Franchise mode has been completely revamped. I'm still working on preseason so I'm not sure how good all these XP upgrades will work eventually, but the entire mode has been completely revamped and it's actually pretty overwhelming when you first get into it. The only thing I don't like about it is the weekly practices. Even though they're optional, it's not exactly what you would expect a practice squad to be like. The QB's rating is like 87 and the RB is 90, there's even a wide receiver with young Randy Moss speed, it's just ridiculous. It's harder than most of the regular teams on the game are. Seriously. I'm actually wondering why I can't call up some of these motherfuckers. That is probably my biggest gripe with it so far.
What I REALLY like is the EA Gameface feature.
This looks exactly like me. You upload a picture of yourself, along with an optional side-view picture for added-realism, and you can put your face on either the coach (if you're playing career mode as a coach, which is pretty much GM Mode) or a player (if you're playing career mode as a player, which is more like the "career mode" from previous Madden titles). You can even sync your career mode up with other gamers' career modes.
How realistic is it? Well, the Seahawks released Terrell Owens after the first week of preseason on this game, so it's pretty fucking authentic. Actually, it's a little scary. There's also weekly news coverage, similar to old school Madden 04-06 titles. People criticize your players on Twitter if they're not performing well, major signings/releases are covered on, and upcoming GOTW previews, etc, etc, etc.
Finally, your players earn XP and so does your coach. You spend XP on various things, such as added awareness, added speed, added acceleration, added blocking ability, tackling ability, toughness, stamina, injury resilience, throw accuracy, etc, etc, etc. You can even purchase fancy shit like "clutch ability" for your QB, upgrades for your coach to keep certain types of players from retiring, ability to lure free agents to your team. And if you play as a coach, you get to pick what type of coach you are... whether you're the type that methodically builds dynasties or "motivator" (which I picked) where players love to play for you, and there's one other I can't remember. I'm sure the same type of options exist for players if that's how you head into career mode.
Basically what I'm saying is... this game is amazing. Especially if you like messing around with GM/franchise/career mode. The game also feels
much harder on advanced difficulties, even basic "pro" difficulty feels a lot harder. Rushing feels a little weird at first, so you have to be careful not to run into your lineman or you can trip and tackle yourself practically. I don't recommend diving right into All-Pro difficulty from the get-go, you should really start with pro just to get a feel for it.
Oh yeah, and you can publish game results to your Facebook wall in every type of game, whether it be online or offline. You can brag to your friends about beating a game on All-Madden or you can brag about beating me. It's insane.
The only other thing I feel I should add is the Baltimore Ravens' offensive playbook is fucking garbage. If you use them, select another offensive playbook for the love of god.
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