After making the surprising reveal of Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis as their cover athlete, Electronic Arts has unveiled a slew of new features and updates that will be present in Madden 12. Chief among them are custom playbooks and a brand new collision system.
Touted by EA as the number one "most requested feature by fans in recent years", the custom playbooks will allow players to either modify an existing playbook or make their own from over 400 offensive and defensive plays. The feature will work with the series’ "improved" GameFlow system, which was first introduced last year.
The new collision system will continue to factor a player’s momentum into each hit and has added "over 100 new tackle animations, including 40 gang tackles, to provide more impactful hits, stolen tackles, and consecutive hit tackling."
Electronic Arts is also claiming that the new defensive AI system for Madden 12 will be the smartest in Madden history. Instead of simply running plays, the defensive AI will actually be able to read and react to what the offense is doing as it happens, which includes players breaking out of assignments to help teammates.
The broadcast and visual departments will undergo another overhaul, featuring team-specific run outs, over 500 dynamic broadcast cameras authentic to each stadium, and "innovative ‘real’ on-field cameras shot by expert NFL Films cameramen." There will also be new pylon and ball physics and a degradation system for equipment and uniforms based on weather and typical game wear and tear.
Another new feature sported in Madden 12 will be the Dynamic Player Performance system, where a player will gain and lose confidence in addition to skill levels based upon how a game or Franchise progresses. More details on the system will be dished out at E3 on June 6.
Other modes and features will be getting detailed in the near future as well for this year’s Madden. Information regarding Franchise and Superstar modes will arrive on May 16, Madden NFL Ultimate Team on June 20, and finally Online Communities on July 25.
