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  One of the first things I noticed was the disappearance of the traditional “franchise” mode, which had been replaced by something called “connected career.”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.  

Madden 12

After a five year hiatus, I’m back and ready to finally write about Madden 12.  In rereading my review of Madden 11 for the first time since I posted it, I can confidently say that I did not have nearly as much fun playing Madden 12 as I did its predecessor.  It is an example of the franchise taking one step forward (graphics even better), but two steps back (commentators worse, various features missing, awful music).  While the presentation was generally pretty slick, with HD menus and fun screen wipes and transition screens, I found the controls slightly laggy, the CPU AI inconsistent, and the play calling forgettable.

Diving into my playoff run, the Wild Card opener featured the Pats hosting the Baltimore Ravens.  Things could not have started much better for me, with an interception of Joe Flacco on the first play that set up a short TD run by Benjarvus Green-Ellis, the Law Firm.  I was happy to take the 7-0 score right out the gate, but was immediately struck by two key flaws in the game.  First, there was no drive summary – a feature that I always appreciate – and also by the stilted commentary from Gus Johnson and Chris Collinsworth.  They were quiet for long stretches, and when they would chime in, often their analysis would be off-base and laggy (more on that later).

The Ravens were able to recover and respond with a field goal of their own early in the second quarter, but I responded with a second TD run from the Law Firm.  One incident that took place on the drive that would become a recurring theme in my playing of Madden 12 was that Rob Gronkowski was hurt on his only reception and knocked out for the rest of the game.  Getting Gronk the ball over the middle and Gronk going down with an injury literally happened in all four games that I played, which is a little bit silly.  He might have an injury history, but he does not get hurt every time he touches the ball.  Regardless, the Ravens once again matched my TD with a FG, putting the score at 14-6 at the half following an impressive 2 minute drill from Joe Flacco.

The halftime show, unlike in Madden 11, was simply lame.  It only showed one “highlight” from the first half, which was the final play of the half, a Tom Brady kneel down with 2 seconds left.  Thrilling stuff.

The third quarter began with a flurry of matching TDs, including a deep bomb from Flacco following a blown coverage by me when I accidentally took control of my safety and took him out of the play by undercutting the route.  The final quarter was largely a defensive struggle, although I did punch it in while running out the clock late in the game for a garbage TD to put the final at 28-13.  While the game was never really in doubt, it was fun to play through. 

In moving to the divisional round in Pittsburgh, I was immediately struck by the great likenesses in game of Ben Roethlesburger and Mike Tomlin.  These models are much better than the one they use for Brady.  Unlike the Ravens game, this one was never really in doubt.  My first possession culminated with a 7 yard TD run from Law Firm, which I immediately added a FG to following a Jerod Mayo Pick of Roethlesburger.  While I made a few bad passing decisions and threw a few balls directly to Pittsburgh corners and safeties, the game let me off the hook with them dropping them rather than picking them off.

Although Gronk got hurt again on my first pass to him, I still managed a 17-0 lead late into the third.  My defense was also on fire, sacking Roethlesburger four times through three quarters.  Following a five minute drive to kill the clock, I capped things off with a field goal before picking off Roethlesburger a second time and sealing the game at 20-0.  This game was even less competitive than the first one, and more or less forgettable. 

The AFC Championship was at Kansas City, and I liked the opening sequence, which included a depiction of the Chief’s Mascot (K.C. Wolf).  There was triumphant music and even a helicopter flyover!  I was jacked and ready for an intense game.  At first it seemed like the game would be a tight one, with the Chiefs pulling out some trick plays (including use of the Wildcat formation).  The game was a defensive struggle resulting in a tied game late into the second when suddenly things got wacky. 

Following a Brady interception at the KC goal line, Matt Cassel immediately threw a pick of his own.  Brady responded with a bomb deep for Matthew Slater, making it 7-0 with 0:49 left in the quarter.  When Cassel got the ball back, he immediately threw a second interception.  This opened things up for a second Brady bomb, this time to Julian Edelman.  A short draw from the Law Firm put the score at 14-0 going into the half.  When the third quarter opened with the Law Firm running 84 yards for a TD on a counter play, the game was over.  Green-Ellis would finish with over 200 yards rushing in a 31-7 blowout.  The only other noteworthy aspect of the outing was Rob Gronkowski getting hurt again on his only reception. 

As the final gun sounded, I geared up for a victory animation at having won the AFC championship, especially given the big opening sequence, but instead nothing at all happened.  The game ended and it dumped me back to the menu screen.  In their analysis, neither Collinsworth nor Johnson even mentioned the AFC Championship, they just said, “so that Pats win.”  Snooze.

The Super Bowl featured a rematch of Super Bowl XXXI, with the Pats facing the Green Bay Packers.  Once again, the opening fanfare was great, but the analysts were even worse than before.  The game was in Lucas Oil stadium in Indianapolis, but they kept referring to the game being in Green Bay Wisconsin.  They kept prattling on about the importance of the Packers’ home field advantage.  What happened next stunned me.  I could not make a single play on offense.  Everything I tried failed, be it running or passing.  I ultimately lost the game 7-6. 

On the one hand, I suppose that it was good to lose one, as the previous three games had been such cakewalks.  It was proof that the CPU could compete!  But on the other hand, I was deeply frustrated by Tom Brady’s inability to throw accurate passes and by my offensive line’s complete inability to block anything.  The loss felt a bit cheap, like the CPU just decided it would win regardless of what I did as a player (as suddenly, nothing at all worked).  It also seemed like a random fluke, which proved to be the case when I played the rematch.

The second time around, it was another blowout.  After a long drive that led to a FG, I opened up a 10-0 lead following a Vince Wilfork strip sack/TD run.  Aaron Rogers never knew what hit him.  The sight of big Vince rumbling down the field before springing into the endzone was hands-down the greatest moment of my Madden 12 experience.  I was up 17-0 with 0:36 left in the half when the CPU behaved completely inexplicably.  It ran the ball three straight times for no gain, but took time outs immediately after each play.  This gave me all the time I needed to score one last time with a 53 yard FG to put me up 20-0 at the end of the half. 

As the third quarter got underway (Johnson: “Welcome back to Green Bay!”), the Packers had a decent drive that led to a missed field goal.  From this point onward, the CPU completely quit the game.  Whenever they got the ball, they just ran draw plays to run out the clock.  This makes no sense and is, frankly, just inexcusable in the third quarter of a Super Bowl.  I managed to score once more to make it a 27-0 final in a boring second half. 

As was the case with Madden ’11, winning the Super Bowl was followed by a pretty extensive celebration sequence, including a parade in Boston and trip to the White House.  This was nice to see, but hardly an improvement from the previous year.  By the end of this game, I felt like I was finally getting a sense of Madden 12’s laggy controls.  I had a better understanding of jukes, stiffarms and spin moves, for example.  But ultimately, these games were rather forgettable and uncompetitive.  I was generally able to cruise, except for the one time when the game locked me down completely and nothing worked.  This all-or-nothing approach made me question how fair the game really was.  In the end, I found Madden 12 to be just another Madden in the ever expanding sea of Madden titles. 

Madden 11

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 4^th 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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 1^st quarter, I was up 14-0. 

The Bears finally started to show some life in the 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 4^th.  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 4^th 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.