Madden 13

Madden 13 is the first in the series that I played on the PS3 and things started off strong.  Following an inspirational video featuring Ray Lewis that encouraged me to “leave my mark,” I was treated to a stream of silky smooth menu animations that were completely over the top and reminded me of something out of the Matrix.  One of the first things I noticed was the disappearance of the traditional “franchise” mode, which had been replaced by something called “connected career.”  While I’m sure that this feature has all sorts of multiplayer implications, for my purposes it just meant that I had to manually advance one week at a time on the menus until I finally found that Pats in the playoffs, this time in the wildcard round against the Raiders.

First impressions on getting into the actual gameplay on the field were that the framerates are much improved over the previous year.  Even Jim Nantz and Phil Sims looked more realistic in their pre-game reports.  I’m not sure if it was the better frame rates, if the game was easier, or if I was just in the zone, but on my very first drive against the Raiders, I was able to methodically march down the field before punching in a TD run with Shane Vereen from just a few yards out with mere seconds left on the clock in the first quarter.  A combination of ground and pound alongside short and medium passes allowed me to dominate the clock and strike first.  After a second quarter battle, I was able to take a 10-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.  I was dominating the time of possession (8 minutes to 2), but only had a three point lead to show for it. 

It was raining hard in the game, which to me made the consistent framerates even more impressive.  A third quarter pick gave me good field position, but I was only able to tack on another three points, giving me a 13-7 lead late in the third.  While it looked as though the Raiders might surge ahead to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, a pick by Will Allen sealed the game and a 13-7 final.  Following a fun postgame show with some highlights from the actual game, the Pats were on to the divisional round against the Steelers in Pittsburgh. 

The game got off to a rough start for me, with Tom Brady throwing a bad pick that led to a Steelers field goal late in the first quarter.  I followed this up with a failed fourth and inches QB sneak by Brady, and then a suspect 51 yard pass interference penalty against the Pats’ D.  This put the Steelers deep in New England territory late in the second.  While I was able to hold them to a second field goal, I was not feeling terribly confident taking a 0-6 deficit into the locker room.  I was not moving the ball and it seemed as though nothing was breaking the right way. 

Things turned around in the second half, as I opened things up with a sustained drive that was by turns systematic and aggressive, culminating in my first TD of the game with just 21 seconds left in the third.  Short-medium passes from Brady were enough to reclaim a tenuous 7-6 lead.  The game was not over yet, however, and the Steelers mounted a serious drive of their own late in the 4^th.  A critical sack of Big Ben on third down pushed them back to set up a 51 yard field goal for them to take the lead with 55 seconds left in the game.  After a good snap and hold, however, the Steelers kicker pushed the ball just barely wide-right, allowing for me to cling onto a 7-6 win.  It felt good to win, but I needed to figure out how to put more points on the board. 

Nevertheless, the AFC Championship in Indianapolis was a defensive struggle for much of the first half.  After a series of three and outs, the Colts finally struck first with a field goal to take a three point lead with just over 2 minutes left in the first half.  As was the case in the Steelers game, the Patriots were able to respond from behind.  Throughout the ensuing drive I found myself reading their defensive packages and formations and using audibles when necessary to take what they were giving me.   This drive eventually set up 2^nd and goal from the 8 yard line.  I had a quick pass play called, but when I got to the line I saw that they were playing dime and had no linebackers in the middle of the field.  I audibled to a draw play with Danny Woodhead and walked in untouched to take a 7-3 lead with just 17 seconds left in the half. 

The Colts were far from dead, however, and responded with a field goal in the first drive of the third quarter, cutting my lead to just one point at 7-6.  However, I once again applied the methods used in my successful 2^nd quarter TD drive, switching plays and reading defensive coverages all the way.  While I had to convert on two 4^th and inches plays, I ate a ton of clock before scoring a second TD to go up 14-6 with just 1:58 left in the game.  Andrew Luck’s comeback bid was put to rest with a Will Allen pick to seal an intense and fun AFC championship and set up the Super Bowl against the 49ers.

At first it seemed as though the Colin Kaepernick-led Niners would be tough to stop, as they came out with a string of first downs.  While I was able to eventually force a punt, their D was equally up to the task and my offense was promptly shut down.  After a string of 3 and outs on both sides, followed by a trading of turnovers (they fumbled and then I threw them a pick), both teams went into the half deadlocked with a boring 0-0 tie. 

I knew I had to do something different in the second half to get things going, so I started to experiment with different play types.  My first play of the half was a screen pass to Danny Woodhead who was able to sidestep a tackle before taking the ball 60 yards down field.  Unfortunately for me, their defense once again tightened up after this and held me to a field goal.  3-0 with 3:31 left in the 3^rd quarter.  Not to be outdone, the Niners came out with a series of first downs of their own, setting up a long 54 yard field goal.  The ball came in low and hard, hit the left upright and miraculously bounced through to tie the game up at 3 with 1:34 left in the third.

Frustrated, I tried to get aggressive on my next drive by forcing the ball deep.  This was a costly mistake, as Brady threw a pick that set them up with strong field position in the fourth quarter of a tie game.  The Niners followed this up with their best drive of the game, grinding out the clock before finally scoring a touchdown with just over 2 minutes left in the game.  Down 10-3, desperation time had arrived.  After a couple of incomplete passes, the Niners miraculously forgot to cover Julian Edelman on a go route from the left slot.  A perfect Brady pass deep down the field allowed Edelman to walk untouched into the endzone with just seconds left in the game.  Things were now tied up and the Super Bowl was going into overtime! 

The Niners won the toss and elected to receive.  With the new overtime rules, I knew that I had to do everything to ensure their first drive was not a touchdown.  I did not have much time to think this through though, as on their very first play Kaepernick threw an interception to Aquib Talib on the right sideline at about the 25 yard line.  I ran the ball a few times up the middle before kicking a short Super Bowl winning field goal to seal the 13-10 final score.  Talib was rightly awarded Super Bowl MVP honors in this tightly fought and very exciting contest. 

Perhaps my playcalling was too conservative, leading to consistently low scores and tight games.  Nevertheless, each game I played in Madden 13 felt fair and exciting.  The Super Bowl in particular was one of the most memorable that I had played, and the experience was enhanced by uncharacteristically good commentary from Phil Sims and Jim Nantz – they spoke at length about how amazing it was to have a Super Bowl go into overtime, for example.  The bar is low for Madden commentary, but they cleared it in Madden 13.  Overall, Madden 13 is a huge improvement over its predecessor.  While the physics can be wonky at times – with some hopelessly unrealistic body contortions and occasional bugs – this does not offset the huge improvements of better animations and framerates.  Put simply, Madden 13 is the most fun I have had playing Madden in a long time.