Madden NFL 17 Review (Xbox One)

[BezO]

Quote: Originally Posted by BenGerman

I definitely take issue with the binary line play as well. A while ago (I think on OS), I wrote about how well Madden would do with more dynamic variation in the way line play should be handled. I'm totally on board with that line of thought. It isn't so much that I am ignoring these issues or don't recognize them, it's that there are other things that I think (most) people will find to be more prevalent. As a whole, I thought line play works pretty well. But in a review that already has so much to say, the binary line play wasn't as big of an issue as some of the other things I mentioned (ie the QB play being too uniform across the board). I get the issues with special teams as well. For me, ST was improved at such a level that - while there are certainly things to work on - I couldn't help but be gleeful with some of the changes.

Can't knock it. We're all looking for different things. With some of this mentioned by only a handful of OS members, I'm guessing most don't watch the NFL closely enough to even know what's missing. Others don't care. For me though, there's way too much football missing for this game to be rated any where near great.

[BenGerman]

Quote: Originally Posted by bucky60

Thanks for the response Ben. I guess we will have to agree to disagree on the bold. I've been very diligent about looking at CFM blogs and watching CFM videos and all the new M17 CFM abstractions are still arcade abstractions. So I just can't see how, the way XP is currently implemented in M17 CFM, works well for realism. I do think it works very well for the arcade/RPG crowd. Thanks again Ben for responding.

No problem, hopefully we get some more options in the future.

[BenGerman]

Quote: Originally Posted by BezO

Can't knock it. We're all looking for different things. With some of this mentioned by only a handful of OS members, I'm guessing most don't watch the NFL closely enough to even know what's missing. Others don't care. For me though, there's way too much football missing for this game to be rated any where near great.

Sure, it has a lot to do with priorities. FWIW, it isn't that I'm not aware of the things you mention. But I liked the game and I didn't have enough room to bring up every small thing I didn't like about it - even though I agree with you on all fronts.

[The JareBear]

Quote: Originally Posted by BenGerman

Sure, it has a lot to do with priorities. FWIW, it isn't that I'm not aware of the things you mention. But I liked the game and I didn't have enough room to bring up every small thing I didn't like about it - even though I agree with you on all fronts.

Thanks for your review and your responses in this thread so far, Ben.

[GiantBlue76]

Ben,

I agree with Bezo, but for me it's a bit different. I just want to get back to the football game standards set years ago. Slowly getting there. That being said, the main point of my post was that despite my disagreement with the score, I felt your review was well-written and objective. I appreciated your honesty about the shortcomings and the positives. To be honest, I don't really care about the score . It's all about the content. Nice job.

[RandallB21]

If there is one thing I wish they would have included this year it would have been custom draft classes because I am a big franchise mode guy..

All in all I am looking forward to playing this game and getting my CFM going.

[BezO]

Quote: Originally Posted by BenGerman

Sure, it has a lot to do with priorities. FWIW, it isn't that I'm not aware of the things you mention. But I liked the game and I didn't have enough room to bring up every small thing I didn't like about it - even though I agree with you on all fronts.

That's the difference. To me, those things are huge. The binary nature of player interaction, for example, ruins the spacing & timing of the game & distorts the strategy.

The lack of tiered defensive play calling is another big one. Scheming your own defense is half the battle. But we're stuck with EA's limited pre-package schemes. I've always had to find the coverage I want and live with the blitz/stunt combo, or find the blitz/stunt combo I want, if it's there, and live with the coverage.

[ednaaard]

Quote: Originally Posted by brza37

So the draft commentary from Schefter actually works this year? The past 2 years you would see him pop-up but 9 times out of 10 the audio wouldn't play.

Finally! This is huge and adds a huge amount to immersion just knowing players' back stories.