Madden NFL 11 News Post

Madden NFL 11 Hands-On Impressions (Destructoid)

09:08 AM - April 26, 2010 by Steve_OS

Destructoid has posted their hands-on impressions of Madden NFL 11.

Quote:


	"In designing GameFlow, Tiburon looked at NFL game film from the 2009 season to determine each team�s playcalling tendencies. From that data, they created a bank of plays for each offensive situation you might find yourself in. Say you�re playing as the Colts, and it�s 1st-and-10. If you hit A/X to use GameFlow, the computer will pick from a selection of plays that the Colts actually tended to run on 1st-and-10 last year. Of course, if you�re scoffing as you read this, fear not: you can always press X (square on PS3) to delve into your full playbook, just like the old days. But Madden 11 even takes the extra step of encouraging old-school playcallers to use GameFlow by including a complementary �gameplanning� setup. If you shudder to think of the CPU picking a play for you, then you can go in and customize the banks of plays yourself, so GameFlow will be choosing from your list of plays. For example, if you decide that you don�t like what the Giants called on third-and-short in 2009, then you can set one to fifteen plays that you want GameFlow to pick from in that situation. Since you�re likely to have preferences among that list of plays, gameplanning includes an iTunes-style five-star weighting system -- a play with a 4.5-star rating will be chosen much more often than one with two stars. The same setup applies for defense, only the situations correspond to the formation in which the offense is lined up instead of a particular down and yardage. Best of all, you can use your gameplan online."

Madden NFL 11: Satisfying the hardcore and casual markets

Game: Madden NFL 11Reader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 96 - View All

Madden NFL 11 Videos

Member Comments

# 21 Valdarez @ 04/26/10 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by streamline


	It is possible that the game was played on rookie mode or even pro mode which could explain why the blocking looked so bad

Possible, but usually that affects their effectiveness, not the logic the players employ.

# 22 ABR173rd @ 04/26/10 04:54 PM

So no hands on for franchise? I am still wondering if the ability to change teams during a franchise will be implemented in offline franchise??

# 23 T3B0W @ 04/26/10 05:03 PM

Quote:


	GameFlow is a big risk -- as Cummings noted, �It�s kind of a radical change.� That�s the type of iteration that keeps a long-running franchise fresh and at the top of its game, and Tiburon looks to be doing it right

.

100% agree with the closing paragraph as quoted above. Gameflow is a risk, it will go one of two ways with the hardcore Madden gamer - it will sink or swim. No in between. I personally look forward to this feature and believe the developers are on to a winner.

Nice preview read.

# 24 Valdarez @ 04/26/10 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T3B0W


	. 100% agree with the closing paragraph as quoted above. Gameflow is a risk, it will go one of two ways with the hardcore Madden gamer - it will sink or swim. No in between. I personally look forward to this feature and believe the developers are on to a winner. Nice preview read.

One thing the Wii has shown us is that the casual gamers far outnumber the hardcore gamers. This release appears to be catering to both casual and hardcore (Gameflow / locomotion).

# 25 roadman @ 04/26/10 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valdarez


	One thing the Wii has shown us is that the casual gamers far outnumber the hardcore gamers. This release appears to be catering to both casual and hardcore (Gameflow / locomotion).

It remains to be seen, but Gameflow could fall under the hardcore gamer as well, even though you don't see it that way at this time.

# 26 huskerwr38 @ 04/26/10 05:43 PM

I feel like gameflow can be utilized by the hardcore gamers. Here's how I plan to use it, if the play they pick is about the same play I would pick then I will go with it, if not, then I will just pick the play myself. Overall, I'm very happy with the reviews.

However, I really really hope they fixed the passing game such as ball trajectory, psychic DBs, high flying LBs, etc..

# 27 at23steelers @ 04/26/10 06:01 PM

I was kind of confused on the star rating. Does it mean I rate the plays myself, so I don't have to remember if it worked or not the last time I tried it, or does the CPU rate it, depending on the success rate?

# 28 T3B0W @ 04/26/10 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valdarez


	One thing the Wii has shown us is that the casual gamers far outnumber the hardcore gamers. This release appears to be catering to both casual and hardcore (Gameflow / locomotion).

True. It's will be interesting to see if the developers can find the right balance and not risk losing one or the other.

# 29 SamitSarkar @ 04/26/10 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Legend Killer


	So in other words they are trying to make kicking more interesting this year. It's going to be interesting to see how it will turn out. Now lets see if people complain about the new system when they play it. Time will tell if people will love it are hate it.

It's funny you mention that. I asked Ian about why they changed it, and it's not about trying to make kicking "more interesting" or anything like that. He explained that apparently, a decent amount of people couldn't figure out how to get the old kicking meter started -- like, even though it says "R" on it for the right stick, they'd just keep hitting X (A on 360), which would only bring up and put away the "help" menu. Man, what a funny mental image.

# 30 SamitSarkar @ 04/26/10 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valdarez


	The gameplay videos sure don't show it's been fixed.

From what they told me, they're still working on the blocking AI, and any videos that they've shown so far are from really early builds where the blocking AI is either a work-in-progress or not yet implemented at all.

# 31 SamitSarkar @ 04/26/10 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AirborneRanger1


	So no hands on for franchise? I am still wondering if the ability to change teams during a franchise will be implemented in offline franchise??

At this (admittedly early) press event, they weren't talking about game modes (superstar, franchise, etc.) or online play at all -- they were focusing strictly on gameplay. I imagine we'll hear a lot more of that stuff as we get closer to E3 (remember, that's when they announced online franchise last year).

# 32 SamitSarkar @ 04/26/10 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by at23steelers


	I was kind of confused on the star rating. Does it mean I rate the plays myself, so I don't have to remember if it worked or not the last time I tried it, or does the CPU rate it, depending on the success rate?

If you go in and edit a team's playbook, each play will already have its own weight (from 0.5 stars to 5 stars). But you can change the weighting on any play yourself, so if you see a play that you like on, say, 3rd-and-long, and you want it to come up more often when you use GameFlow in that situation, you can just hit RT/R2 on the play to increase the weighting.

And if you're creating a gameplan from scratch, you set the star ratings yourself. (And I guess that if you don't bother to change the weightings, each play will have an equal probability of being chosen by GameFlow.)

# 33 Valdarez @ 04/26/10 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamitSarkar


	From what they told me, they're still working on the blocking AI, and any videos that they've shown so far are from really early builds where the blocking AI is either a work-in-progress or not yet implemented at all.

Good deal, means there's a chance for improvement.

# 34 Valdarez @ 04/26/10 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SA1NT401


	I think it will be a nice OPTION overall....LOVE LOVE LOVE that there is a new kicking mechanic...Got sick of making 98% of every FG i ever attempted.

The new kicking mechanic doesn't mean you won't still do the same, or that it's tuned properly to make kicking more challenging. If they wanted to change kicking, they should have started with tuning their existing system so the accuracy had more impact instead of adding a button based kicking mechanism. In other words the mechanism wasn't the problem, it was the tuning, and a new mechanism doesn't mean the tuning problem has been solved.

# 35 canes21 @ 04/26/10 07:39 PM

Good preview. I usually play sim and I am not in the minority of Madden gamers. I used more than 13 plays a game for sure. But, I definitely want to try the GameFlow feature out. I can't wait to make my own gameplan for each team and see how it works out. Also, since they have all this information and authentic playbooks for the teams, I am assuming it also means the CPU will have 32 different ways to win like NCAA's 120 ways to win?

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