There are very few days that I look forward to. There are the birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, you know, the usual. There is also the drop date of Madden football and I'm not talking about the recent games, I'm going back to Madden 1992. So here I am in the middle of the night, cellophane freshly ripped off, PS3 turned on game disc inserted and I'm ready to rock. Here comes my own season, here comes online dominance but first lets found out what's new with the game. Let's see what new moves defenders can pull off and RBs can whip out...and there's the rub
Madden 2012 has left me wanting more, It's the pretty girl that you finally talk to and there's no substance there. It's the same thing from madden 09 and 10. The online manual was a great idea especially if you're environmentally alert (save the trees). Putting Peyton Hillis on the front was awesome because he isn't a star yet and I love the embracing of a guy on the rise. But that's where my admiration stops. Don't get me wrong, I will still play the game until the wee hours of the night into morning but I will play it with the bored malaise of doing the same thing over and over again.
Still, before I mention the negative let me expand on some of the positives. The camera angles are superb especially the way it goes from tight to wide angle pre snap when you’re on offense. The K.O. and FG power meter is the best one of all they have implemented. And the hits whether it is on offense or defense are intense. It’s a little bit exaggerated, as far as, hits go but hey it’s a video game and you need some of that. The graphics have improved as well but not by much, although, if they get any better it will be 3D or holograms.
It seems as if EA has made it more kid friendly. It's too easy to make plays. I want to have to put together combos with my RB in order to break a long run. But instead it doesn't take as much to break a long run. The running game is the easiest in the past 8 yrs. If you press X when the play starts, the computer helps you make plays...WEAK!!! I want to have to pull off a rip or swim or spin move to free up a D Lineman. The play calling is the same, the audible system hasn't changed. The cool thing about Madden has been although things remained the same often, they would always tweak the process a little so that there was a learning curve. That doesn't exist here, I feel as if I am playing 2011 which is cool but not exciting. Then I go online to get my game on and I have to enter some whacko code that for some people, doesn't even work. Now I can't hold EA or Madden accountable for this but after Sony dropped the ball for months with someone hacking their system and crippling the online community, throw us a bone.
Bottom line is, as John Madden ages and fades away from the production of the game don't let the same thing happen to the game itself. Madden 2012 is awesome but so was 2011, 10, 09, 08 ...you get my point. Awesome isn't good enough, we want ground breaking innovation and in that department Madden 2012 falls short, kind of like the hype of Y2K!!! I have been a little harsh in this review but it's because I expect greatness from the greatest game franchise in gaming history. John Madden football is the ROMAN EMPIRE at its height. Unfortunately all empires eventually crumble. This could mark the beginning of the end for the GREATNESS of MADDEN but I'll bet against that all day. This is probably just a small dent in the mighty armor that is MADDEN!!!
Madden 2012 gets a 7 out of 10 for me.
Charod Williams
Madden Fan Since 1992
© 2012
