Madden NFL 11 PlayStation 3
User Score
6.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 60 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 60
  3. Negative: 17 out of 60

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  1. jquincy
    Aug 23, 2010
    4
    I don't usually like to jump right on and review a game within 24 hours of purchasing it. I usually give myself a little time to form a more accurate opinion, but Madden NFL 11 really left a lot on the field from my perspective. EA Sports' Madden slogan is, "If it's in the game, it's in the game". practice squads, bundling and trading draft picks from next year's crop (or the year after), fully customizable playbooks, plays, and uniforms, and 45 man game-day rosters are all things that are "in the game" but still no where near the madden franchise. I may be in the sad minority here, but I don't give a crap about online play, especially online team-play. What I tend to focus on the most is franchise mode.
    Playing the franchise mode on Madden 11 is a serviceable experience at best, but very disappointing if you were hoping for any upgrades. It is basically the EXACT SAME interface as Madden 10. With the exception of mid-day lighting/shadow contrasts, the In-game presentation has been polished visually (but they still get some minor uniform details wrong), but the actual game-play is frustrating. The new "strategy pad" is certainly subtraction by addition. EA has had the same format for YEARS for pre-snap adjustments with the trigger buttons. This "strategy pad" changes that for no good reason at all and actually involves more button pushes and more time than the old format. This is the opposite of what they were going for in their efforts to "streamline" the game-play. Also, they decide that after 6 or 7 years of the analogue stick kicking interface, that they would go back the X button double-tap timing system. A curious move at best. Most of these changes seem like they were made for the sake of making them, with no real thought toward overall gameplay efficiency or accuracy. The new "gameflo" system is only commendable for the effort made. It is misguided and inaccurate, but i do agree with them that coaches/offensive coordinators don't come into a game with 300 plays to choose from. It seems to me that there's better ways of going about this, like selecting from your playbook a choice of 20 plays or so, and carrying them into a game with you, and that's all you have that you can call, and you select those plays based on what works well against your opponent's commonly called plays. That would also alleviate the burden of having to hear some jacknut OC tell me why he's calling a ridiculously useless play (i know, i can just turn it off. i did.).
    As for the in-game commentary, once again, i'm probably in the vast minority, but i haven't listened to that in years on any sports game, so i'm no authority there. For the sake of being fair, I'm sure it's earth-shatteringly amazing. It's probably the one thing that would change my whole outlook on this game, because it's the one thing I turn off immediately every year. I just don't think NFL football players have the TV commentary presentation playing in their helmets while they're playing the game.
    Considering I was one of the midnight release people that had had this game reserved and completely paid for a full month in advance it pains me to say, but overall, this game is a $60 roster update. In summary: meh...    … Collapse
  2. JamesSteal
    Sep 15, 2010
    2
    There are no improvements to Franchise or Superstar mode and the Ultimate Team mode is not even that fun anyway. Good luck wasting your money on Madden Cards that will only last you a couple of games. I'd suggest picking up Madden 10 for $20.
  3. TwoDeuces
    Oct 10, 2010
    0
    I really actually enjoy much of the game. The game play, graphics, managability of my team, etc, etc, are all pretty much what I was expecting when I purchased the game. What I wasn't prepared for were the things I wasn't expecting. The game is basically an ad. I don't want my Red Zone stats to be brought to me by Old Spice Body Wash, I don't want a Verizon Drive Summary, and I don't want any other ads popping up in the bottom right corner of the screen. Its complete BS. Either offer the game for free and pay for the development through ad revenue, or charge me $60 and give me an ad free game. But you can't do both or I get to come on meta critic and give you a 0. Fair? I think so.… Expand
  4. kpheg5953
    Sep 10, 2010
    2
    I'm very disappointed with Madden 11. To start with, the players look terrible. They all look really thin, and look pretty much the same. If a player is big, he is the exact same shape and has the same definition as another player of a somewhat similar build. It just seems as if the players are one of three preset sizes: Big, Small, or Normal. No more, no less.

    On top of that, it seems     to me that the players are disgustingly sluggish and slow. Even fast players like T.O., Adrian Peterson, and Devin Hester seem to be terribly slow. The GAMEflow play calling addition is annoying to say the least. It is too difficult to navigate the audibles and set a different play if you don't like the play the game chooses for you. Additionally, the standard play calling interface is unwieldy and cumbersome. I think Madden hit its stride with 2007, 2008, and 2009. These past two years just seem like they are trying to hard to make it different, when most everyone that enjoys Madden will play the newest one regardless of "upgrades" to gameplay. My final complaint is that Madden NFL 11 should've probably been named "The Drew Brees Show." Not only do they have the ridiculous intro movie narrated by him, they show that silly pregame ritual that he involves his teammates in at the beginning of each game played involving the Saints, but he is also rated a "99." A rating I feel should be reserved for players of "All-Time great" caliber (ie. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, etc.) All-time greatness is an achievement Drew Brees has yet to acquire. He is most likely a hall of famer, but I feel it a bit pretentious to give a player that is part of ONE Super Bowl winning team such special treatment. He wasn't able to much of anything worth note in San Diego, thus he no longer plays for them. Someone who is rated a "99" should probably be a "99" every year for any team.… Expand
  5. threesixteen
    Aug 21, 2010
    0
    Not sure I've played a game with so many issues at release before. I will say that the single player game play sure is an improvement from previous versions of Madden, so much that I tried to purchase some coins to use in game. But then I had an issue where my transaction got lost and I had to go through a customer service whirlwind to get my issue resolved. This issue, with the constant game lockups and poor multiplayer game play left me wondering if I had made a wise choice with my purchase. Maybe in the future the ridiculous lag in multiplayer, lack of ability to complete a game in multiplayer and real money lost somewhere in the void of the internet wont be an issue.. but until then, I would say pass.… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
  1. SpazioGames
    Jan 9, 2011
    80
    Aside from the new dpad mapping, gameflow and some new graphic elements, there aren't too many innovations in this last chapter. It seems that the best football simulator is getting hard to update.
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  2. Gaming Age
    91
    There is so much to like and so little to dislike this year, that if given a chance, I can't see how any true football fan can't find a way to experience Madden football this year and have nothing but a good time.
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  3. GameSpy
    80
    But I do know that, unlike most years, I really feel the improvements instead of just reading about them in a press release or seeing them on the back of the box. And when it comes to Madden, that's as big a difference as I've felt in half a decade.
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