Madden NFL 13 - Xbox 360

Madden Turns The Corner

Matthew Kato — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 21:48:00 GMT

They say football is a game of inches, and this is true for Madden NFL 13. Fans judge the series by so many details that it’s hard to point to any one in particular that makes or breaks the game. This year’s title attempts to cover a lot of ground for the franchise, and the outcome is akin to a QB throwing for 400 yards and still not winning the game. A lot went right even if it wasn’t a resounding victory. In the case of Madden 13, there is such a thing as a moral victory.

Connected Careers is a brilliant mode that in one fell swoop makes the online franchise feature set the same as the normal offline one, introduces XP to upgrade players and coaches, bolsters the stagnant Superstar mode (including being able to call your own plays), and injects year-round drama into your franchise.

The XP system is great because it lets you progress your players in the areas of your choosing (the CPU also does a decent job if you auto-upgrade), while also incorporating natural player progress/regression and rewarding great performances and hard work at practices. It’s a well-done system that invests you in your team in a way that makes sense. My criticism of the XP upgrades is that they could do a better job of letting coaches influence their team. Assistant coaches, coordinators, and training/scouting staffs would add an extra dimension to coaching.

EA Tiburon also overhauled scouting and free agency, with the former vastly improved from last year. I like being able to choose which attributes and traits to scout, and with the scouting upgrade (a must-buy) the draft actually functions. The entire draft process is fun because of the little surprises that pop up during scouting and Trey Wingo’s draft-day audio profiles on draftees. Maybe a potential draft pick goes back to college or drops due to character concerns. Stories like these and many more (in one playthrough, Kurt Warner came out of retirement) surface in a news hub that’s augmented by media tweets, and they add a texture to each season which has been missing in past franchise modes.

As much as I like Connected Careers, some things are missing or unnecessarily frustrating. The lack of an overarching calendar makes it hard to know how many scouting periods are left before the draft and how many times you can bid on players in free agency. Furthermore, you can’t see all of a player’s info when you try to sign or trade them, and other useful info is needlessly buried (although there is a SNAFU in the Team Needs screen that lets you see the actual overall ratings for some potential draft picks). Restricted free agents, variable contract structures, practice squads, and other franchise features are still absent. For some reason EA even removed the Combine and pro days.

If there’s one glaring mistake that brings Madden 13 down, it’s the new Infinity physics engine. It sometimes makes good on its intent to bring more realistic physics, varied hits, and multiple contact points on the body, but the effects of player collision are inconsistent. You never know if you’re going to unexpectedly trip during inside runs, and the new physics system can make players look sloppy, with arms flailing, legs buckling, and players flopping on the ground. The tackles sometimes feel pre-determined, and suction blocking and tackling still occurs.

The saving grace of the onfield experience is the new passing game. Similar to the host of improvements included in this year's NCAA, Madden's new passing game is a big boost and one that fixes the super-jumping linebackers of the past. It opens up the field to QBs, allowing them to pass to areas of the field that previously were off limits, but it's not too powerful. Although you can pick on defensive backs who don't see the ball (via the game's new head tracking), you have to be very careful not to throw an INT when you see a DB who is peeking in the backfield.

Both Madden 12 and Madden 13 are incomplete experiences, but in different ways. The former wasn’t a good game, whereas this year’s title introduces several aspects that need to be improved instead of scrapped. New passing gameplay similar to NCAA 13 opens up the field for QBs, and the XP system is a benchmark for the franchise. We haven’t seen the best Madden has to offer, but it’s a lot easier to rebuild when you have the right pieces in place.

THE KINECT QB CADENCE

Surprise, surprise: Using the Kinect's voice feature to call out pre-snap commands only sort of works. The peripheral doesn't always register your voice, and this is very inconvenient when you're trying to set up hot routes, call audibles, send guys in motion, etc. before the play clock hits zero. It's even more annoying when you're on defense, and you don't know when your opponent is going to snap the ball.

When you're using the peripheral, the game throws up a handy shortcut menu with voice command suggestions at the bottom of the screen (including a gauge that tells you if you voice is registering), but this is the only time you can use the Kinect. So, if you're trying to call a timeout and the Kinect menu bar hasn't appeared, there's nothing you can do.

ULTIMATE TEAM UPGRADE

The mode has improved in one key area: It's easier to get into in its beginning stages. You start out by choosing a team captain from your favorite team. This player is a bumped-down version of a real-life marquee player who serves as a cornerstone for your initial roster of third-stringers, and who also determines the home/away uniforms from your favorite team. This year's Ultimate Team also offers Solo Challenges that are bite-sized games against second-teamers that scale in difficulty. These give you a chance to bank some coins early on without having to play the Cleveland Browns 20 times just to buy your first card pack.

You are also aided by longer starting contracts for your initial players (up to 32 games), an increased reserve account of 900 cards, more card packs available (including pack bundles and individual cards), and over a dozen exclusive Ultimate Team legends that first must be earned in the mode before they can be brought into Connected Careers.

Here's some offensive footage with the new passing game, physics engine, commentary, etc.

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You can also check out our strategy guide for Connected Careers.

Fixing Madden

Matthew Kato — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 22:33:46 GMT

Madden NFL 12 wasn't a great entry for the franchise, and a lot of work has to be done if this year's game is to repair the series reputation. We take a look at some of the things that need to change for this to happen and discuss how Madden NFL 13 is faring in these categories so far.

Every year the team at EA Tiburon has to balance its development time between fixing old problems and introducing new features. Madden NFL 12 didn't do a great job of either, which means this year's game has a lot of work cut out for it.

Here we outline a few of the main things we want to see changed for Madden NFL 13 and discuss what we know about how the development team may address these issues.

GAMEPLAY

For years fans have wanted more realistic player motion and physics, including true gang tackles and fewer pre-determined outcomes.

Madden 13: This year's new Infinity physics engine endeavors to truly represent players' physical attributes correctly and the resulting outcomes – including multiple points of contact on the body for simultaneous impacts. In my hands-on preview time with the game, I noticed some cool big hits that were different from the pre-determined outcomes we've become used to, but I didn't perceive an overwhelming change.

We want to see the elimination of legacy issues from past Maddens like poor blocking, super jumping linebackers who automatically intercept passes over the middle, poor AI ball awareness, and ineffective defensive ends.

M13: The new ball trajectories and head tracking directly address the jumping linebackers, and hopefully EA has plans for the other legacy issues, too. In particular, the poor offensive line play needs to be addressed, which includes suction blocks and the AI's inability to consistently seal the edge on an outside running player or identify who to pick up on the second level. We'll have to wait until the review to fully understand how these issues have or have not been addressed.

This series' passing game needs an overhaul to account for secondary awareness, the aforementioned super jumping linebackers, fixing play-action plays, and to give the QB more passing lanes around the field.

M13: If the implementation of these features in NCAA is any indication, Madden 13's passing game will be much improved. Having said that, NCAA didn't fix past problems in both EA Sports' football titles like passive wide receivers and both receivers and defensive backs' inconsistant ability to go up for jump balls. Will Madden 13 fix these where NCAA did not?

The Gameflow feature was introduced in Madden 11 to streamline the playcalling process. While it did this by suggesting plays, last year's game didn't provide enough context like a play's formation.

M13: This has not been addressed in this year's title.

Special teams blocking needs a complete overhaul so there are more varied running lanes and outcomes.

M13: In the few special team situations I've faced in preview builds, I noticed better punt blocking in particular, and the result was a few extra yards in some returns as opposed to Madden NFL 12.

Read on for more areas Madden NFL 13 might be addressing.

Hands On With Madden 13 & More On Connected Careers

Matthew Kato — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 06:07:03 GMT

We already told you the great news that Madden NFL 13 is bolstering its entire Franchise structure (online, offline, Superstar Mode) by combining them into one mode filled with improvements and exciting new content called Connected Careers. Today I got another look at it, and have even more news to share.

Connected Careers doesn't just shuffle the deck for the game's offline Franchise, online Franchise, and Superstar modes, it changes the whole concept of what it means to have an NFL career in the game. I personally like that you can switch between being a coach (which is basically like playing the old Franchise mode – only better) and a single player (Superstar mode) at any time, and therefore get to experience both modes (you play the game the same way on the field as you always have BTW). I also can't wait to dive into the RPG-like XP/upgrade system, and am excited that finally online franchise players get the same experience as offline players always have.

Without further ado, here is an assortment of new info I found out about Connected Careers.

XP & UPGRADES: The more you play the game and knockdown objectives big and small, the more XP you get that can be spent on upgrade packages. For players, this means you spend XP on upgrading whatever specific attribute you want. The exact XP price varies on your age and the existing rating of that attribute – the higher you go the more it costs. Similarly, it can cost more if it's an attribute out of your player's normal competency.

For coaches, the packages you buy are related to a variety of bigger-picture, team-related things. For instance, you could buy an upgrade package that gives you an overall XP discount for future packages that you buy. Others might help you sign free agents or scout players. Some I saw were specifically related to bettering your chances in contract negotiations with a particular position like left tackle. There were also those that boosted the XP earning power of your QBs as a unit, while another helped if you wanted to talk a player out of retirement.

Coaches can also spend the XP of players. If you don't want to do this, the computer will spend players' XP by itself. You can set the progression interval to occur weekly, every four weeks, or at the end of the season when you initially set up the franchise.

Where else can you get points besides playing games and knocking down career milestones and accruing stats? On the practice field. Now, before you playback the immortal words of Allen Iverson in your head, practicing in Madden is different from what it's been in the past. Instead of running random, meaningless plays, you can pick from a variety of different practice situations of differing difficulty and XP rewards that mimic a real game. So, you can get XP for working on your two-minute offense, protecting a lead, coming from behind, and many other situations you might want to practice. During practice, the opposite squad uses the actual playbook of your next opponent, so you can go up ageist their 3-4 defense or crazy spread offense formation.

SCOUTING & FREE AGENTS: When you scout a player, although some basic information about them will be available to you, you pick the individual attribute you want to know about. The first time you spend XP to scout a player you'll get a letter grade for that attribute, the second and final time (which naturally costs more XP) you'll get an actual number. You can also scout a player multiple times in a single week provided you have enough XP in the bank.

Sometimes when you scout a player, the game will generate a random event that affects him. For instance, you might see a story in Madden's news feed that changes that player and the attributes you may have scouted. Although won't have to re-scout them if, for instance, they are injured during the combine, you might have to recheck your scouting for that player to see how their attributes may have changed because of it.

Free agency happens in the offseason, but during the season some players will want to talk about resigning so they can get that security instead of hitting the market. Coaches will get notices from these players during the week. If you decide not to start negotiations, some players may get mad and decide to break off talks. Good luck re-signing these guys once the offseason hits.

PLAYERS AND PLAYCALLING: Old Superstar mode players are going to love this. If you play as a single-player in Connected Careers, you now get to call the plays even if you aren't the QB or middle linebacker! Connected Careers guru at developer EA Tiburon Josh Looman, said they know that it's not realistic, but that they decided to do it this way because it's simply more fun. We agree.

HANDS-ON: The changes the development team have made to the passing game are noticeable. Because of the new passing trajectories and improved ball placement mechanics, I definitely felt like I could put the ball in more areas all around the field. If there was an interception I knew it was my fault, and I didn't see any of the super-jumping by the linebackers. QB dropbacks felt nice and tight, and play action was not detrimental like it was in past games.

As for the new Impact physics engine, I noticed it in a number of situations as multiple players struck a ball carrier; creating moments like we haven't seen in previous Maddens. However, there were also some times when players would get tackled a little awkwardly. I wonder if it'll be like the first year of FIFA and NHL's contact system where there were some funky falls. It's an early build, though, so there's plenty of time to tweak things.

For more on Connected Careers and the Impact engine go here, and to read about other gameplay changes, check out this preview. Kinect fans can also read about Madden 13's use of the peripheral's voice commands.

Madden NFL 13 comes out for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Vita on August 28.

Signal Caller: Quarterbacking Madden 13 With Kinect

Matthew Kato — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 08:33:57 GMT

Microsoft showed off Madden's Kinect voice controls at its E3 press conference, and although I'm certainly not the signal caller that Joe Montana was, I tried my hand (or voice, rather) at the experience.

All the pre-snap commands for offense and defense are available to call out via voice commands (sorry, no motion gestures), and there is also a handy onscreen bar on the bottom of the screen that list some basic commands you can call like audible, snap, and hot routes for specific players. This bar also confirms your voice command by showing the text of your command, and makes suggestions if the Kinect isn't sure what you're saying.

To start a voice command other than a simple hike of the ball (by calling "Set Hike" or "Hike"), you simply start with the base action. For instance, if you want to call an audible, you say, "audible," at which time the regular sub-menu of audible options will come up on the screen. From here you choose which play you want and say it. At any time you can simply select an option with a regular button press, so even if you use Kinect for some of the pre-snap commands, you don't have to use them for everything if you don't want to.

Hot routes are done by first calling out the player you want to change (or their player number), and then selecting a new route. Hot routing can also be done for individual defensive player assignments.

You can also perform other pre-snap commands such as calling for a hurry up offense, spiking the ball to stop the clock, calling timeout, or performing a coach's challenge. You can even try to draw the defense offsides by yelling "Hut" instead of "Hike."

I tried out the Kinect functionality, and it worked most of the time. The caveat here is that I was in a room that had some incidental noise, so it wasn't the best atmosphere for the peripheral. Still, one thing that I believe is worth pointing out is the delay between calling to hike the ball and when the snap actual gets off. There's about a two-second gap, so if you'll have to leave yourself a few seconds to get the snap off before you're called for delay of game.

Madden NFL 13's Kinect integration isn't a must-have, but at least it's an unobtrusive feature that works and which makes sense with the franchise and the sport itself.

For more on the game's new Connected Careers and physics engine, check out my earlier preview.

Madden Addresses Some Crucial Areas

Matthew Kato — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 21:00:00 GMT

We've already talked about Madden's new passing game, but there's much more in store for the franchise. The gameplay improvements continue with the new Infinity physics engine, as well as an overhaul (again!) for the series' stagnant franchise mode.

INFINITY ENGINE

Madden NFL 13's new physics-driven animation system allows for multiple contact and reaction points on the body. "Pre-determined outcomes are history," says gameplay designer Victor Lugo. It allows for simultaneous hits from multiple players, late hits, mid-air collisions, and more (check out the video below).

The engine takes into account a number of players' physical attributes – including even muscle tension – to determine a variety of outcomes, from how effective a stiff arm is to what kind of tackle results from a ball carrier bracing for contact.

What effect this engine has on tackles also extends to what happens after first contact. Players' balance is a factor as they drag tacklers as well as trip, stumble, and react unexpectedly to contact.

I played an early version of Madden with this new physics engine, and I definitely noticed how it affects the ball carrier and would-be tacklers. I didn't see true gang tackling, but the influence of multiple defenders around the ball carrier is better than previous Madden's solo-only tackles. Three players might not all clamp their arms around the running back, but their interactions seemed to have more of a direct influence on the tackle.

Even though you have to be aware of any kind of contact to your ball carrier, from arm tackles to players on the ground and your own linemen, it didn't hamper how I normally run with the ball or make me hesitate in hitting the holes.

CONNECTED CAREERS

Similar to NHL 13, Madden 13 is combing its offline and online career modes into a single, all-encompassing mode called Connected Careers, but it's also going a few steps further. Thankfully, online franchise players will finally get all the features of their offline counterparts. Madden's old Superstar mode has also been subsumed into Connected Careers as well.

Your career franchise can contain just you, or it can be filled with friends – all of whom can choose between being a player or a coach. Being a player is more like Superstar mode, while being a coach is like Madden's traditional franchise mode. You can even retire and switch your player/coach role without having to restart your entire franchise (there will be a limited number of times you can do this).

Being a player (whether a fictional one you've created or one already on a roster) exposes you to content that's an upgrade from previous Superstar modes. You first choose a backstory (high, mid, and low-round draft pick) and a type of player (like scat back, power back, etc). These choices determine your starting ratings and abilities. You start out lower on the depth chart and have to work your way up by earning XP through completing over 900 objectives (weekly, season, career milestones, and fantasy football style stat achievements), in team practices, and by playing the scenario-based Madden Moments. This is different than the previous Superstar points system. The XP you earn is spent on upgrade packages to improve your player, and these cannot be bought with real-life money.

Coaches also earn XP by meeting objectives. If you're holding the clipboard, you can buy upgrade packages that give certain positions stat boosts. Coaches also control front-office functions like scouting during the season, free agency, trades, etc. Thankfully EA changed how some of these features operate from Madden 12. You'll go into the draft with more info for players even if you don't scout them during the season. If you do scout someone, you'll find out more about them than just their ratings. This includes information on what kind of schemes they're best used in and their intangibles. You can also choose which skills to scout, which should help you avoid wasting valuable scouting time to find out an offensive lineman's throwing power.

Free agency has ditched the eBay-style bidding system of last year in favor of a round-based structure where everyone puts in offers that are processed before the next round begins. This time players have their own desires when it comes to judging where they want to go such as the head coach, overall money, years on the contract, and more. EA didn't comment on whether this information is surfaced to users or whether it's all under the hood.

If you're playing in an online franchise with friends, the commish can pause the draft, and picks can be automated based on your preferences if you cannot attend. Unfortunately, the commish cannot pick for you.

While your franchise progresses from week to week, you'll get news updates from 13 real-life media figures like Trey Wingo, Adam Schefter, and Skip Bayless (groan), who will not only report on what's going on in the league, but may also break stories such as revealing who you've been seen scouting or who you have on the trading block. These kind of surprise events occur elsewhere in Connected Careers in an attempt to shake up the season-in-season-out predictability. A player might choose to play in the NBA instead of being drafted, players/coaches can return from retirement, players decide not to run or get injured at the NFL combine, etc. This stuff will change from year to year.

Here are some more tidbits about Madden NFL 13's Connected Careers:

It spans 30 years, with 30 custom draft classes.
Customization is deep. You can even set up a league for only player-controlled QBs, for instance.
At the time of this writing, being able to import your NCAA players was up in the air. You can create players using Game Face.
Among the many franchise settings you or the commish can determine, you can automate such things as being able to play against a friends' team via the AI if your friend can't play the week.
You can play as 30 NFL legends (players and coaches) like Joe Montana, Barry Sanders, John Madden starting out as rookie versions of themselves. These legends can be locked out or placed on any team if you choose.
As a player you can demand your release from a team, in which case you'll go through free agency the next year.
Apart from buying upgrades for yourself as a coach, you can progress players by buying position-specific player upgrade packages for them, or you can let the AI do it. Similar to previous Maddens, players automatically progress and degrade at the end of the season.
Players have different development curves that determines how much XP they earn from meeting objectives, but there is no potential cap in player ratings.
Your bid for the NFL Hall of Fame is determined by your Legacy Score, which is based on how many Super Bowls you've won and other stats. You can compare this score with others in your league and NFL legends.
EA has integrated league-wide communication devices such as an interactive league website (where you can scout from and perform other franchise actions), league messaging, and social media integration.
The trade logic has been improved, and AI teams will plan for the future and coordinate their draft plans with free agency. AI controlled GMS also monitor other teams' needs to make trades more realistic. Furthermore, each team rates players differently based on that teams' schemes and needs.
A new sim engine uses the actual playbooks.
Each league has its own salary cap. Players in the last year of a deal will want to negotiate at the start of their last year.
Coach hiring begins when the season ends, and fictional coaches are released with each draft class.
There are no new contract types such as back- or front-loaded contracts.
Pre-season cut days return without fake guys (and you can even cut whomever you want), but there are no practice squads.

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Madden 13 In Action

Matthew Kato — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:50:34 GMT

Madden NFL 13 developer EA Tiburon has already talked about a number of new things for the franchise, and this latest trailer encapsulates some of them for you.

In the trailer below, you can see things like the motion-blur, play-action passing, ball trajectories, and tweaked icon system that are being added for this year.

Be sure to watch the new trailer, and also check out my previous preview, which has a lot more info on the game.

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The First Part of Madden's Rebuilding

Matthew Kato — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Madden NFL 13 is following in the footsteps of NCAA in many of its presentation and gameplay changes. This overhaul is definitely needed.

After Madden NFL 12's lackluster showing, developer EA Tiburon is rebuilding the franchise starting with gameplay. The studio hopes improvements to the passing game and defensive AI can take it out of the rut it's been in.

The changes to the game's presentation and gameplay are just the beginning, so be sure to check back through the summer as more details on the game – including its feature set and modes – are revealed.

Madden NFL 13 comes out for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Wii on August 28.

PRESENTATION

The Madden series took strides in the past few years to make its presentation a highlight for the franchise, but last year was a big misstep. In particular, the commentary between Gus Johnson and Chris Collinsworth was awful.

This year, CBS' number-one commentary crew of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms anchor the game with more lines of dialogue. EA Tiburon promising non-stop banter that is situationally aware of the playoffs, big games, divisional games, etc.
Nantz and Simms appear in an in-booth cutscene before the game that includes stadium-specific backgrounds.
EA is introducing 200-plus new cutscenes between plays, before games, and more. These cutscenes are inspired by broadcast TV presentation. Replays are also being overhauled for more dramatic effect.
Halftime features a new stats overlay, but there is no halftime show.
The game contains all the new Nike uniforms and alternates on the disc. Some of the unis may have to be unlocked via a code as they are released in real life.
Lighting changes based on the time of day occur per play instead of just at quarter breaks.
Madden NFL 13 features the improved high dynamic range lighting and motion blur of NCAA Football 13.

GAMEPLAY

The Madden series has rightly been criticized for its host of legacy issues, many of which reside in the passing game. This year's title attempts to tackle both the passing game and player AI in general.

PASSING GAME

EA improved the left-analog stick passing controls so you can place the ball on a receiver's back shoulder, out toward the sideline, up high, down low, and other places where only your receiver can get it.
Madden 13 integrates new pass trajectories and ball speeds to open up more areas of the field in the passing game.
New pass animations speed up the time in which quarterbacks get rid of the ball, including a new shovel pass and specific set-ups for throws on the run.
Pump fakes are now directed toward specific receivers, occur faster, and contain specific animations when performed outside of the pocket.
Like NCAA 13, Madden features more than 20 new quarterback dropbacks, including those for 1/3/5/7-step variations, screens, and plays with auto-pump fake dropbacks. QBs even drop back automatically and set-up in the pocket if you don't touch the right analog stick after the snap.
To improve the receiving, EA is including more than 430 new catch animations, some of which are fueled in part by the changes made to the left-analog passing stick. EA Tiburon says it also wants to make user catches easier to do by slowing down players when they select a receiver.
The quarterbacks have new moves for avoiding the pass rush. A slowed down pocket speed give you more control when you're trying to not get sacked.
EA tweaked play-action to include an abort command that cancels the animation for those situations where a defender is barreling in unabated. The play-action also unravels faster in general. Running backs should be better in blocking after the fake (as well as release for passes) and defenders will be faked out more by play-action.
Receivers have timing windows in their routes. When they expect the ball they'll turn their head to the quarterback. Until this time, their passing icons are grayed out. Passing to a receiver who isn't expecting the ball will often result in an incompletion. However, receivers will sometimes look for the ball earlier if the cornerback across the line of scrimmage blitzes or the receiver beats the jam at the line.

Neither receivers nor defensive backs react to a ball unless they are expecting it (like in the case of a quick slant for receivers) or they have their heads turned and are looking at it. This should hopefully do away with the psychic defensive backs from past Madden games.
Defenses line-up opposite receivers in a best-on-best designation. This prevents your linebacker from matching up against an elite wide receiver lined up in the slot, for instance.
Defenses disguise their man or zone coverage before the snap so offenses can't try to use motion to uncover the defense's plans.
Defenders use different coverage techniques such as off coverage (where they start seven or so yards off the line of scrimmage and attempt to read the ball), trail techniques (including hand fighting), and split techniques (where the linebacker stands between the tight end and slot receiver).
New animations allow for simultaneous tackles while the ball is being caught (including being able to knock out the ball in mid-air), and in general the development team says it's been working on the interplay between players while the ball is in the air.
EA promises enhanced AI playcalling for two-minute drill, goal line, clock draining, and red zone situations.

ETC

Special teams coverage has been revamped to get rid of player clustering. EA is also integrating cover and lane logic, new formations, and better wedges on returns.
Madden's control scheme is now synched up exactly with NCAA's.