Is next-gen Madden worth buying?

[The JareBear]

Yes or No isn't fair.

Did you buy CG madden and do you still play it regularly? Then, maybe not

Did you not buy CG madden and are looking for a football fix? Yeah, I say its worth it for sure.

Did you buy CG madden, like CG madden, but wanna see what next gen football is looking like? Yeah, I mean, I can't say no to that. I still think, as long as you're a madden fan, you will enjoy this game on your new system. It is nothing different from what you already like, just a cleaned up version of it.

[thescoop]

Quote: Originally Posted by The JareBear

Yes or No isn't fair. Did you buy CG madden and do you still play it regularly? Then, maybe not Did you not buy CG madden and are looking for a football fix? Yeah, I say its worth it for sure. Did you buy CG madden, like CG madden, but wanna see what next gen football is looking like? Yeah, I mean, I can't say no to that. I still think, as long as you're a madden fan, you will enjoy this game on your new system. It is nothing different from what you already like, just a cleaned up version of it.

I agree with JareBear here. I don't view this a simple yes/no answers. I upgraded mine. Gameplay does have some improvements I do enjoy but it is more a port than a true next gen game.

I wasn't far in my current gen dynasty so giving it up for next gen wasn't a huge sacrifice for me. For some people deep into a dynasty mode, this game might be worth skipping until next year.

It just isn't as simple as a yes/no questions as this pole presents.

[knights41]

I don;t post much, just like to read what;s going on and find out some info. But I wanted to get my impression out on the ps4 Madden.

Well worth the buy! Graphics are better (IMO), gameplay is tighter, and the overall experience is great. The fun fun actor (especially for a 37 yr old with 2 young ins) is awesome. I am so glad that this wasn't a revisit of the 360 launch title. I haven't completed a full season for Madden in quite some time, however I believe it might happen now (even with the help of my 6 yr old!)

Go buy if you were lucky enough to get your hand on a next gen console!

[Bat]

I don't really understand the hate. It plays different. It is more sim for sure, and there is actual defense! Played online 6 games. Richard Sherman played like a beast I didn't see crazy out of hand qb running either.

Maybe it was just last night but the connection was awesome too. No lag during field goals or anything. Probably not many people playing online.. dunno.

[Josam27o7]

The players interacted more smoothly in the PS2 days. The way the players interact is off (I can't stand it).

I bought all the PS2 Maddens. Never bought one PS3 Madden. And I am sure as hell not going to buy this PS4 version as it's the same garbage.

[Madwolf]

Having played it at a friend's house I'm saying it's a buy.

The game play definitely feels better. First of all feet planting is going to solve some issues playing defense, and with the unrealistic movements of players.

The AI itself, especially on defense is WAY better. Routes get covered properly, and you don't feel like players are just getting beat because the AI is shoddy. It still happens, but you never feel like that TE out-route is just money the entire time, or that TEs and HB/FBs just become un-guard-able. You feel like you have to read the defense and make your throws on time, which is nice.

WRs fight for the ball, which is AWESOME.

Swat ball seems to be back, in a more realistic since as well. Instead of PS2/XBOX/GameCube generation where everything would get swatted unrealistically, it's more of a bat down if they can, or knocking it out as it is received. This is REALLY not working on CG.

The line play seems to be better, but I don't feel like it's quite up to snuff with what 2K did a few years ago, but it's still lots BETTER. I'd like to see them manage their blocks better, and the DTs get a better push at times. I want to see lines like the Panthers collapse the pocket.

My biggest frustration is that it is still far to easy to run up the middle, or have the computer run up the middle on you. Runners still run over you when they shouldn't and seem to have that "animation momentum," if you catch my drift.

I think the reason for a lot of the improvement is simply that the system is actually capable of processing AI for each individual player on the field. So now you WR knows to fight for the ball, or your defender knows the positions of the guys entering his zone, and he makes a play on the ball as it leads the QBs hand if he's watching. He notices the TE or WR on the out-route, or just period. There is no "hive-mind," "11 as 1" failure anymore. It's very nice.

For me this is a lot closer to football than CG is, and it is a must by for me. I don't think it's such a big step that everyone should upgrade just for Madden. I think what this is, is a WONDERFUL building block in the right direction. If this is the foundation for NG Madden, it's going to be a very fun 10 years fellas.

[Skyboxer]

Very much so.
This is a very much improved game and I'm having a blast.

[Madwolf]

Quote: Originally Posted by Skyboxer

Very much so. This is a very much improved game and I'm having a blast.

Right? Don't you feel like the Franchise's potential just rose a GREAT deal? It's like all the little things CG struggles with are finally working in NG. I don't think anyone is looking at the game going "man, this is COMPLETELY different." There is no ground breaking change to the over-all game that you didn't see to some degree in CG. It's just that things actually work in NG.

I feel like CG Madden was built to work on these NG consoles, but they just never had the ability to pull it off. Now they have these power CPUs, and large amounts of RAM, and they actually have the system resources to pull off what they wanted the game to do the past couple of years but couldn't make it work in the CG systems.

I don't think people understand how poor the hardware was at times on the CG stuff. Even when they were put out the RAM was pathetic in the consoles, and I think that's part of what really hurt the game, as well as the processors being nearly a decade old by the time this NG got here. I think whoever designed Madden on the CG when it first came out just did a really poor job of creating a system that would work as well as possible with those systems, so you always had a game written for a more powerful box, and then scaled down.

Now that you have mostly that same game on a MUCH more powerful system, all the things they've wanted to do really shine.

Just take the animations, you can see the swat/strip ball stuff actually work as soon as the WR attempts to make the catch. You see it happen, and you know that's what they were trying to do in CG, but it was just too much for those consoles to handle. So instead of these nice animations, the consoles basically had limited results it could come up with. So instead of the ball being knocked down for an in-completion, as in real life, once the guy was catching it, the console would just give him the ball most of the time because it didn't have the physical power to calculate if the defender should or shouldn't knock the ball out and force the in-completion.

I think NG is really going to make ratings meaningful for the first time because of this. Suddenly you have the power to calculate what all those ratings are really supposed to mean for a player. That's why, on top of animations you've almost never seen before getting triggered, you're seeing guys get beat on the line, and balls be knocked down once their caught, WRs jumping for the ball etc, because now those ratings are actually be used instead of the console losing it's **** and just going with 1 outcome 90% of the time.

It's also one of the reasons the ball is tipped up in the air so much more and can be picked off on tips. SO much really cool stuff is going to happen because of all this. I'm SOOO EXCITED.