Madden 09 gameplay video

seanmac31 · Post by **seanmac31** » Fri May 02, 2008 12:03 pm

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Fri May 02, 2008 12:11 pm

About the main interaction you see is swim moves at the line and at the corners. Sometimes you see cut blocks by TEs or FBs motioned and hot-blocked to pass protect.

Too many jailbreaks up the middle but you see that in the real games too.

EA will never get rid of suction-blocking.

If they had Online Team Play, they might actually be able to develop blocking moves (not the lead blocking thing they did a couple of years ago which didn't work at all) for human-controlled linemen that actually works.

spooky157 · Post by **spooky157** » Fri May 02, 2008 2:53 pm

I like the new lighting and the field textures look pretty good to me. The safeties still take terrible angles to the ball carrier and give up way too many big plays like the one Moss had in the video. And what was up with that shaky camera as Moss was going into the end zone? I hope they take that out cause it's as hokey as the shotgun blast on deep passes.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri May 02, 2008 3:50 pm

Well that looked a lot better, especially in HD at game trailers. I really doubt however that people who don't like Madden will enjoy this game. While I did notice some little things: OL sliding to chip a blitzing LB, safeties standing pre-snap like safeties. In the end it is going to play pretty much the same.

Madden is never going to be about realistic football, the Madden challenge has pretty much put an end to that ever happening.

I did notice I can actually see how many time out each team has left, wonder if that will be listed as one of the 85 new features

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Tue May 13, 2008 6:21 pm

Danimal wrote:I did notice I can actually see how many time out each team has left, wonder if that will be listed as one of the 85 new features

Sounds like "in-game saves" is not one of those 85 new features...but a "mulligan" feature is. Seriously, what kind of idiots do they have making these decisions at Tiburon? Pisses me off to no end.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Tue May 13, 2008 7:48 pm

GTHobbes wrote:
Danimal wrote:I did notice I can actually see how many time out each team has left, wonder if that will be listed as one of the 85 new features
Sounds like "in-game saves" is not one of those 85 new features...but a "mulligan" feature is. Seriously, what kind of idiots do they have making these decisions at Tiburon? Pisses me off to no end.

While I agree that it is an absolutely useless feature, as is the training hologram I can see how that decision was made.

Some suit somewhere figured they had reached their ceiling in capturing football fans, so they decided to increase sales the option would be to make the game easier for non-sports gamers etc.

I think it is an absurd strategy, kind of on par with the Bears paying a place kicker who can't hit a 50 yard field goal 4 million dollars, but what can you do.

You should do yourself a favor GT and watch the HC video at OS and look into that, I have a feeling it's going to be good.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Wed May 14, 2008 3:14 pm

Smart move to show a fumble in a game that had serious butterfingers last year....

I'm not normally one to jump to conclusions based on a couple of videos, but I see very little here that looks improved from last year. Playbooks are still full of musty old Genesis-era plays. The pursuit angles continue to contribute to too many big plays. More dropback nonsense.

After playing NBA 2k8 and The Show, my bar for what I'll except for next gen sports has been raised beyond what Madden can provide.

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Wed May 14, 2008 4:07 pm

Brando70 wrote:
After playing NBA 2k8 and The Show, my bar for what I'll except for next gen sports has been raised beyond what Madden can provide.

DING! DING! DING! DING! We have a winner!

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Wed May 14, 2008 5:06 pm

Inuyasha wrote:
Brando70 wrote:
After playing NBA 2k8 and The Show, my bar for what I'll except for next gen sports has been raised beyond what Madden can provide.

DING! DING! DING! DING! We have a winner!

I like the Show alot but Im a glutton for more EA punishment.

I am looking forward to both NCAA and Madden 09 as I was a fan of both 07's and 08's.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Wed May 14, 2008 5:43 pm

I skipped NCAA last year and also played very little of 07, so I might pick that up if I need a football fix. I also intend to give Head Coach a try if they release a demo. The first one had enough good ideas and potential for fun that I am intrigued if they can make something playable.

But I played a fair amount of Madden 08 (probably 30-40 games) and damned if I can tell any difference in the gameplay here. The graphics look a little sharper, the secondary looks like a secondary the way Danimal pointed out, and the play interface is kind of sharp. Gameplay, though, looks the same. Even that fumble in seanmac's video was that sort of bogus Madden fumble, where a receiver looks like he may not have had possession before losing the ball. That's the kind of play that almost always gets challenged, but last year there were no CPU challenges.

I want a sports game to be fun, immersive, and challenging. I can forgo some realism if those three things are met. I still find Madden challenging, but the fun factor went out the window for me as soon as it hit this generation. I really want to get excited about the game. I just can't any more.

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Wed May 14, 2008 6:26 pm

I actually did enjoy madden last year, but it only lasted like 2-3 weeks before the game got really tired and boring.

NCAA I tried last year and I did not like it at all. What the hell happened to this series! I remember back on the ps2 / xbox days, NCAA was like the 'fun' football game where almost yearly it was more fun to play than madden was. But now, it's like a 2nd rate football game where it feels like EA doesn't really want to do much with but put it out there so they can say they're using the license.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Wed May 14, 2008 6:36 pm

If you're an NFL fan and a gamer and especially if you want something other than the shooters which dominate this generation, where else can you turn to?

I've been playing a lot more of NHL 08 the past several months. Wary of EA's complacent approach to the only NFL game out there.

Yet I'll probably get drawn in by the hype as the release date approaches and training camps open up.

But maybe I wait a couple of weeks after release to see how it's holding up, unless I find a promotional price.

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Wed May 14, 2008 6:41 pm

Too bad they can't give Madden to the guys who made NHL08.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Wed May 14, 2008 7:10 pm

Inuyasha wrote:Too bad they can't give Madden to the guys who made NHL08.

True dat, or the FIFA team.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Wed May 14, 2008 7:14 pm

Brando70 wrote:
and damned if I can tell any difference in the gameplay here. Gameplay, though, looks the same. Even that fumble in seanmac's video was that sort of bogus Madden fumble, where a receiver looks like he may not have had possession before losing the ball. That's the kind of play that almost always gets challenged, but last year there were no CPU challenges.

That's because it is the same F-in game and the reason why I skipped NCAA 08 and Madden 08. I may do the same for '09 if I get that been there done that feeling when I play the demos.

Sport73 · Post by **Sport73** » Thu May 15, 2008 11:12 pm

Is this supposed to sell me on the game?

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/34024.html

Makes me want BackBreaker more. The tackles in this look scripted, and the physics of the models interacting seem to have no 'weight'. Add the ridiculous tackle-breaking and robotic looking side-step and I'm less than enthused.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Fri May 16, 2008 12:20 am

At least it's not truck stick moves galore.

Madden has never made much sense physics-wise -- too many CBs putting down bigger RBs with over-the-top killshot hits.

They just want to showcase flashy mocap animations.

But I wonder if Backbreaker will employ something like inverse kinematics to produce more lifelike animations or have its own set of over-the-top hits.

Of if their first attempt will be more of a tech demo than a game, since they were more interested in licensing their technology to others than developing a game on their own.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Mon May 19, 2008 11:00 am

Good to see Tiburon wasting time on the "Madden Mulligan" instead of working on things like improved OL/DL interaction or having more than 1 playable camera angle. Bastards.

http://www.gamestop.com/gs/blog/#maddenRewind

TRI · Post by **TRI** » Thu May 22, 2008 1:38 am

I gave up on Madden years ago. It will never be a good game again because the engine is too old and they cannot do much to improve even if they try . They have to scrap everything and start over. It is a tired franchise.

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Thu May 22, 2008 2:19 am

GTHobbes wrote:Good to see Tiburon wasting time on the "Madden Mulligan" instead of working on things like improved OL/DL interaction or having more than 1 playable camera angle. Bastards.

http://www.gamestop.com/gs/blog/#maddenRewind

Madden Mulligan will be huge amongst the Madden Nation crowd. That's the only reason they created that mode. Maybe you'll get scores into the 80s now.

seanmac31 · Post by **seanmac31** » Thu May 22, 2008 2:23 am

More video.

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Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu May 22, 2008 10:41 am

The Mulligan feature has turned me off to this game. If they were serious about making this game more realistic they could have worked on so many other things. But they didn't and i'll be sticking with Madden 07 (360) for another year and Madden 08 for the PC. Hopefully we'll get a 2008 season mod although that's a stretch right now.

Oh and I hate to put more cold water on this turd but the commentary is not that much better than the much hated radio guy. Both announcers sound robotic.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Thu May 22, 2008 10:58 am

Oh no, an option that makes the game more accessible!!! It can be turned off, isn't available in ranked matches, and is completely up to the player to use. Do you realize how many people still reset games if they're losing to the CPU?

Am I going to use it? Probably not. Will I play online dynasties in NCAA? No, but that doesn't mean I'd rather have refs on the field. These are mass-market games and they will have feature sets designed to cater to different markets. Making sports games less accessible is the last thing developers need to do.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu May 22, 2008 11:05 am

I see what your saying but my point is the game has more needs than the Mulligan feature. Like you said how about refs on the field, nice looking sidelines rather than all the players clapping in unison. That's just the presentation side of things. God knows the gameplay stuff needs more attention.

seanmac31 · Post by **seanmac31** » Thu May 22, 2008 11:18 am

Collinsworth sounds okay, but the play-by-play is weak. And I can't believe they wasted man hours on that Rewind feature. Not really the sort of thing that is going to convince me EA is closing the gap with APF.