With 7 games with the demo (360 version) under my belt here are my impressions. Some quick background: Until 2005 I played almost every version of Madden starting with the first PC version and then the SNES (and most of the 2K and a spattering of FP Sports, QB Club, Sega, etc) and have played 2 editions on the Xbox 360 (the discontinuation of the PC version and the exclusive deal soured me in conjunction with EA/Tiburon ignoring the glaring flaws in the series).
Graphics. Graphically the series has improved since 2008 & 2010, although incrementally. Madden has always lagged in the visuals and some areas are still just really bad, e.g. the crowd. Sometimes players in the distance are hard to distinguish and the LOD when zoomed out could be better, specifically more crisp. I also find there are a lot of glitches to the visuals (mainly the 3D grass, player shadows, and some textures) but the 60Hz, improved lighting, solid shadowing, motion blur, etc have all come a long way. Player models are also taking small steps in the right direction with many looking slightly like the real life counterparts. I will need to toy with the camera (which the demo does not allow) some as the default wasn’t great for running.
Infinity Engine. Animation is a mixed bag. On the down side it has some horribly glitch animations—I have seen players do half spins and fall backwards when there is no way the momentum/contact should result in such. And you will see this occur over and over again. To be blunt the transitions from captured motion to those impacted by contact often lacks “weight” and results in some odd results. I don’t care what EA is telling people momentum is all goofy at times. On the plus is that this is a huge improvement over past versions. With SEA Lynch I have had quite a few nice runs where a small defender was shrugged off. I am all about running the ball so I must admit to being happy to see more improvements here (I believe it was 2010 where they broke the rushing and promised a patch so I bought the game and then they failed to deliver and said “promise we fix it next year!”) Make no mistake Back Breaker, flaws and all, has far superior animation and contact. Transitions were better, especially from fighting one tackler to a gang tackle, and the animations were clean. So while I am happy EA is improving here I think it needs a lot of work.
Gameplay. This plays like every Madden from the last decade with the requisite tweaks. If you have played Madden before you know what you are getting. Which is good because the game has grown to be quite deep and relatively authentic over the years and learning the quirks of another game could be difficult. 3rd game in I was in the flow enough to start hot routing receivers, doing pre-snap motions and adjustments, doing fine detailed defensive adjustments, etc. I think the use of the Dpad and Sticks for audibles and adjustments is really well done now, e.g. Dpad L for the D linemen and the Dpad then allows up for spread, down for pinch, left for shift left, right for shift right; right stick up for edge rush, down for crash, left for left, and right for right. Similar for the LB and for the DB’s you get all sorts of quick adjustments to zones and coverages. I found Madden has finally settled on a robust and intuitive scheme for this. While not ground breaking I thought Gameflow was a nice addition.
On the field it is hard to point out a lot after 7 games (some coop). I will say this: On Rookie and Pro rushing was very, very easy, too rewarding, and fun for a couple games—but would offer no challenge and replayability over time. On All-Pro (four game, one against a human) there was more inconsistency although I could get some nice runs here and there but in general holes didn’t form and backs went down easily (SEA Lynch and SF Gore). I am rusty with all the moves but it seems a lot of times half the plays were busted due to a DL beating an OL completely and shooting the gap. That happens in the NFL but a lot of the short gains/losses are because there is no hole and it collapses into a pile with no daylight. I saw little of this so far. I actually found not using a FB (SEA has a Pro-Bowl FB) helped as it seemed to make the OL miss more assignments even when blockers outnumbered defenders. Not a horrible experience but I would need to play more to get a good review of rushing. My guess is once I get into the game, really learn my personel, and quicker and checking down, making adjustments like motion, and when to audible out I can have a potent running game.
Passing seemed typical Madden. They offer NO instructions / training on the “total control passing” but it seems to be no different than what other versions had—after you begin to press pass the ball pushing the stick in a direction results in the QB aiming there. It would be nice if it gave you a visual que of how your pass was being changed. I didn’t pass enough to get a feel for the new lobs and such. I did notice it seemed to have a nice penalty in place for passing on the run for most QBs. I need to do some more play time to test playing as the receiver—something that is almost always poorly done in Madden games. I did like the receivers being grayed out when not looking (but I liked the visual cone, too, and always thought Kinect could do that well if they tried).
Special teams were solid. I had a punt returned for a TD where after making the first couple guys miss on the left (on a return right) and getting caught in a tackle I broke loose and cut to the right where the return team picked up all the defenders and walked it him. Kick offs are goofy with the aim.
Defense is a WIP for me. I tend to play as DL and I got some sacks but also tended to get tied up by the OL. The secondary seemed reasonable in terms of coverage and the game seems to offer a good number of options. E.g. I kept get eaten alive over the middle so I began key off on pass and then adjusting to the middle for coverage.
Overall gameplay felt at a nice pace (I like the accelerated clock option) and the speed on the field felt appropriate. If the game feels too fast you can change it (from very slow, slow, normal, fast, and very fast) and the demo has a fair number of sliders—although for online play I find it important the game WORK out of the box because sliders may help SP but I want to be able to have a balanced ONLINE experience. One reason I have always liked Madden is they never went with the cheesy “ball carriers are slower than defenders, but you can use the buttons to juke and charge a speed burst” silliness. Thankfully that is still here. I broke into the open field a handful of times each game and it was truly off to the races. I got ran down a couple times but also had some long touch downs. There is an option for speed disparity, default is 50%. Ramp it up to 100% the gap is closed between slower and faster players; crank it down to 0% and faster players will blow past slower players.
Coop. I must say coop has improved a lot. I have not tried 3 player but 2 player worked very well with my sons. If I get Madden ’13 it is because coop sold us.
Kinect. I wish the Kinect integration was a LOT deeper. There, I said it. What they have works well—if it can pick up your voice. Saying “No Huddle” or “Challenge” etc felt natural. I have not had a chance to get into all the Kinect features but having robust voice control via on screen prompts is the future. It is quicker and easier to use and adds a layer of immersion. I don’t think the current Kinect is responsive enough but I could see a new model allow you to quickly in the huddle call formation (Shotgun), player (HB), play (draw right); get to the line and audible (Pass, deep outs), make an adjustment (TE, pass protect) and then call cadence. I think EA is heading this direction but I can see this working and working very well. And with on screen prompts it could be easier and quicker to use. But what is there now is nice to toy with and I need to spend more time with it. So far I like it.
Announcing & Presentation. First off the replays are broken, rarely showing the beginning of the play where key stuff occurs. E.g. Have a big hit just as the QB releases the ball that leads to an INT return weaving through the offense for a TD? Yeah, you get to see the last 10 years of the return… over and over. Look, I don’t want to see where I run in the open into the end zone. I want to see the disruptive hit. I want to see the pick and the key blocks that sprung me. Likewise the ref audio is broken. And the announcers are repetitive and at times silly. Every game they say the same things about RGIII and Flynn and Lynch and, well, everyone else! Break a big pass play? I have already heard, “The NFL has some of the fastest humans alive. When the rules prevent a defender from even breathing on a receiver the result is big plays like this.” Or something like, “When you have an elite receiver you have to throw to them. Bill Parcells used to say when Mark Bravao was covered, he was open.” Or the out of place commentary when you throw a screen and the play gets stuffed and Simms whine there was a player open down field.
Overall I had a positive impression of the experience. I appreciate this years demo was NOT a gimmick but had 4 teams and allowed full 4 quarters of play. Kudos EA! This allowed the gameplay to be front and center and may have sold me on the game.
What I cannot find is if there is a full Training Camp like in the old days to practice various positions and disciplines. Also I always found the GCN version had the best Practice mode as it had a set number of plays, explained how they should work, and then checked you off for doing them correctly. There is very little info on what is in this years version—EA has a nasty habit of REMOVING features and options. My sons would like to play Madden but it needs to have the Training Camp mode (not the silly avoid tackler thing) to learn the position disciplines or something similar. I am on the fence about ordering; Amazon has a discount right now but I am concerned there may be some things broken. I got burned a couple years back when their promise to patch got dust balled into fixing next years version.
EDIT: Some demo gameplay, WASHINGTON vs. SEATTLE:
A good overview of features by fans which confirms a bit of minigames (woot!):
Kinect overview:
EA videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/EASPORTS/MaddenNFL13
Graphics. Graphically the series has improved since 2008 & 2010, although incrementally. Madden has always lagged in the visuals and some areas are still just really bad, e.g. the crowd. Sometimes players in the distance are hard to distinguish and the LOD when zoomed out could be better, specifically more crisp. I also find there are a lot of glitches to the visuals (mainly the 3D grass, player shadows, and some textures) but the 60Hz, improved lighting, solid shadowing, motion blur, etc have all come a long way. Player models are also taking small steps in the right direction with many looking slightly like the real life counterparts. I will need to toy with the camera (which the demo does not allow) some as the default wasn’t great for running.
Infinity Engine. Animation is a mixed bag. On the down side it has some horribly glitch animations—I have seen players do half spins and fall backwards when there is no way the momentum/contact should result in such. And you will see this occur over and over again. To be blunt the transitions from captured motion to those impacted by contact often lacks “weight” and results in some odd results. I don’t care what EA is telling people momentum is all goofy at times. On the plus is that this is a huge improvement over past versions. With SEA Lynch I have had quite a few nice runs where a small defender was shrugged off. I am all about running the ball so I must admit to being happy to see more improvements here (I believe it was 2010 where they broke the rushing and promised a patch so I bought the game and then they failed to deliver and said “promise we fix it next year!”) Make no mistake Back Breaker, flaws and all, has far superior animation and contact. Transitions were better, especially from fighting one tackler to a gang tackle, and the animations were clean. So while I am happy EA is improving here I think it needs a lot of work.
Gameplay. This plays like every Madden from the last decade with the requisite tweaks. If you have played Madden before you know what you are getting. Which is good because the game has grown to be quite deep and relatively authentic over the years and learning the quirks of another game could be difficult. 3rd game in I was in the flow enough to start hot routing receivers, doing pre-snap motions and adjustments, doing fine detailed defensive adjustments, etc. I think the use of the Dpad and Sticks for audibles and adjustments is really well done now, e.g. Dpad L for the D linemen and the Dpad then allows up for spread, down for pinch, left for shift left, right for shift right; right stick up for edge rush, down for crash, left for left, and right for right. Similar for the LB and for the DB’s you get all sorts of quick adjustments to zones and coverages. I found Madden has finally settled on a robust and intuitive scheme for this. While not ground breaking I thought Gameflow was a nice addition.
On the field it is hard to point out a lot after 7 games (some coop). I will say this: On Rookie and Pro rushing was very, very easy, too rewarding, and fun for a couple games—but would offer no challenge and replayability over time. On All-Pro (four game, one against a human) there was more inconsistency although I could get some nice runs here and there but in general holes didn’t form and backs went down easily (SEA Lynch and SF Gore). I am rusty with all the moves but it seems a lot of times half the plays were busted due to a DL beating an OL completely and shooting the gap. That happens in the NFL but a lot of the short gains/losses are because there is no hole and it collapses into a pile with no daylight. I saw little of this so far. I actually found not using a FB (SEA has a Pro-Bowl FB) helped as it seemed to make the OL miss more assignments even when blockers outnumbered defenders. Not a horrible experience but I would need to play more to get a good review of rushing. My guess is once I get into the game, really learn my personel, and quicker and checking down, making adjustments like motion, and when to audible out I can have a potent running game.
Passing seemed typical Madden. They offer NO instructions / training on the “total control passing” but it seems to be no different than what other versions had—after you begin to press pass the ball pushing the stick in a direction results in the QB aiming there. It would be nice if it gave you a visual que of how your pass was being changed. I didn’t pass enough to get a feel for the new lobs and such. I did notice it seemed to have a nice penalty in place for passing on the run for most QBs. I need to do some more play time to test playing as the receiver—something that is almost always poorly done in Madden games. I did like the receivers being grayed out when not looking (but I liked the visual cone, too, and always thought Kinect could do that well if they tried).
Special teams were solid. I had a punt returned for a TD where after making the first couple guys miss on the left (on a return right) and getting caught in a tackle I broke loose and cut to the right where the return team picked up all the defenders and walked it him. Kick offs are goofy with the aim.
Defense is a WIP for me. I tend to play as DL and I got some sacks but also tended to get tied up by the OL. The secondary seemed reasonable in terms of coverage and the game seems to offer a good number of options. E.g. I kept get eaten alive over the middle so I began key off on pass and then adjusting to the middle for coverage.
Overall gameplay felt at a nice pace (I like the accelerated clock option) and the speed on the field felt appropriate. If the game feels too fast you can change it (from very slow, slow, normal, fast, and very fast) and the demo has a fair number of sliders—although for online play I find it important the game WORK out of the box because sliders may help SP but I want to be able to have a balanced ONLINE experience. One reason I have always liked Madden is they never went with the cheesy “ball carriers are slower than defenders, but you can use the buttons to juke and charge a speed burst” silliness. Thankfully that is still here. I broke into the open field a handful of times each game and it was truly off to the races. I got ran down a couple times but also had some long touch downs. There is an option for speed disparity, default is 50%. Ramp it up to 100% the gap is closed between slower and faster players; crank it down to 0% and faster players will blow past slower players.
Coop. I must say coop has improved a lot. I have not tried 3 player but 2 player worked very well with my sons. If I get Madden ’13 it is because coop sold us.
Kinect. I wish the Kinect integration was a LOT deeper. There, I said it. What they have works well—if it can pick up your voice. Saying “No Huddle” or “Challenge” etc felt natural. I have not had a chance to get into all the Kinect features but having robust voice control via on screen prompts is the future. It is quicker and easier to use and adds a layer of immersion. I don’t think the current Kinect is responsive enough but I could see a new model allow you to quickly in the huddle call formation (Shotgun), player (HB), play (draw right); get to the line and audible (Pass, deep outs), make an adjustment (TE, pass protect) and then call cadence. I think EA is heading this direction but I can see this working and working very well. And with on screen prompts it could be easier and quicker to use. But what is there now is nice to toy with and I need to spend more time with it. So far I like it.
Announcing & Presentation. First off the replays are broken, rarely showing the beginning of the play where key stuff occurs. E.g. Have a big hit just as the QB releases the ball that leads to an INT return weaving through the offense for a TD? Yeah, you get to see the last 10 years of the return… over and over. Look, I don’t want to see where I run in the open into the end zone. I want to see the disruptive hit. I want to see the pick and the key blocks that sprung me. Likewise the ref audio is broken. And the announcers are repetitive and at times silly. Every game they say the same things about RGIII and Flynn and Lynch and, well, everyone else! Break a big pass play? I have already heard, “The NFL has some of the fastest humans alive. When the rules prevent a defender from even breathing on a receiver the result is big plays like this.” Or something like, “When you have an elite receiver you have to throw to them. Bill Parcells used to say when Mark Bravao was covered, he was open.” Or the out of place commentary when you throw a screen and the play gets stuffed and Simms whine there was a player open down field.
Overall I had a positive impression of the experience. I appreciate this years demo was NOT a gimmick but had 4 teams and allowed full 4 quarters of play. Kudos EA! This allowed the gameplay to be front and center and may have sold me on the game.
What I cannot find is if there is a full Training Camp like in the old days to practice various positions and disciplines. Also I always found the GCN version had the best Practice mode as it had a set number of plays, explained how they should work, and then checked you off for doing them correctly. There is very little info on what is in this years version—EA has a nasty habit of REMOVING features and options. My sons would like to play Madden but it needs to have the Training Camp mode (not the silly avoid tackler thing) to learn the position disciplines or something similar. I am on the fence about ordering; Amazon has a discount right now but I am concerned there may be some things broken. I got burned a couple years back when their promise to patch got dust balled into fixing next years version.
EDIT: Some demo gameplay, WASHINGTON vs. SEATTLE:
A good overview of features by fans which confirms a bit of minigames (woot!):
Kinect overview:
EA videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/EASPORTS/MaddenNFL13
