Grumpy Old Nerds

I get the eye rolling that a lot of gamers do when someone is talking about playing Madden. Hell, I remember shaking my head when I saw that there was a damn reality television program that followed a bunch of douche sacks that wore NFL jerseys and hats that were slightly off center, and would act as though they were uncanny athletes. News Flash to those folks: You were playing a video game. Get over yourself. Despite all of that, I enjoyed picking up Madden and playing through franchise mode and all of that. There were some years that the game was solid, and there were others that....well, you had to sit back and wonder why you spent the money on such a turd.

Madden 12....while visually stunning...feels more like a lesser game than 11 to me and here is the reason why:

1. Gameplay will occasionally lock up for a few seconds. <--- This drives me nuts because timing is EVERYTHING in Madden games, and when you are trying to execute a play and the game just freezes? It throws off the whole play.

2. Commentary <---- The guys on the mic....the whole feature to create the illusion that you are *WATCHING* a game....it is bad. Gus Johnson and Chris Collinsworth appears to have been in the booth for SOME sound bites, and then phoned in the rest. Literally...it sounds like someone recorded them on the phone. On top of that, there are players that have been in the league for at least a year are not identified by name, but by their jersey number. Basically...the commentary took a BIG step backwards to the point where you just want to disable it.

3. Various Glitches <--- This is probably the most irritating of the problems I have with this game. Sure nearly every game has glitches and little hiccups, but it seems like the ones I have encountered with Madden are a bit severe. The one that comes to mind is the most recent I came across: The franchise glitch (still working on the name). This is a problem where you get to a certain week on a season, complete your game....and it will NOT advance to the next week...thus ruining all of the hard work you had put in to building a team, which leads to a barrage of swearing and then you have to start anew and hope you don't screw it up.

Sure...they are just three gripes, and some jersey wearing doofus has most likely heralded this as the greatest Madden game to date...but for me, I'm done. If EA wants to continue to make subpar unpolished football games and expect folks to buy them because there are no other NFL games...let them. Just don't expect to get my money again.