Madden 11, Dumber, Buggier and Broken. Brought to you by Verizon, Gatorade and our sponsors.
Madden 09 and 10 I liked quit a lot, particularly 10. I saw 10 as a clear improvement over 09 and this year I have to say that 11 has taken numerous steps backwards.
First and foremost A.I is very bad. It was claimed there was better blocking A.I this year, no there isn't, it's worse. Play the game in all madden and receive a kick off. You'll notice 3 of your team mates do NOT block but instead run nowhere. 3 will go to block but upon contact will surrender. And all your team mates will run slowly.
What does this mean? It means your kick return is going to fumble a lot due to 5+ of the opp. team hitting him or he's going to be contained to 20 yards or less for a kick return.
Really really shoddy.
Next, Gameflow.
A function I don't need or want. I will make the plays I want, if I was unsure I would use the "Ask madden" feature rather than gameflow. Thats all gameflow is... customiseable ask madden.
Next, sponsors.
I understand NFL has sponsors...but they get mentioned more than ever in madden 11 and even achievements are named after sponsors. It is detracting and insulting as I am sure they would have had to pay extra for this deal but it hasn't resulted in a better game.
Madden moments really really dumb mistake a novice game dev could have avoided. Giving us Madden moments with highlights from 2009 is great! But giving us the 09 teams with '10 rosters is breaking the whole point of madden moments.
Commentators, actually commentator.
GUSS IS TOO LOUD!!! GREEEEENE!!!..................GETS TACKLED!......................GREENE!!! GAINS TWO YARDS!!!
He's too loud and there is a delay between the names he calls and the action on the field. It's really really obvious that I am playing a game. Madden 10 and 09 felt more natural in calling out the action. Also both commentators were at the same sound level. In madden 11 Gus is a 10 for volume and Chris is a 7.
Gus: WHAT A GREAT CATCH!!!!!
Chris: (quiet) Oh he went up high for that one.
These are the negatives to Madden 11, and they drag the game down severely. Most folks could just pick up 09 or 10 or even an older game and get a better experience.
The pros this year are few and far between.
Greater immersion with cutscenes....there.
That's it. The only pro I can think of.
I'm sticking with Madden 10, I really dislike 11.
I'm not one of those people who Madden bashes and says "its the same game every year!" I was looking forward to Madden 11 but it simply has not delivered and where they tried to deliver they failed and damaged the game even more than if they had just recycled last years assets.
6.5/10 '10 is a bad year for football games.