Last-Gen Impressions Thread (360/PS3)

[Whaaaazuuuuup]

Gotta say... I'm loving madden 15 for xbox 360 right now. Much cleaner..smoother animations. Menus are much faster. New feature like Chew the Clock if you've got a big lead is a welcomed addition. Most importantly...All madden is not a cheat fest for the computer. They actually use their skills and the quarterbacks aren't as accurate! Only true down fall...yup...you guessed it...lack of penalties! Hopefully it can be patched. I was gonna get the xbox1 version but may hold off for now as the 360 version is very nice! More details to come...

[Whaaaazuuuuup]

In madden 25...Marshall Lynch would just put his head down and run over defenders on all madden. Not so this year!! He lowers his shoulders and makes contact. When he does...it slows him down and gives the other defenders a chance to take him down. Very nice to see!! Players cuts are smoother OL vs DL looks very nice interaction wise. Players shoving each et tryin to gain position. Presentation is very well done. Not perfect but gives more of a tv feel. And the wind in the kicking game makes for more of a challenge

[Whaaaazuuuuup]

Very nice seeing the bigger slower OL having difficulty handling the one on one match ups against the more athletic DE and OLB! Watching the animations are cool and nothing cheap such as an OL just standing straight up amd letting the defender go by him. He'll at least put an hand up and try shoving the defender as a last ditch effort

[DJG]

I'm tempted to buy the game for PS3. However I saw a post in the 360 thread about how the running back stats in CFM dip embarrassingly after a couple seasons. How are the sim stats in CFM beyond year one? If they are decent or even somewhat like M25 I might go get it.

[oneamongthefence]

The cpu running backs use all the moves. I DiD have a strange thing happen. Chris Johnson had 6 fumbles on 11 touches. They weren't even hit sticks.

[No Wayy Andre]

After getting a full day or so to play the game, I must say that it really does feel different from Madden 25. I really like Madden 15. As someone who struggled to find Madden 25 offline CFM challenging since All-Madden was too easy or too hard, I think M15 has it down.

Even though the CPU QB is dead accurate, I still never feel like it's unfair. It seems like the receivers are just getting open.

There are some things that proper sliders will fix, like the accuracy. I've also found that the CPU run game is hard to bring down, as opposed to in M25 when I shut them down more often than not.

User running game is definitely a lot tougher, which makes it more realistic IMO. No matter what sliders I used in M25, I could still run for over 200 yards if I felt like it.

I'd give Madden 15 a fair 8/10. It's a step up from Madden 25 for sure, and based on the limitations of last gen consoles, I think they did a good job at not making this game simply a roster update.

EDIT: Oh I almost forgot, the pass rushing on All-Madden is very difficult for me right now because I'm so used to using the stick to perform moves. I haven't gone into the skills trainer yet at all so maybe it'll just take time.

[Moor]

Thx for the impressions. I really wanted to buy Madden because the last one I actually bought was '12. I've barely played '13 and 25 at all and I do enjoy Madden. I've played all the other ones a ton but I just never got around to it the last couple years, plus I play 2K a lot, Gears of Wars 3, etc. I spend a ton of time with those 2. All the negative reviews of the 360 version talking about everything that was left out of the game, scared me away from a purchase. But this thread as intrigued me. I'm a big realism guy so the accuracy would definitely have to be turned down and the stats in CFM worry me......

[rudyjuly2]

Here are my early thoughts on the PS3 version.


Shaking off the disappointment of sticking with a PS3 game that is missing quite a few features of its PS4 counterpart, I rented the old game for two days to determine whether it was worth buying. My initial answer is yes with some concerns. I’m very rusty having not played a football video game in a few months. I also was very disappointed in M25 and quit that early and moved to NCAA 14. My biggest beefs with M25 were that it was too easy, the inside running game too powerful no matter what difficulty or sliders and the WR sideline awareness was atrocious. These are my impressions after only 4 games or so. I’ve done nothing other than Play Now games against the computer.

Graphics & Presentation – I personally think the graphics in this version are the best ever. The colours pop, the players look good and the physics engine seems pretty fine-tuned and smoothed out. The pre-game stadium looks and player tunnels along with stat overlays and commentary lead to good presentation imo. I still enjoy Simms and Nantz so I like the commentary. The replays could use more zoomed out looks but overall aren’t bad. The chain gang comes out occasionally as well. There is some stuttering between plays at times but it’s not too bad and only happens a couple times a game. The crowd could be louder imo. The halftime show isn’t bad but there is no commentary unlike the PS4 version.

I will say I like the Miami Dolphins TD song being in the game but for the second year in a row their “white” pants are off-white. This looks goofy for their all-white combination when the shirts are clearly brighter than the pants.

Passing Game – The inaccurate passes that EA promised must only exist on the PS4 because I don’t come close to seeing them at default. You have to lower the QB accuracy sliders to under 10 to start seeing some of this stuff. Even at 5 on All-Pro cpu Geno Smith was pinpoint accurate. When using Manziel one game with accuracy at 5 he was missing quite a bit so I liked that but I see no improvement in this area.

Sideline awareness does seem better than last year but I still see WRs going out of bounds on catches that most NFL WRs would make. They don’t even try to tip toe sometimes but I did see it. Overall while the cpu QB is overly accurate I was happy to see that on All-Pro they are no longer brain dead and can carve me up. MUCH better than in the past! Peyton Manning had a field day against me. Furthermore, the cpu does seem to get the ball to their better players. Peyton was hitting Welker a lot, Kaepernick was throwing to Vernon Davis and EJ Manuel to Sammy Watkins and Chandler. Maybe this was just a co-incidence but I think this area got improved. I also saw the cpu QB scramble and then throw the ball downfield instead of always just running. Nice. I like the smart routes and defend the sticks options now. The cpu does struggle against a pass rush and throwing the screen. It’s best to make sure the cpu pass block is high to avoid too many pick 6’s and sacks. I don’t know if there is enough separation between good and bad QBs but at least they can be successful on All-Pro.

There is no hurry up tempo available. Only Chew Clock is an option on the PS3. There seems to be more option routes this year as well.

Running Game – The cpu running game is pretty good. They find the holes and with sliders gave me trouble on All-Pro. The stiff arm is tough and Gore made me pay. I used a nice juke for a long TD run myself. The inside running game was WAY too easy last year to the point of being a money play on any difficulty. It’s quite a bit better this year but I still find the guards push the DTs back too consistently. Just lining up in a 2 TE formation of a 3 WR formation and those inside runs rarely lose yardage and consistently get a few yards when you want unless the cpu completely stacks the line.

The read option feels good to me. Not as easy as it was in NCAA 14 but I haven’t done a lot of it either.

Defense – They got rid of the r-stick moves on the DL. Now I have no clue what I’m doing with the buttons. I’m going to have to do the skills trainer because I’m lost lol. I don’t see the RE glitch anymore, ie the LE gets all the sacks while the RE gets nothing. Olivier Vernon got three sacks for me at RE (was not user controlling for most) when playing with the Dolphins.

I like the new tackle cone. The addition of some suction on tackles has helped me as well although I leapt off a block to make one crazy long lunge tackle. Only saw one goofy thing in over 4 games though.

Kicking – I don’t see the backswing meter on the PS3 version but I like seeing the new target indicator sway with the wind. I haven’t tried a lot of kicks but I hope it’s harder.

Penalties – I haven’t messed with these at all. In my first game I saw the cpu get an offensive pass interference. Other than that it’s largely been false starts against the cpu.

Missing Features I would have really liked: in-game saves, defensive camera (I do like the All-22 though), and War in the Trenches 2.0.

Overall – I’ve been having quite a bit of fun. Having given up on M25 early and with low expectations this game has been good. Just fixing certain things has made the overall product a lot better – namely making the game harder both for the user running game and boosting the cpu passing game. I still need more time but I will give it a thumbs up. I do hope that sliders and/or difficulty level changes can fix QB inaccuracies and ensure the inside user running game isn’t too good.