Madden NFL 13

I used to be extremely invested in sports games. I certainly found plenty of time for regular old games, especially in the SNES and PSOne days, but with PS2 came a substantial shift in sports gaming. Graphical realism became an expectation more than a false hope and the depth of various systems steadily increased throughout the years. In Madden alone we saw a franchise that continuously iterated on itself without taking options away. It's hard to remember that Madden 2002's soundtrack consisted of just three songs, or that EA graded on a harsh enough curve that the Baltimore Ravens were a 99 overall and the expansion Houston Texans were a meager 39 overall. And the Franchise mode steadily improved in the years following, with GM responsibilities introduced two years later along with the introduction of simple but fun mini-camp games for player progression. Madden 2005 stood as the pinnacle of the series, adding the Tony Bruno radio show to Franchise and solidifying many of the gameplay's more maddening aspects. Argue about competition with the NFL 2K series all you like, but along with the burgeoning NCAA franchise and the imported draft classes that came along with it EA Sports' football series seemed destined for perfection once the PS3 and 360 hit shelves.

Alas, Madden 2006 signaled the score. Features were missing from the lesser consoles, many of which wouldn't be seen again: team relocation, GM options, diverse team ratings, and more. At the time you couldn't even create players (not something I do, but an odd omission) or perform off-season tasks other than the Draft and Free Agency (before and after, off-season modes generally consist of seven or more steps). Madden NFL 13 feels in many ways like it wants to be what 2006 was meant to signal to gamers, that this is a whole new ballgame. Infinity Engine acts as a cosmetic influence on every aspect of the gameplay, but in the grand scheme of things the new physics get overwhelmed by problems the series has had for a decade and all the new, awkward features Tiburon has introduced in EA's quest to create a sort of "EA Universe" that leaves players tethered to the internet at all times. What the Madden NFL 13 experience is like for disconnected gamers I can only imagine, but as for connected gamers...

To its credit, Madden 13 is the most enjoyable Madden of this generation. As someone who used to play the hell out of video football, it's important to note this is the first PS3 football game I've purchased since Madden 09, and that I sold both 08 and 09 to a local Gamer's within weeks of purchasing it. Madden 13 for the most part feels like you're playing football again, and oftentimes that's good enough: ignore the moments where running backs are stopping on a dime to strafe left/right, user-controlled DBs respond horrendously to ball swat/interception button inputs, using the right stick as a defensive lineman (rather than the old shoulder button controls) continues to result in accidental Hit Stick animations and other supposedly minor quirks: Madden NFL 13 works as a football game on a fundamental level. It has its "money blitz" and "money play" issues online, but smart players with less experience finally have a chance against user opponents again, and playing the CPU is finally enjoyable. On the field, Madden 13 is flawed, but it works, and if reviewers were more honest about sports gaming that's a sentence that could slip into the review of nearly every simulation sports game since the terminology launched during the 3D era.

But it's all the extra things that Madden misses on. I'm not a Superstar/My Player/Road to Glory/Road to the Show advocate so I can't speak on what has become the flagship mode for many sports games this generation, but what was formerly known as Franchise mode is a complete mess. The game is very obviously geared towards players having friends that want to play an online version of the mode, or being interested in having random players jumping into their Franchise on a whim. Connected Careers offers very little incentive to play an offline Franchise mode considering its lack of imported draft classes from the NCAA franchise and extremely cumbersome menu system. The interface shackles users so specifically to their team of choice that finding information like league leaders and league transaction news is an incredible journey through the depths of submenu after submenu: even NBA 2K's generously obtuse Online Association mode doesn't try as hard to disconnect you from what else is going on with your league. Combining the Franchise mode (which may not be as robust as it once was but could still satisfy the casual football lover) with this Connected Careers initiative falls so disastrously flat it's amazing the idea ever made it past the board room.

Again, I have to reiterate that I enjoy Madden 13. But it's mainly online, and mainly because the exploits more seasoned players have exposed feel less disastrous, that smart football seems to win out in the end. I feel like I've lost when I lose, and I've won when I win. But everything else about the game feels flawed in a very fundamental way, from how the players move about the field to the continuous struggle for great run blocking on rush-oriented squads to the way offline modes have been subjugated to a complicated streamlining of online features that didn't need to exist in the first place. I can't stress enough how much the removal of draft class importation removes engagement from players like myself who got the most joy out of EA titles from following a player's career from your college through to the NFL, as well as all the other stars and one-off successes that would either become All-Pro players, average starters or burnouts across a decade of gridiron video gaming.

Madden 13 is acceptable, and that's fine I suppose. But there's something to be said for one of - not just sport's, but gaming's in general - premier franchises continuing to sabotage itself with high concept ideas that ignore the core conceit of sports gaming this generation: we were shown a trailer in 2006 featuring Terrell Owens of how Madden was supposed to feel that never felt realistic, and yet a return to the experience of Madden NFL 2001 through 2005 would feel like an advancement from Madden 13 to most veterans of the franchise. This isn't a screed against yearly sports games, it's a screed against a refusal to maintain standards within the genre. The most recent Madden on PS3 should not be a less engaging experience than the last exclusively PS3/XBox Madden release nearly eight years ago on a much weaker piece of hardware. Something is very suspect about that.