EA Sports, like a seasoned coach, knows what works and what doesn't. Unfortunately, the tenets of their platform are to hold a monopoly over NFL licensing and repackage last year's content. The qualms with EA's managerial style notwithstanding, Madden 12 is actually a relatively polished and entertaining title in the series.
This year, Madden's football feels like any classic gridiron game should: hits are harder than ever, interceptions are far more pervasive and the football...well, just feels like football.
Controls feel smoother than ever, even without the addition of the time-honored turbo button. While its removal may seem strange at first, players will slowly come to love the freed-up finger — in all fairness, walking on the pitch made little sense in the first place.
A streamlined play-calling system keeps the action on the field constant, and the returning "gameflow" option will once again allow players to follow tried and true strategies as opposed to developing their own.
Modes in Madden are similar to years previous with minor tweaks in place to appease the hardcore crowd. While preseason cuts, hot and cold streaks and a more revealing depth chart will get a few fans in line on day one, the majority of the Madden fan-base won't find much exciting in this year's Franchise mechanics.
Amazingly this heavy-handed, white-knuckled sports title can be as intricate and as stat-based as the latest patch on World of Warcraft, as the "Create a Superstar" mode offers page after page of performance evaluation and skill assignments. Want that QB to move more like a 2004 Michael Vick than a rooted Tom Brady? Invest in agility and speed. This niche of a role-playing king's fantasy integrated perfectly into America's greatest pastime fully and finally aligns the long-standing rivalry of jocks and nerds.
The largest flaw of this year's iteration is the lack of the big man himself. Madden has gone MIA, and in his wake are two of the least interesting commentators in recent sports game history. Instead of Madden's larger-than-life persona and equally irrelevant (and often humorous) advice, players get the droning, infuriating commentary of Chris Collinsworth.
In yet another money-grubbing move in the gaming industry, those who purchase this title preplayed will be forced into spending an additional $10 on the Madden 12 Online Pass required for most of the game's online features. Those who purchase the game new will thankfully avoid this extraneous fee, but for those who can't shell out the whole $60 retail price will be left to play a fraction of the full features.
Just barely closing negotiations before preseason the lockout has been narrowly avoided, and while NFL fantasy drafts are coming to a close around the nation, Madden masters the realm with its quasi-electronic collectible card game mode, My Ultimate Team. Arguably the highlight for football fanatics, this mode allows for players to draft the best of the best and go head to head to see who comes out as the most NFL-savvy gamer.
Placing community at the forefront of the title, Madden 12 creates a solid foundation for friends and colleagues to gather and game. Sadly this stronger, impassioned attempt at community doesn't have the same success that previous forays into this concept have had. New additions like three-on-three matches will place a greater emphasis on multiplayer collaboration, but overall Madden does little to make the online experience a gratifying one.
Graphically and musically, this edition has fallen from grace, as the game looks more like a 2006 launch title than a 2011 multimillion dollar project. Years ago, the soundtrack included the biggest names and the freshest "pump-up" music this side of Jock Jams; this year that is simply not the case.
Players coming off the college circuit in NCAA 12 will be able to import their draft class and continue their rise to stardom, a feature that should be a given but feels good anyways.
For all the gripes, groans and beleaguered issues that the world has with the Madden franchise, this year's iteration is just as thrilling as every one before it, with just enough updates to skate by and small tweaks to keep fans coming back.
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