My Madden NFL 13 Gameplan [Preface] - Joborule's Blog

Joborule's Blog

My Madden NFL 13 Gameplan [Preface]

Posted on September 29, 2011 at 10:22 PM.

Madden NFL 12 was a game that took steps in the right direction for the sim football gamer, while not alienating the general type. After Madden 11 provided to be underwhelming in feature set compare to Madden 10, Madden 12 is a game that packed a lot more punch. It re-established that the wheels are in motion to be the football game that you see on Sundays, which is what the community wants. Gameplay and presentation features, as well overdue attention given to the franchise mode were �True to the Game� and what we like to see. With that said though, it�s got a long road ahead of it since there are a lot of previous setbacks that has to be addressed if it�s going to become the game the football consumer wants it to be. The blemishes in the gameplay are a heavy anchor holding the game back, and although the presentation is vastly improved, it has a few hiccups and is still missing what a football game more than half a decade ago featured, on top of what hasn�t been in a football game yet. And franchise mode needs to be more than a one year focus if it�s going to get longer play time and appeal.

The biggest glaring flaw with the Madden series for what seems like eternity unfortunately is the lack of battle between players. In it�s current form it has glaring flaws and doesn�t have a sense of organicness. With how poorly it�s been implemented in years past, player interaction needs to be top priority for Madden 13, especially when you consider that one-on-one player engagement battles occurs on every single play in football. The line of scrimmage is the most important line for both sides of the ball since it dictates the success of a play. One player winning their battle against the other can result in a loss of yardage or a big play all within a split second. Madden should reflect just how important this is by giving it the improvements that it deserves.

We�ve seen countless times in Madden a defensive lineman get untouched at the line which ends up killing the momentum the drive had, all because of a mishap in blocking engagement animations. The blocker may have the right idea in who to block, but since the blocker and the defender were at an odd angle, they do not engage and the defender is able to run scott free. This HAS to be addressed this year considering it�s something that has been a problem for far too long and drives me and others up the wall. This is an addition to the game that will have a long life expectance compare to others since it addressed a major fundamental issue. Miss connected blocks due to animation mishaps is something that simply shouldn�t happen in a football game. If players missed blocks right in front of them like they do in Madden, their football careers would be over.

The offensive linemen/blocker should be the main focus on the engagement improvements, but the defensive side should get its fair share of attention as well in upgrades. Engagement animations for the either side of the ball still have a fairly ridged/stale feel and don�t feel �alive� as it should. Two players collide with intensity but the game doesn�t translate the volume of impact that well in my opinion. There�s room for improvement to make it more dynamic and loose while adding the �umph� and power to these collisions.

Another part of the game that hasn�t gotten what it should�ve had a long time ago revolves around man-on-man receiver/defensive back interaction. How does it look when a receiver and defender are running side by side, but there isn�t any jostling going on or any true battle for the ball that�s up in the air? There�s a complete lack of fight when battling for positioning and space which is heavily present in real life football. As a result, throwing the ball up for the receiver to make a play on the ball can be fairly uneventful in this game.

And where are the passing penalties? They�re fairly nonexistent in Madden. The lack of interaction is likely the cause, because the only way you can get interference is by tackling the player or running into them enough to bump them on their path to getting the ball. There�s no integration of jostling with one another and holding up the player arms or being too physical with the player. Outside of the bump and runs, there is no interaction with the players whatsoever down the field. That isn�t football. What if basketball games had no animations for defensive or offensive fouls? Those have an obvious presence in that sport, just like how pass interference does. The addition of Receiver/Defender interaction will not only improve the receivers and defender ability at playing the ball, but it should lead to the appearance of penalties that don�t occur yet a frequent in real life. Not only should pass interference should have a presence, but other receiver/defender penalties as defensive holding.

Madden is a football simulation, and it has made strides in the past few iterations in renewing its intentions of being one. However Madden can sure be far away from it in its present form due to the underwhelming implementation of some of the most important aspects of the game of football, player interaction being one of them. It�s crucial that player interaction at all points of the field is addressed accordingly in order for the game to progress to the expected potential the consumer wants from a premier football simulation. Improvements to linemen and receiver/defender interaction will be big steps in improving the gameplay since its effects will have impact on other parts of the game.

Presentation in the Madden series has never been it�s strong suit, which has been disappointing since football is a game where presentation has high importance due to the stop and go nature of the game. Baseball is another sport that has a slow pace, thus presentation is of higher importance then in other games. MLB The Show gets high appraisal not due to its gameplay alone, but from top notch effort at delivering a presentation experience that truly replicates the experience of a baseball fan watching the game. Attention to venue detail, capturing a realistic baseball atmosphere, and an authentic broadcast experience adds a whole new level to the game since the time between the next pitch or swing isn�t a dull experience.

Madden has made big strides this year in improving the presentation of the game, but it still has a way to go in capturing the emotion, the atmosphere, and the authenticity of the NFL experience. It doesn�t help that the miscues on some of the presentation features hurts the game since it kills the immersion factor which is what this is all about. The play-by-play in the game is atrocious to be quite blunt, and needs the most work. The commentators� lines do not match what actually is happening in the game quite often. It becomes very repetitive to quickly due to the lack of depth of insight and analyst, and the over emotion from the commentators is greatly misused.

The commentary needs to be rebuilt from ground up which the mindset of having a play-by-play inventory that has enough depth to make analytical comments based on what actually happen during the play, what is going on in the game (and throughout the season), limit the repetitiveness, and make use of emotion at appropriate times. Overall it should be dynamic and deep so it provides intelligence and insight to its audience. Make it seems like they�re actually watching the game. Aside from the commentary, that biggest priority for the presentation should be the atmosphere of the game (crowd noise/awareness is subpar) and broadcast presentation improvements such as improved pre-game/halftime/post-game shows, individual player highlight reels, better use of stats.

Franchise Mode gave itself a presence in the game once again this year, and hopefully that isn�t just a one off type of thing. Madden 14 shouldn�t be the next year it gets a lot of love again. That is a game mode that should continue to get a lot of attention year in, year out. Do that and Franchise Mode will be in a great place a few years down the road and will be getting play time that doesn�t get stale quickly. This year a lot of the features where based on the individual players with the dynamic player performances and new free agent signing system. For Madden 13, Franchise Mode focus should be more team based and based around the day-to-day activities.

The days in-between the last game and the next game are of high importance and have a lot going on since it�s all about improving your team from the last performance, and preparing them for the next game. This has never been much of the case in Madden�s history although it�s what takes up the majority of the time of a season. Madden 13 Franchise Mode main priority should be about weekly preparation. Implement team practices, manage individual players� tasks, and procedures taken in establishing a gameplan so the team can perform their best for Sunday. Design focus should also consider improvements in presentation and integrating the media more since the NFL is a league that gets a lot of media attention. NFL Draft should feel more of an event. Free Agency should generate more buzz. And week by week the media overlooks previous games, storylines, and a preview on the upcoming matchups. It would be like blending Madden 2005 and Madden 10 Franchise Mode together and building from there. This would add more life to the game mode and make it more than task based.

Stay tuned for upcoming articles going into more detail of what I wish to see in Madden NFL 13. Thanks for reading!

Comments

# 1 newefan @ Sep 29

i agree but ,i think alot of this could be done in madden 13 . considering that cam webber doubled the core game play team for both madden and ncaa . as far as presentation gos mike young needs to look at this and other fourms for ideas but i think he will do a good job . the crowd seems lifeless no matter if it's a reg season game or playoff thats just 1 of the things that bugs me because it's got to be pretty easy .