Microsoft XBOX 360
Click HERE for screenshots.
For the second year in a row, the opening movie in Madden 11 showcases the athlete featured on the cover. If you are a Saints fan (and/or into Drew Brees), you are in for a real treat. Personally, I don’t dislike him, but I was turned off by the fact that the opening goes out of its way to highlight the Patriots 4th and 2 play against the Colts, which failed and triggered the downward spiral for the Pats 2009 season. Anyway, the intro is alright- very dramatic with “Lord of the Rings” style music. John Madden is once again MIA.
The single best element of the intro is the tremendous sound. I’m not certain if previous Madden titles have had 5.1 surround before, but if they did, it is no where near as impressive as it is in Madden 11. From the intro, through the menu screens, and throughout the actual games, the sound is tremendous and puts you right in the middle of the action (it feels 3-d).
For the divisional playoff game, the Kansas City Chiefs came to Foxboro. As the game got started, I was happy to hear that Gus Johnson was now the color commentator alongside Chris Collinsworth. While some people find Johnson’s antics a bit too theatrical, I feel like he is a perfect fit for a videogame like this one. He is spirited and adds a level of enthusiasm to the game’s commentary that has been missing for many (MANY) years.
Before the game even started, the presentation had clearly been improved over Madden 10. Little clips of the visiting team getting off the bus, or of fans tailgating in the stadium are a nice touch. I was also impressed by the level of pre-game discussion from Collinsworth regarding the relationship between Tom Brady and Chiefs QB Matt Cassel, given that they were former teammates. These are bits of dialogue that are in depth and specific to these two players – legitimate analysis. Impressive.
When I got onto the field, I noticed that the graphics had somehow improved yet again over Madden 10. Even more little details are included in the player models – not to mention the improved tackle animations and physics.
One of the biggest “innovations” new for Madden 11 is one I never used. “Gameflow” is intended to speed up the time it takes to play a game by having the CPU choose plays for you and letting you skip the whole process of sifting through the playbook between plays. While you have a choice of creating your own custom playbook from which the CPU draws these plays from, I opted to go with “conventional” play calling. I didn’t want to entrust the CPU with such an important (and enjoyable) strategic part of the game.
Even with gameflow off, I still got commentary while on the field from my offensive and defensive coordinator. This was OK and didn’t really bother me, but if it were gone, I doubt I would miss it. He rarely adds much of value in his comments, but I suppose it does add another layer of audio on top of the crowd noise, player noise, and broadcast commentators (which contributes to the feeling of “being there”).
The play dynamics have been tweaked a bit again this year, but I felt like most of these were subtle and good changes. It is critical to follow your blockers on running plays and to not freelance as much (lest you get killed in the backfield). As the first half cranked along, I was continuously wowed by the new player animations and how closely the players’ motions mirrored their real life counterparts. Also, it seems as if many more player faces have been added - rather than just a few “stars”, I saw many players that looked freakishly like they do in reality.
While this might be a bit superficial, this attention to detail and stunning presentation – both aurally and visually – got me really excited to play this game. The fact that I was finally playing with a contemporary roster probably also fueled the feeling that I was really playing as the Patriots.
I had a commanding 14-0 lead at halftime and was having fun. In my notes I noted that while the stats weren’t very close, I was really enjoying “the show”. This halftime show included impressive highlights from my game.
I used the second half to milk the clock and closed out KC with a 21-0 victory. In the end, I had the ball for 15 minutes vs. their 5 and had outgained them 320-162 yards. The game was never very competitive, but I was smitten – it was SO PRETTY. When I backed out of the game to the menu screen, I was further impressed by the live sports ticker on the bottom of the screen, discussing the events of the day, including Pittsburgh Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall’s Twitter comments regarding the death of Osama bin Laden.
The AFC Championship Game brought the Titans to town. This game was much tighter than the first and began with a series of punts. On one play, one of my defenders went down and moments later I was given the option of whether to risk putting him back in or substitute someone else on the fly. It included details of the injury and the rough probability as to whether the player would be reinjured if he went back in. Another great touch.
I couldn’t stop drooling over the graphics throughout the first half- so very many details that they got right. This ogling might have detracted from my game, and I found myself losing 3-0 at halftime. Statistically, I was doing poorly and probably should have been losing by more.
My woes continued into the third, particularly when I challenged a completion made on the sidelines by them on 3rd and 13. I ended up losing the challenge (and a TO) and they were awarded the first down. More time ticked off the clock before I finally forced them to punt.
My next drive was my only good one of the game. On a key 3rd and 6, I found rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski open in the flat. He rumbled over a defender and stretched for a key first down (again, just like in real life). I kept the drive going with a lot of runs from Benjarvis Green-Ellis (the Lawfirm) and eventually punched it in for the score, putting me up for the first time, 7-3 with 4 minutes left in the game.
They would have at least one more chance to score and win the game, so I tried to pull out all the stops with my defensive play calling to force a turnover (playing a deep zone and sending the LBs on the blitz). This NEARLY worked as I forced a bad throw that went to Brandon Merriweather, but he dropped the ball (again, like in real life). They managed to get a decent drive going, but it stalled out after they got into my territory and managed to connect on a long FG to put the score at 7-6 with 2:20 to go.
They still had all of their time outs, so I knew that I would need a couple of first downs to ice the game. Fortunately, the decisive blow came on a 3rd and 5 run up the gut from Sammy Morris, who took the ball 15 yards and allowed me to run out the clock. That play was aptly labeled “the Doritos Play of the Game” in the postgame show. This 7-6 win was a defensive chess match and my first great Madden game in awhile.
The Super Bowl matchup featured the Bears vs. Patriots. A rematch of Super Bowl XX, the Patriots first ever Super Bowl in reality (they lost 46-10). The presentation for the big game is (appropriately) even better than it is normally. The commentators chat excitedly about the Super Bowl as pre-game footage takes us “inside the locker rooms” of the teams about to go out and compete. Even the menu screens have changed to reflect that this is the Super Bowl. The 5.1 surround sound is awesome.
As the game got underway, I noticed waves of flash photography from the stands on opening kickoff. All of this added up to make me feel excited and almost nervous about the “scale” of the game.
One of the keys to this game ended up being field position, and I dominated in this area from start to finish. They got the ball first, but my D was amped up and harassed Bears QB Jay Cutler right out the gate, sacking him twice on the opening drive. This drove the Bears backwards and after a short punt, gave me great position to start the game (on their 47 yard line). I responded with a methodical 7 play drive that resulted in a TD to put me up 7-0.
On their second drive, the Bears attempted a reverse, but the play ended in disaster when their wideout fumbled the ball. There was a “quicktime” event to recover the loose ball and I actually won (for the first time). I must admit that I didn’t mind this gimmick so much when I actually recovered the ball.
This gave me great field position on the Bears 28 yard line, and a couple of plays later, I hit Wes Welker over the middle for the score. With 22 seconds left in the 1st quarter, I was up 14-0.
The Bears finally started to show some life in the 2nd quarter by getting their first defensive stop and getting going on offense. The Bears surprised me by launching a methodical 70+ yard drive to my goal line. Fortunately, 350 pound nose tackle Vince Wilfolk was having a hell of a game, throwing offensive linemen out of his way all day and beating the crap out of Cutler. This culminated on a hit that knocked Cutler out of the game for a couple of series (sprained wrist) and helped to hold the Bears to a short FG after a tremendous drive. This put the score at 14-3 rather than 14-7, and was a huge victory for the team going into halftime. Their monster 16 play drive resulted in 3 points.
Halfway through, I had a strong 2 score lead, but the Bears were starting to show some life. I opened the second half with an impressive drive of my own, but unfortunately stalled out in the redzone and had to settle for 3, putting me up 17-3.
The ensuing kickoff for the Bears proved to be disastrous for Chicago. Their return man got hit hard and lost the ball, which bounced directly into the hands of one of my gunners. Suddenly, I once again had great field position and a chance to put the game away late in the 3rd quarter. Two plays later, I found Brandon Tate wide open down the middle of the field and hit him in stride for the easy score. With the score 24-3, the competitive phase of the game was over.
The CPU basically threw in the towel at this point and didn’t make much of an effort to come back in the 4th. I was confused by the fact that it kept running the ball and draining the clock rather than trying to frantically move the ball downfield with long passes.
For the 4th quarter, I kicked back and just enjoyed the show. Star Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher was having a monster game and was all over the place (as in real life) and Pats TE Rob Gronkowski was a one man wrecking crew, mowing down anyone who dared try to tackle him (also, as in real life). A few vanilla drives later, I had managed to run the clock out and win the game, 24-3.
The Super Bowl celebration sequence that followed was undoubtedly the best ever in a Madden game (even surpassing Madden ’95). Chris Collinsworth and Gus Johnson discussed the Patriots history and the significance of this win while the confetti rained down and relevant highlights from the game were shown through a filter to make them seem more historic. This was followed by highlights from the Patriots victory parade in Boston before going on to the White House to meet President Obama. Epic.
Ultimately, I had a lot of fun with Madden 11. While only one of the three games I played was really competitive, the presentation so impressed me, that I was left eager to come back and play more. Perhaps after doing that, I will see all kinds of flaws. Based on this sample, however, Madden 11 struck me as exciting to play and, most importantly, fun.
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