Every year, people wonder what’s new about Madden and why people keep spending $60 for a “roster update.” This years Madden is going to shut those people up as there are a lot of groundbreaking features in this installment.
The Infinity Engine – This is the main reason to upgrade to Madden 13. The Infinity Engine is a new real-time physics engine that eliminates those boring animations that you’ve seen in the past. This year, for example, throwing a high pass to your receiver in double coverage will be a big mistake, as getting hit in the air can lead to injuries and other violent collisions. Your lineman will actually block defenders instead of “suction cupping” them by just being in front of them. Remember when you saw a player laying on the ground in front of you? Now you will actually have to leap over downed players or risk tripping over their bodies. The new system also looks unforgiving on players that take bad angles to the ball carrier, as I’ve seen many running backs shake off the defenders and keep going.
That’s not all though. The Infinity engine will truly let players fight for every yard since being wrapped up doesn’t mean your down like in past versions. If you were in a tackle animation last year, you were down. This year, you will try to fight them off before hitting the ground. This new engine might be the biggest upgrade to a Madden game in the history of the franchise, and will certainly improve the look and feel of the game.
Connected Careers – This new feature combines Franchise and Superstar modes into one, kind of like a Football MMO. You can select a player that already plays in the NFL or a Superstar (like Michael Irvin or Emmitt Smith) to play a Superstar type mode with. You can also select a coach, which makes the game more like a Franchise mode. The cool thing is that you can take this online with up to 31 friends and have each person control either a team or a player. If you get bored with a team or player, you can retire that career and play as a different career using the same timeline. That way you don’t have to start a franchise over, wasting all of your progress. This is a fresh take on aging Madden modes, and will certainly make things exciting online.
Roster Update – Of course you get a roster update in your games. What would Madden be like without roster updates? How else would the Dallas Cowboys be rated 100 overall after they win the Super Bowl this year?
Are you planning to buy a copy of Madden 13? What is your favorite NFL team? What do you think of the new features in this years game? Let me know in the comments below.
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