Madden NFL 11 (Playstation) Review
Every year, the Madden series has certain change that usually sets the entire tone for the game. Last year it was on reworking the game simulation to make everything seem a lot more authentic. This year, the developer’s wanted to make the game “simpler, quicker, and deeper,” and after playing the game, it’s easy to see that EA Sports succeed.
The main highlight this year’s game is the new Game Flow play calling system, which was designed to more closely resemble real games where the coach gives the quarterback the plays to call based on each situation. This makes picking a play a lot faster.
Madden 11 also features a game planning component to use together with the Game Flow system, users can adjust their game plans for any situation. Cool idea!
This is done through a five-star system that will be used when trying to decide which plays to formulate in your game plan. Seems madden complicated at first buy you will master it in no time.
As for actual game play, the game plays a bit faster than its predecessor, though it’s not too fast like NFL Blitz. The biggest changes in speed are noticeable in different players with very different speed rating attributes. In Madden NFL 11 speed, agility, and acceleration are the main three elements in physics and speed, and it’ll be easier to see which players are taking advantage of their respected skills. Example, A receiver that isn’t the fastest guy on the field, but his in-game acceleration is quite high, making him seem faster in the game. Also, no more sprint button, so now players will run pretty much based on simulated skill, which usually takes effect once the player gets passed the secondary and knows that it’s literally a footrace to the end zone.
Now the players perform harder jukes, and the truck stick effect now portrays even more strengths for ball carriers and tacklers, giving the player a more authentic pushing and fighting feel. For me the new functionality with the truck stick is a welcome addition,
Now your team has a lot more control with audibles in the line of scrimmage with calls that are set to all four directions. If you see that the defense all of a sudden switched, you can counter by changing your intermediate pass to a short run. Each audible gives you options for pretty much every situation. The drawback to this is that there are a lot more now, if you'r the person who likes to play fast, with the accelerated clock, this could be a disadvantage.
One of the most unpredictable changes made was in special teams, specifically with the kicking game. The system has totally changed. Instead of the old aim your arrow and move the right stick down then up motion players have become accustomed to. Now it’s a two-click system. You aim your ball, and then you press the trigger once for power, and once more for accuracy. You have to be careful though, because it’s really easy to mess up with the accuracy. I actually missed a lot of extra point attempts and kicked a lot of kickoffs out of bounds because of this, definitely practice this, it could become a big advantage.
One of the more interesting new features is the ability to play the Super Bowl without even going through Franchise Mode, and you can use any team against any team.
This is a great update to a series that’s definitely improving year after year. It looks like the developers are finally at a comfortable spot with the foundation of this generation’s Madden games.
Thanks for reading!
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