As ice hockey sits in labor chaos, Major League Baseball recovering from steroid scandals, and the National Basketball Association trying to re-ensnare fans lost from a recent strike of its own, gridiron remains the king of the States’ sporting universe.
In tandem, Madden’s yearly representation of the National Football League (NFL) continues as the game of choice for sport fans across North America.
While a consistently solid title year after year, if there’s a legitimate criticism to be made of the game named after the famed broadcaster and coach is its lack of innovation. My review of Madden NFL 2012 for the PS3 echoed these sentiments considering it a strong game, albeit one I’ve seen unchanged for half a decade.
Madden NFL 13 is a refreshingly dramatic course for the legendary gaming franchise, a literal and perhaps risky reinvention of several key components. Most dramatically, Madden’s physics engine gets a much-needed makeover. Madden NFL 13’s ‘Infinity Engine’ introduces a beautiful realism in player-to-player and player-to-ball physics, one that truly advances the game across the board.
To elaborate and in contrast to Madden’s of the past, Madden NFL 13 feels significantly less scripted. The Infinity Engine ushers in a randomness in play outcomes where patience in both offense and defense is significantly rewarded. Button mashing will literally get you nowhere either running or throwing the ball. In contrast, meticulously maximizing a seam at the offensive line and/or selecting an opportune time to both throw and catch a pass will open up opportunities absent but milliseconds earlier.
Meaning, the Infinity Engine thankfully brings the running game back as a key tactic where good execution is equally as important as exploiting the assets of a top rated runner. I literally ran the same running plays in practice mode dozens of time in succession, amazed at how – even against the same defense (being practice) - each play unfolded differently depending on physics interactions between players on both sides of the ball snap.
The passing game also gets some much-needed tweaks, with ball deflections, catch timing, ball placement on throws…all seamlessly weaved into the Madden engine. Another small but welcome addition is slowing down of quarterback movement within the pocket (the area just behind his front line where throws originate from). This tweak puts an end to arcade-like scrambling and/or hail mary tosses to compensate for Madden’s occasionally poor depiction of open teammates. These teammates now lend a literal hand of their own when en route, turning toward the quarterback and/or waving their arms to signal ideal time to heave the pigskin. Related – and thanks to new physics and hundreds of accompanying animations – receivers can now catch balls following fortunate bounces off defenders and/or placement by the quarterback (i.e. over the shoulder).
Defensively – and referenced above – patience is a virtue. With physics so important, mashing turbo will guarantee poor marking of offensive counterparts, also over-running a play to the tune of yards galore surrendered. I found my cornerbacks and safeties (the guys furthest back on the defense who tend to cover pass catching players also a zone of space) more intelligently reactive to what was unfolding before them. Player controlled variants didn’t turn the wrong direction by default, computer-controlled and supporting artificial intelligence seemed to better support my movements (i.e. moving to an uncovered space or player).
Arguably the most controversial addition is one I appreciated, but unceremoniously received my Madden fans wedded to online competition. The Series’ online-centric ‘Franchise’ Mode, a cross-discipline feature marrying team management and actual play) is now ‘Connected Careers.’ Connected Careers splits Franchise into either player or coach options, the former a better version of ‘Be a Pro’, the latter a watered down General Manager interface. I enjoyed playing with a gridiron legend within current rosters, also the intuitive practice modes to level up your player via experience points gained from task completion.
Critics of the new mode will point to these same experience points as an unwelcome irritant of current EA Sports’ titles. These points arguably require spending literal money to get a player enough experience points to be useful. Ditto for now EA Sports mainstay Ultimate Team Mode, one powered by digital trading card packs that – once again – require spending money to pick up the best player and skill upgrades. A devil’s advocate will reason that these points can be acquired via extended gameplay. This gameplay, however, can be dozens of frustrating hours at lower skill levels before even the smallest of upgrades become affordable. The few dollars it takes to skip these trying steps becomes alluring fairly quickly.
Presentation-wise, Madden remains as sharp as ever. Nice television style persists, also upgraded commentary to a much-appreciated swap in the broadcast booth. Players look and move eerily like their real life counterparts. Sound effects and music, also menu quality persists as standouts for the franchise. This game looks and sounds brilliant. Moreover, all of Madden NFL 13’s game modes are wonderfully linked across its menus. User interface tends to be forgotten in game design accolades; Madden NFL 13 gets it ‘right’ and then some.
If there’s a criticism to be made, this game is impossibly challenging, controls wise, for those new to Madden. The amount of sophistication required to simply select and execute plays, let alone the finer points of play, are astounding. Meaning, passing fans of gridiron are in for a lot of frustration – perhaps insurmountable – when attempting to learn Madden NFL 13. Even as a series veteran, I spent over an hour in practice mode to re-acquaint myself to Madden NFL 13’s controls while learning its latest additions. The game’s poor in-game manual doesn’t help the cause. For example, it completely neglects to detail control aspects of the game’s critical kicking component.
Still and in summary, Madden NFL 13 is the best version of video game gridiron perhaps, ever. The new Infinity physics Engine and accompanying artificial intelligence are significant upgrades to the series, foundations to a tight overall package with a handful of enjoyable gameplay modes. Custom and legendary players, historic coaches, reliving key moments in the current gridiron season, team management capability, and digital trading card based squads…it’s all here. Thus and once controls become second nature, I could see literally hundreds of hours of terrific gaming in store.
