The new Madden NFL ’12 demo, released August 9th, presents a rematch of the January 23rd NFC Championship game involving the oldest rivalry in the history of professional football, the Chicago Bears against the Green Bay Packers.The Chicago Bears host the defending Super Bowl Champions at the remarkable Soldier Field. For some, this may be just another demo building the hype for the newest installment to the Madden franchise, but for me and other Midwest players this is HUGE! The rivalry we have grown up following is now immortalized in the most recent madden demo. It gives us a chance to practice with our favorite teams and a head start at Illinois-Wisconsin bragging rights.
New madden game art and presentation looks outstanding! The main menu circulates a graphic of two NFL superstars every couple seconds and provides the player with a ring of five videos, pictures, and the demo. These include:
Tackling School: Zone Coverage Insider Gameplay: What’s new in Madden ’12 True to the Game: The NFL Sunday Experience Gallery: Hard-Hitting Screenshots Chevy Pro Challenger: Enter Our Sweepstakes Chevy Pro Challenger: Madden Pro vs. Reggie Bush Play Demo
A new loading screen leading up to the demo depicts Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers diving into the endzone and the presentation doesn’t just leave you in awe there but also during the pregame introduction when the superstars of the Chicago Bears are announced. The players, coaches, stadium, and mascot all look completely real. Behind every helmet is the actual face of each player and not a random computer generated face. It is graphically the best game I have seen from EA Sports.
Ratings:
Although the Bears have home field advantage, in the game Chicago’s overall team rating is a bit lower at 85 than the overall team rating of the Green Bay Packers who sit at 92. During gameplay the rating difference is noticeable as the Packers obviously out match the Bears on both sides of the ball. Player ratings are not available in the demo. However, we can probably assume that the current ratings are similar to those from the final Madden NFL ’11 roster update. Top players on the Green Bay Packers after this update are QB Rodgers 99, CB Woodson 95, OLB Matthews 95, S Collins 95, WR Jennings 94, CB Williams 93, TE Finley 92, OL Sitton 92, and DL Jenkins 90. Top players on the Chicago Bears are DL Peppers 98, LB Urlacher 95, K Gould 95, LB Briggs 92, and HB Forte 90. Chicago also holds the second best rookie free safety in Conte at 71 and Green Bay has the fourth best rookie receiver in Cobb at 70. Rookies Carimi at OL and Paea at DL for the Bears are probably well ranked but I could not find their ratings along with the Packers OL rookie Sherrod. These are all player you should take advantage of in the demo and use them to exploit weaknesses in your opponent.
Gameplay:
Something I noticed almost immediately during gameplay is that some players who are no longer on these teams are still on the roster and playing in the demo. A couple of key players are the Packers DL Jenkins who is now with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Packers LB Barnett who is now a member of the Buffalo Bills.
Kicking in the game uses a meter that is circular, similar to older versions of madden, but involves the same basic buttons and style. Game speed and controls went through minor changes. There is an obvious difference in the speed of the game and motions of the players feel more crisp and fluid. Tips are given every couple of minutes describing new controls during the game. Playcall is nearly identical to recent versions of madden and are just presented with a new style and location on the screen. Gameflow and rewinds are also still available for gamers. There are no announcers in the demo, which has been the case for most madden demos, but on the field sounds and graphics are still good enough to keep you entertained.
Overall this is one demo I guarantee you will play over and over and over again until you purchase your copy of Madden NFL 2012 when it is released. The guys at EA Sports have done it again. They out did themselves for another year and created the best football video game of our time.