Madden NFL 12 has some glitches

MADDEN NFL 12

RATING E for Everyone

Gus Johnson and Cris Collinsworth are back in the booth, and though there's a bit of improvement on last year's disjointed play-by-play announcing, there are some serious lag-time issues. "Touchdown" should be declared as the receiver crosses the goal line, not after he's several steps into his celebration.

Nitpicky? Sure. But when a video game franchise is in its 23rd year of existence, these are the little touches that fans find themselves looking for each year.

The game's player models clearly have been hitting the weight room during the NFL lockout, appearing bulkier than in past editions. And the new collision system takes those weights into account, so larger linebackers likely will get the better of smaller running backs.

The hitting animations are greatly improved, but the usual game play annoyances are still there.

Quarterbacks take too many sacks when they appear to have plenty of time to launch a pass or at least throw the ball away.

This year's Madden changed the kicking and punting system from the way-too-simple flick back-flick up motion to a golf game style meter in which you click once to start, click again for power and then click for aim. It's slightly more challenging, but a better fit.