Cert: 3
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii
Genre: Sports

Madden NFL is a ancient series in gaming terms, stretching all the way back to 1988. With 23 years to get the thing right the game is held to an ever increasing standard year on year and though it has it naysayers the series has been a massive commercial success for EA. It's been about 13 years since I sat down to play a Madden game so if things haven't improved dramatically then someone in EA Tiburon deserves an award for screwing about.

EA do their hardest to tout the realism of the Madden games and they work hard to add the little details that aren't entirely necessary but do add a layer of extra realism. Tackles look and feel violent, when you lose a player to injury watching the beautifully rendered bone shattering impact alleviates the annoyance. It's a tribute to EA's game engine that every play I completely screwed up (and trust me there were a lot of them) was just a little less frustrating because it looked so good. There are some wierd graphics bugs though, the crowd especially looking lifeless, a real shame in a game going for realism. When the camera cuts away to a coach or a bench it's pot luck whether their reaction will match anything that's going on. When the game cuts to your coach beaming when the other team scores 2 thoughts will enter your head. The first is who tested this bit? The second is has my own coach put a bet on me to lose?

Audio wise in game they're top notch, tackles crunch nicely and there's nothing to complain about. The commentary though is just plain bad. The audio clips are too short, recorded at wildly different volumes and spliced together with no coherency. This level of commentary in the latest update to a major franchise is shocking.

Gameplay is where Madden games are frequently criticised, the most common being it's just the same game year in year out. As I mentioned I haven't spent a long time with a Madden title in well over a decade but even then there were times I couldn't see 13 years of evolving game improvements here. With passing plays get your timing right and it's gold, get it wrong and the ball will be stopped, though I saw less interceptions than I was expecting. Running plays feel a similar crapshoot but are satisfying on the times they worked. I had a serious problem with punting though, they're so easily retrieved by the AI that the yards gained were seldom worth it compared to one last desperate pass. Maybe I was just damn lucky with those 4th down passes but it felt like punting was just giving up offense for the sake of less than 10 yards. Difficulty is a bit all over the place, while it's overall fair and few AI players feel like they've slipped the game some extra cash and you can throw most of a team at them with absolutely no effect. Whether the glitch is in the tackling or the stats of some players isn't exactly clear but it ain't fun when an AI player is dragging six along with him and isn't even slowing down.

But really there's only so much you can do with American Football in the broader gameplay and in the details Madden has a lot going for it. Franchise Mode is where you're going to spend a lot of your time, EA promised a lot of improvements for 2011 and though I've nothing to really compare to Franchise Mode is well executed, simple enough for a novice like me to come to terms with but with enough minute detail in the action to show real effort being made. Different Quarterbacks throw the ball with their own personal styles and even certain players running animations have little individual quirks. The rosters cuts are a wrench, do you keep the veteran who's carrying a few injuries so might just collapse on you, or go with the rookie who might, and probably will be crap but just might be a star in the making. Free Agency bidding is bizarrely tense for glorified eBay simulator but at times there are too many players you'll want to bid on and the whole thing becomes unusable. Player improvement and collapse is as solid feature and watching a rookie rocket up the rankings is every bit as satisfying as watching a veteran run out of steam is heart-breaking.

So would who would I recommend this game for? Hardcore fans certainly, Madden looks and feels like an authentic transfer of the real game. Casual fans? Maybe. I got back into American Football games with Backbreaker and Madden 2012 was thoroughly enjoyable. No I don't know exactly why that whistle just blew or the ups and down of that particular play but I enjoyed sitting down in Franchise Mode and getting hammered until I found something that worked and building from that. It was never a frustrating experience and my lack of understanding was never a barrier. The controls are simple and the AI suggests plays with a decent chance of success so it's surprisingly strong in terms of pick up and play. So rent it first, or try a demo and give it a go.

Rent or buy: Rent
Graphics: 4/5
GamePlay: 3
Replay: 4
Overall: 3.5/5

Review by: Tony O'Hare