The year-after-year sports game structure should be additive, with success achieved by building on previous efforts. “Madden,” however, seems to be in a cycle and this year it’s on a downturn. Not since the beginning of this console generation has the series been so out of sync. Like a desperate team that has stocked up on high-profile free agents thinking it’s on the cusp of a championship, “Madden NFL 12” looks good in practice, but where it counts it’s a jumbled mess of frustration, unmet expectations and sloppy play.

“Madden NFL 12” doesn’t fully execute on its ideas. The series neglected the franchise mode last year, and although developer EA Tiburon made big changes, this mode will have to be reworked again in order for it to be fun. The goal of the new scouting system is to build info on players through multiple regular season and off-season scouting stages. You have to pinpoint your priorities and accept that you’ll know more about some players than others by draft day. I love this concept, but you can’t find out enough info on players even if you scout them multiple times. Worse yet, you don’t even have the combine numbers for the players you don’t scout. You can’t tell me an NFL scouting staff wouldn’t know a player’s 40 time or other basics about even obscure players. As a fan I can get that stuff just by watching the NFL Network. Ultimately, on draft day you have to resort to taking shots in the dark or reaching for players; the best-player-available strategy is impossible to implement.

The other linchpin of franchise mode, free agency, also has good intentions but is unfulfilling. The new timer-based bidding system is cool, but it could help you out with more menu tools, and the period still has no restricted free agency or flexible contract options for players on your roster you resign before they enter free agency. Your roster is larger, but it still doesn’t contain a practice squad and the CPU automatically signs undrafted free agents for you.

The franchise mode isn’t the only area in need of reworking. Adding more options to last year’s GameFlow playcalling system has made what was once a simple feature confusing. Why do plays disappear in the GameFlow menu when I cycle through them, and why can’t I see the formations these plays are run from? Superstar mode’s new experience system gives you points for activities you didn’t do (tackling points for a QB?) and doesn’t have nearly enough depth to make you feel like a superstar. The presentation, with its cool NFL Films-like shaky cams, can’t correctly name the Gatorade Impact Player of the Game. I once saw it call out a QB with a rating of 13.9! Finally, more legacy gameplay problems must be cleared up. Linebackers still jump obnoxiously high to block passes on the higher difficulties, players can be unaware of the ball, secondaries drop many gimme INTs, WRs lack any aggression going after the ball, true gang tackles are missing, and punt and kickoff blocking is still horrible.

It’s disappointing that many of the new features fail to bring value to the table, but elements like last year’s excellent motion system are at least in place to make the game exciting from moment to moment. Although I wasn’t in awe of the new player hot/cold streaks, I liked the player roles and how they changed from year to year and gave your players a career progression arc. Other bright spots are the online communities that help weed out the riff-raff from your online multiplayer (thanks to stronger griefing rules), and the accompanying leaderboards also offer a larger structure to the experience. This is especially useful since the online franchise feature is still a bust.

Past “Maddens” either delivered new features or fixed old problems, but this year you get neither. In too many instances “Madden 12” takes you down promising paths that only lead to dead ends.

‘MADDEN NFL 12’

7.5 (out of 10)

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

EA Sports, EA Tiburon

ESRB rating: E for Everyone

New game releases

The following titles were scheduled for release the week of Sept. 4:

• “Dead Island” (PC, PS3, X360)

• “Driver: San Francisco” (PS3, Wii, X360)

• “Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine” (PC, PS3, X360)

• “Resistance 3” (PS3)

• “Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten” (PS3)

• “Rise of Nightmares” (X360)

• “Star Fox 64 3D” (3DS)

• “Crimson Alliance” (X360)

• “BloodRayne: Betrayal” (PS3)

• “Rugby World Cup 2011” (PS3)

• “Skydrift” (X360, PS3)

• “Penguins of Madagascar: Dr. Blowhole Returns” (Wii, PS3, X360, DS)

• “The Impossible Game” (PSP, PS3)

• “Uncharted Dual Pack” (PS3)

• “Get Fit With Mel B” (Wii)

— Gamespot.com

Weekly download

‘Quarrel’

For: iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad (universal app)

From: Indiagames Limited/UTV Ignition

iTunes Store Rating: 9+ (infrequent/mild cartoon or fantasy violence)

Price: $5 for deluxe version; lite version available for free

The conceptually brilliant (and arguably excessively cheerful) “Quarrel” is what happens when Boggle and RISK have a child. The setup might sound familiar: Up to four armies share adjacent territories with one another, and dominating a “Quarrel” match comes down to wiping out the other armies before they eliminate yours.

In this case, though, a battle comes down to eight random letters and one chance to build a better word than the opposing army. The more troops you have occupying the conflicted square, the more letters you can use to build your word. “Quarrel’s” cheerful presentation is a bit too caffeinated for its own good, but the actual game is a polished execution of a seriously great idea. You can play a base game of “Quarrel” for free, but most of the good stuff — a campaign, match customization, daily challenges, most of the maps and characters — is available only in the deluxe edition.

— Billy O’Keefe, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Top 10

ON THE XBOX 360

The editors of Game Informer Magazine rank the top 10 Xbox 360 games for September:

1. “NHL 12,” EA Sports

2. “Crimson Alliance,” Microsoft Game Studios

3. “Bastion,” Warner Bros. Interactive

4. “NCAA Football 12,” EA Sports

5. “Deus Ex: Human Revolution,” Square Enix

6. “Dead Island,” Deep Silver

7. “El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron,” Ignition Entertainment

8. “From Dust,” Ubisoft

9. “Toy Soldiers: Cold War,” Microsoft Game Studios

10. “Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet,” Microsoft Game Studios

— McClatchy-Tribune News Service