Madden NFL 13 First Impressions

Madden NFL 13’s demo was released yesterday and after taking a few test runs on it I thought I would share my thoughts. Full disclosure: I’m a PS3 owner and have not played the demo fox Xbox 360.

In the demo mode there are four teams you can choose, though only two different game sets you can play. New York Giants vs San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks vs Washington Redskins

The first thing that has changed is the game is now run on the infinity engine. You can tell the difference between the graphics, EASports has claimed the result of the Infinity Engine is that “true player impact and authentic momentum transfer ensure that no two plays ever look or feel the same”, I would say that’s a bit of hyperbole. Now, the tackling does look more authentic and the graphics are closer to real-life than they have ever been.

Another noticeable change is the new commentary team. Play by play man Jim Nantz and his partner Phil Sims are the new duo. I’m a fan of this team, their voice just grates less on me than does Joe Buck (I’m just not a fan), or Gus Johnson who gets a little too excited for a video game, and was on the game last year. I’m sure with a lot of playing their voices will become just as repetitive.

Another new features you can experience in the Demo is the new “precision passing system” (I can’t remember exactly what they called it). Basically you lead a receiver into space, and you can throw more routes easier. It’s definitely an improved passing system.

After not having the spring button last year, Madden NFL 13 returns this year with the sprint button. The hit stick and trucking system also returns.

I thought, like most installments of Madden NFL 13, offense was easier to play than defense. The game was also more akin to an arcade game than last year’s version which seemed to go by a little bit slower and was harder to make big plays. Running was easier, and I prefer it this way as oppose to last year’s experiment.

There are many new features in Madden 13 , but they were not available in the demo. First is the Connected Careers, which basically sounds like it’s NFL Superstar mode plus. You can choose to be a coach, current player, or your own designed player and as you go through your career you’ll see breakdowns via twitter from real life sports personalities like Skip Bayless, it looked like Russ Tucker, and I know Matt Miller of Bleacherreport is also one of the personalities. You can manage your team from your phone, or web, or any other place with internet connectivity (that’s the promise at least).

I’ll have more for you when the game drops later in August, but so far it looks promising.

Thoughts?

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