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Madden NFL 2012 or Madden NFL 12 has been released! It released according to Madden 12 release date. In here I want to share to you some Madden NFL 2012 honest reviews from real gamers of Madden NFL 12. So many people has bought and played Madden NFL 12, some of them satisfied and some of them not satisfied. If you want to know what are their comments about Madden NFL 2012, you can read their honest review below.

Review by Gamertag

First of all, let me tell you I haven't bought a Madden game since the 08 - I've only tried the later for very short periods - so comparisons with the games of recent years won't be fair. And these lines are based on the Early Release. Since comparing to the 10 or 11 is not proper, I'll settle with just telling you what I think of this game, concentrating on gameplay, Franchise and Be A Pro (Ultimate Team i like very much, but is is not playable during the Early Release). Will get my retail this weekend (so could be some small tweaks, perhaps).

The gameplay in general: It's actually really good. Though playing around with the settings sliders is a must for everyone to find their own fit (some people are experts on passing, others on defense etc). Once you do, I don't think there are many things to complain about. The tackling, for example, is much, much better than earlier (the physics in all are really good). The opponent make logical calls of plays and doesn't read mine much too often or too seldom. The Gameflow is good in this game, since it gives you the choice between "Gameplan", "Run" and "Pass" (again, makes it easy to use it, ans still play the way you want or are used to/good at). The after the huddle-controls are a little tricky at first, but when you get a hold of it, it gives you alot of good options before the snap. As I said: the gameplay is just fine.

Franchise: My favourite Madden game mode (even though I've spent quite a few hours playing Be A Pro, as well). And for me kind of the corner stone in a sports game, since you can't always trust the online play to be enough (especially when you're up against the EA Servers...).

This year there is a few new additions to it that actually changes the experience a little bit. The Cut Days are nice. Not that the cutting itself is great fun, but because you have to spend some time evaluating your newcomers every year. For each pre-season game you play, you gain more and more knowledge about your new players. But you have to cut before you know it all, meaning sometimes you make good decisions; sometimes bad.

The Free Agent market is almost like a mini game, and is based on the fact that each player have a deadline after any team has made an offer. So you can't spend as much time as you want (or you could, but you would end up missing out on some or all of the good players available). When a player get an offer, the clock for that player starts tickning. When the ticking is done - the players is off the market. It forces you to really think about what areas of the team you really need to bolster, and actually concentrate on that.

The presentation of the games is remade to make it feel like an actual broadcast. With all due respect, I think it's something that perhaps is important for American players. For me (I'm actual a Swedish NFL and Madden fan), it's just simply about the game. Before and after the games the presentations would be disappointing if you actually cared about it, I suppose. Really nothing special at all (stuff like boxy cheerleaders and corny angles...). During the games I would like to get more stats (I always do, no matter what game or sport!) - quicker. If you never push your buttons you get kind of plenty of information and stats, but it makes the game a little slow for my taste - and also the commentary makes the stats and info less enjoyable (the commentary is perhaps the game's biggest con, really repetetive and kind of out of tune - the comments are to slow, to late or to early pretty often).

So far the trading has been a serious let down for me. Not a single AI trade, and not a single player put up on the block during a whole season. Some free agents are signed to get depth due to injuries - but the lack of trading is really stupid. Me, I like to mix my squad up a little bit - sometimes (if my season progress a little to good, or a little to bad) I find comfort in making som changes in my team. If I initiate trading with the CPU teams they make logic decisions, but I'm annoyed by the total lack of interest from their part (both in each others players, and mine).

Be A Pro: Still it's not as good as you could perhaps expect. In this mode, the presentations (everything inbetween and around the actual games) does matter to me. A lot. And it's not pleasing. To little options for my taste. BUT! There is a few pros. Being able to request a trade to a specific team could be useful (if you want to play for your favourite team, or move to a team that just lost their star QB to injury with your sophomore - if you want you can now choose wich team to play for right from the beginning of your career). Participating in practice gives your player XP, used for improving his stats (just like in the NHL games, for instance). Same goes for the games. The only problem is your player gets to many points, and therefore gets too good too fast (in my opinion).

When playing the games you can still simulate one play at a time or the time until your pro gets back on, and it makes the game flow according to ones specific needs.

I still hate, though, that the pro is automatically being moved up the depth charts. Its unrealistic that a 67 overall QB woulg get the go ahead of Big Ben or Tom Brady... And it bugs me out. I usually put up with the Be A Pro mode until I've unlocked some achivements and won the SuperBowl (in like three seasons, tops) and then I carry on with another Franchise.

- - -

So is it worth a buy then? Absolutely if you like Franchise. Be A Pro is still a massive let down for me. The online play is kind of laggy from what I've heard, but I haven't played online myself yet. The gameplay is in no way a let down (quite the contrary with some playing around with the sliders), and if you enjoy the game of football in my opinion, all in all: YES - it is worth a buy.

I hope I helped someone out. And have fun playin'!

Review by M. DiSpirito "mentored1"

Greetings folks!

Madden NFL is the yearly hope for all us football gamers, given that we have no other options. As a quick preface, let me say that I despised Madden 10 & 11 but had a soft spot for 8 & 9. Every Madden game has come with its flaws, and every other football game has flaws, too--including the beloved 2K franchise (of which I'm a big fan). I played the demo of Madden 12 and decided to gamble on picking this game up.

I'm a franchise-mode only player and I dig through all the options and settings to tweak things just the way I like; if you're looking for info on superstar mode, online play, or other modes then I'd recommend not reading any further.

There are some things I absolutely love about this edition of Madden and some things that make my jaw clench. In balance, Madden 12 is the best edition of the game for the current generation of consoles. Granted, that's one gamer's opinion, but I have some very compelling reasons for thinking thus...


THE BAD...

- The commentary is ugly. Collinsworth & Johnson make comments about plays that have nothing to do with the onfield action, or they comment on something that happened on a previous down; it's sloppy, at best. Do yourself a favor and shut off the commentary immediately.

- The audio presentation is lackluster. The crowds grow oddly quiet--like dead silent--between plays and then suddenly cheer for things that don't seem to warrant ovations. Other times, there's no sound at all on the field. I'd like to hear more player chatter and stuff like that but there's little to be found.

- Load times are sluggish, especially at the beginning of the game. The initial installation bombards you with EA-approved messages, online agreements, and other nonsense that quickly gets under the skin. I don't know what's loading in the background, but it shouldn't take that long!

- During franchise mode, there isn't enough information available on rookies to make a proper decision. This isn't a game-breaker, but it becomes frustrating when you have to cut down your roster during pre-season and you have very little information to go on.



THE GOOD...

- Franchise mode is richer and more detailed than any edition since Madden 08 with all the owner mode fixings. There's still some stuff missing, but the goodies they added in this year are well worth it. Having a big roster to cut down is a lot of fun (despite the lack of ratings, as mentioned above) and the return of player roles helps to shape individual players. Hot and cold streaks combine with player traits to give you a sense of changing player attitudes, performance, and abilities during the year. During the game, the dynamic performance changes and players can alter their style based on in-game events; for example, sacking Jay Cutler a few times makes him trigger happy and inaccurate (as it does for other QBs, too). There are a few wrinkles in the system, but overall it makes Madden feel like a more fluid experience and less like a 3D spreadsheet.

- There are a ton of options to change in Madden 12. Before you complain about something, check around all the settings: chances are you'll find the option to change what you don't like about the game. Everything from penalty frequency, player substitutions, game speed, time, injuries, and so on can be tweaked. This is perhaps my favorite thing about Madden 12 and something I wish every game incorporated--the ability to change how the game works to suit individual taste.

- Gameplay is finally worth smiling about! For the first time, I'm willing to say that Madden is fun to play AND fairly realistic. It's still a video game, of course, but the sense of player weight, momentum, and collision improvements have brought this game up a few levels. I haven't seen any obvious suction blocking, warping, sliding, or superhuman feats of omniscient agility. There are a few instances where it seems the CPU is cheating, but upon watching the replay I believe it was my fault and not the game trying to drive me nuts. All the impacts look amazing and the new suite of animations adds a lot of variety and excitement to the game. Defense is much smarter this year, and defenders will read and react accurately; gone are the days of consistently scorching the defense with gimmick plays or "money" plays.


THE WRAP-UP...

There has never been and will never be a "perfect" game. Football is complex enough on the field, nevermind trying to simulate it. Madden has always done an OKAY job of simulating football, and I don't think it'll get much beyond that until there's some competition. This year, the on-field play and franchise management is very good, but the audio presentation, commentary, and scouting system is poor... so we're balanced at OKAY again!

Seriously, this game has far fewer on-field glitches than other edition of Madden. If it seems like the CPU is cheating, my suggestion is to take a step back and try to re-learn the game. We've grown so used to playing against a wacky unbalanced AI that we resort to gaming the game... I'm not so sure we need with this Madden. All the mistakes I made were legitimate football errors acquired from years of playing glitchy exploitable editions of Madden.

Take a breath and put the training wheels back on--it's okay, I won't tell anyone.


EDIT: I highly recommend bringing the game speed down to slow or very slow (I prefer the latter) and adjusting the difficulty sliders until you find the area where the game seems balanced to you. We all have different playing styles and the game will play differently for each of us. Take some time and adjust it to suit your tastes. The speed and sliders are in there for a reason--use them! It makes a difference, seriously. All of the negative reviews on here that mention problems with too hard, too easy, or other ratings/gameplay issues should at least give it a shot (since you paid $60).

Review by Dale J. Adamson

EA did a lot right in it's latest installment of the Madden frachise, but it missed the mark on a couple of things as well.

game play problems (examples):
The CB is better at catching long passes than the WRs
The QB has ZERO time in the pocket, so sacks are way too easy
QB has to be set to make throws, gone are the days of the last second throw to avoid the sack
Injuries seems to happen a little too frequently

Having said all of that though, the new tackling engine is great and the game plays much better overall. This is much more than a high priced roster update, and so I recommend it as a stand alone game.

BIGGEST ISSUE: Madden 12 requires you to purchase xbox live GOLD if you want to update your rosters. It is pretty rediculous that they charge you 60 dollars for a game with terribly out of date rosters, and then require you to purchase a live subscription to update the rosters. The default rosters are essentially Madden 11 rosters, so if you don't have GOLD, it probably isn't worth the 60 dollars. Personally, I just signed up for a new xbox live account to get a free month of GOLD so I could update my rosters. Shame that EA and Microsoft are conspiring to rip us off though.

The game is worthy of 4 out of 5 stars, but the fact that there are hidden expenses beyond the 60 dollars to buy the game leaves a bad taste in my mouth (Thus I gave it only 3 stars).

I hope Madden NFL 2012 review above can be helpful for you.

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