Madden NFL 11 HD
Allowing Apple fanatics to carry around Madden since 2010
Posted August 24, 2010
Releasing at the same time as Madden NFL 11 on the consoles, the HD version of Madden for the Apple iPad ($12.99) hit the app store with versions for the iPhone / iPod Touch ($7.99) as well. New to the franchise this year is Gameflow, a mode in the game that automatically chooses plays for you and reduces the amount of time you are actually in the game. It’s designed for the casual player in mind, basically removing much of the learning curve of the game mechanics and football as well.
What’s really exciting about the iPad version is the ability to redraw running / passing routes before the snap and during the play, both on offense and defense. It’s a football junkie’s dream to rethink plays and discover how plays can be more successful. You can also save any of these plays to the iPad for future use. When drawing a new route, the iPad automatically evens out the path of the route as well. When you combine this mode with Gameflow, you really have an entertaining way to redraw nearly every play that gets called. On defense, you have the ability to modify the defenders position and routes during the play as well, very helpful for busted defenses and routing players to the ball carrier.
There’s also a feature during the game that will slow down the gameplay and get a few more seconds to decide where to throw the ball. It’s called Total Control Mode and it’s extremely helpful in reading the field, again both on offense and defense. Taking the time to understand what the quarterbacks intentions are (while on defense) or finding a receiver that’s open (while on offense) is invaluable.
Regarding game modes, there are only four available on the iPad; quick play, exhibition, season and playoffs. It’s a bit disappointing to not find the franchise mode included with the game, but I’d imagine that’s a huge inclusion on the development end. (The game is already about 350 MB) You can also mess around with the rosters to trade your favorite players to your team. Also in the menu is a mode called Vintage Voltage, although it wasn’t included in the launch. It’s designed to be a throwback to electric football.
This really isn’t a version of Madden for the people that love the high definition console versions. It’s mostly designed for the casual player in mind. That being said, the ability to draw your own running routes on the fly on the larger iPad screen is darn exciting for football geeks. I’m scratching my head on why they left multiplayer out of the game and are saving it for a future update (especially when it launched in the iPhone / iPod Touch version).
The whole point in putting Madden on these mobile, internet-connected devices is to take advantage of online multiplayer. Combine that with performance problems and I’m left wondering if I should have waited a while for the first big update to the app. There’s also no demo in the app store. I recommend waiting for the updated multiplayer version to launch on the app store before purchasing Madden NFL 11 HD, but the gameplay changes on the iPad are nearly worth the purchase price.
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What’s really exciting about the iPad version is the ability to redraw running / passing routes before the snap and during the play, both on offense and defense. It’s a football junkie’s dream to rethink plays and discover how plays can be more successful. You can also save any of these plays to the iPad for future use. When drawing a new route, the iPad automatically evens out the path of the route as well. When you combine this mode with Gameflow, you really have an entertaining way to redraw nearly every play that gets called. On defense, you have the ability to modify the defenders position and routes during the play as well, very helpful for busted defenses and routing players to the ball carrier.
There’s also a feature during the game that will slow down the gameplay and get a few more seconds to decide where to throw the ball. It’s called Total Control Mode and it’s extremely helpful in reading the field, again both on offense and defense. Taking the time to understand what the quarterbacks intentions are (while on defense) or finding a receiver that’s open (while on offense) is invaluable.
Regarding game modes, there are only four available on the iPad; quick play, exhibition, season and playoffs. It’s a bit disappointing to not find the franchise mode included with the game, but I’d imagine that’s a huge inclusion on the development end. (The game is already about 350 MB) You can also mess around with the rosters to trade your favorite players to your team. Also in the menu is a mode called Vintage Voltage, although it wasn’t included in the launch. It’s designed to be a throwback to electric football.
Graphics
- Visually, the game isn’t quite as polished as it could be. There are occasional framerate issues throughout the game and you can really tell the iPad has trouble with the running / tackling animations. The graphics engine is probably on par with the PSP version of the game. The character models don’t hold a candle to the console versions, but I certainly wasn’t expecting it to.
- I also had difficulty actually keeping the game running when moving through the menus. I had frequent crashing issues after the first install. But after deleting and reinstalling the app, I wasn’t able to replicate the crashing problem.
Audio
- The on-field action and crowd sound effects are perfectly fine, but the commentating seems to be off, perhaps due to the lagging game engine. The commentary from Gus Johnson is perfectly fine, but the amount of sound clips in this version is vastly smaller than the console versions.
Conclusion
This really isn’t a version of Madden for the people that love the high definition console versions. It’s mostly designed for the casual player in mind. That being said, the ability to draw your own running routes on the fly on the larger iPad screen is darn exciting for football geeks. I’m scratching my head on why they left multiplayer out of the game and are saving it for a future update (especially when it launched in the iPhone / iPod Touch version).
The whole point in putting Madden on these mobile, internet-connected devices is to take advantage of online multiplayer. Combine that with performance problems and I’m left wondering if I should have waited a while for the first big update to the app. There’s also no demo in the app store. I recommend waiting for the updated multiplayer version to launch on the app store before purchasing Madden NFL 11 HD, but the gameplay changes on the iPad are nearly worth the purchase price.
Discuss This Game on Our Official VGT Forum