Review: Madden NFL 11

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Review: Madden NFL 11

It's really not just a yearly roster update.

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crotalidian

and Now My Watch Begins
Sep 8, 2009
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So this + Backbreaker = Win?

Do like the Madden Series even before I moved stateside and really got into NFL.

Gameflow does sound like a great change and finally no sprint to worry over that button kept me from so many jukes and goose steps in previous games!

EDIT: EA did a similar thing with the FIFA games, they fell behind the times with overly ambitious or silly additions and PES took the stage as a more fun game. now with the realism and the way it plays its taken back its crown as the best football (Soccer for you Americans) game on the market
 

TylerC

New member
Nov 12, 2008
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It's good to see they have picked them selves back up after the previous Madden titles that have been sub-par to say the least.
 

latenightapplepie

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Nov 9, 2008
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Interesting. I mildly enjoyed Madden '09 I think it was. So perhaps I should give this one a go. I won't pay for it, of course; my brothers love buying sports games. I should be able to point them in the right direction on this one.
 

lillebille

New member
Apr 16, 2009
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LordKaT said:
I will respond to this article as calmly and rationally as I possibly can:

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND?! Madden 11 has to be THE SINGLE WORST cheap corporate cash in title that I have EVER come across in my ENTIRE LIFE!

I cannot even being to articulate the seething hatred I have for this article writer. I wish you death, sir, death, for even remotely hinting that this game might actually be a worthy game to add to your collection.

I hate you. I hate you with every single ounce of my cold, black soul.
i second that but whit less hate more sadness...
 

tjspeirs

New member
Aug 7, 2010
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I watched LordKaT play this game over his livestream. In the first game he played, there were at least 10 fumbles, 4 interceptions, and easily 10 hurt players on both his _and_ the computer opponent's teams.

...what?!

How is that even possible? Because it was raining?! Can't really accept that unless it was raining olive oil! This says nothing of the pathetic looking crowd (literally one group of maybe 15 people that don't fill half the seats) and the fact that New Meadowlands Stadium doesn't exist in this game. That's really pathetic.
 

SoulChaserJ

New member
Sep 21, 2009
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I was waiting for the Madden hate to come to the Escapist. I've seen it everywhere else and all I can say is all you 2K5 enthusiasts need to find a new hobby. I like this iteration as much as it's predecessors. It took a bit of getting used to and now it's just what I wanted...another season of football.
 

tjspeirs

New member
Aug 7, 2010
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SoulChaserJ said:
I was waiting for the Madden hate to come to the Escapist. I've seen it everywhere else and all I can say is all you 2K5 enthusiasts need to find a new hobby. I like this iteration as much as it's predecessors. It took a bit of getting used to and now it's just what I wanted...another season of football.
If they made a good product, there wouldn't be as much hate.

Or they could free the license and allow some competition. Or do you support monopolies?
 

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
20,364
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tjspeirs said:
I watched LordKaT play this game over his livestream. In the first game he played, there were at least 10 fumbles, 4 interceptions, and easily 10 hurt players on both his _and_ the computer opponent's teams.

...what?!

How is that even possible? Because it was raining?! Can't really accept that unless it was raining olive oil! This says nothing of the pathetic looking crowd (literally one group of maybe 15 people that don't fill half the seats) and the fact that New Meadowlands Stadium doesn't exist in this game. That's really pathetic.
See, that's funny, because I played the game all weekend and never saw a thing like that. The worst that happened was a one-in-a-million glitch where a field goal hit an upright and didn't go in, but the announcers acted like it did.

So, I guess it's fair to say that this one experience isn't anywhere near norm :)

LordKaT said:
Freebird. said:
Just a small tip if you want to stay around here. Don't wish death on staff members. Surely you can see why that's a stupid thing to do.
Protip: Comedy exists outside of your Yhatzee. Sometimes people even use it to emphasize a point in their criticism of an article.

In either case, ban me, probation, whatever you do. It's your community, and I don't particularly care about it. I still think the staff member in question is so phenomenally stupid that they really should never write another article again and instead get a job working in a Deli.
Yes, because my experiences with a game fail to mirror your preconceived notions, and because I found Madden 11 to be the most streamlined and best-playing football game I'd ever touched, this clearly means I am phenomenally stupid and have not been spending the last two years of my life learning how to judge a game on its own merits and on my own experiences.

Yeah, I think you need to take a time out. :)
 

leviticusd

New member
Mar 19, 2009
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The new play-calling has made online enjoyable for the first time for me. I wish there was a mode so that you could only use flowcast and default audibles. There is still too much time waiting for your opponent hunting around for that perfect play they like to exploit. Ultimate team is fun as well though it is easy to get a real mismatch in players if you get someone who buys a lot of packs, but that has only happened once to me.

The big beef is FREEZING!!! About every other game in offline franchise (my favorite mode) freezes. It looks like this is a common problem in both Xbox and PS3 (I'm an XBox) in off-season mode and I hope it gets fixed.

The most underrated improvement is the smarter blocking AI. It really improves the running game and combined with the removal of the pointless boost button makes it fun to play run oriented offenses again. They fixed the receiving animation choices which were terrible last year which is a plus as well.

All in all I think the tweaks were good and as long as the freezing is addressed, it's not bad. If you hate Madden in general this one will probably not change your mind, but for those that play it at least semi-regularly it is steps in the right directions.
 

goliath6711

New member
May 3, 2010
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I think the Gameflow is perfect since it makes the game easier to play, since you don't have to worry about the 300 plays that you probably won't use, and most importantly, it's optional. You don't like it, don't use it. Simple as that. I still contend that the best baseball game ever was World Series Baseball 98 for the Saturn. Because it gave you the option to let the computer control the fielding and base running, leaving me to only worry about pitching and batting.
 

leviticusd

New member
Mar 19, 2009
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Also on the silence in Superstar mode, I thought that was the way with Road to Glory as well (at least it was in NCAA 10...I skipped 11 this year).

The reason for this is that the regular game tries to mimic a T.V. telecast. Commentators, replays, multiple angles, stats flashing up, etc.

Superstar is the complete opposite. You are supposed to be just the player. All that other stuff is gone, the camera is zoomed in closer to the player to give you more of his perspective that a birds-eye view of the field. You can only hear the chatter of the players on the field, the roar of the crowd and the announcements from the stadium P.A. announcer. Just like a player on the field. It is different, but it's supposed to be.

Superstar is also a great was to play a real quick game when you are really hurting for time. I wish the off the field and pre-draft side of superstar was fleshed out more like it was back a few years ago (at least on the PC releases), but it's still a nice change of pace.
 

Eric the Orange

Gone Gonzo
Apr 29, 2008
3,245
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Jason I like ya, but buddy but don't be trolling. Just because someone else disagrees with what you think is no reason to get mad at them. They're opinions for a reason, they cannot be right or wrong. Then proceeding to insult the community because we don't "get the joke".

That being said, on the game at hand I have no opinions because I don't play games like this.
 

DangNabbit

New member
May 23, 2010
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Haha! I came hear after watching Lordkat explode on his livestream. Funny stuff.

OT: It amazed me how they managed to screw something like this up, it's pretty difficult to make such a basic sports game come out so poorly. :(
 

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
20,364
0
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leviticusd said:
The new play-calling has made online enjoyable for the first time for me. I wish there was a mode so that you could only use flowcast and default audibles. There is still too much time waiting for your opponent hunting around for that perfect play they like to exploit. Ultimate team is fun as well though it is easy to get a real mismatch in players if you get someone who buys a lot of packs, but that has only happened once to me.

The big beef is FREEZING!!! About every other game in offline franchise (my favorite mode) freezes. It looks like this is a common problem in both Xbox and PS3 (I'm an XBox) in off-season mode and I hope it gets fixed.

The most underrated improvement is the smarter blocking AI. It really improves the running game and combined with the removal of the pointless boost button makes it fun to play run oriented offenses again. They fixed the receiving animation choices which were terrible last year which is a plus as well.

All in all I think the tweaks were good and as long as the freezing is addressed, it's not bad. If you hate Madden in general this one will probably not change your mind, but for those that play it at least semi-regularly it is steps in the right directions.
This is seriously strange, because I haven't had a single game freeze on me. It's possible that I just got lucky - I'm not saying it's NOT an issue, just one I haven't encountered yet. I wonder if it may be a hardware issue.