Posted Tuesday 09/06/2011 by John Sciarrino
Madden 12 (iPhone, iPad)
Where else can oversized men go outside dressed in brightly-colored spandex, huh? Apart from Comic-Con, we mean.
What’s it about?
Like a running back with butterfingers, EA thinks you should be carrying the pigskin with you at all times. Enter Madden 12 for your iPhone and iPad, and never worry about being more than a touch away from the next hail Mary or QB sneak. The mobile game sets out to pursue greatness like its console brethren but, even with the iPad 2’s boosted processing power, Madden 12 comes up a few yards shy of the end zone.
How does it look?
At first, the bells and whistles of seeing Madden on a tablet might have you giddy with gridiron goodness, but then you get to the gameplay and even the most starry-eyed baller will feel a surge of disenchantment as the graphics and animations look as choppy and unrealistic as Lee Carvello’s Putting Challenge. We do have to acknowledge that the menu systems are wonderful when using a touchscreen and, though we know it’s a pipe dream, we couldn’t help but wish for a tablet-styled Xbox controller. Maybe Nintendo is onto something with the WiiU after all.
How addictive is it?
Not very. As much as we wanted to sing praises of a mobile Madden, after just a few games we were close to throwing down our iPads in frustration. We have to respect how overly ambitious the game is, with several game modes and a helluva lot of AI working hard on every down but, no matter how many times we wanted to relive Green Bay’s playoff glory of last winter, we had more fun watching highlight reels than playing this.
What’d they screw up?
The choppy graphics and awkward control scheme (virtual joystick and “smart” buttons) make for a less than optimal football experience. We understand that a game like Madden pushes the limits of what’s possible on an iDevice, but if a game just won’t translate, it probably shouldn’t be released and Madden 12 feels like it fits in that category for now. For now, we’re adopting the Detroit Lion’s end of season mantra: There’s always next year.
Out of five?
2. Madden is an obligatory staple of the Maxim offices, but even big fans of the Turducken-monger were turned off by this shadow version of the premiere NFL game
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