Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

[CT Pitbull]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

It feels like the speed of the game was increased which is not at all a bad thing imo.

The QB releases are much quicker and more fluid. Lamar Jackson plays like Lamar Jackson. If you loose contain on him you will pay for it in chunks of yards.

Tackling seems to be improved/smoother

Don't like how WR's react to high passes sometimes. Sometimes not making any attempt to play the ball

Still can't play a cold weather quick game without snow as far as I can see. I've been asking for this, going on a decade now. Football is played in cold weather. Its a small detail but if I want to play the Packers in Soldier Field I want to play in cold weather. Not sunny and 75. I want to see the vapor trail from the players breath. It can be totally visual, I don't care. It doesn't need to effect game play.

[scitychamps87]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

Anyone else feel like the CPU QBs are unstoppable on All-Madden? I feel like my DBs are useless

Sent from my XT1650 using Operation Sports mobile app

[Armor and Sword]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

A few issues after 1 game:

The brain dead CPU AI is still in the game. Not all slant routes work, but man, some DB's in the game just don't follow the WR.

Who had the 4th grade idea of Sack Lunch, etc.... oy.......

One caveat: Please EA, for the love of everything ever holy, do not increase user speed, keep it throttled down.

And this is why we are passing.

Brain dead cpu = no longevity in franchise mode.

Such a shame.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[Kramer5150]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

Anyone else feel like the CPU QBs are unstoppable on All-Madden? I feel like my DBs are useless

Sent from my XT1650 using Operation Sports mobile app

This was actually a big problem for me and still remains to be a problem...lack of defense...I was able to calm the robo qb by lowering cpu qb acc to 5 and wr catch to 35....

Im now trying AP again, and it's to easy, so Im going to have to roll on AM.....

[Darth Aegis]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

This was actually a big problem for me and still remains to be a problem...lack of defense...I was able to calm the robo qb by lowering cpu qb acc to 5 and wr catch to 35....

Im now trying AP again, and it's to easy, so Im going to have to roll on AM.....

There is user boosting for different things under the hood & is one of the reasons why AP is too easy especially on default sliders.

[Kramer5150]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

There is user boosting for different things under the hood & is one of the reasons why it's too easy.

Oh really? I din't know that, I remembered it was said that AP was where the game was tuned so I figured that was the level that would best represent the ratings, I believe it was Rex that mentioned that....although I could be wrong.

[JazzMan]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

Some positives I've noticed in a few quarters of gameplay:

- They added Wembley Stadium, as well as Tottenham's stadium and Mexico City's stadium for international games, including some specific commentary. The stadiums look terrific as well, good stuff EA.

- Open field tackling is noticeably improved. A lot of new animations I'm seeing, some I'm seeing a few times in a game so maybe need to work on some variety but for the most part it feels very organic and the players (both offense and defense) carry weight to them in their tackling and running

- Pass coverage is a lot more realistic with the COD rating. Hopefully this continues in the full release, but I can see some guys complaining because they can't cover 75% of the field with a MLB or safety

- Throwing animations have definitely been polished. Noticing a lot of QBs throwing the ball away when they are getting hit as opposed to M20 where QBs would start their throwing animation, but then get hit and it completely axes the throw and they just take the sack. Good stuff there

- Scoreboard/presentation is greatly improved from M20. Hated the paint splashes in 20, this presentation is a lot more professional looking and sharp, reminds me of FIFA

- Running game feels great. Running backs don't just get stuck and clip when they run into a blocker or a lot of traffic, they try to shuffle their feet and get through or around the action. It's not perfect, but it's a great improvement


Some negative things I noticed:

- The player picture for QB Lamar Jackson in the depth chart is the wrong Lamar Jackson lmao. They got the CB Lamar Jackson, rookie out of Nebraska, in place for his picture. I'm sure this will be fixed before launch, but pretty puzzling when it's the cover athlete of the game and they get his picture mixed up with a lowly rookie who happens to have the same name. They don't even look alike lol

- Robo QB is still in effect, especially on All-Madden. I'd like to see CPU QBs try to take some deep, but safe, shots down field, overthrowing a target if necessary to avoid a pick. No matter what you do on defense, if you leave their check down open, that will be their first option every time. A check down should be one of their last options, using it as a last resort to avoid a sack and try to salvage the play with some RACtion. I don't want to see Matt Ryan throw 28-31 against me with 12 completions coming to Todd Gurley off of simple check down passes.

- Commentary team is still the same with the majority of the lines being rehashed from previous titles. I don't mind Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis, in fact I think they're solid, but it'd be awesome to have another commentary team or two available just for variety. FIFA does this and it's awesome, you have the A-Team with Martin Tyler and Alan Smith, and then the B-Team with Derek Rae and Lee Dixon. It'd be great if in the future they could incorporate something like this, I'd love to have Gus Johnson for commentary in a Madden game again.

- Kinda also pertains to commentary, but why haven't we had sideline reporters, like ever? FIFA has them, 2k has them, NFL 2k5 had them, this would be something cool to get reporting on teams throughout the game from the sidelines.

- Offense is a little OP right now. It's better than in M20 where you would have to user-catch on deep throws just to have a chance of coming down with it, but now, even without switching and just letting the AI receivers do their thing, it seems like the receivers will come down with it more often than not. Again, it is an improvement over M20, but could use a little bit of toning down for No-Switch leagues


----

I'm definitely noticing more good than bad, I'll have to get a couple private H2H games in to see how the online experience is without diving into the general pop but so far I really like what I see. I actually enjoyed M20 aside from the lack of franchise depth (#FixMaddenFranchise), so it's nice to see the team build on the foundation of a decent game in M20. It's definitely an improvement; however, I said the same thing for the beta in M20, M19, etc... EA needs to stick to their guns and not cater to the MUT kids who just want to steamroll everybody

[Darth Aegis]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

Oh really? I din't know that, I remembered it was said that AP was where the game was tuned so I figured that was the level that would best represent the ratings, I believe it was Rex that mentioned that....although I could be wrong.

Yeah, users get a boost with acceleration, speed, agility etc just to name a few. The competitive crowd now plays on AM since Madden 19, & I believe is tuned more inline with ratings.

[Kramer5150]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

Yeah, users get a boost with acceleration, speed, agility etc just to name a few. The competitive crowd now plays on AM since Madden 19, & I believe is tuned more inline with ratings.

Thanks for the insight, I had no idea....I'll now have to get my sliders up to par on AM now....lol

[Darth Aegis]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

Really like the goaline reach animations. LJackson (CPU) had a beautiful reaching TD. I went high and Jackson went low for 6 & just got in.

[Mauer4MVP]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

Anyone else feel like the CPU QBs are unstoppable on All-Madden? I feel like my DBs are useless

Sent from my XT1650 using Operation Sports mobile app

Yep. After a few games it's not fun with them being so good lol.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Operation Sports mobile app

[Shogunreaper]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

Yeah, users get a boost with acceleration, speed, agility etc just to name a few. The competitive crowd now plays on AM since Madden 19, & I believe is tuned more inline with ratings.

i thought all madden gave the cpu a boost?

[Mauer4MVP]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

After 2 games, I think my biggest issue still is with pass coverage defenders being too dumb still to make it fun long term.

I didn't mind it overall, but with the minimal improvements to franchise it will be a pass for me

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[canes21]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

1 Game in so far. Me as the Chiefs vs the Ravens on default All Pro.

The USER running game

Still too easy, but not as OP as before. Still feels like you are just about guaranteed 4 yards each carry. Not per carry, each carry. Only times I didn't get at least 4 yards were when I ran into huge number disadvantages or the DL got insta-sheds for stops at the line. Even when I would run into a stacked box where there were 2+ more hats in the box than I had blockers, I'd get a gain of 2 or 3 yards.

It looks like the OL still gets too much push, but there are higher rates of insta-sheds by the DL/LBs now. The backside players are also much quicker/aggressive, but you're practically never forced to cut back because the blocking gets so much push, so that change is not impacting anything right now.

The CPU running game

They still cannot run, end of story. They don't know what a hole is, they run more horizontally than vertically. This is RB's only. You can play a dime defense against a standard I-Form and you'll hold them to 2-3 yards per carry because they have zero idea of where to run.

The CPU QB play

Lamar was off target when he stayed in to throw at times. Pressure definitely affected accuracy for him. He looked to run way way way way too much. When I wasn't containing or spying at first, he'd take off and run almost immediately for nice gains. The second I started playing with a spy or contain broke his running ability immediately. He'd constantly take off into a sack like Scrambling QBs do in NCAA 14. I was calling cover 1 spy/contain from dime defense a lot to test it and it completely destroyed the Raves offense. He no longer even looked to pass. It was catch the snap, run right into the backside of the RT or run right up the middle into the spy defender for a sack each time.

Something with the spies/contains was breaking the CPU QB logic in that game.

Penalties

I saw 4 in the entire game. One was me getting the CPU to jump offsides for two free plays using a fake snap. That was nice to finally see. I also saw a holding call against the CPU and a facemask call against the CPU when I was running the clock out.

Other notes

I saw something that I should never see on a passing play by the CPU. I was usering on the DL the entire game to play with the new controls. On a few different passing plays the tackles would drop back into pass protection like normal, but the guards would stonewall their men and then end up 10+ yards downfield blocking the DTs. Each time this happened the CPU Lamar Jackson just held onto the ball, never throwing it, never trying to even move around. He just froze in the pocket until someone came in for the sack. Very strange, but it only happend 2 to 3 times at most.

I still hate most o the two-man WR/DB animations. They defy physics with how they go against the natural momentum half of the time. Too often do they end up with the two players running near full speed downfield then stopping completely to jump straight up vertically. The good thing was that every single two-man was an incomplete pass. Too often in the past did I feel like these resulted in catches/picks. More often than not in real life that much contact is going to result in an incompletion.

There is a play called Ohio Curl or something like that where the TE runs the slant curl in the middle of the field. It's a guaranteed completion every time you run it still. The AI LB's have no idea how to guard that route. If the TE is on the right side running left to the middle of the field, the LB typically runs past him towards the right sideline. This results in an easy pitch and catch + easy YAC.

The game is still too boom or bust. In real life the average attempt gains 6-8 yards. In Madden it seems like the average attempt gains double that. When you pass the ball in this game, CPU or human, unless it is a screen pass or terrible RPO attempt, you either see an incomplete pass, a catch for a first down, or a turnover. There is no dinking and dunking. Slants are either caught for 10+ yards or fall incomplete. Drag routes are still YAC monsters that the AI struggles to stop.

A lot of the new animations look solid. This is great, but they highlight how ugly the rest of the animations are.

The speed of the game is in a much better place. I always hated the supersonic speed the series had for years. It's nice to see 20 and 21 have continued to go for a more organic looking pacing.

Player locomotion is the best it has probably been in the series. At times, running with Williams felt more like an updated 2k game than that of an EA game. He felt like he had weight, he had to cut when turning too sharp. Players don't feel like they are skating much anymore. Momentum feels real. The defense also feels grounded which is nice. It was odd in the past when the USER offense felt good locomotion-wise, but the defense felt arcadey still. It seems all 22 move better and it looks much better than it ever has the past two generations.

Hit sticks are still whacky and I'm no longer a fan of the mechanic. It should be rare and the hits should be a bit more grounded, but hard. They are way too common and look like WWE moves more than big football hits.

Physics-based tackling is still near nonexistent. Gang tackling is still about nonexistent. The newer tackle animations are great, some even look like near copy and pastes of past 2k animations like the one of the BC having one leg wrapped up and hopping once or twice on the free leg before going down, but the majority of animations are not new and look terrible in comparison.

The presentation is hit or miss. The new wipes are not terrible and can be improved on to look good, but the pre-game was absolutely terrible. Visors are floating off of the helmets, but that will probably be fixed before launch, maybe even is at this point. I still saw Andy Reid too often. Multiple times per drive and from camera angles that were dumb. No broadcast has their camera men carry the camera 2 inches off of the ground to get a 5 second shot of Andy Reid from that angle over and over and over. If it wasn't that angle, it would be as if his playsheet had a camera in it as I was 10 inches from his chin.

The OL/DL interactions when playing as a DL were fun and it didn't feel either side had too much of an advantage. I won some, I lost some. It was only one game, but I never found a move that worked too often. A successful bullrush feels as good in this game as it did in 2k.

CPU logic in playcalling is still bad. It's 3rd and 5, I have the ball, the CPU has all of their DB's 10+ yards off of the ball. I was running quick slants. Hill gets the 1st and more so easy because they didn't blitz and they gave the WR's all sorts of cushion. These types of decisions are made constantly. The adaptive AI didn't seem to be in the beta, either. The CPU seems to still call plays at random, not with a purpose of setting anything up or to get into certain situations.

Overall, it is still Madden. The CPU/AI is still probably the absolute biggest weakness of the game on the field. The locomotion is the best I think it has ever been in the series. It's nice to see CPU QB's running, but it was frustrating to see the spy/contains were breaking the logic and the NCAA 14 Scrambling QB showed back up as Lamar gave me 100 sacks by simply running into the RT.

The passing game is still too boom or bust. Way too boom or bust. There simply is not enough physicality in the passing game. The running game is still too easy for the user, but it has clearly been nerfed for the better. It needs to be tuned more. I think this may be as good as it gets until blocking is overhauled, though. The blocking in EA games is just not built to not be super wins or super losses. You either see great push or insta-sheds and that's about all the results there are available. Until the blocking is redone and we see stalemates at the line and more realistic amounts of bush, DL getting their own push, then the running game will always suffer from this. This just harps back to how boom or bust the game is. We need more middle ground results. The majority of results need to be slight wins/losses, but that isn't how the game is built. You either complete a pass for 10+ yards or you don't. You either push the OL 5 yards down the field or get instantly beat.

If you like Madden then you will like 21, it will feel like an improved game over 19 and 20. It is one, too. It has its issues that I've pointed out. The gameplay is okay enough for me that if I had a good franchise mode I'd play it more. I hate the boom and bust nature of the game, but I could live with it if franchise was fun. The series does seem to be going in the right direction on the field, as it has felt for me since 19, but there are aspects that need to be completely redone, blocking and pass coverage being the two main ones. If the pass coverage was more physical, grounded, and the passing game had more smaller gains then it would be so much better. If the blocking was more in the middle like I said earlier, it would be so much better. As of right now, drives are either 3 and outs or 4 plays 82 yards. You don't really grind anything out in this game because of the way it's built with super wins and losses.

On the field I'd give it a 7 out of 10. Plenty of good, plenty that needs updating yesterday. If you like Madden, you'll like 21.

[Dblock1111]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

One other thing I wanted to mention, the living sidelines they mentioned are definitely just more cut scenes to sideline stuff. During gameplay it’s still weird generic players cycling a couple animations.