Kodos
08-13-2007, 09:45 AM
Took this from operation sports. Sounds like online is ass, but singleplayer is the best in years (not saying much, I realize).
http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=216117
First and foremost I would like to thank Rac, M.J., D.Ortiz, I.Cummings, A.White, D-Cas, VJ, R.Moye, and all parties involved at EA for their hospitality at the studio during our stay. I spent a ton of time talking to with the faces and personalities behind those names written above. There was so much information exchange at community day talking to them. That I will do another article that just focuses on the time I spent talking to the producers and what’s on the drawing board for Madden 09.
Hmmm where do I begin well how about “this is the best Madden ever made” period! You can quote me on that, some of you won’t feel the same way I do so to each his own. Just play the game for yourself and hopefully you will see why I and all the other community leaders have been saying this the past two days. (Its getting very high reviews for a reason) If not there are two other football games out there for you to choose from so there is something for everyone this year.
Before I go into the positives and what I like about the game let me tell you what I don’t like since that list is very short in comparison. (In no way I’m I implying that this stuff below isn’t important because it is now onto my list.)
-Commentary is bad well you already knew that, but rest assured 08 is the last year you well ever hear that radio announcer. (I will explain this more in my next article)
-No smart routes, no formation specific depth charts, no leagues, no formation shifts, no smart zones, no man lock etc…
- In my opinion QB’s still drop back to fast.
- No refs on the field.
- You can only see 4 player weapons on the field at one time. Exp. If your defense has 7 player weapons on the field at one time you will only be able to see 4 of them at any given time. (Now the system is still working because the weapons icons are only visual aid. It’s just that in franchise mode year two some teams will have more than 4 weapons guys on the field at one time. But you will only be able to see 4 of them at any given time bummer.)
- The NFL atmosphere just isn’t there for me. Not enough statistical overlays, no game situation specific commentary, no sideline interaction, playoffs feel like regular games, etc…..
- Imported rookies still come into the game wearing their college numbers even though the NFL has rules on player numbers at certain positions. (EXP. V.Hall from VT was wearing number 9 playing LB wtf.)
- The draft is boring just like previous years. (Scouting during the season is nice though)
- Online is just as lack luster as previous years. No leagues, No choice to play ranked games on All-Madden or 6 minute quarters, etc……..
- NCAA has more equipment options than Madden this year!!! No DNA helmets, I think there is only one neck roll NCAA has like 4 or 5 of them I think and not nearly enough generic faces. (O yeah no hand towels dj that one is for you lol)
-Sorry guys I’m really trying here but, there just isn’t a lot I can complain about. (Please keep in mind I have only been playing for about 25 hours and I don’t know if any bad glitches will show up)
On the flip side the good news to report is that a lot of those issues will be fixed in 09 if not all of them. Why do I say this with so much confidence you ask because I talked to I.Cummings, D.Ortiz, and A.Wright a ton about 09, but that is another article that I will post by Monday.
Madden 08 my humble opinions on the game
Graphics-
The first thing you will notice is how well the jersey textures and how accurate the color points are. I’m personally not a fan of the over saturated and shinny colors in NCAA. I just prefer realistic and accurate color points; thankfully that’s what you will get in Madden 08. The game sports the best player models, jersey textures, and jersey colors of any sports game ever made. I asked everyone who attended community day what they thought on this subject as well. No one disagreed, I did this just to make sure I wasn’t blind. It doesn’t stop there either the stadiums seem to be a tab bit sharper this year as well. It’s not a huge upgrade, but enough of one that pasta and I noticed it away. Bottom line this game looks bad ass I just can’t say that enough from a graphics stand point.
Game play-
In terms of Madden games this is the most realistic representation of NFL football that EA has ever released on a console in my opinion. Of course it’s not perfect and we don’t know what kind of things may come to light online in a couple of months. With that said I can honestly state that I haven’t had this much fun playing a Madden game in about two or three years. Don't take my word for it rent it buy it or steal it get your hands on a copy and try it out.
If you liked NCAA you will love Madden, if you hated NCAA you are probably going to hate Madden as well. One thing you will notice from your very first game is that Madden actually plays a lot different than NCAA and I’m not just talking about the exclusion of the option either. (Even though there are a couple of option plays in Atlanta’s playbook) The controls are tighter and the player movement seems to be just a tab bit more on the realistic side unlike NCAA. (Countless people including myself thinks that NCAA is just a bit to lose on the control side/momentum side.)
Things are just so much more dynamic this year in game play you can call the same play on offense and defense five times in a row and you will get five different play results. (I actually did this in pratice mode) Anything can happen on any given play nothing is guaranteed (EXP. QB sneak at the 1 yard line isn’t money anymore.) Pure dynamic game play is what I.Cummings stated from day one and he and his team held true to that promise. It just doesn’t fell as scripted anymore like I said anything can happen on any given play. That’s how I lost the semi-final championship game at community day to Shopmaster on a fluke play and while I was pissed that I lost. It was bitter sweet because I didn’t feel cheated in anyway unlike previous years. I was thinking to myself man I can't believe that play just happened, but I have seen it happen in the NFL before so it was cool.
Player Weapons a.k.a new ratings-
This is by far the biggest addition to the Madden/NCAA franchise in my opinion in terms of taking the game play from what we where used to in old gen. Where the only ratings that mattered where speed, height, and jumping ability to where it is now. You will notice the change the very first game. Ratings mean everything in this game even more so than in NCAA. The good thing is I didn’t see any physic DB’s in the games that I played the last two days, that was a very good sign. I played every single game today with the Ravens and their D is scary very scary. (Although I lost the tourney game in the semi finals because S. Rolle got burnt twice and I didn’t give him in over to top help realistic hugh got damn E.Reed free lancing all the damn time lol)
If a team is good or bad you will notice this immediately from the first play the same thing goes for individual players. C. Bailey is god; R. Moss is god, C. Johnson is god those guys are very tough to stop. The ELITE players in the game play like their real life counter parts even when being controlled by the computer. The thing that really has me so exited about the game is that it doesn’t feel cheap and the counter system works great. The only thing in the game that there isn’t a counter for is speed but, there isn’t a counter for speed in real life football either.
You guys really have to experience this for yourself to get a grasp on how much the game has changed this year. I actually went into practice mode and did a lot of tests on elite players and avg. players and I’m happy to report there is a distinct difference between a WR with a 98 route running rating and one who has an 81. That goes for every rating in the game it seems. (Of course I couldn’t test out everything)
If you can’t tell already I’m really happy with how the ratings affect game play this year. The spectacular catch animations in the game are just sick and a lot of those wow moments come from those animations. (And the animations of them getting turned into crash test dummies during mid air collisions) Speaking of spectacular catches you actually won’t see the one handed catch animation that is so prone to triggering in NCAA in Madden that much. It just doesn’t seem to trigger as often, however there is a nice variety of catches in the game.
Another new feature in Madden that really hasn’t been talked about a ton is you can trigger the spectacular catches yourself just tap the Y button at the correct time and if they guy has the ratings for it he will attempt to make a spectacular catch or aggressive catch. I know what everyone is already thinking people will just use the patriots and try and out jump everyone with R.Moss. Well guess what that’s exactly what a large number of people will do online this year. Expect to see a lot of the Patriots online this year and at the Madden challenge. (I did not lose the Patriots once during community day so they can be beat) R.Moss, T.Holt, and C.Johnson can straight up jump 46 inches in the air to catch some passes in this game.
Although unlike the jet pack animations from the dreaded 04 game. You can take guys legs right out from him. If a guy has a high catch in traffic rating then the percentage of him coming down with the ball after a big hit is increased. The higher the rating the higher the percentage the entire game is based of this theory. You will also see double mid air collisions where a guy will get hit by one defender spin around and then get hit by another guy before he hits the ground.
Back to the Patriots almost everyone at Community Day started using them after Bobby started killing people with Moss and Stallworth. Is it unstoppable like the jet back in Madden 04 thankfully no. The producers have held true to telling us over and over again that there is a counter for everything in the game. When R.Moss jumps 47 inchs in the air (I'm serious he really jumps that high in the game) take his legs out from under him or blow his A%% up with a high hit stick in mid air. Thankfully he doesn’t have a very high catch in traffic rating to go along with his super high spectacular catch rating. If its a two deep zone you should be ok, but he can beat double coverage from time to time so can the other 3 or 4 ELITE WR's in the game. Although I do not think its at an unrealistic level.
On the flip side if you have a hands WR like D.Driver, D.Mason, or H.Ward you can hold down the Y button to put an emphasis on securing the ball. But your receiver will slow down and you won’t be able to cut up field as fast. Theres your trade off you sacrifice possible YAC at the expense of securing the ball. The same goes for the spectacular catches if the players catch in traffic rating isn't that high. Hes not going to come down with a lot of those passes even though he has the ability to trigger those animations in the game.
Now onto the CB’s and Safety’s in the game what good would it be to overhaul the WR and TE position with all of these weapons (new ratings that actually affect game play and animations that trigger) if the CB’s couldn’t keep up with them? Thank fully I.Cummings and the rest of the team has us covered in this aspect as well. Like I stated before R.Moss is god, but on the flip side C.Bailey is god in the game as well. So there is balance in the system and from what everyone saw at community day it works the way it should work. If T.Holt is being covered by a scrub CB you better give him some help or expect to get torched and torched a lot. On the flip side Champ and C-Mac will shut you down period. Now they can be beat and you may get lucky a time or two but its rare very rare.
On the flip side if you have a WR of equal skill on the field well that changes everything and you will see some very nice battles indeed. Watching R.Moss and C.Bailey go at it all game was a sight to behold. Randy caught a 50 yard bomb on Champ one play, then later in the game Champ cut in front of a pass intended for Randy and put 7 up on the board the other way.
I know the fear like every other year is that any addition EA adds to game play is over powered the first year. That sentiment is warranted almost every new game play addition the past couple of years has been overpowered. The good news is I think the producers got it this year nothing seems to be overpowered (so far) from a pure game play stand point. I still think QB’s in general drop back to fast but that’s topic for another discussion.
Bottom line every rating in the game means something on the field R.Grossman doesn’t throw passes the same way D.Bress does. You will see this across the board at every position. C.Johnson can trigger catch animations that S.Holmes can not, T.Hill even though he has a 98 speed won’t cover WR’s the same way C-Mac does, etc………..
Gang tackling-
I won’t spend a lot of time talking about this because almost everyone who is reading this article has played NCAA. So you should have a decent grasp on how it works in NCAA. With that said the gang tackling in Madden is much more dynamic than it is in NCAA. First thing you will see in the game is true 3 and 4 man gang tackles and I don’t mean the ball carrier plus 2 defenders equals a 3 man gang tackle. I mean 3 defenders actually wrapping the ball carrier up type deal. It just feels like a more polished and dynamic version of the gang tackling that’s in NCAA08. There is this really sweet gang tackle where two defenders will stand up the ball carrier for about 2 seconds during that time a couple of things can happen.
1. Both defenders will drive the ball carrier back and stop his forward progress.
2. The ball carrier depending on the back will fall forward.
3. Another defender can come in and clean up the hit and possibly force a fumble.
4. Another defender can come and knock the two defenders off of the ball carrier for.
I love the gang tackling engine that’s in the game this year it took damn near 8 or 9 years for it to show up lol, but its finally here in Madden and I think its better than people where expecting it to be.
Stick Skills, Play Calling, and CPU controlled players-
Stick skill is back, but it’s not back in the Madden 04/05 way where I could throw a really bad pass and out-stick the cpu or a human opponent to catch the ball. Now you can still out-stick people in this game, but it’s much harder to do this year. If you mess up 8 times out of 10 well you messed up you can’t take control of a player and make up for your mistakes as a user. I just love that about the game it makes you pay for your mistakes as a user.
Although I still don’t think it’s at a level that it should be I’m pleased to report that it’s headed in the right direction. Now some of you won’t like this and some of you probably will be pissed that you can’t out stick people or the cpu so easily anymore. Bottom line stick skill is back and the guys with good stick skills will dominate, but and this is a big but don’t expect to do what was possible in current gen versions of Madden.
Onto play calling it's important in NCAA, but it’s taken to another level in Madden08. You can actually call the right plays on defense (if your defense is good) and not worry about the cpu messing things up for you. I hated that about previous football games where I had to do everything. Case in point I’m a big Ravens fan the only team I played with was the ravens. E.Reed plays like E.Reed now I don’t have to switch to the guy to make plays with him. Ed is arguably the best Safety in football. The guy is one of the highest rated players in Madden and he plays like it this year. I can now call plays and fell confident in his abilities in the game being controlled by the cpu. I normally control the weak link on my defense. Now I can do so and have confidence that the other 10 players on the field will follow their assignments and play to their ratings. (That’s exactly what they do this year)
This goes for every position in the game guys play to their ratings. So don’t expect K.Simpson who is an 82 overall to make the same plays as an E.Reed or B.Dawkins. You can still take control of him, but he only plays to his ratings period. Don’t expect user skill to hide avg. rated players in Madden this year. Remember in current gen Madden people would dominate with guys like C.Moore, B.Finnneraan, T.Calico, or the guy with a 99 speed and no other skills. Those days are gone Madden 08 for the 360 is a drastic departure from the game play we where used to and complained so much about in current gen Madden.
For instance again I play with the Ravens and they have this rookie WR/KR man by the name of Y.Figurs who just so happened to turn in the fastest time at the combine this year so he was given a 99 speed rating I think. But and this is a big but he is an unpolished WR his hands are not that great, his route running needs major work, and he’s not a spectacular catch WR either. The only thing the kid has going for him right now in the game and in real life is his kick return ability along with his elusiveness and blinding speed.
I was very pleased at how elusive he was returning kicks, (I took one back on Bobby but it was called back on a holding penalty) but at WR he sucks. I think he’s a 67 overall the only route he can run and get open on is a streak the kid is fast, but because his route running rating is so low he doesn’t get separation on his routes. (Unless it’s a streak against a slower defender) I gave up after a game or two so I subbed him in on WR screen plays to get him some touches and try to take advantage of his speed in the open field. It worked I think I took two or three WR screens for touch downs with him on community day. Just because some players on your team aren’t weapons or highly rated that doesn’t mean you can’t utilize them in Madden this year.
I think we will start to see a power shift in who the top players will be in Madden this year and every other year following 08. You can now beat someone with better stick skills than you if you call the right plays and play to your team’s strengths. (This is of course is if they are not calling good plays and having guys out of position) In previous Madden titles this was almost impossible to do. If the person you where playing head to head with had better stick than you, chances are you would lose the game about 90% of the time.
This was largely due to a couple of major game play flaws that now have been addressed. Scrub NFL players now play like scrubs in the game you can’t abuse the A.I. anymore it seems. You won't see people subbing in CB's at Safety because they need more speed on defense. (Unless their stupid) You also will see less and less of people audible down. Because that CB can't shed blocks, doesn't have any finesse moves or power moves, so if hes playing DT guess what hes going to be destroyed by an offensive lineman. The developers have done an excellent job in the animation system in this aspect as well. The game sports a robust selection of ratings specific animations across the board in all positions. None of them how ever seem to be broken. (Everything has a counter in the game.)
Playbooks-
They are bigger this year and I did see more flavor to them as well the Falcons play book has a couple of option plays in it for example. The Ravens defense also has a couple of new blitz packages as well. Last but not least the patriots has about 5 or 6 3-4 alignments as well for example. (Wait until I tell you guys about what’s in store for 09)
The Running game-
It feels real good you can run inside, (not against the jaguars though) outside, counters, pitches hand delays all with good success now. You don’t have to close your play book up this year. All running plays can be done with success now (against the right defense of course) the game also sports some really nice anti Mario running animations as well. It all depends on the RB you are using and what ratings he has a bigger back will put his hand on a lineman and try to push the pile, in contrast a smaller back will try and slide around the lineman. There is also this really sweet animation where the RB would actually run into the back of a lineman and fall backwards. The blocking engine in Madden is better than the one in NCAA. Its’ not perfect but its light years ahead of what was in the game last year.
The Passing game-
The current ratings system for the QB position needs some work (I will talk about this subject in the other article as well.) Me personally I just don’t think its diverse enough with the ratings that are in the game at this point. (I.Cummings feels the exact same way I do about this subject) With that said the team did tweak the system to help better reflect the only two ratings that QB’s have right now throw power and throw accuracy. Brees, Brady, and Manning are deadly accurate its very noticeable. J.Russell however is not his passes are all over the place but you can see just how strong of an arm he has.
Guys with high throw power ratings actually will throw the ball harder and with more velocity than than those QB's who do not posses cannon arms. This actually affects game play as well. It will be harder to pick of passes thrown by J.Russell, T.Brady, and the cannon arm guys because the ball is moving at such a high rate of speed. (But J.Russells passes are that accurate so he will still be picked off more than Brady will.) In NCAA all the QB’s in the game threw with the same velocity as B.Favre however in Madden this is not the case as I stated above. R.Grossman throws the ball a lot harder than S.Mcnair does if a guy has a cannon arm weapon weapon expect some heat on his passes.
Defense-
I have never had so much fun playing defense in a football game. Defensive gurus rejoice you don't have to score a ton of points if your defense is really good. If you know what you are doing you can frustrate the hell out of people. The Ravens, Chargers, Patriots, Broncos, and Raiders can cause a lot of havoc on opposing offenses this year. (That is in the hands of the right user) If you blitz 7 and your opponent only has 6 in protection that other guy is gong to come free. I was avg. about 2 to 7 sacks a game with the Ravens defense at EA. I was holding people to under 14 points on an avg. game. The players where swarming to the ball gang tackling everyone etc............ (Just to make sure I wasn't seeing things I then played with the Bengals and couldn't stop anybody) Guys you can really dominate people with a good defense and a good game plan this year.
Quck hits, Conclusion and the Bottom line-
- The game is fun
- Twitch skill is back in full effect
- Play calling has never been more important in any other football game ever made
- Player ratings, User skill, and knowing your team strengths and weakness are the most important factors in the outcome of games this year
- Speed still kills, but for a first time in any Madden game it doesn’t dominate the game play
- Best blocking engine in any Madden game to date
- Best player models and jersey textures of any sports game ever made
- Hand down best Madden ever from a pure game play stand point
From what I have experience from my time with the game as well as consulting with the other community leaders after we left the studious about how they felt. Madden has taken colossal steps in the game play department this year. As much as I like 08 I’m actually more exited about 09 and what I.Cummings, D.Ortiz, and the rest of the crew has on the books right now. (I have another article that will talk about 09)
Bottom Line-
I know I’m going to get asked this so I might as well be pro-active and answer the question before it gets asked.
Is this the best sports game ever made? NO
As a whole I still think the NBA 2K7 has the crown for best sports game ever made in my humble opinion. (It’s not perfect either the game has plenty of flaws) I say this because that product had everything a person could want in a sports title. Great game play, good enough graphics, outstanding fun factor, a good franchise mode, and a robust online feature set (even if it didn’t work right all the time)This is how I see it if NBA 2K7 and Madden 08 where both meals at a restaurant fine restaurant.
-In my opinion NBA 2K7 would be a 12 OZ. Slightly under cooked Prime New York Strip with a side of garlic mashed potatoes thick cut French fries and a slice of Vanilla Bean Cheesecake for desert. After a meal like that you go home with a full stomach completely satisfied. Admiring how well the entire meal came together, your steak wasn’t Center cut fillet Mignon, but the entire meal came together so well. You had a great cut of steak, great sides, and a nice desert to top it all off and seal the deal. That’s how I feel about that game great all around experience while far from perfect it was and still is in my opinion the best representation of any sport to date judging by the entire product and not a sum of its parts.
-In my opinion Madden 08 would be a 24 0z. Prime Dry Aged Porterhouse topped with a light Brandy Pepper Sauce, with no sides and no desert. After the meal you drive home with a full stomach as well and you keep thinking to yourself that’s the best steak I have ever tasted in my life. But you can’t help but think how much better the meal would have been if your steak would have been served with two sides and a nice desert to seal the deal.
That’s how I see Madden 08 from a game play stand point alone it’s the best experience I have ever had in any football game that has graced my 360 or PS2 in my life time. However man can not live by bread alone and neither can us gamers. Halo, God of War, and Call of Duty 2 where three of the best games ever made. I firmly believe if Halo wouldn't have had such a great story line, if Call of Duty 2 didn't make you feel like you where there, and if God of War didn't make you feel Kratos's pain those games would not have been given perfect 10's. So as good as the game play is I keep thinking to myself how much better the game would be with a robust online feature set. Smart routes, smart zones, real play by play commentary, more overlays, formation specific depth charts, better crowd interaction, etc…………
Does the absence of features like those that I stated hurt the game, no I don’t think so, but it sure as hell doesn’t help it either. With all things being equal I.Cummings and D.Ortiz stated countless times in interviews and blogs how the focus this year was 110% on game play. Thats what this game is 110% dynamic game play all available resources where put into this area. I’m very happy to report that it was time well spent and that a true next gen version of football is here. The road to get here wasn’t pretty it took three years, but I can say with supreme confidence that the entire dev team at EA got it right. Best Madden ever
http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=216117
First and foremost I would like to thank Rac, M.J., D.Ortiz, I.Cummings, A.White, D-Cas, VJ, R.Moye, and all parties involved at EA for their hospitality at the studio during our stay. I spent a ton of time talking to with the faces and personalities behind those names written above. There was so much information exchange at community day talking to them. That I will do another article that just focuses on the time I spent talking to the producers and what’s on the drawing board for Madden 09.
Hmmm where do I begin well how about “this is the best Madden ever made” period! You can quote me on that, some of you won’t feel the same way I do so to each his own. Just play the game for yourself and hopefully you will see why I and all the other community leaders have been saying this the past two days. (Its getting very high reviews for a reason) If not there are two other football games out there for you to choose from so there is something for everyone this year.
Before I go into the positives and what I like about the game let me tell you what I don’t like since that list is very short in comparison. (In no way I’m I implying that this stuff below isn’t important because it is now onto my list.)
-Commentary is bad well you already knew that, but rest assured 08 is the last year you well ever hear that radio announcer. (I will explain this more in my next article)
-No smart routes, no formation specific depth charts, no leagues, no formation shifts, no smart zones, no man lock etc…
- In my opinion QB’s still drop back to fast.
- No refs on the field.
- You can only see 4 player weapons on the field at one time. Exp. If your defense has 7 player weapons on the field at one time you will only be able to see 4 of them at any given time. (Now the system is still working because the weapons icons are only visual aid. It’s just that in franchise mode year two some teams will have more than 4 weapons guys on the field at one time. But you will only be able to see 4 of them at any given time bummer.)
- The NFL atmosphere just isn’t there for me. Not enough statistical overlays, no game situation specific commentary, no sideline interaction, playoffs feel like regular games, etc…..
- Imported rookies still come into the game wearing their college numbers even though the NFL has rules on player numbers at certain positions. (EXP. V.Hall from VT was wearing number 9 playing LB wtf.)
- The draft is boring just like previous years. (Scouting during the season is nice though)
- Online is just as lack luster as previous years. No leagues, No choice to play ranked games on All-Madden or 6 minute quarters, etc……..
- NCAA has more equipment options than Madden this year!!! No DNA helmets, I think there is only one neck roll NCAA has like 4 or 5 of them I think and not nearly enough generic faces. (O yeah no hand towels dj that one is for you lol)
-Sorry guys I’m really trying here but, there just isn’t a lot I can complain about. (Please keep in mind I have only been playing for about 25 hours and I don’t know if any bad glitches will show up)
On the flip side the good news to report is that a lot of those issues will be fixed in 09 if not all of them. Why do I say this with so much confidence you ask because I talked to I.Cummings, D.Ortiz, and A.Wright a ton about 09, but that is another article that I will post by Monday.
Madden 08 my humble opinions on the game
Graphics-
The first thing you will notice is how well the jersey textures and how accurate the color points are. I’m personally not a fan of the over saturated and shinny colors in NCAA. I just prefer realistic and accurate color points; thankfully that’s what you will get in Madden 08. The game sports the best player models, jersey textures, and jersey colors of any sports game ever made. I asked everyone who attended community day what they thought on this subject as well. No one disagreed, I did this just to make sure I wasn’t blind. It doesn’t stop there either the stadiums seem to be a tab bit sharper this year as well. It’s not a huge upgrade, but enough of one that pasta and I noticed it away. Bottom line this game looks bad ass I just can’t say that enough from a graphics stand point.
Game play-
In terms of Madden games this is the most realistic representation of NFL football that EA has ever released on a console in my opinion. Of course it’s not perfect and we don’t know what kind of things may come to light online in a couple of months. With that said I can honestly state that I haven’t had this much fun playing a Madden game in about two or three years. Don't take my word for it rent it buy it or steal it get your hands on a copy and try it out.
If you liked NCAA you will love Madden, if you hated NCAA you are probably going to hate Madden as well. One thing you will notice from your very first game is that Madden actually plays a lot different than NCAA and I’m not just talking about the exclusion of the option either. (Even though there are a couple of option plays in Atlanta’s playbook) The controls are tighter and the player movement seems to be just a tab bit more on the realistic side unlike NCAA. (Countless people including myself thinks that NCAA is just a bit to lose on the control side/momentum side.)
Things are just so much more dynamic this year in game play you can call the same play on offense and defense five times in a row and you will get five different play results. (I actually did this in pratice mode) Anything can happen on any given play nothing is guaranteed (EXP. QB sneak at the 1 yard line isn’t money anymore.) Pure dynamic game play is what I.Cummings stated from day one and he and his team held true to that promise. It just doesn’t fell as scripted anymore like I said anything can happen on any given play. That’s how I lost the semi-final championship game at community day to Shopmaster on a fluke play and while I was pissed that I lost. It was bitter sweet because I didn’t feel cheated in anyway unlike previous years. I was thinking to myself man I can't believe that play just happened, but I have seen it happen in the NFL before so it was cool.
Player Weapons a.k.a new ratings-
This is by far the biggest addition to the Madden/NCAA franchise in my opinion in terms of taking the game play from what we where used to in old gen. Where the only ratings that mattered where speed, height, and jumping ability to where it is now. You will notice the change the very first game. Ratings mean everything in this game even more so than in NCAA. The good thing is I didn’t see any physic DB’s in the games that I played the last two days, that was a very good sign. I played every single game today with the Ravens and their D is scary very scary. (Although I lost the tourney game in the semi finals because S. Rolle got burnt twice and I didn’t give him in over to top help realistic hugh got damn E.Reed free lancing all the damn time lol)
If a team is good or bad you will notice this immediately from the first play the same thing goes for individual players. C. Bailey is god; R. Moss is god, C. Johnson is god those guys are very tough to stop. The ELITE players in the game play like their real life counter parts even when being controlled by the computer. The thing that really has me so exited about the game is that it doesn’t feel cheap and the counter system works great. The only thing in the game that there isn’t a counter for is speed but, there isn’t a counter for speed in real life football either.
You guys really have to experience this for yourself to get a grasp on how much the game has changed this year. I actually went into practice mode and did a lot of tests on elite players and avg. players and I’m happy to report there is a distinct difference between a WR with a 98 route running rating and one who has an 81. That goes for every rating in the game it seems. (Of course I couldn’t test out everything)
If you can’t tell already I’m really happy with how the ratings affect game play this year. The spectacular catch animations in the game are just sick and a lot of those wow moments come from those animations. (And the animations of them getting turned into crash test dummies during mid air collisions) Speaking of spectacular catches you actually won’t see the one handed catch animation that is so prone to triggering in NCAA in Madden that much. It just doesn’t seem to trigger as often, however there is a nice variety of catches in the game.
Another new feature in Madden that really hasn’t been talked about a ton is you can trigger the spectacular catches yourself just tap the Y button at the correct time and if they guy has the ratings for it he will attempt to make a spectacular catch or aggressive catch. I know what everyone is already thinking people will just use the patriots and try and out jump everyone with R.Moss. Well guess what that’s exactly what a large number of people will do online this year. Expect to see a lot of the Patriots online this year and at the Madden challenge. (I did not lose the Patriots once during community day so they can be beat) R.Moss, T.Holt, and C.Johnson can straight up jump 46 inches in the air to catch some passes in this game.
Although unlike the jet pack animations from the dreaded 04 game. You can take guys legs right out from him. If a guy has a high catch in traffic rating then the percentage of him coming down with the ball after a big hit is increased. The higher the rating the higher the percentage the entire game is based of this theory. You will also see double mid air collisions where a guy will get hit by one defender spin around and then get hit by another guy before he hits the ground.
Back to the Patriots almost everyone at Community Day started using them after Bobby started killing people with Moss and Stallworth. Is it unstoppable like the jet back in Madden 04 thankfully no. The producers have held true to telling us over and over again that there is a counter for everything in the game. When R.Moss jumps 47 inchs in the air (I'm serious he really jumps that high in the game) take his legs out from under him or blow his A%% up with a high hit stick in mid air. Thankfully he doesn’t have a very high catch in traffic rating to go along with his super high spectacular catch rating. If its a two deep zone you should be ok, but he can beat double coverage from time to time so can the other 3 or 4 ELITE WR's in the game. Although I do not think its at an unrealistic level.
On the flip side if you have a hands WR like D.Driver, D.Mason, or H.Ward you can hold down the Y button to put an emphasis on securing the ball. But your receiver will slow down and you won’t be able to cut up field as fast. Theres your trade off you sacrifice possible YAC at the expense of securing the ball. The same goes for the spectacular catches if the players catch in traffic rating isn't that high. Hes not going to come down with a lot of those passes even though he has the ability to trigger those animations in the game.
Now onto the CB’s and Safety’s in the game what good would it be to overhaul the WR and TE position with all of these weapons (new ratings that actually affect game play and animations that trigger) if the CB’s couldn’t keep up with them? Thank fully I.Cummings and the rest of the team has us covered in this aspect as well. Like I stated before R.Moss is god, but on the flip side C.Bailey is god in the game as well. So there is balance in the system and from what everyone saw at community day it works the way it should work. If T.Holt is being covered by a scrub CB you better give him some help or expect to get torched and torched a lot. On the flip side Champ and C-Mac will shut you down period. Now they can be beat and you may get lucky a time or two but its rare very rare.
On the flip side if you have a WR of equal skill on the field well that changes everything and you will see some very nice battles indeed. Watching R.Moss and C.Bailey go at it all game was a sight to behold. Randy caught a 50 yard bomb on Champ one play, then later in the game Champ cut in front of a pass intended for Randy and put 7 up on the board the other way.
I know the fear like every other year is that any addition EA adds to game play is over powered the first year. That sentiment is warranted almost every new game play addition the past couple of years has been overpowered. The good news is I think the producers got it this year nothing seems to be overpowered (so far) from a pure game play stand point. I still think QB’s in general drop back to fast but that’s topic for another discussion.
Bottom line every rating in the game means something on the field R.Grossman doesn’t throw passes the same way D.Bress does. You will see this across the board at every position. C.Johnson can trigger catch animations that S.Holmes can not, T.Hill even though he has a 98 speed won’t cover WR’s the same way C-Mac does, etc………..
Gang tackling-
I won’t spend a lot of time talking about this because almost everyone who is reading this article has played NCAA. So you should have a decent grasp on how it works in NCAA. With that said the gang tackling in Madden is much more dynamic than it is in NCAA. First thing you will see in the game is true 3 and 4 man gang tackles and I don’t mean the ball carrier plus 2 defenders equals a 3 man gang tackle. I mean 3 defenders actually wrapping the ball carrier up type deal. It just feels like a more polished and dynamic version of the gang tackling that’s in NCAA08. There is this really sweet gang tackle where two defenders will stand up the ball carrier for about 2 seconds during that time a couple of things can happen.
1. Both defenders will drive the ball carrier back and stop his forward progress.
2. The ball carrier depending on the back will fall forward.
3. Another defender can come in and clean up the hit and possibly force a fumble.
4. Another defender can come and knock the two defenders off of the ball carrier for.
I love the gang tackling engine that’s in the game this year it took damn near 8 or 9 years for it to show up lol, but its finally here in Madden and I think its better than people where expecting it to be.
Stick Skills, Play Calling, and CPU controlled players-
Stick skill is back, but it’s not back in the Madden 04/05 way where I could throw a really bad pass and out-stick the cpu or a human opponent to catch the ball. Now you can still out-stick people in this game, but it’s much harder to do this year. If you mess up 8 times out of 10 well you messed up you can’t take control of a player and make up for your mistakes as a user. I just love that about the game it makes you pay for your mistakes as a user.
Although I still don’t think it’s at a level that it should be I’m pleased to report that it’s headed in the right direction. Now some of you won’t like this and some of you probably will be pissed that you can’t out stick people or the cpu so easily anymore. Bottom line stick skill is back and the guys with good stick skills will dominate, but and this is a big but don’t expect to do what was possible in current gen versions of Madden.
Onto play calling it's important in NCAA, but it’s taken to another level in Madden08. You can actually call the right plays on defense (if your defense is good) and not worry about the cpu messing things up for you. I hated that about previous football games where I had to do everything. Case in point I’m a big Ravens fan the only team I played with was the ravens. E.Reed plays like E.Reed now I don’t have to switch to the guy to make plays with him. Ed is arguably the best Safety in football. The guy is one of the highest rated players in Madden and he plays like it this year. I can now call plays and fell confident in his abilities in the game being controlled by the cpu. I normally control the weak link on my defense. Now I can do so and have confidence that the other 10 players on the field will follow their assignments and play to their ratings. (That’s exactly what they do this year)
This goes for every position in the game guys play to their ratings. So don’t expect K.Simpson who is an 82 overall to make the same plays as an E.Reed or B.Dawkins. You can still take control of him, but he only plays to his ratings period. Don’t expect user skill to hide avg. rated players in Madden this year. Remember in current gen Madden people would dominate with guys like C.Moore, B.Finnneraan, T.Calico, or the guy with a 99 speed and no other skills. Those days are gone Madden 08 for the 360 is a drastic departure from the game play we where used to and complained so much about in current gen Madden.
For instance again I play with the Ravens and they have this rookie WR/KR man by the name of Y.Figurs who just so happened to turn in the fastest time at the combine this year so he was given a 99 speed rating I think. But and this is a big but he is an unpolished WR his hands are not that great, his route running needs major work, and he’s not a spectacular catch WR either. The only thing the kid has going for him right now in the game and in real life is his kick return ability along with his elusiveness and blinding speed.
I was very pleased at how elusive he was returning kicks, (I took one back on Bobby but it was called back on a holding penalty) but at WR he sucks. I think he’s a 67 overall the only route he can run and get open on is a streak the kid is fast, but because his route running rating is so low he doesn’t get separation on his routes. (Unless it’s a streak against a slower defender) I gave up after a game or two so I subbed him in on WR screen plays to get him some touches and try to take advantage of his speed in the open field. It worked I think I took two or three WR screens for touch downs with him on community day. Just because some players on your team aren’t weapons or highly rated that doesn’t mean you can’t utilize them in Madden this year.
I think we will start to see a power shift in who the top players will be in Madden this year and every other year following 08. You can now beat someone with better stick skills than you if you call the right plays and play to your team’s strengths. (This is of course is if they are not calling good plays and having guys out of position) In previous Madden titles this was almost impossible to do. If the person you where playing head to head with had better stick than you, chances are you would lose the game about 90% of the time.
This was largely due to a couple of major game play flaws that now have been addressed. Scrub NFL players now play like scrubs in the game you can’t abuse the A.I. anymore it seems. You won't see people subbing in CB's at Safety because they need more speed on defense. (Unless their stupid) You also will see less and less of people audible down. Because that CB can't shed blocks, doesn't have any finesse moves or power moves, so if hes playing DT guess what hes going to be destroyed by an offensive lineman. The developers have done an excellent job in the animation system in this aspect as well. The game sports a robust selection of ratings specific animations across the board in all positions. None of them how ever seem to be broken. (Everything has a counter in the game.)
Playbooks-
They are bigger this year and I did see more flavor to them as well the Falcons play book has a couple of option plays in it for example. The Ravens defense also has a couple of new blitz packages as well. Last but not least the patriots has about 5 or 6 3-4 alignments as well for example. (Wait until I tell you guys about what’s in store for 09)
The Running game-
It feels real good you can run inside, (not against the jaguars though) outside, counters, pitches hand delays all with good success now. You don’t have to close your play book up this year. All running plays can be done with success now (against the right defense of course) the game also sports some really nice anti Mario running animations as well. It all depends on the RB you are using and what ratings he has a bigger back will put his hand on a lineman and try to push the pile, in contrast a smaller back will try and slide around the lineman. There is also this really sweet animation where the RB would actually run into the back of a lineman and fall backwards. The blocking engine in Madden is better than the one in NCAA. Its’ not perfect but its light years ahead of what was in the game last year.
The Passing game-
The current ratings system for the QB position needs some work (I will talk about this subject in the other article as well.) Me personally I just don’t think its diverse enough with the ratings that are in the game at this point. (I.Cummings feels the exact same way I do about this subject) With that said the team did tweak the system to help better reflect the only two ratings that QB’s have right now throw power and throw accuracy. Brees, Brady, and Manning are deadly accurate its very noticeable. J.Russell however is not his passes are all over the place but you can see just how strong of an arm he has.
Guys with high throw power ratings actually will throw the ball harder and with more velocity than than those QB's who do not posses cannon arms. This actually affects game play as well. It will be harder to pick of passes thrown by J.Russell, T.Brady, and the cannon arm guys because the ball is moving at such a high rate of speed. (But J.Russells passes are that accurate so he will still be picked off more than Brady will.) In NCAA all the QB’s in the game threw with the same velocity as B.Favre however in Madden this is not the case as I stated above. R.Grossman throws the ball a lot harder than S.Mcnair does if a guy has a cannon arm weapon weapon expect some heat on his passes.
Defense-
I have never had so much fun playing defense in a football game. Defensive gurus rejoice you don't have to score a ton of points if your defense is really good. If you know what you are doing you can frustrate the hell out of people. The Ravens, Chargers, Patriots, Broncos, and Raiders can cause a lot of havoc on opposing offenses this year. (That is in the hands of the right user) If you blitz 7 and your opponent only has 6 in protection that other guy is gong to come free. I was avg. about 2 to 7 sacks a game with the Ravens defense at EA. I was holding people to under 14 points on an avg. game. The players where swarming to the ball gang tackling everyone etc............ (Just to make sure I wasn't seeing things I then played with the Bengals and couldn't stop anybody) Guys you can really dominate people with a good defense and a good game plan this year.
Quck hits, Conclusion and the Bottom line-
- The game is fun
- Twitch skill is back in full effect
- Play calling has never been more important in any other football game ever made
- Player ratings, User skill, and knowing your team strengths and weakness are the most important factors in the outcome of games this year
- Speed still kills, but for a first time in any Madden game it doesn’t dominate the game play
- Best blocking engine in any Madden game to date
- Best player models and jersey textures of any sports game ever made
- Hand down best Madden ever from a pure game play stand point
From what I have experience from my time with the game as well as consulting with the other community leaders after we left the studious about how they felt. Madden has taken colossal steps in the game play department this year. As much as I like 08 I’m actually more exited about 09 and what I.Cummings, D.Ortiz, and the rest of the crew has on the books right now. (I have another article that will talk about 09)
Bottom Line-
I know I’m going to get asked this so I might as well be pro-active and answer the question before it gets asked.
Is this the best sports game ever made? NO
As a whole I still think the NBA 2K7 has the crown for best sports game ever made in my humble opinion. (It’s not perfect either the game has plenty of flaws) I say this because that product had everything a person could want in a sports title. Great game play, good enough graphics, outstanding fun factor, a good franchise mode, and a robust online feature set (even if it didn’t work right all the time)This is how I see it if NBA 2K7 and Madden 08 where both meals at a restaurant fine restaurant.
-In my opinion NBA 2K7 would be a 12 OZ. Slightly under cooked Prime New York Strip with a side of garlic mashed potatoes thick cut French fries and a slice of Vanilla Bean Cheesecake for desert. After a meal like that you go home with a full stomach completely satisfied. Admiring how well the entire meal came together, your steak wasn’t Center cut fillet Mignon, but the entire meal came together so well. You had a great cut of steak, great sides, and a nice desert to top it all off and seal the deal. That’s how I feel about that game great all around experience while far from perfect it was and still is in my opinion the best representation of any sport to date judging by the entire product and not a sum of its parts.
-In my opinion Madden 08 would be a 24 0z. Prime Dry Aged Porterhouse topped with a light Brandy Pepper Sauce, with no sides and no desert. After the meal you drive home with a full stomach as well and you keep thinking to yourself that’s the best steak I have ever tasted in my life. But you can’t help but think how much better the meal would have been if your steak would have been served with two sides and a nice desert to seal the deal.
That’s how I see Madden 08 from a game play stand point alone it’s the best experience I have ever had in any football game that has graced my 360 or PS2 in my life time. However man can not live by bread alone and neither can us gamers. Halo, God of War, and Call of Duty 2 where three of the best games ever made. I firmly believe if Halo wouldn't have had such a great story line, if Call of Duty 2 didn't make you feel like you where there, and if God of War didn't make you feel Kratos's pain those games would not have been given perfect 10's. So as good as the game play is I keep thinking to myself how much better the game would be with a robust online feature set. Smart routes, smart zones, real play by play commentary, more overlays, formation specific depth charts, better crowd interaction, etc…………
Does the absence of features like those that I stated hurt the game, no I don’t think so, but it sure as hell doesn’t help it either. With all things being equal I.Cummings and D.Ortiz stated countless times in interviews and blogs how the focus this year was 110% on game play. Thats what this game is 110% dynamic game play all available resources where put into this area. I’m very happy to report that it was time well spent and that a true next gen version of football is here. The road to get here wasn’t pretty it took three years, but I can say with supreme confidence that the entire dev team at EA got it right. Best Madden ever