Madden NFL 12 (XBox360)

74%
reviews
'That Madden NFL 12 feels like a less passionate endeavor than even other yearly sports titles, less a labor of love and more a labor of necessity, is a criticism that likely won't mean much to either type of player. It's still video game football in a competitive and compelling environment, especially when played online with friends. It has more content than you will likely ever touch over the course of the next season of real football. In some ways, Madden NFL 12 is a better game than its predecessor. In others, not. It has significant flaws, and it has significant strengths.'
Read more » Giant Bomb
'The biggest problem for Madden at this stage in its existence, though, is that it seems to lack a clear direction or vision of what it should be. Instead, it's listing back and forth, rudderless, between attempts at being a serious simulation and trying to attract a more casual audience, and it's not doing great service to either.'
Read more » 1up.com
'After years of claiming that they have to get the "gameplay right" before moving on to other issues, it seems that Tiburon has, for the most part, done just that. So, the foundation seems to be in place, but as with the Detroit Lions, Madden 12 is probably still a year away (sorry, Lions fans). But take heart: it'll be a good year nonetheless.'
Read more » GamePro
'It's disappointing that many of the new features fail to bring value to the table, but elements like last year's excellent motion system are at least in place to make the game exciting from moment to moment. Although I wasn't in awe of the new player hot/cold streaks, I liked the player roles and how they changed from year to year and gave your players a career progression arc. Other bright spots are the online communities that help weed out the riff-raff from your online multiplayer (thanks to stronger griefing rules), and the accompanying leaderboards also offer a larger structure to the experience. This is especially useful since the online franchise feature is still a bust.'
Read more » GameInformer
'Few offseason improvements mean that Madden 12 is another fun but flawed entry in the stagnating series.'
Read more » Gamespot
'Madden 12 has an awful lot going for it and in many ways it's the best the series has ever been, but in others you can see it still trying to break the shackles of the past. In the end, you get a mix of the two: a lot of great new ideas combined with issues that should have been dealt with a long time ago.'
Read more » GameShark
'The improvements to Madden NFL 12 are small, but they're spread over every facet of the game. Madden fans are getting a tighter, more finely tuned game.'
Read more » IGN
related
more reviews
'While we're happy overall with Madden 12, and it's a notch better than last season's game, it remains a far-from-perfect experience. Those of us that plan on spending a hundred hours or more playing online franchise and community games will surely compile an enormous laundry list of issues – but in the end, we'll still play all those games. Even so, we're left wanting much more than we're getting from EA's venerable football series.'
Read more » GamesRadar
'All in all, Madden NFL 12 lives up to its franchise's basic standards as a hard-hitting realistic football game. Besides all the new fancy updates and sparkly things that dangle on the screen, loyal Madden-ists and newcomers can enjoy mostly everything Madden has to offer.'
Read more » GameRevolution
'When you start building a game on such an impressive foundation you're guaranteed to have a quality product in the end, but the longer you play it the more the issues become bothersome. Just like the NFL rookie class of 2011, it should have spent a little more time in training camp.'
Read more » GameTrailers
'Small visual shortcomings and some audio annoyances might keep Madden 12 from being 100% on top form, but with the crazy amount of content and nearly endless gameplay possibilities, these seem like minor grievances.'
Read more » Cheat Code Central
'Although Madden NFL 12 presents some new AI issues, it resolves many AI failings and gameplay shortcomings that have plagued the franchise for several years.'
Read more » WorthPlaying
'For Madden NFL 12 it is truly in the game, it has game, and is the only and best NFL game to date.'
Read more » Gaming Age
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