Madden NFL 11 for iPhone. The Lombardi Trophy of Football Games

MADDEN NFL 11 iPhone

MADDEN NFL 11 iPhone

Madden NFL 11 [rating: 4.5/5]

It used to be the case that you knew that the start of the new NFL season was just around the corner based on the fact that the pre-season games of your favorite team had started. However more often than not the start of the new NFL season is introduced with the new release of Madden X.

When I say Madden X I’m not coming over all Roman on you suggesting that the latest Madden game is Madden 10, on no, that was last year, for the 2010/2011 season the quint essential football game has reached Madden 11.

After last years introduction to the iPhone Madden 11 goes beyond the hand-held device and makes its way onto it’s bigger brother, the iPad, and along with it come new features, updated graphics and more options.

When first launching Madden 11 you will immediately notice the improvement in the games graphics and navigation menus which look much sharper and crisper than last years release and while the game looks great on the iPad it’s nothing compared to how it looks on the Retina display of the iPhone 4 where the graphics pop off the screen. That’s not to say that the graphics don’t look great on the iPad, they do and with the extra real estate that the iPad offers you get to see so much more of it!

After selecting your favorite team that will also skin the game with their colors and images you are ready to start the game.

Initially you may be disappointed to see that there are no new additional game modes,you’ll soon forget that once you start playing the game, but EA do tease us with the prospect of two additional game modes in a future update or updates. The potentially game changing Multiplayer mode and the intriguingly titled Vintage Voltage, however,back to the current game.

For those of you that have played the previous version of Madden on the iPhone you will quickly pick up the controls on both offense and defense and even those who haven’t won’t find it two difficult thanks to the intuitive nature and the all so important Action Control button the slows the gameplay down on both offense and defense allowing you the time to make the game changing decisions that can be the difference between winning and loosing.

Control of the defense has been maximized to allow you the detail of control in the defense as you have been used to in previous versions on offense. While it’s a great addition to the game and will appeal to many for me the game is still all about the offense and luckily for me there have been improvements there too.

MADDEN NFL 11 iPhone

Taking to the field with Madden 11 on the iPad presents you with a plethora of options and the view of the field that looks great surrounded by the authentic stadia from all the NFL Teams. From the line of scrimmage you have your standard options including snapping the ball, calling audibles, choosing plays from the play book and now even directly drawing your own routes by simply dragging your finger from your receivers to where you want them to run.

Drawing your own routes is simple and you can save your favorites to call as audibles at any time in the future and there is nothing more satisfying than scoring a touch down on one of your own designed routes.

Most of the player moves are controlled via virtual buttons on the right side of the screen while control of their movement is via the virtual d-pad on the left of the screen. The controls placement is good to for the iPad with them being placed a little way up from the bottom of the screen making them sit naturally beneath your fingers. However there were times that the buttons did not respond to my touch resulting in missed passes and sacks which was a little frustrating.

In addition to the button controls you can pass to your receivers by touching their icons on the screen. These icons also change color depending on how open the receiver is meaning that if chosen correctly you can make some great passes.

The running game suffers form the button responsiveness more than the passing game though and while there is great satisfaction from bursting through a tight defense into the secondary I often found that dukes and spins required to make up the extra yardage often failed to materialize.

The players all look great as you play the game, even when all the players are on the screen at the same time their is no slow down although some of the collisions aren’t always 100% accurate.

The two negatives of the sometimes unresponsive controls and the player collisions are still relatively small in the big scheme of things and it certainly didn’t make me want to stop playing the game, if they can be addressed in a future update though the game will gain back the half a mark I’ve taken off for them at present.

While I was disappointed to not see the multi-player option available at the launch of the game the fact that it’s not only been mentioned by EA but also listed in the game itself gives me great hope that it will be seen sooner rather than later. And when it is introduced Madden 11 will be played even more especially while watching the game with your mates attempting to reenact the on field heroics.

They’re aren’t too many differences between the iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch versions of Madden 11 although if I was pushed I would go for the iPad version as although at $12.99 it’s $5 more than it’s smaller counterpart it makes playing the game just that little but more pleasurable.

Pros

  • The NFL has never look so good on a mobile device
  • Great control of your players
  • Draw you own custom routes
  • Bring the big D to your game

Cons

  • Unresponsive controls
  • Unrealistic player collisions

Price: $7.99 (App Store) $12.99 (App Store)
Category: Games
Released: Aug 10, 2010
Reviewed Version:1.0.0
Size: 326 MB
Language:English
Seller: Electronic Arts
© 2010 Electronic Arts Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.

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