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Madden 12 NFL
According to the founders of EA, the John Madden NFL(gridiron) video
games series concept was founded way back in 1986 aboard an interstate
American train trip when one of these originators of EA met John Madden
who happened to be on his way to cover an NFL match. Madden preferred to
take the train because of his dislike of planes. A quarter of a century
later Madden 12, from EA Sports, has delivered a sport’s simulation that
those original games in the 1980’s could only dream of ever becoming in
their attention to detail, complexity and realism.
I
approached this simulation with some trepidation as I had not really
played many gridiron games in quite a few years. My interested has waned
since my teenage years due to the sport being taken off free to air
television in Australia and because the post TV Sports Football video
game became very complex tactically and takes a lot of time to learn,
making it difficult to understand for a non American. Anyhow, the
opportunity came up to review this game and I thought I would give it a
go to see how much had changed in American football video games.
Well,
I was pleased that within Madden 12 there has been a number of mini
games in order for the outsider to get a grasp on the common aspects of
the game so you will be prepared for a real match. These mini games take
place on a practice field, with no specatators. It allows you to
practice the throwing or passing of the ball from the on field
playmaker, known as the quarterback. The game shows visually, the lines
your receivers will run and the buttons you need to hit in order to
select that option. You also get to practice other important aspects,
such as the defending. This entails trying to stop the opposition from
running and passing the ball to receivers trying to run past you. These
mini game can be quite fun, as it allows you to get an idea of each area
of the game you need to know how to play to get something out of playing
an entire game. It teaches you trick moves, say how to dodge whilst
running or how to strip balls from opponents who have the ball. As these
matches are all condensed you can learn these essential skills quickly.
So,
with some knowledge of the basic controls by playing mini games you are
armed to attempt to have a shot at playing a proper match. The game
proper is typical of most of these franchised sport’s simulations that
have been available on shelves for the past two decades. The format will
feel very familiar and easy to navigate. As an example you are able to
select a stand-alone exhibition match, a season, the length of quarters,
the time of the day(afternoon, evening etc..), what the weather is
doing(it can snow in football season in America which makes it quite
interesting for player movements) and also the stadiums of which there
are over 30 in the USA used for NFL. Also, you are able to select a
standard to play against the computer or play online. Personally, I
only play against the computer because the human players would be way
too good for someone who does not know terribly much about NFL football.
There are also other modes you can play, such as the Superstar mode
which allows you to control just one player throughout his career if
that is what you would like to do. The problem with this is, you might
only be involved in the action sporadically as that is the nature of
this game with very specific roles, unlike soccer where you are in the
action a lot. The option is there to take over the entire squad
management doing trades and buying in players if you feel you understand
the game that deeply.
The
visual presentation is akin to watching the game in real life on tv. You
have views from the zeppelin floating above the field, the teams running
on field with stuffed animal mascots hopping about madly, the customary
beautiful cheerleaders(sadly missing from our own AFL football), and tv
commentary, PA announcers and various other background noises associated
with the game. In game you sit to the back off your team so you can see
what is coming at your men from upfield. I felt a downside graphically
was the kicking sections of the game, both the kicking for goal and also
the kick-offs and punting. The bone jarring tackling and physics of
general game play seems quite good.
In
game, you have the option of going with tactics or plays that the game
presents or you can go through many moves if you feel you know more
about the game than the simulation. As I only have a fairly rudimentary
understanding of this flavour of football I naturally would go with the
simplest and quickest option. It allows for the game to keep flowing
quickly so you remain in the action. What is good is that as with the
mini games, you are shown visually the direction your own players will
go on field so you can pick them out with passes in the offensive game
or who you control in the defensive game that will allow you to slow
down, stop or intercept your opponent scoring on you.
All
up, and if you are interested in NFL football, Madden 12 is a great game
to get you into the sport and you will most certainly have a much better
understanding of American football if you are not that well versed in
the game. |
