Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Fans of the Madden franchise have taken the good with the bad for years now. Like many, I've dutifully forked out my $60 each year to get the newest version of the game. Each year there are drawbacks (middle linebackers that can leap and intercept every pass over the middle, players being sucked into tackles, receivers that try much less than the defensive backs to catch a ball, the fact that you will be sacked nearly every time you try a play action pass - the list goes on and on) and each year EA addresses an issue or two (whether they actually fix them or not), updates the rosters, and convinces us to spend another $60 for the newest edition. Even with the drawbacks, for those of us who love Madden, we start our franchise mode, use the fantasy draft to assemble a team that can overcome the shortcomings of this year's game and beat the competition, and import our draft classes from EA's corresponding annual release of the NCAA Football game. I am one of those players who not only enjoys all of that, but continues playing the same team I've built from the ground up for multiple seasons at a stretch. This year? No franchise mode. No fantasy draft. No importing of draft classes from NCAA Football 13 that many of us dropped an additional $60 on - in some cases, primarily so we could import draft classes for multiple seasons of Madden. To some customers, those omissions may not seem like a big deal. But for many of us, it's like buying a new car and being told what color you will receive, having all of the radio stations preprogrammed and locked in place, and only being allowed to drive the vehicle on certain routes. Does the car work? Sure. Does it drive better than last year's model? It does. Can you roll down the windows, crank up your favorite song, and drive wherever the road may lead you? Not a chance. For many of us who have faithfully played each and every annual release of Madden for years now, they took everything we love about the game and trashed it. It's not that they kept flawed pieces in place, EA actually took portions of the game we've eagerly looked forward to and embraced for countless years and ripped them out. I've played literally thousands of hours in the Madden series and if you broke that time down between teams I've assembled through fantasy drafts and teams that EA assembled for me (the latter being the only option in Madden NFL 13), I'd guess that ratio is somewhere close to 200:1. I've been playing Madden since the SNES days and while I've had my share of complaints with past editions, Madden NFL 13 was the first time I've ever found myself regretting that I had purchased the latest release. I'm giving Madden NFL 13 a one star rating - not because the game is worthless, but because EA literally ripped out what for many of us was the heart and soul of the game and sold us an empty shell instead. For me, it's no longer "Madden," it's just a football game. It's bad enough that I returned the game shortly after purchasing it, losing a good chunk of money in the process. The omissions, which we've relied on and enjoyed in countless previous versions of Madden, are truly that important to the game.