Madden NFL 13

[TCrouch]

I don't fast sim by choice. It's forced on you in CCM-player.

Yes, I know this. I only responded to you because of the point on not getting in the game unless there's an injury or a play design, and the question about poor play. The rest of it wasn't directed at you at all, but more of an observation I've been meaning to put out there for years but never did.

[JRod]

I don't fast sim by choice. It's forced on you in CCM-player.

Yes, I know this. I only responded to you because of the point on not getting in the game unless there's an injury or a play design, and the question about poor play. The rest of it wasn't directed at you at all, but more of an observation I've been meaning to put out there for years but never did.

Got ya. Ya it's been my frustration with Madden. For me it makes CCM-player pointless. And takes a huge swipe at CCM for me. I was really looking forward to "doing something else" when I got bored with playing a certain team or player. But I don't feel like putting in the work if the mechanics are off like this.

It's a small thing but that's football and something fun about watching and playing football.

[MizzouRah]

I think Pasta is a little biased towards EA myself, so his faults with the game have me concerned.

What exactly were his faults? I tried reading from his site but it is just a jumbled mess of impressions.

Every team feels the same, horrible AI late game play calling. CCM while the best franchise mode ever, has some really goofy things. Preseason means nothing.. etc..

He was positive about many things too.. basically overall, it needs another year - something I've heard every release. I don't play online and would only play as a coach playing all of my games, so I'm sure you guys will have more impressions for me to read over.

[sportdan30]

While I enjoy this game more than any next gen Madden I've played, it's hard to recommend if you're only going to be playing single player, like myself. There's so much to like about it, but until late game management is remedied, it's buyer beware for the 1P player.

Regarding the instance where each teams plays similar, I do and don't agree. The CPU definitely rusn more than they should, but I don't find it excessive. I read however that adjusting the pass reaction slider will resolve this problem. I haven't tried it, but some guy who is putting together sliders discovered this.

[fsquid]

maybe the AI clock management is resolved in the patch that was announced?

[dbdynsty25]

maybe the AI clock management is resolved in the patch that was announced?

The clock management issue that has been around since 1990? Highly doubtful it was patched this week.

[Danimal]

Honestly as DB said the AI management has been like this forever. I don't really see it being any worse this year then past years. That's not an excuse but if you lived with it in past years this year should be no different.

I advise you also to stay away from OS it will suck the fun out of any game released.

[MizzouRah]

While I enjoy this game more than any next gen Madden I've played, it's hard to recommend if you're only going to be playing single player, like myself. There's so much to like about it, but until late game management is remedied, it's buyer beware for the 1P player.

Regarding the instance where each teams plays similar, I do and don't agree. The CPU definitely rusn more than they should, but I don't find it excessive. I read however that adjusting the pass reaction slider will resolve this problem. I haven't tried it, but some guy who is putting together sliders discovered this.

Thanks.

I'm sure some things will be improved over the next month or so.. the Madden team has been really responsive to some of the initial issues. It still kills me how both NCAA and Madden (and NHL last couple of versions) have little to no penalties called without having to up the sliders.

Why can't games play half way realistic "out of the box" ?

To me it seems simple, slider all the way down, no penalties, slider all the way up many penalties.. slider in the middle, about a normal amount.

[sportdan30]

I'm not trying to be a downer on the game. You know a game is good when you can't wait to play it when you get home from work. However, it's frustrating that they're so close on this great game but the CPU intelligence is so incredibly suspect.

I do my best to steer clear of OS especially when I like a game. My curiosity got the best of me when on two ocassions, the CPU made a ridiculous play calling decision. Example one. A the end of the half when they could have kicked a 43 yard field goal, they instead ran the clock out. Second example. They had a chance to win the game with 1:30 on the clock and the score tied. They were just past midfield and they elected to conservatively run the ball three times in a row. That game went in to overtime. It would have been a heck of a lot more exciting to see them attempt to get in to field goal range.

I read similar examples over at OS. If you're strictly an online gamer and play the ocassional single play now feature, it's a definite recommend. If you're someone like myself who prefers 1P over 2P, and you've seen other games such as Fifa, NHL, MLB The Show, NBA 2K12, have superior intelligence then this game can be defalting for some.

[Danimal]

Without a doubt some crap like that can pull you immediately out of the immersion and as usual my main playing preference will be Online Franchise. The addition of real free agency and sliders will make that experience more rewarding. But I lost the ability to do a lot of things I like. For example there is no coach mode in CCM, I also can't play any team game in CCM.

One of my favorite things to do was create a franchise and play a game or two each week of different teams in coach mode. Can't do it this year and it kind of sucks but I'm choosing to look at the positives of which there are a lot IMO.

Should Madden be farther along then where it is now? Without a doubt it should but I can't change that so I will play what's in front of me. With CCM and the IE engine warts and all I still think it's the best football game every made. Could it of been great out of the box...YES. Instead it's really good with a lot of little issues that pile up into big issues if they are killers for you.

Waiting for a few patches is not such a bad idea for most but for me I'm all in right now. Like Dan just said I can't wait to play my next game, especially as my CCM RB Ray Rice.

[TCrouch]

It still kills me how both NCAA and Madden (and NHL last couple of versions) have little to no penalties called without having to up the sliders.

Why can't games play half way realistic "out of the box" ?

To me it seems simple, slider all the way down, no penalties, slider all the way up many penalties.. slider in the middle, about a normal amount.

You'll never get your wish. I recall a previous interview where they mentioned the "tournament crowd" is who they catered to. They want the twitch control, they do not want the penalties to throw off their game, realistic or not. So that's what the defaults do for online ranked play. My opinion is sort of like yours: on the defaults, it should give me around 5 penalties per game per team in a nice variety. Teams like the Raiders should rack up 8 to 12 per game on defaults.

But they will never do that. It will always require tweaking. What trips me out is I race roughing the passer 3 clicks and I'm seeing 2 or 3 per drive. I drop it down to 52 and I don't see any. I do enjoy the occasional holding call or false start in a drive though!

[pk500]

Regarding the instance where each teams plays similar, I do and don't agree. The CPU definitely rusn more than they should, but I don't find it excessive. I read however that adjusting the pass reaction slider will resolve this problem. I haven't tried it, but some guy who is putting together sliders discovered this.

I think the NCAA franchise creates a very unrealistic expectation for offensive variety in Madden. There's far greater offensive variety in college football than the pros -- that's nothing new. So NCAA and Madden re-create that very well.

What does Pasta want? The Seahawks to run a wing-T, wishbone or triple option? Sorry, that doesn't happen in the NFL.

[TCrouch]

Waiting for a few patches is not such a bad idea for most but for me I'm all in right now. Like Dan just said I can't wait to play my next game, especially as my CCM RB Ray Rice.

Then get to it, already!!!

Oh, that's right, you did. Now I'm stuck waiting to get off of work so I can get my next game in as De Murray...

[pk500]

I advise you also to stay away from OS it will suck the fun out of any game released.

Truth. It's a game, not a political platform to be sliced, diced and pureed. If some of the morons at OS spent half as much time on their schoolwork as they did dissecting sports game faults, they'd all receive Rhodes Scholarships.

[sportdan30]

Nice and fair assessment Danimal. I'm not one to live in the past and long for NFL 2K5. I love the gameplay of the Madden 13. To the point I am still very much interested in purchasing it tomorrow. If I don't get lucky and find myself a copy at Block Buster on my game pass (fyi, they always keep the online pass in the rental box) tomorrow, then more than likely I will succumb to the excitement and buy it at TRU.

I do hold out hope that this fairly significant annoyance can be resolved by a patch. When the minority screams enough to sound like the majority, generally it seems the developers at least try to make them happy. We'll see. I do envy those of you online gamers!

[pk500]

I read similar examples over at OS. If you're strictly an online gamer and play the ocassional single play now feature, it's a definite recommend. If you're someone like myself who prefers 1P over 2P, and you've seen other games such as Fifa, NHL, MLB The Show, NBA 2K12, have superior intelligence then this game can be defalting for some.

Sorry, but FIFA 12 and NHL 12 have worse positional AI for their respective sports than the Madden 13 demo does for football in single-player games. It's not even close.

The single-player AI in FIFA 12 and NHL 12 suck. That's why I was so pleasantly surprised at the AI improvements in the NHL 13 demo, which quickly turned that game from an "avoid like genital warts" title to a release day purchase. I'm hoping for the same from FIFA, but it's going to take a lot for that game to top the PES 2013 demo.

[pk500]

I do hold out hope that this fairly significant annoyance can be resolved by a patch. When the minority screams enough to sound like the majority, generally it seems the developers at least try to make them happy. We'll see. I do envy those of you online gamers!

Yep. But at least we get patches. All of us here remember the days of "What You Bought Was What You Got." Those were the true dark days of sports gaming, especially if a game was shipped with tons of flaws.

[MizzouRah]

I'm not trying to be a downer on the game. You know a game is good when you can't wait to play it when you get home from work. However, it's frustrating that they're so close on this great game but the CPU intelligence is so incredibly suspect.

I do my best to steer clear of OS especially when I like a game. My curiosity got the best of me when on two ocassions, the CPU made a ridiculous play calling decision. Example one. A the end of the half when they could have kicked a 43 yard field goal, they instead ran the clock out. Second example. They had a chance to win the game with 1:30 on the clock and the score tied. They were just past midfield and they elected to conservatively run the ball three times in a row. That game went in to overtime. It would have been a heck of a lot more exciting to see them attempt to get in to field goal range.

I read similar examples over at OS. If you're strictly an online gamer and play the ocassional single play now feature, it's a definite recommend. If you're someone like myself who prefers 1P over 2P, and you've seen other games such as Fifa, NHL, MLB The Show, NBA 2K12, have superior intelligence then this game can be defalting for some.

You are not a downer.. but you play the same way I do, so I'm wondering after the initial "newness" wears off for you, will you still be playing your 1p CCM past one season? If so, I just might have to pick it up. If not, I've saved $$$ I can use elsewhere.

Heck, with hockey coming soon, I probably won't get much time with Madden anyway... but who knows how good that game is going to be.

Lots of good things from Madden when I played the demo, I just want the CPU AI to be smarter than what it appears to be at the moment. The new engine is much better!

[pk500]

What is the consensus on most realistic game speed? Slow?

[TCrouch]

For me, I use Normal. But my joystick jockey skills are a bit out of whack, so take that with a grain of salt. I tried dropping it to slow, but it made the rushing lanes too big and the passes way too easy to intercept or catch for huge gains (19 catches for 290 yards and 3 TDs with Fitzgerald in a Cardinals game test).

[sportdan30]

Todd,

Are you referring to the Connected Career? If so, I don't necessarily know if I'll really get involved with that or not. Honestly, I haven't tried it yet. I do want to check it out. I've only thus far played "play now" games. I'd like to play a 16 game season if at all possible, but am reluctant to do that just yet because of what I have experienced.

Truth be told, if I can find a copy at BB, I'll hold on to the game for a couple months (32 dollar value) and more than likely will be playing NHL, Fifa, and NBA 2k13 more so in two months. But I say that mainly because I've never played a Madden game in recent years that has hooked me. This one has for sure, but if my main issue isn't corrected, then all the game is good for is when a friend comes over to play. And that's not worth it IMO.

Last night I went against everything I stand for and played a non Rams game. Saints vs Eagles. Great great game and didn't experience any CPU foolishness. Then again, it didn't call for any as the game played out as it should. It's just a shame that a poorly called game by the CPU can really play with your emotions when you experience one that I did last night. Right now, I love the game far more than I hate it, but it's not complete unfortunately.

[sportdan30]

What is the consensus on most realistic game speed? Slow?

Definitely slow. It's the happy balance in my opinion. Normal is too herky jerky and Very Slow is too quick sand like. But each person has their own prerence. I've never heard one person say they enjoy playing on very fast!

[FifaInspected]

here's my simple question. Is it a better on the field than last year? Worth a $60.00 buy if I still have and enjoy 12?

[TCrouch]

If you enjoyed 12, it will be a revelation. The passing game alone is leaps and bounds better. I still throw a ton of picks because I'm forcing plays down the field, but when I start a game and focus on playing smart, taking my checkdowns and throwing the ball away, it definitely suspends disbelief a lot better than in 12.

Some of the animations with the Infinity Engine are strange, but the first time you see a receiver go up for a ball and a defender graze him, knocking him out of his catch animation, you realize how different it is. Or a RB that gets hit, and as he is about to fall, a second defender tags him back upright and he stumbles for a second, then gets north and south again. Or how incredibly tough it is to defend a 6'5" receiver like Calvin Johnson who just outleaps your smaller corners. I swear I tried everything but each catch he just boxed out my 2 guys and caught the leap ball. But it wasn't money every time, either. You can get a hand up and pull his arms apart...it's just very tough.

Bottom line, there's enough good if you enjoyed 12 to make it feel like a whole new game. I didn't even cover commentary and presentation. That's like 10 times better. But people who enjoyed 12 (of which we're probably in the extreme minority), 13 is a freaking blast...simply because it still gives me that "anything can happen" on every single play.

[XXXIV]

Bottom line, there's enough good if you enjoyed 12 to make it feel like a whole new game. I didn't even cover commentary and presentation. That's like 10 times better. But people who enjoyed 12 (of which we're probably in the extreme minority), 13 is a freaking blast...simply because it still gives me that "anything can happen" on every single play.

An issue or two aside, as one of those who played maybe too much M12, I have to admit I am pretty psyched about getting the actual game tomorrow.

Its been far too long since my last beating at the hands of a TC.