Madden NFL 13

[pk500]

Dan:

You are clairvoyant. You wrote almost exactly what I experienced after playing my first two games of this demo today.

I couldn't stop playing the NCAA demo. I've played two games of this demo, and I'm not dreaming of playing it again tonight.

My boys LOVE NCAA. So I'll may end up keeping that for a while and buying Madden later this fall.

NCAA 13 is a very high refinement of a proven, yet aging gameplay system. Madden 13 is the first crack at an all-new system, and it still needs a lot of spit and polish. I think I'm sticking with the polished, gleaming cubic zirconia instead of the rough, dull diamond -- at least for now.

[Aristo]

Ditto.

I deleted the Madden demo several days ago, and I don't miss it at all. I have been playing a lot of NCAA 13, though.

At some point, EA really needs to just get rid of the entire Madden development team and start new. I don't think I will ever appreciate their take on football. It's weird that NCAA has grown on me as much as it has. It's nowhere near as fun as the NFL 2K series, but it's actually pretty solid.

But Madden plays too fast, it's not smooth, and it seems to be designed to reward twitch gameplay.

As I said in my original impressions, it's not a bad game. There are just many current sports games that are better than it right now.

[Zeppo]

You guys are silly. I am really loving the madden demo. Now maybe it's got something to do with the fact that I can play the Redskins in it, but still, I think it's very fun. NCAA at this point has no draw for me anymore because at any time I feel like I can dial up an 85 yd TD on any 3rd and long and it just ruins the game for me. No appetite anymore to even start a game when I have that in the back of my mind. Has that issue bee resolved at all yet? With the madden demo however there is enough different from 12 for me to enjoy trying out different things. And by that I mean there is a lot that is different, not just a little thing here and there.

Admittedly I really enjoy madden. How many games did we get through in our franchise? So obviously I have a high tolerance for the game. And hey, who knows, maybe there will be a similar game breaking problem with the deep seam pass in Madden as there is in NCAA right now, I don't know. Also I'm not very confident that the AI will end up being anywhere near that exponential leap forward we really need it to be in order to provide a difficult and compelling challenge, but even so I do think just like I found with 12 it will still be fun in the online franchise environment to beat up on the CPU and there will still be those games where the CPU just finds a way to win and keeps you on your toes. I am fairly confident it will be better than last year enough so that those tough games happen more often.

And every time the new animation engine dials up some crazy bizarreness I laugh, just like I have with FIFA, so it's fun for me, not a problem area.

And I'm no expert on following all the details, but I'm pretty sure last year they did fire the entire madden dev team, or at least the bulk of the leaders, and changed the focus. It's unrealistic in the extreme to expect them to start from scratch anyway. Methinks you underestimate the amount of code required to make a sports game in these modern days.

[wco81]

NCAA at this point has no draw for me anymore because at any time I feel like I can dial up an 85 yd TD on any 3rd and long and it just ruins the game for me.

Things never change, I see.

You can say the college game is suppose to be more wide open but NCAA has always been more ridiculous this way.

[Aristo]

The second patch has improved the 85 yard bomb problem significantly. I just played a defensive struggle to win 16-13 over K-State with Kansas.

I will tell you that I roll with pass coverage set to 100 for both user and CPU, and INTs set to 40. I have more competively fun games with NCAA than i ever get out of Madden. It's not even close.

[pk500]

Zep:

Madden just feels like an unpolished, new engine with a lot of potential, because that's what it is.

I see crazier animations and more unrealistic tackles in the Madden 13 demo than I do in an NCAA 12 game. Patrick Willis stopping Ahmad Bradshaw dead on an Iso run up the middle with a two-arm shove, not even wrapping him up? Come on. But I see it. Plus the animations of Madden are much more herky-jerk. Add that to the excessive game speed, and the game runs in too much of a hyper-drive.

It is harder to pass in Madden than in NCAA, which is a plus. But I'm finding running in Madden to be much easier than in the past, even at higher skill levels. So I guess offense is a wash. I see a lot more dropped passes in Madden, which is good, too.

One huge plus in Madden over NCAA: Crowd noise. That's what a football game is supposed to sound like, not the Westminster Dog Show crowd disguised as a college football throng in NCAA.

I never get into extra modes and gadgets that much in sports games, but I'm really enjoying the Dynasty, Heisman and high school modes of NCAA much more than I ever thought. That's really swaying me toward NCAA this month, at least so far.

[Inuyasha]

I did an experiment. Try this :

Play Madden 13 Demo Sea at Skins.

Then Play Madden 12 Sea at Skins using the same Skins uniforms as in 13 demo.

Madden 12 is just so much more polished. Granted 13 is a demo, but even from the full game vids I'm seeing, i dont think it'll be a total package like 12 was.

At this point Madden for me is only for pickup games. I dont really do franchise. Maybe the old players mode will gain some interest in me for M13. But for what I am use to playing, I am perfectly happen with 12 and roster updates.

[Zeppo]

I did an experiment. Try this :

Play Madden 13 Demo Sea at Skins.

Then Play Madden 12 Sea at Skins using the same Skins uniforms as in 13 demo.

Madden 12 is just so much more polished. Granted 13 is a demo, but even from the full game vids I'm seeing, i dont think it'll be a total package like 12 was.

At this point Madden for me is only for pickup games. I dont really do franchise. Maybe the old players mode will gain some interest in me for M13. But for what I am use to playing, I am perfectly happen with 12 and roster updates.

Not sure what the point of the experiment is, but unfortunately the Redskins unis in the 13 demo do not exist in madden 12. They are newly designed uniforms celebrating the 80th year of the Redskins and include a completely unique helmet design made to resemble old leather helmets. There's nothing like them in madden 12.

[Danimal]

Not sure what the point of the experiment is, but unfortunately the Redskins unis in the 13 demo do not exist in madden 12. They are newly designed uniforms celebrating the 80th year of the Redskins and include a completely unique helmet design made to resemble old leather helmets. There's nothing like them in madden 12.

Oh Zep silly you for using facts in an argument

Game is growing on me more, I think the ST build is going to be more polished but lets face it to get physics done right it takes a few years at least.

[MizzouRah]

HAHA.. lots of varying opinions on here.

For now, I've been playing the Madden demo more than NCAA. It's probably because NCAA has been the same for years and although I love the new passing, I know what to expect from the game the moment I fire it up. It's still fun, but Madden feels fresh to me and the speed on normal feels perfect to me.

They need to fix that dark lighting issue though, I can't play SEA vs WAS for that reason alone.

[Inuyasha]

I did an experiment. Try this :

Play Madden 13 Demo Sea at Skins.

Then Play Madden 12 Sea at Skins using the same Skins uniforms as in 13 demo.

Madden 12 is just so much more polished. Granted 13 is a demo, but even from the full game vids I'm seeing, i dont think it'll be a total package like 12 was.

At this point Madden for me is only for pickup games. I dont really do franchise. Maybe the old players mode will gain some interest in me for M13. But for what I am use to playing, I am perfectly happen with 12 and roster updates.

Not sure what the point of the experiment is, but unfortunately the Redskins unis in the 13 demo do not exist in madden 12. They are newly designed uniforms celebrating the 80th year of the Redskins and include a completely unique helmet design made to resemble old leather helmets. There's nothing like them in madden 12.

Well there's one of their uniforms in 12 very similar to the 13 demo one. Just saying'

[pk500]

I had a fun game of Madden tonight between Seattle and Washington. I won as Seattle in OT, 16-10. I'm starting to see the nuances of the new engine and enjoy them a bit more.

Hell, maybe there will be room for two football games in our house soon. Madden 13 feels like a VERY different game than NCAA 13 this year. Definitely different takes on virtual pigskin.

Either I'm going blind or my plasma TV is different than others here, but I'm having no trouble distinguishing the Seahawks from the Redskins, and vice-versa, due to lighting.

[Danimal]

Funny Pk I just had a very fun game too. I think once you look passed the inevitable odd physics stuff the game is decent. I am hoping for more polish in a lot of areas in the ST build.

- Touch passing just seems off, in fact the QB seems to throw what he desires not what I am asking for. I never felt like this in the NCAA demo, ST or game.

- Corner routes to the end zone seem to work a lot more then they should but of course I am not taking into account match ups.

- Bad Defensive Lines get no pressure and I like that their are honest to goodness coverage sacks.

- Why on earth are the replays for reviews done in such great camera angles but the post play ones suck?

- Can anyone really notice a difference between normal speed and very slow?

- Still have yet to see a DPI call although I've seen blatant DPI in the game. At least the physics make DPI actually possible but why is it not being called?

This has potential if CCM delivers like I think it will.

[Pete1210]

Can anyone really notice a difference between normal speed and very slow?

I noticed a big difference. Very Slow was too slow for me. I set it on Slow and that seems OK.

[sportdan30]

I too notice a big difference between Normal speed and Very Slow. I actually also prefer Slow. Normal feels much too fast and the animations look bad.

The replay system is beyond horrid. I'd love to see the entire play from a more broadcast view. Who the frick cares to see the ball spiralling slowly throug the air? Or the QB dropping back.....

The lighting issue has been resolved according to those who have played the retail version.

Love the atmosphere in this year's game.

Really enjoy the running game.

Playing defense is actually kind of enjoyable......

[TCrouch]

Game is growing on me more, I think the ST build is going to be more polished but lets face it to get physics done right it takes a few years at least.

Reading your posts, they almost mirror my own. At first I was indifferent, but after a few more games I'm definitely looking forward to it. Some of the stuff I'm reading here is pretty funny.

[pk500]

How the hell do you change the game speed within the demo? That option is grayed out.

[TCrouch]

You can change everything once you get into the game. They gray out a ton of stuff in the main menu UI, but once you go into the game you can tweak everything. Turn off accelerated clock, change speed, player/cpu skill, etc.

[Rodster]

What does ST build stand for? Amazon must hate me. I've ordered and cancelled this game maybe 7 times already. I have a Andrew Luck code available if I don't buy the game.

[pk500]

You can change everything once you get into the game. They gray out a ton of stuff in the main menu UI, but once you go into the game you can tweak everything. Turn off accelerated clock, change speed, player/cpu skill, etc.

Thanks!

[vader29]

What does ST build stand for?

Season Ticket.

[Danimal]

Yeah but you can't change the cameras and I heard there is a zoomed in cam which is nice.

[Pete1210]

Connected Careers Manual:

http://vassets.ea.com/Assets/Resources/ ... Manual.pdf

[MizzouRah]

I would hope the replays in the retail version are from the LOS. I agree Dan, those slow mo replays stink unless it's for a challenge.

[Brando70]

I'm in a weird spot with this demo where, although I like it, I'm just not sure I want to buy the game. I think it comes down to the strategic AI.

When I play The Show, I would say about 80% of the time, I don't really notice I'm playing the computer. There are occasional boneheaded management/coaching moves, but most of the time, I'm just engrossed in the action. Likewise, the other game I played a lot this year, Front Office Football 2007, still has strong AI despite being five years old.

This version of Madden seems better, but there's still something very generic about playing the computer. The AI doesn't play to team strengths the way that it should. It often makes terrible play calls on both sides of the ball. I enjoy the mechanics of playing the game, especially running the ball, but the chess match aspect is just boring, and that's my favorite part of football.

So I really don't know. Despite being a longtime Madden player, there is something about the engine that is finally bugging me.