Madden 2013: Can it actually be good?

If you play Madden I’m sorry for you. No other fans have been subjected to such lazy and rushed game development than Madden fans. Every year since EA bought the exclusive rights to make NFL games, the game comes with an extensive list of issues and a severe lack of polish for 59.99. The games never necessarily had bad game play but for a game that’s been worked on for almost three decades, it’s completely unacceptable the state Madden is in. With that in mind, let’s look at the Madden series over the past couple years and what could be improved on in Madden 2013.

Game Engine­ – The real issue with Madden is that it is a PS2 game running with HD graphics. There’s only so much the developers can do with a game engine that’s over 10 years old at this point. This explains why nothing is ever really changed but just slightly tweaked from year to year. It’s also why Madden still can’t include real gang tackling because that would require them to rewrite the whole game. While EA made the invisible wall you used to run into before you got tackled less noticeable, it’s still there because the game relies on preset animations for every play.  Maybe sometime in our lives EA will scrap this old game engine and start a new because the game certainly plays like a 10 year old game in its current state. There is a 0% chance they adopt a new engine while still making the game for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Gameplay - This has remained stagnant since the jump to Xbox 360 and PS3 and outside of a few tweaks here and there, I can’t see the gameplay being remarkably different. This is a problem because the gameplay every year just seems to be further and further removed from the game you watch on TV. There are so many things I find wrong with the gameplay from Madden 2012 I put them in a nice little list.

1. Linebackers jump like Michael Jordan in coverage and magically swat down passes they don’t even see.

2. Most tackles involve the tackler being completely horizontal when tackling and gang tackles still don’t really exist.

3. Receivers either make an incredible sideline catch or don’t even bother trying to stay in bounds.

4. It rains ridiculously hard way too frequently. (Especially in Franchise)

5. The computer still cannot manage the clock at all. They automatically take a timeout with a minute to go regardless of the situation and will kick field goals with 25 seconds left on the clock.

6. The best blockers in football just will stop and do nothing on some plays.

7. Screen plays work about 1 out of 15 times doing them.

8. Play action seems to work based on luck rather than establishing the run and never works on All-Madden.

9. Cornerbacks defy physics to jump routes then drop the interception.

10. Apparently instant replays do not exist in “Authentic NFL Broadcasts.”

11. Special teams are just completely unrealistic. Fair catches are called for no reason and I’ve never seen the AI miss a field goal.

Don’t get me wrong. Playing Madden against other people is still as fun of an experience as it was a decade ago but it’s not at all a different experience. While these complaints are minor in some cases, you’d think a game running on the same game engine since 2001 would not have inexcusable things like terrible AI. I would like to see EA fix some of these issues at the very least but they probably will not.

Game Modes – There is absolutely no excuse for Madden today to have less game modes than it had in the past. It seems every time it moves to a new console they strip all the features of the game and slowly reintroduce them as "brand new," like they never existed in the first place. Madden is great to pick up and play with a friend or against a stranger online but its game modes just feel so half-assed. I will comment on the Superstar and Franchise modes as I feel those are the crux of the game.

Superstar- Superstar mode in Madden 2012 is atrocious and that’s being kind. These game modes are awesome in NBA 2k and MLB: The Show but EA apparently doesn’t care what the rest of the industry is doing. Hopefully Madden 2013 will make the mode not as completely boring and broken as it was in 2012. Literally, all you do in the current mode is play the games and improve your player. Your coaches play calling makes no sense because the AI in the game is atrocious, no matter what your player is a starter so there is no competing for a roster spot or doing anything an up and coming NFL player would have to do, and worst of all your attributes advance way too quickly and never based on how your player is actually doing.

For instance, I made a running back for the New York Giants in Madden 2012. He was a 65 overall but he was starting over Jacobs and Bradshaw for absolutely no reason. After practices and pre-season where he hardly touched the ball despite being the de-facto starter he was ranked a 70 but with ridiculously high speed and acceleration. He did nothing to earn getting better yet he kept getting reward points because the Giants offense was doing well. Also, despite the Giants turning into a passing team this year everyone knows there’s no way they just wouldn't run the ball, which seemed to be the case for my player. By the end of the year the Giants won 14 games and he finished with 1,100 yards on 8.2 yards a carry, yet never got more touches. The Giants won the Super Bowl and there wasn't even a wrap up of how I did that year, it was just all the sudden the next season. Here’s a game mode that doesn't reward you or make you feel like you’re doing anything but wasting time.

Come on EA, this is unacceptable. Make this mode have something. Contracts, endorsements, roster spot battles, trades, player customization, or really anything substantial would make it better. I haven’t played this mode since Madden 2006 and I remember it being far more robust then. Why even keep it in the game if it’s going to be worse than it was several years ago?

Franchise – I remember when they added an Owner mode to Madden that allowed you to run the business side of the team as well as the general manager side of things. Apparently we weren’t smart enough to handle this so what we have in Madden now is just a Franchise mode. This Franchise mode isn’t broken but it’s just lifeless. Yeah, they did add some stuff like pre-season player cuts, player roles, a free agent bidding process, and some improved player scouting but none of it really seems special. EA always adds features that existed in past iterations and touts them as brand new, and that’s what the “upgraded” Franchise mode seems like to me. The Franchise mode isn’t bad but let’s look at a few ways they could make it better.

1. There’s a 10 year limit to Franchise. I don’t typically play that long but what if you wanted a rookie to break an NFL record. Is there any reason to limit the amount of years you can play at all?

2. The NCAA draft class import feature is full of glitches. I renamed several players their real names in NCAA and they were not there in the draft class. I never remember having problems with this in the past.

3. They added player roles but there’s still no indicator on how your team is getting along. Teammate chemistry is so important in the NFL I can’t believe this hasn’t ever been added.

4. You have to scout a player to figure out their Combine statistics. Wouldn’t this just be readily available stuff for any general manager? They apparently don’t have NFL Network.

5. There are still no restricted free agents, practice squads, computer trades outside of draft day, or rational pre-season substitutions. (Hakim Nicks got hurt playing safety in the 4^th quarter in one of my pre-season games...that can't happen.)

Presentation- This is where Madden really need to improve. Despite focusing on presentation Madden 2012 was one of the most lifeless games I’ve ever played. The announcing absolutely needs to be addressed and apparently is being totally reworked this year. The stadium PA broadcaster is somehow worse as it sounds like EA used a robot that was recorded inside of a bathroom for this voice. While they added introductions for every team, they all feel similar and fail to really encapsulate the excitement before a game. (Probably due to the robot in the bathroom announcing the whole thing) Just play one game of any other sports game right now and it feels more authentic and exciting than even a playoff game in Madden.  Every presentation touch EA has in Madden right now can be skipped over without feeling like you’re interfering with the experience at all.

Madden in its current state is not a bad game. It’s just not an acceptable one for how long they’ve been working on these games. I hope in Madden 2013 I won’t feel like old Maddens had more features or better gameplay as I’ve felt the past few years. I really doubt anything will change however, because it doesn’t seem like EA actually cares about improving the game at all. I hope that all the changes they’re going to bring in this year will actually address the issues I stated above and not just be used as hype to sell the game.

The entire product at this point just seems like a cash grab and that’s probably why EA is subject to such criticism. There just isn’t enough of an improvement from year to year and it seems like they introduce features every year that will sell the game and not necessarily improve it. I didn’t purchase Madden 2011 and wish I never purchased Madden 2012. I hope Madden 2013 will change my feelings towards this series but I very much doubt it will.