easily, EASILY fix this and add more depth and realism to its presentation. But for whatever reason (read: $), they do not.

If this was a case of "NFL 2K11" or something have slightly better presentation or whatever, fine. But it's not. EA is getting shown up by a game nearly a decade old, and that's worth every rant and post thrown at it.

 

[GregGreen]

3. Been playing with my Bills. I feel like they really broke something in the passing game compared to last year. LBs can jump about 50 feet in the air so they routinely get a hand on the ball if you throw it over the middle. Also, in the past, I found it easy to throw the ball where the receiver is supposed to be in a few seconds. I know what the plays are and I know when the receiver is going to make his or her cut. Now, if I throw the ball before the cut, the receiver stops making a cut and it goes right into the coverage that the cut would be avoiding. Maybe I was just exploiting issues with '11, but it's certainly annoying to me right now.

Just went and played another game. This time I changed the difficulty to All-Pro -- guess I forgot to do that when I first set the game up. I take back this point completely. The LBs still can jump really high, but it's less of an issue since my receivers actually go where I expect them to.

 

[GregGreen]

In reference to my earlier post, I was purely talking about the presentation side. Gameplay can be pretty much debated and tweaked, but for presentation, it's cut and dry (at least in this case).

And in that case, it needs to be mentioned. There is no excuse for it. The premiere sports game in the world (at LEAST North America), from the world's largest video game developer, is trounced in this area by a 7 year old game on last generation's hardware.

EA could easily, EASILY fix this and add more depth and realism to its presentation. But for whatever reason (read: $), they do not.

If this was a case of "NFL 2K11" or something have slightly better presentation or whatever, fine. But it's not. EA is getting shown up by a game nearly a decade old, and that's worth every rant and post thrown at it.

Your point is entirely correct. I'm just REALLY tired of hearing it. It's beating a dead horse. At least I only have to read about it on the internet -- it doesn't seem like people in the real world care as much (although most of the people I know in real life couldn't be bother to play the NFL2k series).

 

[Sulaco]

Your point is entirely correct. I'm just REALLY tired of hearing it. It's beating a dead horse. At least I only have to read about it on the internet -- it doesn't seem like people in the real world care as much (although most of the people I know in real life couldn't be bother to play the NFL2k series).

I think everybody just wants competition again, really from anybody.

The Madden series (and NCAA too) have just stagnated so much, and that's no surprise when the market is cornered.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Or just buy used, like a week after release. That keeps money out of EA's pockets, you'll save ~$5, and gives it (usually) enough time for the first "patch" to be released.

The problem with that theory is that you may not get the online code and would need to pay $10 extra to get a new one from EA, meaning you'd be paying more than if you had bought the game new in the first place. So the cheapest route is to do as I did -- buy from Amazon and get the $20 credit.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Eh, I know how to pick plays and I will go back to doing that every so often but I like the play calling. Still liking the game, on game 4 with my Saints Franchise.

btw, peyton manning and dallas clark in my main fantasy league.

I turn off all the new features like Gameflow, Strategy Pad, and the "Computer Auto Sprint" feature. I need to use the standard, classic controls that I've learned over the years.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

A few comments from my 360 playing self:

1. I haven't noticed really any of the bugs you guys have mentioned with pauses, commentary dropping, etc.

I haven't noticed long pauses either but it does seem jerky in a few spots and on a couple of occasions, there were a couple of pauses of a few seconds.

2. How could they get the kickoffs any more wrong. In '11, I could routinely get touchbacks. In '12, I have yet to see one (in four games, so not a huge sample, but big enough).

Agree 100&#37;! I don't mind the fact that they went back to the button (though I think the stick was a better mechanic), but when you go to the kicking screen for FGs, the view is atrocious and on longer field goals you can even see the uprights. It is ridiculous.

I did actually kick a touchback last night but that is the first I've seen so far.

3. Been playing with my Bills. I feel like they really broke something in the passing game compared to last year. LBs can jump about 50 feet in the air so they routinely get a hand on the ball if you throw it over the middle.

Bingo. We were assured that there would be no more super LBs or CBs, but they are alive and well in the game.

Also, in the past, I found it easy to throw the ball where the receiver is supposed to be in a few seconds. I know what the plays are and I know when the receiver is going to make his or her cut. Now, if I throw the ball before the cut, the receiver stops making a cut and it goes right into the coverage that the cut would be avoiding. Maybe I was just exploiting issues with '11, but it's certainly annoying to me right now.

I played one game on Pro (the demo) and passing was easy. I had not actually played an entire game of Madden in probably a year+ prior to the demo, and I still won 27-3 even as horribly as I played.

On All Pro, it is a completely different story. Passing is much harder than I recall but to be honest, it might be my rust coming in to the equation. I played as Colts vs. Cincy and won 21-0 but threw 4 INTs and 2 of my TDs were INT returns of Palmer interceptions.

I played the Panthers last night and won 29-14 but I only threw 1 TD pass and threw 1 INT that was returned for a TD (the INT was a ripoff, but whatever). I've been able to throw deep down the sideline but throwing a TD pass seems really hard.

The one area that seems to have improved is the play action. In previous versions of Madden, a play action was an almost guaranteed sack but this year, I've had plenty of time to throw. The TD that I threw against the Panthers was a play action pass that I then threw over the middle to Dallas Clark for a TD (a 20 yard pass or so). Otherwise, I throw lots of slants, passes into the flats, etc. I really need to review the playbooks because the Colts offensive playbook doesn't have some of the stuff I like to do.

Also, I'm not sure if it's more annoying that year after year Madden still has issues or that year after year, we have to keep hearing bitching about how 2K5 is the greatest game ever made. Enough's enough. You go and read a review about Madden and 90% of the comments are about 2k5 is the best ever. Hell, 25 to 30% of the comments here say that.

ESPN 2K5 is on the Xbox compatibility list, so people can play it (I bought it for $2 but haven't played it much). Honestly, as good at 2K5 supposedly is, people forget that Madden 2005 was probably the best Madden ever. That's why we want competition back, because if EA had serious competition, we'd get good football games and as a football fan, I'd even consider buying both if they were both good.

Another big problem that I've seen in the exhibition games I've played is injuries -- has anyone else noticed that they happen way too frequently? I think that needs to be dialed down big time.

 

[SunnyD]

Chiming in, yes, I get "pauses". Last night it sat at the initial Loading... screen for a couple minutes before I restarted the game and made it through. I've also seen a few of the menu hangups, and have had a few inordinately long loading times before a game actually starts. I've had occasionally replays and such without commentary, etc.

As far as gameplay itself, it seems no matter what I do I can't get the QB to quick-release on passes, which leads to the secondary nearly always getting position on the ball and knocking it down/intercepting it. I also have significant issues with the AI's route-running. Out and corner patterns as well as alot of streaks along the sidelines the receiver constantly runs the route out of bounds instead of cutting back in or whatnot.

It's not the cleanest of games, but it is pretty good. Fun enough to play.

 

[American Gunner]

I remember having to turn the injuries down on last years Madden. It seemed to help. Also, for all the people that loved 2K5, don't forget that they put out a game this generation that was horrible. I know they didn't have the NFL license, but it was still a god awful attempt at a football game.

 

[Imported]

I need to turn down injuries.. Had over 12 in my last game. Good god.

Also, I routinely kick touchbacks with no issue.. Maybe the winds at Candlestick are helping out. :awe:

I have a long pauses here and ther,e but nothing too detrimental. Biggest issue is the freakishly athletic LBs swatting down any pass over the middle..

 

[Stuxnet]

This year's Madden is the same as last year's Madden, with one or two gimmick swaps.

News at 11.

 

[dfuze]

I need to turn down injuries.. Had over 12 in my last game. Good god.

Also, I routinely kick touchbacks with no issue.. Maybe the winds at Candlestick are helping out. :awe:

I have a long pauses here and ther,e but nothing too detrimental. Biggest issue is the freakishly athletic LBs swatting down any pass over the middle..

I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive via GameFly, but didn't the NFL change the spot of the kickoff to cause more touchbacks (to help prevent injuries)? Maybe that's just the game mimicing it.