Why am I posting about this? Why not?
I tend to get Madden as a gift these days, or off the clearance shelves. I think the last time I plopped down full price was in 2007. Today, I picked it up, started a franchise, simmed a season, and drafted a franchise quarterback in the first round with the team I decided to play (hint: Not the Packers. That whole franchise QB thing is covered there). Played a game, great come from behind win over the Giants at home, even though I am very out of practice at this.
It was after this game that I started thinking why I don't do this more often (besides the potential for property damage). My main gameplay gripe is that it seems like the players seem like they're running under water. Compared to the NCAA game, they react very very slowly in changing directions. This has been an issue since, oh, I don't know, 06?
I think my main gripe though is that in the XBox/PS2 age, there was more of an attachment to your franchise. You could do, well, a hell of a lot more with it. The rookie scouting changed throughout the years, but it was always fun. It stinks now. I think 04 had it right by giving you hints about a player without giving away the farm, but making it easy enough to suss out what the scout was trying to say. Also, I loved the preseason drills that you could put your team through to improve them. While it may have been a boon to the human player, it also made you get to know your team a bit better, and made you feel more connected to your club, even if you sim quite a lot.
I don't think I really have a main point to this, but I thought it was worth saying. You'll see me playing MLB the Show, the NHL series, and the NCAA series (even though, right now, my regard for the real NCAA can't get any lower) before you'll see me invest major time into this game. I'm slowly giving up hope that this series will be any fun for me any time soon.
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Pretty much spot on, IMO. But I think EA has slipped far in all of their franchise sports titles, they just get more and more buggy with each release. Also, none of them seem to have improved the single player/dynasty angle at all. I loved NHL 10, liked NHL 11, and have pretty much given up on NHL 12 simply because franchise hasn't improved in 2 years. Chances are very good that for the first time in as long as I can remember, I'm not buying a single one of EA's Sports releases on release day this year...if at all. The PS3/360 generation should've been a great time for sports releases...but it's been disappointing.
ReplyDeleteOnly the MLB series constantly delivers year to year, and I still enjoy College Hoops by 2KSports...unfortunately that last came out in 2007.