how do you get in shape when you are old and moving slowly ..you lose weight. a few less calories and you to will be moving like madden. i didn't follow madden to 12. loved drew brees a little to long. but madden 13 puts on a show. almost making playing defense fun. the graphics are nice rather faded. the physics engine gets things with a sliver of space. but definetely the speed in which the game flows. each madden adding another layer. this is HANDSDOWN the best football game i ever played. sorry 2k5… Expand

no fantasy draft, no create a team, no decent create a player. user interface is TERRIBLE, customisation is limited. wanna change defensive scheme 3 years into your franchise? NOPE, tough luck, you chose at the start and are stuck with it. there are no minigames, no create a play, no create a playbook, no practice mode. this is a game with its heart ripped out, swapped for a feed of fake tweets, il take the real in game depth over that **** and an advert for papa johns any day.… Expand

As a business decision taking out the ability to play franchise with upwards of 32 of your closes friends offline makes sense, it means 31 of your friends would need to purchase there own copy of the game. If even one other person who would normally play your copy buys a new one EA profits where they wouldn't have profited before. Kudos to EA for there usually slap in the face business ethics. Connected careers has some nice ideas in it. The xp system could grow into something amazing. Unfortunately for every nifty idea EA put into the mode your going to find about 3 major bugs or glitches to go with, examples would be multiple jersey numbers, stats recorded incorrectly, sim games not simming properly, same players signing with same teams over and over again etc... No editing or fantasy draft are very important loses to me and hurt my personal replay value with the game. Being these features have been a standard part of all sports games I was shocked by there absence. I'm sure they will be brought back as a new feature within a couple of years which EA is notorious for doing. The new engine is refreshing for the Madden franchise. Unfortunately it is full of bugs. It brings back memories of the football game Backbreaker with clunky and strange happenings on every play, limbs bending the wrong way, players falling down for no reason, etc... it also seems to cause more glitches then in your normal Madden game. Too many for me to believe a patch will clean up the wonky gameplay. It does make me very happy to see EA take some chances with madden unfortunately its 1 step forward, 3 steps back, which should be EA's motto by now. A couple more things I believe consumers should be aware of before purchase, EA's gameface will cause this game to freeze up, and since I purchased the game I have been disconnected from the EA servers a whooping six times. My internet connection is not the problem. If your going to force offline gamers to play online in hopes of selling more games then at least have servers that can be counted on. Nothing worse than having to start a solo connected careers(franchise) game over because you lost connectivity to the EA servers. This game itself deserves better than the zero I'm giving it. However not much better.… Expand

The new physics engine is laughably bad at times and it's the only new feature to this game, the rest is a fresh coat of paint or a reorganized menu system. I been buying madden religiously since 2003 and it's the first time I honestly feel ripped off. They took out franchise mode and fantasy draft and a lot more in favor of connected careers which is honestly my player mode with a coach/player option. In its current condition this game feels like a beta at best. Sorry EA worst madden I honestly ever played.… Expand

The graphics are great! The rest of the game not so much. When you take away things that are not broken and replace them with things that no one wants, then you have a failed attempt at re-writing a prominent franchise. There are so many things wrong with the game that I will just create a list:

1. No True Franchise Mode
2. No Importing Rosters from NCAA Football
3. Incorrect uniforms
4. Players flopping on the field after a tackle has been made. 5. Inability to change the opposing teams uniforms in offline career mode. 6. When you go to My Madden and change the settings, they should transfer to your career automatically. For instance, in career mode there is no way to change the play calling out of game to Conventional because it is defaulted to Game Flow. 7. Did I mention uniforms? The Chicago Bears have never had orange pants! 8. The logos only show up half the time on the uniforms during a game. 9. The interface is not user friendly
10. The most important detail: Don't change something that was not broken!… Expand

The game play of this madden is the best in the franchise. Where this game fails is everywhere else. I am tired of how they keep taking away the off the field features. I miss NFL2k where you got a house and played mini games in your house etc... Look at the NBA 2K series its my player feature is the most amazing single player experience in a sport game ever. Go rent it play it and you will agree, i hate basketball and still play it just for the my player mode it is that good. They need to put in more announcers in madden. If you have a sunday night game have the sunday night announcers and if a monday night game have the monday night announcers and etc.... that would really help with the feeling of overly repeating announcers. This year is the worst for that, they announcers say the same things over and over and over. Madden has figured out the on field game play they need to fix everything else!… Expand

Don't listen to all the hate out there. If you want a solid football game this is it. It has a ton of story and the physics engine is awesome. Give it a try and just have fun with it.

EA gets a 0 for pulling the Fantasy Draft option and not telling consumers in advance. Totally unacceptable for a company to pull a long-time feature with no warning.

Madden NFL 13 is a mixed bag meaning that a lot of favorite game modes like franchise have been stripped out and replaced by connected careers. create a character create a team is not as in depth as in past madden games. there is no trophy crib to look around , there are no pre or post match TV broadcasts. And very little in the way of highlights apart from the replay highlights. But saying all that this is still the best madden since 2010. yes the new physics engine can sometimes mess up and limbs bend wildly. but it makes the game more enjoyable and less predictable. Most other standard features are there some were but are hidden away in the new menus. also having to set up the controls you want for every different game mode can be annoying. Things like create a playbook are still available possibly only for certain game modes. Overall madden 13 has become an online game .rather than the offline franchise of old. everything is linked and pushed towards online play. and social media links and updates. i find the use of social media sites in games unnecessary and a pretty pointless thing to have in a game. i would rather watch a post match round up than have fake twitter feeds. Social media adds no enjoyment to game play. On the plus side ultimate teams is very good and there are a great amount of modes to play from solo challenges,head to head vs CPU,or human players. a new grid iron mode that adds challenges as they happen in real games is a good mode were you get a challenge to say come back to win with 2 minutes left in the 4Th quarter. There are stats for everything in madden from how much value you're cards are worth how many points you have how many games you won and so on. compare all these stats with friends. All the stats and card data are stored on the server so again you must be online to play. there is offline careers and exhibition matches offline but that's about all. Bad points are there is a delay on button presses while in menus and sometimes in play. also the disc edition match intro graphics slow down and visibly stutter frequently. And the graphics don't look as high resolution as the demo. i think the digital version will run smoother. There is no install game data for the disc version which seems a bad design choice. there no longer seem to be any madden milestone achievements either. And seeing coaches and team members speaking without audio is never a good thing. But Over-all its a damn good try. more arcade than sim this year. so try before you buy. Content wise enough to keep you playing until madden 14. UPDATE -Patch-version-2 Fixed all graphics and button press delay issues. Madden NFL13 now runs smooth with no issues . 8.5… Expand

This is the first review I have written on Metacritic, and I was compelled to do so because this is by far the best Madden game of this console generation. I myself played insane amounts of Madden the last generation, but was VERY disappointed by all versions on the current systems. I recently got Madden 13 from GameFly, as I always do...expecting another horrible game of football like every year. But I was very pleased with this game. I always preferred NCAA football over Madden the past 3 years, but the gameplay in Madden has finally caught up to NCAA. The Infinity Physics Engine, although not perfect, does add a ton of variety to the gameplay and makes even the small plays unpredictable. Size, Speed and Momentum play out very well 90% of the time, but do expect some weird limb flailing and ragdoll-ing sometimes. It's a new feature and a work in progress, but it doesn't detract from the over-all experience. This is finally a quality NFL Football game & can stand up next to NCAA. It's still not perfect and still has areas that need improved upon, but it has a solid foundation on which to build future iterations. It has taken a lot from NCAA with its Connected Career, but that's a good thing, with the XP and player progression filling the gap that Scouting does on NCAA. Truthfully one area that needs the most work is the pre-play adjustment menus. I think that NCAA is definitely more streamlined in that area and Madden would benefit from that system as well. Overall I am really pleased with the work EA and the new production lead had done with this game, it's unfortunate that it's taken this long to bring the fans a quality product, but as they say, " Better late than never" Let's hope the trend continues and EA can continue to refine Madden. But overall I think this is the best year for EA Sports games this generation. I also love NCAA Football and look forward to strong showings by NHL13 & FIFA13.… Expand

They fixed the fantasy draft, it is a great madden now. get it

This game is a big improvement, can't stop playing online , gameplay great, everyplay diferent, huge hits, graphics nice on field n gameplay, plays fast and hard, but most it is lots of fun, 10 because people give it zero s but reality i'd say 9 out of 10

Well there's just not much to say about this year's edition. It gets a nice good 6 because the gameplay is improved. Other than that, the Franchise mode of years past is dead. And so dies my pre-order of next year's Madden.

Seriously? What is wrong with most of you? This is by far the best Madden on the current gen systems. The gameplay is great. Presentation is better then any of the previous games. I have been very critical in the past of EA and the 'Roster Update' that MAdden has been, but this game is a HUGE improvement.

The decision making that went into this game is absolutely egregious. The complete crap that they put into this game in place of franchise mode utterly destroys this entire game. I'm supposed to enjoy a franchise mode where I can't edit my roster in any way? I can't even move a corner to safety even if his position he is playing in the NFL is safety? I'm returning it now, and to be honest I'm angry I even had to waste my time driving to the store to buy this.… Expand

Madden has always seemed to lack in fluid and fun gameplay when compared to its little brother in NCAA Football. Commentary was alway repetitive, graphics were not fluid with all of the action on the field. And every season it was the same old story, better luck with next years title. In Madden 13 things are finally starting to look brighter. The gameplay is tight, the graphics and mechanics all feel the best that they've felt in a long time. The new commentary team of Jim Nantz and Phil Sims adds life to the game and when added to the beautiful presentation, it gives Madden 13 the look and sound of what football on Sunday is really like. Connected careers, the XP system, all of this adds to the depth of the game that promises to keep it on your shelf longer than for just one season. The only negative that I have on this game is there is no longer Draft Class import from NCAA Football. You now have to use computer generated draft picks. After it is all said and done I can personally say that this is my favorite Madden title in years.… Expand

Madden 13 does some new things. A new engine, a new career mode, and a new presentation style that looks a lot like CBS Sports. The engine has its moments, like when you make a cool new tackle. But it also comes with some problems, mostly having to do with players getting up from being tackled or knocked over. The career mode sounds good, but it isn't as fun as you think. Madden 13 is still a good, but not great, game of football. You will probably still buy it.… Expand

The physics engine is really good. The game play feels much more fluid. It is not perfect but it is so much better than previous versions of Madden using this generations hardware.

That said there are some major features missing or moved. No fantasy draft. No co-op play in offline career mode. No created players in offline or online career mode. No NCAA draft import.

Rent or borrow this Madden before you buy it to make sure it has the features you want. Personally I will be selling or trading this one in. Next year Madden is no longer and automatic buy. I will wait until I read about it and rent or borrow it. EA stole my money this year.… Expand

I was really looking forward to this years Madden. I wish I had waited and read the reviews that Users have posted so I would NOT have bought this game. Yes the game play and new physics engn are very good but everything else is junk. No franchise mode, no co-op but in play now mode, and no fantasy draft all make me want to trade this game in the first chance I get.

I have bought Madden day 1 (without reading any reviewspreviewsetc) for over 10 years straight so imagine my suprise when I get this years verison only to learn that EA in their infinite wisdom has COMPLETELY gutted the game of all the features that the real diehard Madden fans have always had and loved over the years. My main complaint is the NO FANTASY DRAFT option which has caused my online league that I played in with 15 other guys from collegehigh school to die. Who's genius idea, when fantasy football is at the all time high of it's popularity to take this option out of Madden!? EA is the worst run company in the world, they either do not get or do not care in the least what their consumers want out of their games. All they care about doing is slapping a big name on a title, put it out on the shelves and pound their checks.

I will never blindly (probably never again period) buy another one of their Madden games...and after this and Mass Effect3, Dragon Age 2, on and on I may never buy another EA Game again out of principal.… Expand

Buyer Beware! If you're like me and play the offline franchise mode, then you are in for a enormous disappointment. The Franchise mode has been 'watered down' into something called Connected Careers. I won't need to explain further except: 1) No custom playbooks 2) No fantasy drafts 3) NO CUSTOM ROSTERS 4) No ability to upload NCAA rosters In retrospect, I should have done my research before wasting time and money. I've been playing Madden on and off for the last 8 years and this reiteration is a MONUMENTAL failure.… Expand

For everyone giving this game a low score, you are insane and purposely looking for something to dislike. This is the first good Madden to come out this generation. I used to play Madden religiously on PS2 and have been waiting for a decent Madden to come out. Tuesday, was finally that day. For one, the players actually look as though they run normally and not as though they are gliding awkwardly all over the field. Finally, there is a weight to each individual player. The defensive line play is much improved and you can finally get to the quarterback. In addition, user control is actually a possibility. You no longer have to deal with switching to a player and that player then having no idea how to manually make a play on the ball. Defenders can easily swat the ball or intercept it. You can also finally user catch with minimal problems. In previous Maddens, your player seemed to zap around the field if you tried user catches. Another improved addition is that your defense actually seems to adapt to the offense. Opposing offenses no longer can run the same play over and over again and have success. The AI knows whats coming and evolves as the game progresses. There of course are some negatives. As others have said, no fantasy draft is a bummer. But, I'm sure with the complaints, EA likely will patch that in. And for those who say there is no franchise mode, ignore them. The franchise mode is the coaches option in connected careers. In summary, if you have been waiting, like me, for the Madden of this generation, it is here. Buy it.… Expand

Madden has served up its yearly entry and I'm happy to report it is a glorious return from the franchise that was in desperate need of a change. The game has physics for the first time and has revamped franchise mode (now called Connected Careers) that layers in depth and strategy. For those who are saying that franchise is dead - you are wrong. It has been re-named and the offline ability is still there. All of franchise's functions have been included in Connected Careers and the mode brings it all together to play either offline OR online. Be a player, a coach or a legend. The choice is yours. This is by far the best Madden on this generation of consoles and could make an easy case for Sports Game of the Year. Great job! Hoping Madden 14 is even better!!… Expand

When it comes to football video games from EA SPORTS, I have more recently been a much bigger fan of the NCAA Football franchise. Past iterations of the Madden NFL series have played it too safe at times, enjoying the success which seems to accompany almost anything related to the National Football League. With the '13 series of games, however, the momentum has shifted in favor of the Madden NFL team.

It starts with the Infinity Engine, which--while prone to some oddities, particularly in the post-play sequences--provides a level of fundamental gameplay change which sports gamers rarely encounter at this late stage of a console generation. Tuning and tweaking remain to be done with the new engine--particularly with regard to the running game, which remains hit-and-miss even with the superstars of the game--but improvements made to pass trajectories and catching have returned a lot of excitement and enjoyment to the passing game. Defensive backs have been given a new tool to help defend the pass through the introduction of the "Ball Hawk" feature to help set up interception attempts, though the game's fun factor still slants heavily towards the offensive side for most players.

Alongside this rather significant gameplay change comes a change to the fundamental career modes of the Madden NFL franchise; the mode titles of "Franchise," "Online Franchise," and "Superstar" might be nowhere to be found in Madden NFL 13, but this is because they have instead coalesced into a single mode re-branded "Connected Careers." While many longtime Madden fans have been taken aback at this fundamental change to the game… Expand

Madden 13 is an decent football game for the right crowd. I myself do not enjoy the game. But for the ones that have enjoyed it for years there are flaws but to the most part its a decent but not great game of pigskin. I myself prefer simulation style football or the simulations like MLB the Show. But I really can't bash the title. For madden fans you will get a bit more this year for your money but for us simulation gamers it will be lacking. That's why you all here a lot of others bashing the series. You madden fans have your game this year while we're sitting on the sidelines waiting for our turn for games like back breaker which came a year or two ago. I'd like to see the madden series come with a complete from the ground up overhaul but EA will stick to what has made them money for years and that's to be expected. But hopefully EA will be nice in the years to come and allow other developers to design us simulation gamers a deeper experience than an arcade style football game. Until then I hope you Madden fans enjoy this year's Madden and hopefully soon us sim gamers will get our style in the future. I gave Madden 13 an 8 overall: Graphics-9, Presentation-7.5, Gameplay-8, Commentary-7.5( Very Repetitive), New Career Modes-8. Like I said have fun madden fans.… Expand

After a 5 year hiatus from Madden, I downloaded this off PSN. I'm impressed with the improved graphics, and presentation. The commentary isn't robotic, though as with all sports games, it can be a bit repetitive. This year EA has revamped the engine, and added "physics you can feel." THE GOOD: Presentation, and graphical improvements are stellar. Play calling and the play book are the standard fare, but that works for this game. The physics adds to the realism value as well*. Kicking is far more fluid in this version of Madden, and I like this years style. Gone are the rap songs, and modern rock, the music to me never fit with the game. THE BAD: The menus are a bit cumbersome, and you have to do a lot of page flipping to move between them, this is an annoyance for me when it comes to a trade and I have to flip pages to find out the response. EA servers, if you're signed in and they're full or slow it can cause the game to freeze or take a long time to load, I personally avoid signing in for this reason. *The physics, while they have more good than bad, I find it amusing to watch after the play as professional athletes stumble over one another like a pile of drunken toddlers, it also causes some weird plays to develop. OVERALL: I stopped playing Madden because of the gimmicky "improvements" they made every year, and the poor presentation, and graphics. This has overcome those gripes, and is fitting of this generation of hardware. Though physics have good and bad points, I find they add to the overall game. I recommend this to those of you who enjoy the NFL, or, who like me left the franchise, as an opportunity to step back in and have some fun.… Expand

I've been playing Madden since '90 on the Sega Genesis and imo this is the best Madden ever. It looks the best it's ever looked, played the best it's ever played, and sounds and presents itself better than any other year as well. Finally EA has implemented a solid physics engine and I've found myself drooling over realistic replays often. What's Missing? On the good side gone are the cheap LB's that intercept passes they don't see but much to my dismay a true Franchise mode is missing as well. Like other reviewers that have given harsh reviews on this site, I love to start a season and do a fantasy draft...creating a custom league that I can customize any way I like is my bread and butter game mode and it does suck it's gone. So what's in it's place? EA opted to take a page from FIFA and implement Ultimate Team in this years Madden and thank god they did because UT is the most addictive mode Madden has ever seen. I really don't miss my fantasy draft team because I can create and build an Ultimate Team, essentially the same thing, and the ability to collect legendary players makes it all the more sweeter. The verdict is that this years Madden is a bit of a mixed bag as the game modes have changed pretty drastically--the good news is the gameplay is rock solid and Madden has never looked or played better. Throw in Ultimate Team and this Madden vet is happy. 9/10.… Expand

A solid 4 out of 10. Most of EA's efforts were in the social gaming aspects, and it shows. It's a good game to play against friends online with the pre-existing teams, the comic value is priceless (a lot of 'I didn't know a neck could bend that way, without the guy being paralyzed' moments)...Awful game if you like the old franchise mode, as they did away with it. Now you can play the career mode as the coach, and make only football decisions. The menu system is a bit clumsy. For example, rosters are under personnel, but salaries are listed under strategy menu. In short they got a lot of the little things wrong...which makes getting around unnecessarily complex. My guess is they'll fix them in Madden 14. My suggestion is burrow the game or rent it before buying it.… Expand

The game play and physics are quite good compared previous games.

Graphics are a slight step up.

Some odd choices were made with the gutting of the franchise mode and lack of fantasy draft.

If you enjoy playing online with limited customability options, and rarely play offline, this game was made for you. If you liked having more control of your rosters, drafting, Franchise and play more offline than online then EA has basically said to heck with you. Makes perfect sense when you think about it. The internet has hurt the recording industry. Nobody buys CD's anymore. The same thing is starting to happen to the Movie/DVD industry. Why buy it when you can just download it. So EA has adopted the 'join 'em before they beat us" mentality. Everybody keeps saying "where EA is going" with what they've done with Madden 13. All I can say is for us Casual/Offline gamers the writing is on the wall. I'll be returning mine this Tuesday!… Expand

this game gets a big fat ZERO from me, simply because this is the first year my sons and i cannot compete with, or against, each other in offline franchise mode. that's it. period. i remember the days when we could play splitscreen in nascar and they took that away. i never purchased another nascar game. if EA doesn't bring back offline franchise for Madden... i'll never purchase it again, either. sad... since i've purchased it every year since its inception.… Expand

I gave Madden a 10 because there are too many low scores cmon guys its all new and fun as hell I wasn't too pleased at first but learn to play it it doesn't suck just because you can't throw a slant every down with no way to defend or cheap screens. Learn or know football and this game rules!! You can put some good realistic drives together unlike any Madden on PS3. I put the Detroit Lions in some ass online with good 5 minute drives and am so addicted. Get at me online on PS3 my PSN name is the same as on here. See you online to put Megatron down your throats. Good day Sirs!!… Expand

This seems like a rebuilding year for Madden, they're trying out some new things with this old storied franchise. Somethings work, but there is plenty here that doesn't. It's a case of 2 yards forward and then 8 yards back. The Good: Madden looks as good as always, however the introduction of the Infinity Engine really brings some realism on the field, you'll rarely ever seen the pre-done tackle animations anymore as hits and other things look more like their real live counterparts. There are a few cases of video game physics with guys heads and limbs moving in ways they aren't supposed to but that's bound to happen. Connected Career mode is the new Franchise/Superstar Mode and it's a fairly fun experience that can keep you playing for a long time. There is a ton of replay value there, however it's hampered by a couple of things/ On the field Psychic DBs and LBs are gone and defenders really have to play on the ball with the new passing and ball hawking systems. So if a Defender isn't looking at the ball while it's in the air they won't magically instantly turn and intercept it, same goes for Wideouts. New commentators are in this year, so you won't have to hear Gus Johnson over exaggerate a play or Cris Collonsworth say...well anything. My ear holes welcome to the new commentators though of course after a few games they will grow to be repetitive, they should take a cue from NBA 2ks commentating style and have a more broadcast type commentary. The Bad: Like with all Maddens they inject some things and then take some things out for little to no reason. The following key features have been removed from Madden. -You can no longer edit players in Franchise/Superstar mode(Which I'll now call called Connected Careers or CCM) this means you cannot take costume rosters into these modes at all. You can't even edit numbers or equipment used in these modes. -You can't import your NCAA Draft Class, Imported Draft classes are poorly done in Madden yes, but I still enjoyed watching my college players evolve in the big leagues, that is no longer at all possible. -You can't do Offline CCM with more than 1 person. Were you like me and had a group of Madden Heads participate in your franchises? Welp , unless everyone you play Madden with has their own copy and access to the internet that is no longer possible. This is a HUGE HUGE mistake, I know lots of developers seem to think couch play is dead, but it is still very much alive and the fact they took this out of this edition of Madden is a HUGE mistake. -I cannot stress enough how stupid it is that you can't control more than one team/player in CCM I really can't. -No Fantasy Draft, you heard me. The Ugly: After years of demands, Madden finally has Gameface, which will put your actual face onto a player so you won't have to choose from one of the random horrible looking heads. However your mileage with Game face will vary, you have to have excellent lighting and an excellent camera to get the perfect picture, too bright or dark and your skin tone will be way off and depending on the hairstyle you choose your hair may end up terrible for example, you can't go bald or have a shaved head. You'll get saddled with a horrendous haircut that clips through your head. Your eyes mostly likely will come how incredibly weird. Most of your facial hair will go unrecognized, and you just may end up looking completely different. And unlike the World Cup/FiFA games you can only have one Game face in use at a time, where as in World Cup you could sort of cheat the system and have multiple Game faces But of course that doesn't matter because outside of Play Now mode you can't even use multiple created players. Speaking of that, in CCM unless your position is in demand on your favorite team and not filled by a superstar be prepared to ride the pine for a number of years. You get the most XP to raise your players stats when you get into actual regular season games, though your rating my drop if you don't fit the teams offensive scheme and if you're hoping to start as a West Coast QB in say, Green Bay you can just forget that. You'll never see a single down in a regular season game. The only other alternative is Practice, and practice is NOT FUN. It isBOOOOOORING, it has always been BOOOORING. You know what was fun that they took away? Camp Drills. They should bring those back, again look at NBA 2ks drills. The Verdict: Madden 13 does a few things right and a number of things horrendously wrong. All the fun has been sucked out of their season type modes and without those you're stuck with just playing exhibition games and thats only fun for so long. Save your money for next years Madden if they get that right, or something else. Hell go buy a real football, you're bound to have more fun with that than this iteration of Madden.… Expand

I am suffering a major case of buyers remorse. after reading the reviews and playing the demo for this game i was excited. my friend and i get together every Saturday and play franchise mode together. we like to take the lowly lions and turn them into Superbowl champs. we start buy picking frank gore in the fantasy draft then a QB, last year it was Vick followed by Randy Moss. this year i find out the only way to play coop is in play now. the game is useless to me and my friend. i am returning it and if we want to play football we'll just play the demo. Why the major reviewers didn't mention the loss of fantasy draft or coop i don't know, but I'll never buy an EA game again without reading the user reviews first.… Expand

What a bummer. Has anyone else tried the career mode yet? I freeze up at least once every week in the off season and NO GAME HAS EVER FROZEN MY SYSTEM BEFORE!!! There is no excuse for such badly written code. Game play is challenging, which would be nice if I could put a team together, but with no fantasy draft and constant freezes in the off-season this is a waste of freaking time. I guess I'll play with the Pats a few times before I sell this at a second hand store. Maybe they will trade me for an older Madden game.… Expand

I am not sure what all the hate is about but this is the Best Madden game I have played. Sure there are minor issues with the physics but the idea and execution for the most part is well done. The capability to play a franchise as you want is great. The presentation still needs a lot of work because it gets stale quick because they show the same intro with different people every time but they seem to be going the right way. If you want a good solid NFL then I say give this a try, if you want perfection then wait until 2k Sports gets back int o the ring. I'd probably give this an 8.5 if I could do decimal point ratings.… Expand

why the hell does heaps of people hate this game?. you obviously dont know madden games because this game is class and a very awesome game so dont go hating it just because you cant play the game.

In any case we must admit that the content deserves to be highlighted on this game, the system colisions is impressive, QB are both honor a success without hesitation.

Before buying this game, the last Madden game I played was back in 2005 when I was a kid. Even then, I favored NFL 2K5 over this game. Once I heard EA bought the NFL licence, I pretty much quit football games. So then what brought me back into the series you may ask? Well, for 2 reasons: 1) My friend begged me to get the game after I repeatedly beat him in 2k12 and 2) I wanted to see how the game was going personally. I have seen gameplay of the game and have continuously face-palmed with what they've added and removed from the game. So coming to this game I decided that I wasn't going to look at any preview trailers to give the game a fair shake. And to be honest, it didn't matter.

First of all, they removed Franchise mode...huh? Yeah, instead they put in connected careers which I felt was a bit..unusual. I played though three player careers and a low draft pick QB behind Peyton Manning. The result: I struggled to increase my rating and Mr.Manning still didn't want to retire even after winning the super bowl against the Eagles (don't ask how). I wanted to see if I could change my position since I made my player more of a scrambler, but I couldn't. Even so, I found navigating the menus were a bit of a challenge. Since Manning didn't want to stop yet, I opted for a trade to the Patriots since Tom Brady already retired. I couldn't find it. I recommend it you're going to play this game mode, either be a low draft pick for a position that many players don't excel at or be a high draft pick or else you will never see the field.

I won't go into other game modes like Ultimate Team because I've never played a mode like that in Madden before so go look up the game mode on YouTube to see a brief overview. However, what I will tell you about is how bad the gameplay has become of Madden. Let me first start off in saying, "Who's idea was it to make Madden more realistic?" The physics engine they imported from FIFA is complete rubbish. Many times the engine screws me over; like when I intercept a ball and my own 2 yard line, a small bump from my teammate made me down in the endzone resulting in a safety. The passing this game is still inacurate at times. You know you have to tap the button the lob and hold it to bullet the pass? It's still hard to find that sweet spot in the middle; even for elite quarterbacks like Matt Ryan. He's 95 overall and it's extremely difficult to make completions with him. If you ask me, scrambles like RG III and Cam Newton are better off in the this game. Speaking of rushing, it's stiff very hit and miss in this game. Especially when you try to cut inside. 9 times out of 10 you dude will either get tackled or trip over one of the linesmen. Staying on the topic of tacking, why do I find some players are like extremely difficult to tackle? Maurice Jones-Drew seems impossible; he can brush off 6-man pile ups and run all the way to the house. It's ridiculous.

But that's not the end of things, it's been 7-8 years since my last Madden, and the computer STILL cheats. There are times when my linesmen would act completely unaware of an upcoming rush and they would sack me the second I snap the ball. A lot of the time when I do screen passes, they won't work. However, they always work online, as well as quarterback sneaks. This happens especially at the end of the game when you would beat the computer 3 and out and you can possibly make a game-winning drive after a punt, but then the punter would kick it out on the 1 yard line. Yeah, like I'm suppose to believe that was a coincidence.

Then there are things are just completely unacceptable in this game that shouldn't even still be in this game. For example, the game freezes up very often. More often then not, when you call a TO the game freezes for a second. The also happens in loading screen, in menus, and sometimes during online. Which, might I continuously say, EA still hasn't fixed their servers. Several times the server will time out on me and make me lose key games. I was playing someone using the Broncos when I was using the Redskins, I was up 31-24 in the 3rd about the score in the endzone when for some reason, EA DC'd the game and gave my opponent the win. Which, might I add, people are still jerks online in Madden even back in 2005. Several times people would cuss me out for using teams like the Redskins or the Panthers or the Seehawks when they themselves would use elite teams. I also stumbled across a lag switcher and someone else using the Eagles that kept squib kicking it and somehow ended up with the ball every time and I couldn't combat it. I'm going to say that's another fault on the game, but it's really disheartening to see people abuse this game aspects.

At the end of the day, the game is once again overhyped and overrated. I've said year after year that NFL 2K5 is still better than the current Madden and it still is. The gameplay was on spec with all needed game modes and a head cam. 2K football is better than EA's.… Expand

This review contains spoilers. Let me preface this amateur review by saying that I am not a huge fan of "online" gaming. I enjoy nestling into the couch and getting cozy with a game--by myself. To me, there is just something about having a solo, individual connection with a game that I cannot find with games catered more towards online gamers...That said, Madden NFL 13 was a ridiculous waste of time (!!!), and as I've said, year after year, ESPN NFL 2K5 was the last great football game.
I really want to like Madden. Although it is the only NFL game we can buy, it is still nice to have a new football game every year. Speaking strictly to the gameplay, EA Sports has a stuck with a formula that works, and the urge to break down and buy it come August of every year somehow takes over. You would think that it would behoove EA spend some its serious Madden revenue to make drastic improvements to the gameplay (new tackling animations, a more realistic sideline, thorough commentary, adjusting age-old difficulty settings to something more innovative, etc), but instead, they have chosen to get rid of the things which solo gamers love--Franchise Mode, create-a-player, Fantasy Draft with created players before franchise mode--and replaced it with a collection of pointless mediums that makes the entire Madden endeavor a fruitless one. I traded the game into GameStop after just 5 days of buying it. The sole reason as to why I usually end up breaking down each year and buying Madden was because I loved to create my own NFL, with my customized players and freedom to what I will with my own custom team. That's all gone!
I understand online gaming. Playing with other can be fun, especially when you can do it with some stranger halfway across the globe. But I really don't care about gaming with someone in Bangkok. Slowly but surely, EA is turning Madden into something which resembles Call of Duty, when it should resemble the ultimate NFL simulation. I can only hope and pray that EA and the NFL do not broker a new, multi-year exclusivity contract. Simply put, an alternative is needed. While some people love what Madden is becoming, many others dry heave.… Collapse

Madden 13 is a disgrace to the madden frachise, it is by far and away the most unrealistic madden game i have ever played. It is way to easy to get an onside kick, it seems like you can get an onside kick atleast 85% of the time. and the game no longer tells you when your oppenent is doing an onside kick. THIS GAME SUCKS, IF YOU HAVE NOT BOUGHT IT YET SAVE YOURSELF SOME MONEY AND DONT!!!!

Yet, it's the best Madden NFL [EVER]. It's very realistic, BUT. Where the HELL are the presentations of the teams? I'm fan of Buccaneers (but I'm Russian^^)- where the are cannon sounds after touchdown? It's just one thing I hate. Everything else- awesome. 9/10

Game all together is a great game. Great graphics the next generation of madden. Ea tootook out some great part to the series. The change playbook roster changes import is gone so a few majors gone. My biggest issue is the fact that thd game itself likes to frreze after a season or two forcing me save and shut down the syatem or to lose all progress.

I've been playing an online franchise with my friends and my stats have a maximum. They have a maximum for a single game and for a season total. For instance the most receiving yards you can have in a game is 1023 and the most receiving yards you can have for a season is 8191. We on the second highest difficulty because the highest is to hard and we play seven minute accelerated clock. Does anyone else have this problem and can it be fixed?… Expand

Huge sweeping changes to the Madden series with this one. The new game engine looks great, and gives a more fluid appearance in gameplay then previous iterations of Madden. The other portion is the game gives you a great deal of feedback; after each game in career mode fake headlines and tweets tell you about that weeks actions.

The UI is more intuitive and easier to use. I can find settings, stats, rosters, etc in an easier, organized manner. Big plus to that. A fair amount of customization was taken out of the game, but looking at it most of them have been hardly used and catering to a "niche" audience. As usual EA has online features to include weekly game challenges from events that occurred in the NFL, updated rosters and patches. My favorite feature is how they dropped the really out of place soundtracks that previous games used stock, NFL tracks. I know that seems like a very odd thing to say, but the soundtracks provided just felt out of place; when you're trying to immerse the gamer, little things like that can be jarring.

It's not perfect, but it's fun.… Expand