Thoughts on Madden 11

September 16, 2010 Patrick Hickey Jr. Video Games 0

Those unsure of whether to purchase Madden 11 on the 360 have no reason to be this year, as the demo on the Live Marketplace does a great job of showcasing the game’s finer points and gives gamers enough of a taste to get them salivating.

Right off the bat, the game feels different, as the announce crew has a new face in Gus Johnson, who replaces Tom Hammond. His comments not only shed more light on the game than Hammond ever could, he’s just a better color commentator that adds a sense of urgency and emotion into every play. Combined with better animations, Madden 11 looks and sounds better than any of its older brothers.

Separating it further from its predecessors is not only a better hitting engine, but a better running game. Feeling more intuitive than ever, the running game in Madden 11 is actually fun [when compared to previous years], as following blockers and finding holes is challenging, but realistic at the same time.

However, the best thing this game has going for it is the new gameflow play-calling system speeds up games tremendously. Even though you’ll feel like you’re in the no-huddle offense at first, you eventually get used to the new speed of the game, making it much more fast-paced and adrenaline-fueled than it was before.

While the demo only allows players to play as either the New York Jets or the Indianapolis Colts, for the first time ever, gamers can play a full game. An opportunity to experiment as much as possible, they’re aren’t many holes on the demo, as gameplay was smooth throughout. Other game sites have stated the game has several quirks that hinder the action, but none of them were noticeable here.

Overall, with a great look and super presentation, you’ll feel like you’re not only playing a great video game, but you’re watching something special unfold before you’re very eyes.

After a rough start on the 360 a few years ago, with little changes made to previous year’s incarnations, Madden 11’s shows us that this may be the best football game to ever be released on the system.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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