Madden NFL 11 Review

JimmyJames70

August 24, 2010

"

Tip: While on defense, you can hold down A and the CPU will make the best play possible for you." While that in-game Tip is paraphrased, it sums up nicely the new gameplay mechanics, or lack thereof, of Madden NFL 11. Of course, you don't have to hold down A to allow the CPU to play the game for you, but you can. There's also the much heralded GameFlow option that plays much of the game for you. Again, of course, you can turn it off but it's there for you in case you don't want to perform the arduous chore of picking plays. . . If this year's version of Madden points towards the future, then perhaps in Madden 12 all you'll have to do is sit back and watch highlights of games that the console plays for you, you know, so you don't have to deal with pushing buttons and all that nonsense.

All the same though, you can turn off all the handicaps and play the game the way you want, so all of the above cribbing is nothing more than wasted tears. However, the reason for my grumpy attitude stems from the headaches of the headset. You see, in Madden 11, when you use the GameFlow option the coaches talk you through the play before the snap. This new feature definitely falls into the gimmick category and I see it disappearing quickly in Madden 12. But this isn't Madden 12, it's Madden 11, and this is a new feature worthy of a few paragraphs.

Let me start from the beginning, from before I even received the game. I have had the original, wired headset that came with my Xbox 360 since day one. It's worked great and I've never had a problem with it, so, I've never had a reason to upgrade to a wireless headset. That is, until my three-year old son decided he wanted to play with my headset while I was at work and my wife turned her head for a second. Long story short, I come home from work to see the foam that used to cover the earpiece is now torn to shreds. My son's response when I asked what happened was an enthusiastic, "I PLAYED with it!" accompanied with a shit-eating grin on his face. He had no idea he rendered my headst obsolete.

Off to the store I go. I see the wired headset retailing for $19.99 and the wireless headset on sale for $50. I thought $50 was ridiculously expensive, but it looked good, had no wires, and, most importantly, had no foam that could be ripped apart. The very helpful sales clerk told me he uses the wireless at home and it's very easy to use: just turn it on and it's all set up. That was Sunday. Today is Tuesday and those words haunt my very existence.

Getting that wireless headset to sync to quadrant one along with my quadrant one controller is nothing short of a nightmare. Think of Tim Burton making a Freddy Kruegger movie with Edward Scissorhands. But instead of scissors for hands, he's got wireless headsets for fingers.

The instructions explicitly state that wired headsets take precedence over wireless headsets. They also say that too override the wired headset, just disconnect it, and then reconnect the wireless headset by hitting the sync button on the console and then the sync button on the headset. Did that. Several times. Over and over. In many different combinations of sequences. Rebooted the console, the controller, and the headset a couple of times. It refused to sync to quadrant one. I was destined to never hear the sideline coach tell me on my $50 wireless headset, "Follow your blockers patiently, wait for the hole to open up, and then burst through." Nope, instead, I heard him say it on my wired headset, sans foam cushion, while plastic and metal pinched my ear.

That experience *might* be one of the reasons why I'm a bit grumpy over Madden 11.

Over all though, the graphics are improved, and the game does move quicker. And, it is much easier. On Madden 10, I had a helluva time playing on the Pro level. Last night, I beat the Giants on Pro level as the Vikings with an injured Brett Favre who suffered a broken collarbone. All it took was a healthy Adrian Peterson, who appeared to have found the cure for fumblitus (at least for that game), and one deep bomb from Tavaris Jackson to Percy Harvin to secure the victory.

While playing offense appears to be much easier to control, defense still plays like a crapshoot to me. It's almost like the developers have thrown up their hands on how to improve controlling a defensive back and have reverted to, "Hold down A to allow the CPU to attempt to make the best play for you."

After all this was said and done, I did a bit of Googling and I think I found a solution to my wireless headset problem. . . Stay tuned.