Madden NFL 17 Impressions

[Millennium]

This thread is to be used for IMPRESSIONS ONLY. Questions go in the Q & A Thread.

Thread is now open to everyone who owns the game.

[reverend_heat]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Played 2 games so obviously very early impressions here.

So, in no order of importance, random thoughts only. I am dictating this post so if there's grammatical errors or any weird words that's why

All pro default game speed and sliders
Pros:

Menus/calling plays are snappy, last year seemed very slow and sludgy to me

Graphics/lighting are slightly improved, and gameplay overall feels smoother, especially running the ball.

I know the zone improvements have been talked about a lot as helping the defense but to me it seems maybe even a bigger change is that if you can extend plays as quarterback wide receiver's come open in a more organic looking/feeling way. this definitely adds to the emergent feeling that we've been lacking in madden that random things can happen like they do an actual football games . I stepped up in the pocket with David Carr as Crabtree broke open across the middle and hit him for a 64 yard gain it felt awesome.

The special teams which I thought maybe wouldn't be that big of a deal are actually a really nice improvement . Again adding to the feeling that something could happen out of the norm which I obviously 16 did not have special teams wise. In my first game the Vikings tried an onside kick at the end of the game and the ball got passed me because I made a mistake with my user controlled player and it kind of caused a mad dash for the ball that looked pretty cool I have a video of it but I'm pretty sure I can upload them as last year they were taken down almost immediately.

The commentary is so much better it's not even funny I made a tackle for loss with Kahlil Mac and was just looking at the replay that the game provides you and Charles Davis starts talking about Mack, and then at the end of his comments says that was a great tackle by Kahlil Mac hard to explain but it just seemed and sounded so much better than anything I had ever heard and a Madden game before again I have a video, wish I could share it.

Pass defense and the swat mechanic are a lot of fun in my Raiders versus Seahawks game Amerson was running down the field with Baldwin and as he looked back to locate what was going on in the backfield he kept his left arm out in an attempt to feel where Baldwin was like you see real NFL defensive backs do. Again I've never noticed that before and it looks very very good on replay.

Almost forgot one of my very favorite things in my first two games that I had noticed is the user control dive that you can do it anytime this is absolutely huge in my opinion as in the past you couldn't really dive unless you were at running to the pylon or trying to dive over the goal line now you can do it at any point on the field and it is so useful when you need that extra yard for a first down hard to believe it took this long to get that in the game

Cons:

My number one complaint early early on is that on all pro default sliders the CPU offense and maybe even defense simply aren't good enough. My second game has Raiders against Seahawks I shut them out 24 to nothing. No way I should be shutting out Seattle on all pro. Specifically the CPU seems to struggle mightily running the ball I am not a big slider move guy, hopefully someone can figure out a fix for this or I might have to bump it to all Madden.

I have a video of some really bad offense of line logic as the play happened Russell Wilson took of the snap and I am mediately had three defenders on top of him and sacked him when I looked at the replay the guard completely ignored the defense of tackle in front of him and focused on the linebacker behind him which is what allowed basically a jailbreak to sack Wilson I have a video of this and it does not look good .

Overall though there are some really nice additions at least super early after two games it feels like an improved madden 16 I'm not sure people that didn't like the game last year will fall in love with 17 but I do think if you enjoyed 16 you will really enjoy 17 if that makes sense

[reverend_heat]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Just played a game with Atlanta at Carolina, and Stewart ran the ball much better than the other two games I played. There was one play at about the 4 yard line where Stewart ran the ball up the middle kind of got stuffed broke off to the side and dove into the endzone with the ball extended in one arm, it looked crazy good, especially because it was the CPU AI that was pulling it off

[reverend_heat]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Played a handful of games last night so a few further thoughts. For some reason the juke moves seem to be a little difficult to pull off in game. Using Jamaal Charles, I had a tough time getting them to work consistently. Went into skills trainer and they worked flawlessly, hopefully they aren't contextual. You should be able to do them anywhere you want at anytime, going to test this more tonight. One thing about the running game that does feel improved, when running parallel to the line of scrimmage with a HB as a DE chases, it seems easier to beat them to the edge, in the past this was a great spot for suction tackling to occur, it doesn't happen anymore. Adds to the improved running game for sure.

[TOmuch81]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Hey Everyone!

Just to clarify, I haven't played any CFM and I don't have time to post videos or pix of certain cleats, jerseys, player appearances, ETC. Just thought I'd give a few EARLY impressions of my 26 hours with Madden 17.

All of my game play has been on All-Pro and mainly in MUT and Play Now.

First off, the game looks a little better. Colors pop a bit more and there's also a contrast toggle in the settings, not sure if that was in last year.

The time they put into the game sounds paid off, at lease for me. It drastically needed to be rehauled and I'm glad they did. It's not prefect, but an improvement.
The QB cadences sound different to me, and no, they don't have every starting QB, from what I can tell. Romo, Brady, Rodgers all sound great.

Zone coverage has been improved in a big way and they play more realistically.

Props to EA for investing the time and money into the new commentary team! Gaudin and Charles Davis have a great dynamic and the banter flows much better than any other Madden has. I was really impressed with about the 10-15 games I've heard thus far. Only thing I noticed is that they will always question why you're kicking a FG to win a game and say it's only 2nd down or 3rd down, even with time expiring.

The running animations are a nice touch. They will take some getting used to but can be really rewarding.
The stiff arm is back!!!
A few game with Adrian Peterson I was able to get a beautiful animation and another 10-12 yards. It looks pretty sweet, but with that reward comes some risk. I've had quite a few fumbles with AP, Gio and Zeke Elliott. They don't have high carry ratings, but I was also holding R1 and they still fumbled.

I will try to post some more later. Again, these are just a few observations from my time with the game so far.

[vannwolfhawk]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Got the game earlier today...

Just a couple things I'm loving early on as I went thru the trainer and into practice mode to test a few of my pet peeves and madden legacy issues. As I play I'll update with more impressions.

1- man to man this year is redone and better than it's ever been. The 1st thing I always do when I get the game is go test curl routes vs Sherman. In years past I could throw it for a completion 9/10 times. This year maybe 1/10x I completed vs Sherman. On out breaks he breaks on the ball and doesn't get stuck in mud animation on the cut leaving wr wide open. He's a monster as he should be. You can tell the difference between browner and Sherman as I was able to eat browner up but struggled vs Sherm to do anything... I can't tell you how refreshing this is.

2- I'm loving the running game. Patience is the key as turbo is not needed for inside runs. The LT moves are very well done and feels very rewarding. You have 100x more control over running back when moving left to right and right to left. In years past you couldn't really change directions. This year it feels incredible moving to the left and seeing a hole on the right then back to the left. Hard to explain but when you play it you will notice the difference if you can stay off the turbo button.

3- gap play is great! I had a little trouble operating as mlb as he doesn't have the same agility. What I mean by this is I'd get fooled going in a direction and as I changed directions I felt a delay. What I learned is strafe is huge on defense with pre snap immediate post snap along with turbo for realistic and good agility.

4- I'm also loving the kicking game. Very well done this year on both sides of the ball. You can block a kick by diving with outside guys or by jumping with the inside guys. I missed my first 3 fg. Was used to faster meter. The ball physics are nice too especially on punts. Gone are the days where the ball bounces out of bounds at 100mph and 1 bounce. I saw some die inside the 5, the backspin bounce back a few yards. Only thing I wish for is kick return and punt return blocking were redone. The cou still runs straight ahead. Nothing new in returns.

Those are just 4 immediate things that have popped out to me so far! Finally the Seahawks defense should feel dominate.

[vannwolfhawk]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Just finished my 1st full 12 minute game on all pro vs CPU.

I was Seahawks vs Rams

The Rams won 17-13. I was rusty and threw 5 interceptions with Russell Wilson including 2 huge ones late. It was a defensive battle. Here are some things that stood out.

- Donald was a beast! He had 2 sacks and 6 tackles but forced me into some bad throws as well as disrupted runs to his side. He felt dominate.

- the cou run game was non existent but it was against the Seahawks. Hurley was 14 yards on 14 carries. Mason only had 1 carry. On the flip side Thomas Rawls had 197 yards on 19 carries. Late in the game tied at 10 the cou punted and pinned me on the 1 yard line in a coffin corner with 5 to play. Rawls on the 1st carry broke a 86 yard run to put us in field position. It felt great! We kicked a fg go to go up 13-10 with 1:58 to play.

- CPU late game ai - the cpu called a timeout after 3rd down with 1:58 to play to stop the clock so I couldn't run it down on 4th before the fg. The 1st 2 plays they ran sideline routes, caught it then ran out of bounds. They then caught a few more in the middle of the field while running hurry up offense. They called a timeout with about 38 seconds to play. They then scored a td on the drive (with a running Robo qb throw across the field which was the only thing about the game I didn't like besides Russ's 5 interceptions.

- the CPU qb threw the ball away at least 5 times to avoid sacks. He was 31-48 and had numerous errant passes as well. Wilson also had some errant throws. Keep in mind no slider adjustments on all pro.

- the running game like I stated in another post is amazing!

- punt returns is a little different too. If you choose to catch ball on end zone for a return they will go to the X instead of run away. They also don't have max protect from what I can see. Unless it's a punt block? So 2 gunners and blockers on each side. You can't put a guy back anymore on the line so it led to some pretty cool returns from Lockett. CPU return still the same.

- I did see the CPU use some LT moves and got me a few times with it.

- defense felt great! I still need to get in habit of swatting ball rather than playing the ball (Bad habit). Zone defenses are awesome and realistic and gap play is great! I blew up a couple runs with B wags and KJ wright and it felt amazing! The CPU tried to attack Sherm a few times but was unsuccessful and for the most part three other places and beat browner on a streak once for a big gain with no over the top help from Thomas.

- pocket felt like it collapsed pretty quick but that's versus the Seahawks line and a good Rams dline. So realistic.

- superstars feel like superstars!

- commentary is refreshing and very well done. I really like gaudin! Huge difference here! At 1 point they were talking about how the Seahawks needed to do a better job protecting Wilson. Right before halftime they mentioned highlights and Charles Davis said not many to show there as all the highlights will be from the defensive side as it was 3-3 at the half.

- the CPU Rams missed 2 fg as did I!

- I have only played 1 game and I have been in skill trainer and practice mode as well for a few hours but I can say this game is the best madden game ever made (I've played every madden ever made). I can only imagine how it will play with slider adjustments! Last year I stopped playing because of a few game breakers for me with we and CB play but this game feels night and day different. This is not madden 16.5.

Off to play another game!

[mrprice33]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Max protect on punts was in the game when I played in June. Check in the special teams formations. You can also audible to max protect while punting. Audible then press right on dpad


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[reverend_heat]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Something I noticed about the special team fg/xp blocks. You will know ahead of time when your Kick is about to be blocked because there is a noticeable slow down with how the kicker moves. Really bums me out because it takes the surprise out of the play. Haven't had a punt blocked yet so I don't know if the same goes for the punts.

Not to continue to be a downer or anything but I feel pretty confident after how many games that I've played in saying most people are not going to like playing DL. It just seems like you get locked in a blocking animation with a tackle or guard and you get that familiar feeling of not being able to control your player anymore, stickiness if that makes sense. I feel like this was handled better the previous two maddens when you could steer the lineman where you wanted him to go and at least release off the block to pursue if you wanted to. In my opinion that this has taken a significant step backward this year. The icons for power and finesse move still show up but more often than not they don't seem to do anything, Hopefully you guys find a different feel to the game when you play it.

A few things for you equipment guys, The new speed flex helmet looks great on some players and others it looks like it's two sizes too small and that it's painted onto their head some players the facemask look like they're half of a millimeter away from their face just a strange look. The single arm sleeves drive me insane because you can tell how good it would look if they were correct and you could see the upper portion of the arm. I appreciate the effort by Kane to get them in the game but they are almost distracting to me . That needs to be fixed next year and of course mouthguards have got to be in, there's just no excuse anymore.

[vannwolfhawk]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Max protect on punts was in the game when I played in June. Check in the special teams formations. You can also audible to max protect while punting. Audible then press right on dpad


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I only see punt with 2 gunners no max protect. At least in the Seahawks playbook. And when I tried to audible no option to max protect. ???

Edit- I can audible to max protect... Smh I'm an idiot!

[vannwolfhawk]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Something I noticed about the special team fg/xp blocks. You will know ahead of time when your Kick is about to be blocked because there is a noticeable slow down with how the kicker moves. Really bums me out because it takes the surprise out of the play. Haven't had a punt blocked yet so I don't know if the same goes for the punts.

Not to continue to be a downer or anything but I feel pretty confident after how many games that I've played in saying most people are not going to like playing DL. It just seems like you get locked in a blocking animation with a tackle or guard and you get that familiar feeling of not being able to control your player anymore, stickiness if that makes sense. I feel like this was handled better the previous two maddens when you could steer the lineman where you wanted him to go and at least release off the block to pursue if you wanted to. In my opinion that this has taken a significant step backward this year. The icons for power and finesse move still show up but more often than not they don't seem to do anything, Hopefully you guys find a different feel to the game when you play it.

A few things for you equipment guys, The new speed flex helmet looks great on some players and others it looks like it's two sizes too small and that it's painted onto their head some players the facemask look like they're half of a millimeter away from their face just a strange look. The single arm sleeves drive me insane because you can tell how good it would look if they were correct and you could see the upper portion of the arm. I appreciate the effort by Kane to get them in the game but they are almost distracting to me . That needs to be fixed next year and of course mouthguards have got to be in, there's just no excuse anymore.

I've had no issues pass rushing with Bennett and avril. Sometimes I lose but I'd say a good win to loss ratio. Pressing a to break block and release not as responsive though I'd maybe agree.

Also, I just had my punt blocked by CPU and yes I knew it right away as he slowed down... I liked it though that it even happened in a madden game! Lol

[reverend_heat]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

I've had no issues pass rushing with Bennett and avril. Sometimes I lose but I'd say a good win to loss ratio. Pressing a to break block and release not as responsive though I'd maybe agree.

Also, I just had my punt blocked by CPU and yes I knew it right away as he slowed down... I liked it though that it even happened in a madden game! Lol

That's really the issue, you are either stuck in a block or you win immediately. I want to feel the struggle and really have a chance to engage, disengage, pursue, it simply isn't there. Oh yeah, btw worst soundtrack in madden history.

[vannwolfhawk]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Just got done with another game. Packers at Seahawks (me). I adjusted a few sliders in favor of CPU running game.

Seahawks won 24-9. No turnovers for the Hawks this game as adjusting to new zones and man defense a bit more. A few more things I noticed...

- CPU ai is bad again as far as play calling go's.

- Rodgers was 28-44 and never left the pocket although he should have and could have a few times.

- lacy 18 rushes for 34 yards. CPU rb's just not too aware and couple that with poor run plays CPU uses don't help.

- jordy had 8 catches for 109 yards. 7 of them opposite Sherman and 1 on Sherman.

- 1 bad thing is I had a score on a pass from Russ to jimmy graham where they said he was down at the 1. He clearly didn't have a knee down til in the end zone and ball a yard in the end zone. I reviewed it and said he was down. Another pass on sideline the cpu caught that was not a catch but I could not review it. Both replays showed the game was wrong. :-(

- CPU did a good job in the 2 minute drills in use of timeouts, hurry up, etc. good to see. The only thing that stood out was the clock was stopped already yet Rodgers spiked the ball. The announcers even said why did he spoke the ball the clock wasn't even running.

- CPU defense shut down Rawls and held him to 17 carries for 51 yards.

- punt returns for a user are fun! I had 4 returns for 122 yards and almost broke a couple with Lockett. The great thing about the new LT moves and jukes is you can put them together. I did a cutback move followed by a spin to break from 2 defenders. Rawls on a run split to guys with a stutter move and they both whiffed and a cool animation as he broke it for a td run. The control as a runner is 1 of my favorite new additions to the game. Kick returning is not as easy due to poor blocking but on punts I saw a few of my blockers set an edge and with lockers speed I could get around it.

- as I said earlier I had a punt blocked and it was cool to see but I knew it was going to be blocked once it was snapped.

- I think if your a user vs CPU offline guy playing all pro sliders for offense need to be found especially in the running game, edited playbooks for CPU ai teams (if it can be done this year) is a must, and maybe some qb and RB editing to utilize better run vision, moves, scramble, etc. but great thing is I think that's all editable and fixable. Once that's dialed in it plays a pretty good game of football compared to games past. User vs user will be fun as hell...

- I've really enjoyed defense in this game for the 1st time I can remember. 2 12 minute games giving up 17 to the Rams (14 4th qtr points), and 9 to the packers. Sherman with interceptions in both games.

I'm done with reviews of my 1st impressions but can't wait to see what you guys think tomorrow when EA access opens up... Hopefully this wet the appetite a bit.

[jvalverde88]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

Guys, impressions only. If you have a question please use the Madden 17 Q&A Thread.

[vannwolfhawk]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Impressions

I should note that my previous impressions might change as I just got an update to the game (1st day 1 patch?) and a tuner update as well.