Madden 11 is mainly geared towards first time players and online play ,however it fumbled the ball on its own goal line
-
Due to slow EA servers online play fumbles the ball.The new sliding power meter for kicking is like spinning a roulette wheel your never sure what you'll get.I missed 4 Pat's, 3 field goals at under 40 yards and 2 kicks out of bounds in 1 game even with a 20 MB connection.Granted server lag is not always terrible i average about 1-3 out of 10 games that doesn't seem affected to much.Kicking requires hitting the button about 1 -3 inches ahead of were you want the meter to stop.This lag also applies to other aspects of the game of course but kicking is the most noticeable.Matchmaking limits like no ranked matches between friends or anyone you invite is disappointing .
The online store which attempts to sell you improvements to player ratings and scouting reports etc.. for real cash not game coins like it should be.This money pilfering attempt creates an unfair balance when playing someone who can scout your playing techniques and improve their teams player ratings to an unfair advantage due to cash not skill.
Play mechanics have been sharpened in some areas and flawed in others.
For example the new real motion physics works pretty well except when tackling.The days of running full speed while changing directions are over however myself and everyone Ive played agree we find ourselves completely missing tackles too often.Passing seems too easy especially for fast receivers who blow by corner backs with ease,almost all the CB's in the league have speed under 90 too slow in my opinion.Scoring is a little too easy i scored 79 to 24 points my first match with 10 min Qtr's on All pro skill level,ya its that easy.Running the ball is much easier due too poor tackling and a powerful hit is hard to come by.I really miss a bone crunching sound when i crush a RB with my middle linebacker ,really feels like tackling was overlooked or waiting to be released next year.The much needed major improvement is your players will try to stay inbounds when receiving. Overall game play feels better than previous titles but still noticeably flawed.
Maddens new features were both welcomed and questioned by me.
I liked the music allot and ability to pressure the QB often was a much needed improvement.The in game coaching tips and new play by play announcer is great but i can due without the 1 play game flow gimmick for noobs.Football is a game of strategy more than anything else any coach will verify that.Maddens advice already shortened play selection time,why not allow me to create my own madden advice giving me 3 quick plays to choose from rather than 1.I liked the Online team play but not fixing the sever issues hampers this greatly.The strategy pad took too long to use so they added an option to use last years pad which works a bit better.Streamlined audibles are cool but when your playing a friend at home he can see what your calling which negates the whole purpose of an audible.
All in all its still fun too play but could be great if EA would give the fans what they want and quite trying to reinvent it every year with a new gimmick.
I would like to see Franchise mode get overhauled with better scouting reports and smarter trades.Lose the online store completely, improve tackling and add more realistic player ratings.Graphics need more realism not cut scenes of sidelined players drinking Gatorade,for example grass stains with mud and blood would be cool.EA's servers need improvement constant lag and matchmaking limits hinder it.That's it with these few improvements i believe Madden 12 could be a 10.