Madden 11 proves yet again, that somethings don't improve with age.
The Good:
Locomotion Feature: Wonderful feature that has been missing in Madden partly due to the lack of technology, actually takes in to account the laws of physics and utilizes real-life player momentum and change of direction. Wonderful wonderful feature, as in the past Maddens, we've all seen those ridiculous change of directions with players going at full-speed. This feature has been long due.
New and Improved Graphics: Not too much to add, pretty self-explanatory, simply makes the other maddens look pretty fake. EA's getting a lot better about this.
Online Gameplay Modes: EA is 'improving' the variety of online game modes with the Online Franchise play, to the 3-on-3 team play adds a very promising future for Madden games to come...
The Bad:
Online Gameplay Modes: I have this in the good and the bad, good because the theory behind the madness is great... the problem is in actuality, its a huge mess.
As promising as Online Franchise play sounds, it is extremely flawed. There is no system of free agency and isn't consistent to how Franchise Mode is played in single player. In order to have a semi-organized Online Franchise Mode, many leagues have to develop their own websites and come up with rules on how to manage who picks up who and make-believe salary caps...
3-on-3 Team Play in theory is genius, but in actual game play looks like EA thought of this a week before the game came out and inverted the vision and called it something different. It is a complete Mess.
All-Pro vs All-Madden, no realistic challenging game play: For all of those who understand what im talking about and can just simply move on to the next point. All-Pro is simply just too easy and any veteran can easily outscore most teams by at least 30 points a game, as the All-Madden is just absolutely unbearable. Once you turn the knob up to All-Madden, your entire team as an aggregated get stupider, as your opponent gets incredibly better as a whole. Infact, the opponent gets so much better, its as if they pretty much cancel the locomotion feature they added as receivers and defensive backs do the infamous "teleport catches", runningbacks truck your entire team, and the average defensive lineman can pancake some of the best OL in the league. Hideous.
Out with the good, in with the bad: The one thing that ticks me off the most about this game is that they keep taking out some of the really good aspects about the game, not improve on the current things that are left hanging, or add in things that are completely useless! After completing a 13 season, record setting-career as a QB in Superstar mode, you are prompted with a message that says its time to retire, and then you retire... thats it... end of game. Nothing else. Talk about a complete disappointment of a time investment...
We can only hope that EA decides to quit being lazy in certain aspects of the game and start improving upon the quality, as I have been buying Madden, each year, since 2005... And I just have been seeing a slow, but sure downward trend in the quality of these games...
I don't see myself buying again next year.