Every August, it's the same old story. Whether it's the ill-fated quarterback "vision cones" in Madden 06 that were supposed to revolutionize the passing game, or the ghostly "Jedi Madden" testing your "Madden IQ" in 09, we come up with every excuse to breathlessly declare that this year's Madden is different! Never mind whether or not it actually is -- and we in the gaming media are as guilty as anyone in prorogating the lie. Well, guess what? Madden NFL 11 actually is different. And here are three of the top reasons why:
No. 1 -- No More Robo-Hammond
On 1UP's dearly departed Sports Anomaly podcast, Bryan "Fragile Eagle" Intihar always lamented about the lack of
intensity and atmosphere in Madden's presentation. The Super Bowl
shouldn't just feel like another regular-season game, he argued. Over
the past couple of years, stoic play-by-play man Tom Hammond -- we
always called him "Robo-Hammond" on the Anomaly -- didn't help
matters. Madden creative director Ian Cummings agrees -- in fact, he
says that replacing Hammond was the No. 1 priority for the team
this year.
So, if nothing else, this year's Madden commentary will bring the
energy: EA brought in CBS' Gus Johnson, best known for his annual
shrieking during March Madness -- and his call of an incredible
last-minute Denver Broncos victory last year. And I definitely felt
that change in intensity during my time with Madden 11. As I drove down
the field, Johnson seemed to get more and more pumped as I headed toward
the endzone, adding palpable pressure to the proceedings -- after all,
Hammond would've simply droned on in the same situation.
But the in-game energy also feels like it's been ramped up a notch,
perhaps taking a page from the passion seen in the FIFA series. As I took
a big halftime lead with Niners against the Vikings, the Niners looked
pumped as they headed to the locker room -- and so did the fans. And
when the game ended, the Niners jumped around and celebrated instead of
just ambling off the field. Sure, these are little things -- but they're
also the details that have prevented Madden from playing totally true
to the real thing.
No. 2 -- More Than 11 Minutes of Action
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal determined that most
NFL games only include about 11 minutes of game action.
Unfortunately, Madden has tended to emulate that ratio a little too closely over the years, and the cumbersome, dated play-selection
interface is a huge reason why. Moreover, "expert" Madden gamers know
which plays to exploit, which means novice players face a huge handicap
when going up against human opponents.
This year's new GameFlow feature is designed to minimize those issues --
and don't mistake it for another take on "Ask Madden," which simply
gives a list of suggested plays. GameFlow actively and automatically
determines the best play to use depending on the in-game situation --
and based on my own time with Madden 11, it really works. When
I'd face an obvious running situation, for example, my linebackers would
stack up against the run, while on obvious passing downs, my defensive
backs would head out to defend the long bomb. You can still
automatically select plays from the playbook, but I found that every
time I went that route, I got burned -- badly. And best of all, GameFlow
cut down my average playtime by about half an hour, which made the
whole experience a lot more active instead of sitting around and waiting
for the next bit of action to happen.
