Whats Impressive About This Is Some Can Choose To Be Players

By Author: Guild Black
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Madden NFL, along with FIFA and NHL, is part of the holy trinity of the EA Sports religion. What this means is regardless of critical reception, new features, or even price, the game will sell bucket loads. In fact, barring a shocking revelation within this text, I can safely say the majority of readers will have already decided whether or not they will purchase this year’s game before they even click on this review.

Well, there isn’t really much written here that will surprise anyone who has played a Madden game before. The last Madden game I played was Madden 09, and I must admit, I would have been slightly disappointed if the game presented to me as Madden 13 was labelled as Madden 10 and released four years ago. It sounds harsh, but there seems to have been so little evolution in the series over the past four years that, frankly, I’m amazed there hasn’t been a riot amongst football fans. Compared to the wholesale changes presented by the FIFA series in the same time period, fans of Madden should feel a little let down by the lack of momentum in this franchise.

That’s not to say what is presented ...
... here is a bad game; there is plenty on offer, and what is included in the box is actually a pretty solid package, if not a game-changer. Because FIFA has the Pro Evo series competing against it each year, it needs to stay one step ahead if it is to get the lion’s share of sales. Madden, on the other hand, only really has one other similar title on the market – NCAA Football – which happens to also be developed and published by EA Sports, sometimes even seen as a partner to the Madden series. Therefore, the majority of changes present in Madden 13 are away from the play itself.

The commentary team has been replaced and thousands of lines of new dialogue have been recorded. There’s a new lighting system, making plays and players look more outstanding than ever before, and the Infinity Engine, which more accurately replicates real-world physics, has been brought over from the FIFA series, with mixed success.The biggest change in terms of options isn’t a new mode per se, but instead a merging of two previously existing modes. You can now play as either a coach or a player as part of Connected Careers, which allows you to take a career online to join with up to 31 other players in the same league.

What’s impressive about this is some can choose to be players, whilst others can be coaches. Unfortunately, you can’t have a human-controlled player and coach on the same team, but it’s still a step forward for online play in sports games. There is an offline option for Connected Careers as well, which runs the same as the online mode and plays in a similar fashion fifa ultimate team coins to other career modes, but with a couple of small-yet-interesting changes.Most prominent of these changes is the inclusion of a Twitter feed at the career mode’s home screen.