This might be too much game for me. I’m going to be simulating a lot of the day to day stuff because it’s info overload! The day to day grind I find boring. But the tasks are cool – My GM told me to trade a LB on the roster. And I was approached by Philly with a trade that I declined but we went back and forth 3 times in negotiations.
But the game is pretty cool. The engine looks like Madden PS2 but in HD. This is NOT the 360 game in coach mode. Graphics are way different.
But on the first play Jamal Lewis took a draw play 70 yards but for the rest of the half he was held in check for the most part, and Derek Anderson overthrew THREE receivers! I almost cried with joy. Anderson played the first quarter of the Jets preseason game and was 5/8 for 50 yards and a TD.
The Jets QB, Clemmons, same deal – he actually missed an open receiver on a deep fade route that landed 5 yards out of bounds. Now answer me this: why can this engine do that and the new one cant/wont? Why do the guys making Madden refuse to put poor throws in the game? I think that is a very simhead question to ask.
Anyway, I can’t find a camera angle I like yet and the rosters are *bad* ratings wise -- Ken Dorsey better than Brady Quinn and the Browns 3rd round pick out of Mizzou (TE named Rucker) is rated a *23*. A TWENTY THREE!
Still, lots of potential and I want to get some more time in tonight if I can. After playing Maddne all day seeing incomplete passes made me dance a jig.
Yes! More Head Coach!!!
Why are they dissin my boy Rucker?
I'm glad to read you saw a RB break off a 70 yard run, that is VERY encouraging!!!
MizzouRah wrote:
Why are they dissin my boy Rucker?
This was a confirmed mistake by the EA designer. The Aug 12 th roster update should provide much better rosters. Dorsey will be a 65, Quinn a 79, which makes a hell of a lot more sense.
MizzouRah wrote:
Why are they dissin my boy Rucker?
This was a confirmed mistake by the EA designer. The Aug 12 th roster update should provide much better rosters. Dorsey will be a 65, Quinn a 79, which makes a hell of a lot more sense.
I guess that's a big f*** you from Phil and the guys at Tiburon to the guy over at OS who's been pestering him to add more playable camera angles. I saw that accelerated clock made the list for the "possible" DLC (whenever that might be), but I guess the guys who want something other than the stale God cam have not been complaining loud enough.
What really pisses me off are the guys over at OS who are saying this might be the best football game ever after these patches and possible DLC go live. Let me get this straight...they "may" be able to do DLC and it would keep the computer from ghost juking out of bounds, with no defender in sight? I'm sorry, but that shouldn't be a problem in the first place. These guys who are awestruck over being able to talk to the developers are part of the problem, IMO. Ian and Phil could be the nicest guys in the world, but if they ultimately can't get the job done in delivering a true next generation football videogame experience, then bring in some new studio that can.
Phil has also talked about how they're limited to two free patches by MS (not sure about Sony). Anything more apparently comes out of EA's wallet, or at least has to be negotiated with MS.
Patches are limited to 4 megs, DLC 150megs I think.
Madden doesn't appear it is going to be a great game like HC appears to be, but at least they are trying. Ian just came on the project, they took a HC guy for franchise next year (something I might add 2K never gets right) and are responding to customer feedback. The HC interaction has been outstanding.
People just get pissed if it doesn't have the feature they want which is their right. I've seen a lot of what I consider hard core 2K fans finally going to Madden this year so they must be doing something right.
It's funny to watch the anti-EA people get so riled up this year. EA appears to be changing and that doesn't fit with their look at the world.
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Played 4 or 5 games tonight (one online), and the "Madden IQ" and auto difficulty crap really works pretty well. I have had a difficult time moving the ball since the test put my passing and rushing offense about 2 clicks below max, but my defense was middle of the road on All Pro.
What ends up happening for me is I'm getting about 200 yards total on offense and giving up about the same, fighting through low scoring games. It's not like I CAN'T move the ball, it's just that on default 5 minute quarters, you just don't have enough time to score a bunch of points.
The one game I played online wasn't a crazy defensive slugfest like a 14-3 score sounds like it would be, but mistakes were made on both sides as the field shortened up, and it was easier to move it at midfield than it was once you got near the red zone.
So far, I'm really impressed with how they implemented the "user difficulty". I don't know the specifics or how they did what they did, but I know that I've had incredibly engaging games that are really fun to play. I have to work on really rushing the ball better, though, because I could only average about 2.8 a carry with McFadden and company.
Between that and Head Coach, I've been in football mode all night, and have been really pleased with both so far, patch or not.
That's great to hear Terry as I think we've seen eye to eye on football games this gen. I can't wait until Tuesday now. I think I should have the day off of work and should be able to play Madden and HC all day.
I am a patient boy.
I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait.
My time is water down a drain.
Whoever it is that makes these decisions at EA/Tiburon should've been fired years ago. How they can call this "online leagues" with a straight face is beyond me.
TCrouch wrote:
I have to work on really rushing the ball better, though, because I could only average about 2.8 a carry with McFadden and company.
Thanks for the impressions, Terry. In 20 years, has Madden ever had a good run game? I've skipped some years, but I don't remember EA/Tiburon ever getting the run game right.
Last year I could run the ball effectively, and this year you can use the left stick to perform shimmies and jukes. The problem is that the CPU defenders are all incredibly fast at flying to the gap so I'm constantly busted at the line of scrimmage (or before). Some plays have been very effective, and last year I was rattling off tons of huge runs, but it's quicker this year, and your decisions must be made in a hurry. The overall speed is increased just enough to make it feel a bit more chaotic. Stuff is going by so quickly that if you miss your chance for the gap, you're in trouble.
The thing that's concerning is that my rushing difficulty keeps going UP despite averaging 2.X a carry per game, so now it's at the top of the charts for difficulty, making it even harder
The test thing seems interesting, but will it take out the ratings in the game. For example, If i'm the patriots playing the niners, is the cpu going to keep the score close when in reality, the pats should be winning by 21?
My impressions after a couple of superstar games, a couple of franchise games, some play now, and an online contest. As a lifelong Raider fan, most of my stuff is Raider-centric at this point. Sorry.
Madden IQ
The IQ seems to be "as advertised". It put me at a bit over 600 initially, and has my rushing offense and passing offense both near the top of All-Madden. My rushing defense was strangely middle-of-the-All-Pro set. Passing defense, which I think is the most ridiculous test of them all, was lower All Pro. The test, as everybody has seen in the demo, is not very indicative of overall ability against the pass, because you're limited in what you can do. You can't run an LB out to guard a hitch, and the CPU DB doesn't do jack against it either. It's the same in the full.
In the end, though, it really works. Passing the ball wasn't as easy as it is in NCAA, but I still had a high completion percentage. It sounds strange, but it's because I was throwing high percentage dumps and screens, as well as quick outs and things to pull the defense away from the center of the field before throwing one down the heart to Zach Miller or Curry.
CPU players are FAST to fill the gaps in the running game. So far in all the games I've played, I haven't held better than a 2.8 ypc average with Run DMC, which is pretty crazy. Part of that is the difficulty, I'm sure...because I haven't had this much fun having to dink and dunk down the field in a while. The default 5 minute quarters are nowhere near long enough when you use the "My Skill" setting, though, because I'm only getting about 200 yards of offense. I'm sure I'll get better with more time, but at the start, you'll have to run some long games to get realistic play numbers and stats.
General Gameplay
Random hits:
CPU's are very accurate, as noted already. However, their accuracy allows long, sustained drives which add to the realism. I have been able to hold them in check, though, and never felt like they were "robo" or "unstoppable". However, I haven't faced Brady or Manning yet. A larger sample size is definitely required for a better assessment.
Overall gamespeed is quicker, leading to a slightly chaotic feel. You can jerk the stick around a bit to do shoulder fakes and squeak by defenders, but it's not terribly common. Overall it just feels faster than previous years, and even NCAA 09.
My cyber JaMarcus Russell is 100% Jekyll and Hyde. Half of his throws are very, very poor, and the other half leave me thinking he just made a Hall of Fame throw. That sounds quite like what I'll be seeing this upcoming season. For instance, I may throw a simple post to Curry, and have the ball 3 yards off target. Then I fire a quick out and it's 3 inches above the jumping DB's hands, coming to rest perfectly on Carter's fingertips with a toe drag (yes, I see lots of toe drags). It's nice to have a wide variety of throw quality depending on if I set my feet, etc.
When I throw "on time", my plays are very good. I'm not sure whether that's actually a focus in the game or not, but when I mentally counted the 5th step and fired (especially on deep ins), the timing of the play was just very crisp. When I waited an extra half a second, I usually throw picks, which leads me to...
...arm strength. I can really feel the difference between JaMarcus and Pennington. I fired one bullet pass with JaMarcus that, theoretically, Ed Reed could have made a play on. It whizzed by him SO quickly, though, that he didn't even have a chance to get his arms up in the air before it was by him. I haven't seen arm strength make that much of a difference before that I can recall. The only thing I ever saw it good for in a Madden game was how far a guy could heave it, not how tight a window he could squeeze it into. I forced a few balls in later games, relying too much on Big Boy's cannon arm and too little on smarts.
On defense, it is a bit harder to maintain position and go for interceptions. As recently as last year, I was able to pick off anything I wanted if I could get close to it. So far in 09, that hasn't been the case. I've still been able to get some picks (and there still seem to be quite a few that go to the house, sadly), but I can't shut down any and all crossing and slant routes simply by standing there and waiting for the CPU to throw it at me. For example, I was covering a crossing route about a yard in front of the receiver, and had it locked down. The CPU QB threw the ball anyway, like in years past. Only this time, he threw it BEHIND the receiver, who made a leaping, reach-behind-him catch for the first down. I got slowed and turned and made the tackle, but it was very cool to get picked apart like that.
I'm not sure whether they actually included more than 2 people on a gang tackle, but if they didn't, what they did is create a great illusion. You'll see a guy get stood up, then get hit by a second guy. They'll wrestle around a bit, and then a third guy may come up and knock him a different direction. It may not be "true" 3-man gang tackling, but I haven't seen enough of it and really analyzed it at this point to see. What it creates is a very brutal "pack animation" as guys bang off of each other and knock the pile in different directions, which is actually very cool.
Superstar
I played as Darren McFadden (naturally). I played a handful of preseason games and the camera was adjusted so that you can't "zoom out" anymore. You just see the assignments on the field from the player's perspective. That's kind of cool.
I couldn't break loose to save my life. The CPU Kiffin called all kinds of passes for Russell but hardly any runs. Whether that's because I was completely inept at busting past the line of scrimmage or not is up for debate.
Much like the real Run DMC, though, I was lethal in the passing game. I'd catch a swing pass and rip right past guys. I had a 65 yard TD grab when I just completely torched by an LB who couldn't even come close to covering me. I have far more receiving yards than rushing yards so far, which may end up being the case in reality as well.
The CPU QB also ignores me more often. Last year I could just use the "Call for Ball" button and force a throw almost any time. Now, apparently, rookies don't have the same clout. I'm left waving my hand in the air for no reason more often than not. When I run the proper route, though, it seems I get the ball more often. I'll need a much larger sample size to see if that is as accurate as it seems, but I'll find out.
Franchise
Not much is changed as far as franchise mode goes that I saw, but I've only played 3 preseason games.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the game. Online was very smooth, and it was a 14-6 slugfest on 6 minute quarters. Possessions were very long, and it was easy to move the ball between the 30's, but not so much once you got near the red zone. Rushing the ball has been difficult for me so far (as mentioned previously), but my online game was against the Ravens D, and Lewis was absolutely everywhere, sideline to sideline. I couldn't get past the line of scrimmage most of the time, but the Raiders have some questionable OL players as well.
Presentation
Hammond's commentary can be a *bit* robotic, but it doesn't sound nearly as bad as I thought it would based on the videos that I had seen. Collinsworth is actually very good, though. The camera has been tweaked to stay "zoomed out" as the ball travels through the air, and then snaps in when caught. It helps you feel the velocity of throws, and at the same time makes it a bit tougher to get in perfect position as a defender downfield.
The stat overlays are GREAT. They list everything from team rushing and passing to turnovers to individual player stats between plays, and you can scroll between player stats and all kinds of things in the play select screen with the R stick. It's nice to finally see stats make a re-appearance in Madden, as it really adds to the immersion and 'rah rah' feel to see your star player putting up great numbers.
Bottom line, I'm impressed. It has been tweaked from the 08 model, but if you hated 08, I can't see you really liking 09. It's faster and of course looks much better (the grass is phenomenal, which sounds funny, but it really does add a lot to the visual presentation).
Maybe you can answer one thing that I have been wondering since the demo dropped.
Were defensive strafes dropped this year? I know there was an exploit involving the strafe button but I got the impression it was an offensive exploit. If there was a strafe on offense though, I wouldn't know I never used it.
However, on defense I found I used strafe in containment cases when I was up against a difficult back in one on one or in punt coverage situations.
The demo didn't appear to have them in the Run Defense drill so I'm concerned I'm going to be eating turf a lot as I probably lack the twitch reflexes to wrap up a ballcarriers in these cases.
Thanks
Last edited by GameSeven on Fri Aug 08, 2008 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'll check it at home. I don't think that they got rid of it, as I was able to backpedal in coverage as an LB, and I naturally pull the LT to do that. It could be a canned thing though now, I didn't examine it closely. I'll definitely check it out.
Those looking for an improved CPU ground attack won't find it (STILL), though. I haven't had a back yet that got more than 2 ypc against me. So the running game is tough for both sides now, at least...at least in my case.
Great impressions. Looking forward to picking this up this year.
One question, you stated that the game was fast, almost chaotic at times. With hitting the big 40 next month, my fingers and my mind doesn't move as fast as they use to. Can you slow the game down at all?
I don't think so...for an idea of how quick it is, look at how fast the defenders go whizzing by and how quickly I have to hit the hole with Darren McFadden (who, by the way, is BLAZING fast). This is just on All-Pro defaults, not even the "My Skill" thing that it had me on that was much harder.
TCrouch wrote:I don't think so...for an idea of how quick it is, look at how fast the defenders go whizzing by and how quickly I have to hit the hole with Darren McFadden (who, by the way, is BLAZING fast). This is just on All-Pro defaults, not even the "My Skill" thing that it had me on that was much harder.
Got my answer as to who made the decision regarding the "online leagues"...unfortunately, he's an idiot. From OS:
"Alright guys, here we go… to answer the schedule questions all in one mass.
Just for some background, when we all sat down to look at Online Leagues, all teams met as this was a feature that all games within EA Sports wanted. NBA, FIFA, NHL and Madden all sat down and began to identify what sort of league feature we’d all like… and one issue kept on coming up, scheduling and the social problem around it. By social problem, I simply mean how do we get people to play games, stay active in the league and actually finish leagues. As I said in a prior post, let’s say your friend needs to take off for two weeks. What happens to your league? Do you sim his/her game? Do you all wait? Do you remove him from the league? These sorts of issues plague the majority of leagues out there. This is why we created our flex scheduling. With an open schedule, games and leagues are much more apt to finish as they won’t get held up by unforeseen circumstances or scheduling problems. Additionally, it allows for smaller scale leagues in which all games will be head to head without having to play a dearth of CPU games.
This year, we created a quality online experience with trades, full player stat tracking, a draft, playoffs and a whole slew of administrative tools. For this year, our number one goal was to get this functionality in, and most importantly, stable and as bug free as possible, which we have done. We are always looking for feedback on what you all want to see and will most definitely consider your thoughts when deciding how to move forward with leagues, hence why we are on the boards interacting with our community.
There is a reason this thing isn’t called Online Franchise (and hasn’t been spoken or written of as such), and that’s because it doesn’t have certain elements that would make it a Franchise, such as a strict schedule, divisions/conferences and an off-season. These items aren’t in Madden NFL 09 and there isn’t a plan to add them this year.
Online leagues was meant to be a way for gamers to be able to play head to head against their friends or the public, track their stats and record and have a playoff system at the end to crown a champion. We have delivered on this."
The balls of this guy...to finish with "we have delivered" is insulting to me, as a football fan.
Calling it online leagues is a stretch of epic measure. It is an online round robin tournament. Yeah it has trades and a draft, but the way scheduling works is it's an online tournament.
However once you take the insulting attempt to pass this off as a league, I think the approach works. Honestly I can't think of many, maybe any leagues I have been in that finished because of the reasons he mentions and also because once people start losing they quit.
That's why I think NCAA Online Dynasty works, there is no concept of being out of it. You're building a program, it's just like the single player game but with a bunch of buddies playing with you and occasionally you have a head to head game.
Also less then 5% of people that play these games even use this feature to begin with so once again there will be a major amount of bitching from a small contingent of people.
So my conclusion wording used inexcusable, concept however sounds good to me. I know this will work perfectly for me and the 4 guys in the office who want to do something like this.
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I think it will still be fun but in smaller leagues. I can't imagine playing through a 31 game schedule so all those people who have been taking down names for their 32 team Madden leagues are SOL. I'm not sure why they are forcing the round robin format. That's the silly part. Then the 11 game option? What league will use that - a 2 man league? Both teams will make the playoffs so what is the point?
