The Madden NFL series is in a tough spot. When developer EA Tiburon changes a small detail here or a gameplay mechanic there, it inevitably enrages one set of diehard fans and gets the other half to hop back on the wagon so to speak. This year’s iteration in the more than a decade old series has brought me back into the “drinking the Madden Kool-Aid” fold, because it’s improved the things that matter to me. That said, Madden NFL 11 still needs some improvement.
The thing that first struck me when I booted up a game was the revamped broadcast presentation. Madden NFL 11 embraces the TV broadcast presentation in a way I haven’t seen in years. Since Madden made the jump to Xbox 360 in Madden NFL 2006, the focus on how the game was supposed to be viewed shifted from a clear, Sunday TV perspective to listening to a radio broadcast from the bleachers in the stadium. Since that entry in the series I’ve felt that Madden’s presentation has been lackluster and it under-utilizes the ESPN exclusivity license EA has held for years now. (I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, NFL 2K5‘s ESPN broadcast integration is the benchmark I hold all football videogame broadcast presentations up to.)
