Madden 13 Demo: My Thoughts - EmmittSmithx22x's Blog

EmmittSmithx22x's Blog

Madden 13 Demo: My Thoughts

Posted on August 15, 2012 at 05:09 PM.

1) Can't stress this enough, its just a demo so we might not see the stuff we are seeing in this build.

2) Defense, Strengthened in Some Areas, Weaker in Others: Well... we asked for it...and EA answered! DB/WR Interactions are far better than Madden 12. In any type of jump ball situation that I have seen in the demo the DB makes an attempt to knock the ball loose. I have seen an Instance where the WR caught the pass but on his way down the DB knocked it loose! And that never happened in M12.

Zone Defenses; however, have been weakened. In Madden 12, Zone defenses weren't overpowered, but they were strong and this was in large part due to "Super Linebackers". Now that Super LB's are no longer in Madden 13, you will notice that it is far easier to complete passes into spots you previously couldn't. Not saying this is bad or good, but in general I feel like defenses are at a disadvantage this year. Which leads to my next point.

3)Defenses are at a disadvantage this year: QB's now have the ability to "Throw a WR Open" which does happen in real life from time to time. My main concern with this is, every time you try to lead a WR to space, he will automatically know where to go like he can read the QB's mind even if he doesn't make eye contact with the QB. For every amazing pass you see in the NFL were the WR and QB were perfectly in sync, you will see a pass get Intercepted because the QB and the WR weren't on the same page. "You shoulda zigged, instead of zagged." I'm not saying this is a bad edition, but there needs to be a risk/reward factor. Right now it seems more No-Risk/All-Reward.

4)Commentary....Better!: Nantz and Simms do a way better Job than Gus Johnson, In the demo there were 2 instances were Nantz made the incorrect call, but that's probably going to be fixed. Overall, they do an amazing job together and they have great chemistry.

5)Real Time Physics are REAL!: I can't tell you how happy I was to see Marshawn Lynch trip and fall over an offensive lineman that was laying on the ground. This would not happen in previous Maddens ever. Also, when he ran into his offensive line while they were standing up he stumbled just enough to slow him down for a tackle. In a previous Madden you could run into the back of your offensive line and lose no speed and no momentum, this time, doing so will result in you either falling down or losing momentum completely. Big kudos on this EA!

There were also some funny moments I saw where after a tackle occured and people were walking back to their respective huddles two players would collide and fall to the ground lifeless which was pretty hilarious if you ask me. I'm all for realism, so I could see if people would want this fixed, but it doesn't effect game play at all and its funny. We all need a good laugh from time to time

6)Pass Commit/ Run Commit: So they added a new feature where you can pass or run commit. Honestly, this feature is interesting.....but I don't think I will use it often. After using it in the demo I saw some stuff I didn't really like out of it. I can't quite put my finger on how to put it......something just seems off about this feature.... It doesn't feel natural.

7)Minor details: To me....when players are on defense they have a shadow on the front half of their bodies that is too dark. The Redskins/Seahawks game was being played in the middle of the day and I understand when a player is bending forward that less light will hit the front of his body, but pre-snap most of the seahawks looked like a team of shadow-men.

8) Last point I want to make. Again...it's just a demo. They may have spotted a problem that we have noticed and have started working on it. There are something that need to be tweaked and some things I think EA pulled off very well. Let's see what happens on release day!