Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

[PhillyPhanatic14]

https://www.gameinformer.com/preview/2023/06/07/moving-the-chains

Great article.

"However, perhaps the biggest improvement to defense comes in the form of what the developer is taking away from their repertoire: their "psychic" abilities. In past games, defenders would magically swat away passes they weren't even looking at or preemptively run the receiver's route before the receiver himself ran it. Those A.I. anomalies are gone in this entry, making for more realistic defensive play."

[Brooke2011]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

Rear hand warmers …. Nice touch EA …. Aka equipment guru.

[Sphinx]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

This blurb made me pretty happy,

"Commissioners of Franchise leagues can also look forward to a ton of new settings, including age XP sliders, trade difficulty settings, adjustable draft timers, progression/regression sliders, and plenty more."

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

This is the coolest thing I've read about the game so far.

"Additionally, new draft class generators... (including) out-of-position generators that let you identify if that incoming quarterback might actually make for a better NFL running back."

More variance in the draft classes is awesome and an out of position generator is really really cool.

[Kramer5150]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

Still reading the article, but this jumped out at me.....

In addition to the continued use of authentic soundtracks for each stadium

Does this possible mean that we'll get to hear Renegade at Acrisure? That would be pretty sweet if true and a great way to "up" the momentum..and show cutscenes of the fans waiving the terrible towels? I might be getting WAY ahead of myself here, but DAMN if that wouldn't be awesome...

[trekfan]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

All of it sounds good, happy that PC is finally going next-gen (it's about damn time), but don't call me a believer -- Madden has had plenty of fluff pieces out before. I trust nothing until the community has some time with the game in hand.

[shanew21]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

This article does a lot better job than the gridiron notes.

A few things that stood out:
- Raytracing
- CPU Free Agency logic so they'll keep star players
- Defenses react to repetitive play calls
- A lot of talk about the "single player experience"

As an exclusively single player guy with Madden, it does seem like they're addressing a large part of their user base this year instead of just focusing on online modes.

[jpdavis82]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

This subtle line here, is something that has been a complaint in the OS community for many years. I hope they truly fixed this.

[kingsofthevalley]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

This article was EXTREMELY impressive. It’s strange that everything I personally have been looking for is there down to the letter! Additionally, Im going with the PC version this year no doubt about it.

[Kramer5150]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

After reading this article, I came away more impressed from this that the actual EA official release...lol

Someone that went hands on and talked very highly of the new additions which sound very promising...I just hope the "comp" and MUT crowds don't have a lot of complaints...because I sure would hate for EA to "nerf" certain aspects of the game to appease these players.

[TarHeelPhenom]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

After reading this article, I came away more impressed from this that the actual EA official release...lol

Someone that went hands on and talked very highly of the new additions which sound very promising...I just hope the "comp" and MUT crowds don't have a lot of complaints...because I sure would hate for EA to "nerf" certain aspects of the game to appease these players.

And it's for this reason that, just like last year, I'll be getting the physical copy of the game for Series X. I'll just play the out of the box base game if anything gets too crazy. I'll have no choice but digital with the PC version.

[canes21]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

Moving forward, the A.I. uses the skill-based passing introduced in last year's game, allowing for more precise throws based on the skill level you compete against.

Thank the heavens.

AI seems to have gotten some attention. It's EA, so I have to see it to believe it, but at least I have something to look forward to seeing.

New A.I. logic gives the CPU-controlled teams more knowledge on how to avoid incoming pressure, as well as better awareness of the down and distance, plus the skills of the receivers and defenders. This was all done in service to the single-player experience, giving each team a different feeling to play against.

Will the AI finally feed their star WR's or continually pick on my weak defenders?

On top of that, ballcarrier A.I. has also received an upgrade, with a new vision and awareness grid from the Frostbite engine continually updating to make sure the man with the ball carries along an optimal path.

CPU running game has been a joke for years. We've had to make the RBs unrealistically strong to shed off 5 tackles per play to get realistic YPC numbers. If they actually have functioning eyeballs this time, that will be huge for the series.

Defenses also now react to repetitive play calls, meaning that your third time running the same offensive play is less likely to be effective than the first time you ran it.

We've heard this before. Hope it is finally true. I'd rather the AI adapt too well to what I have run repeatedly than deal with what we've had forever with this series. Anything to make the AI smarter and more challenging is welcome. I'd love to have a challenge for once without having to make the AI superhuman with sliders.

These live-ball improvements add updated onside kicks with new bounce physics and animations to make for more realistic outcomes.

Something often overlooked, but very long overdue.

When the ball pokes out of a ballcarrier's arms to create a fumble, the A.I. of the players has been adjusted, and the fumble recovery animations have been updated to create more opportunities where the players will dive on the ball or scoop and run.

Also long overdue. Hopefully this puts an end to the ridiculous sequences we see regularly with a loose ball where either everyone ignores it or 10 people whiff on their scoop attempt.

A new gameplay emotion system aims to make big-play moments feel even bigger.

As a big presentation and immersion guy, this has me excited to see how it plays out. The games often feel flat as the emotion is just never there in the real time post play animations as well as the canned cut scenes. Also, why do we have team celebrations for offensive TD's, but we can't do the same whenever we force a turnover. Anyone who has watched an NFL game in the last few years and has seen a turnover knows that defenses go way overboard with their team celebrations. This needs to be represented in Madden.

since the game went to 3D models, every player kind of waddled around after the whistle. Now, they stand upright and walk more like humans.

Bended knees fixed?

[canes21]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

Now for the franchise stuff.

GMs can now add six items on each side of a trade (up to three players per team, with draft picks going as far into the future as three seasons), and both the trade logic and offer logic have been overhauled.

About time trade slots were expanded. 3 seasons into the future is nice. Hopefully that is something they can extend on in future releases. The expanded trade slots should make trading much more authentic if they have done a good job tuning the logic.

When you're trying to figure out how you'll hang on to your favorite players, you'll notice enhanced contract restructuring, including a new fifth-year option in the re-sign user interface. On top of that, the A.I. logic has been reworked for restructuring and re-signing, meaning that both users and CPU teams will be able to hang on to their stars.

Restructuring is nice. AI hopefully uses it. 5th year options built into the UI is beyond overdue. Again, hope the AI uses this as well. It's incredible it's been locked behind the scenario engine for so long and that the AI didn't have the ability to pick up 5th year options.

Also, if they truly fixed star players hitting free agency at unrealistic rates, that alone makes franchise mode a better mode than it has been the last 5+ years. We'll see. We've heard they have fixed things before and that wasn't always the case.

Commissioners of Franchise leagues can also look forward to a ton of new settings, including age XP sliders, trade difficulty settings, adjustable draft timers, progression/regression sliders, and plenty more.

YES, YES, YES, and YES some more. These are the types of sandbox options this series has been missing for eons. Please, EA keep adding these types of things for us to mess with. I still do not like the XP system, but now there are more tools to make it more enjoyable. Interested to see what these new options open up with regards to PC modding. May lead to some progression overhauls being more detailed.

[Sparkles]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

I see "GM" being mentioned a few times in this article... can we finally personify as a GM instead of a coach or owner ?

[Junior Moe]

Re: Madden 24 Preview - GameInformer

Authentic stadium soundtracks has my interest. I just hope Madden moves towards a more authentic broadcast presentation instead of this ESPN/MUT hybrid vibe they have now.

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using Tapatalk