Madden NFL 18 Retail Impressions

[Grandview2015]

I like a lot and game planning helps

Playing as Bears and Ryan is torching me what should happen

[extremeskins04]

Quote: Originally Posted by Brooke2011

I've played about 9 games . Played with Patriots , Seahawks , Ravens and 49ers. Here is what I've noticed on allpro simulation . 1. Running between the tackles feels more natural . There are reach tackles and more control to maneuver from the running back. 2. Down field blocking is much much improved . 3. The QB AI is better than suggested . Mobile Qb's do scramble. 4. A lot of overthrows by both sides , especially when your feet are not planted. 5. Catching is the same as last year which is not a bad thing. 6. Td celebrations are done well. It def adds to the atmosphere of the NFL. 7. Graphics and lighting are a 10 out of 10.( esp in 4k) 8. Sidelines are the same , but players and coaches will help up players when getting knocked down. 9. Penalties are called and I have seen all of them and even off and def pass interference . 10. Have had off ball injuries and happy to say they were not serious. 11. Zones seem ok to me . The AI is def smarter than last year and the reaction to their responsible areas is def better than last year. 12. Pa bubble screens has a glitch were WR don't flare out for the screen , but go upfield for a pass. 13. Hitting sound effects sound more natural . Not as loud but more realistic. 14. Commentary is the same with new dialogue . 15. Pre game run outs are a nice touch but could done smoother. 16. Replays are better because the graphics and lighter are better, but overall the same from last year. 17 half time and post game are the same as last year. 18.target passing on all pro is hard, but it might just be that it is new as well. 19. ID the mike works well especially if you want a double team on a stud defender. 20. I would give this game a 9 out of 10........ NO , I don't work for EA😏

Brooke you're getting penalties called? How many per game? Do you remember by chance?

[JKSportsGamer1984]

Quote: Originally Posted by CujoMatty

BECAUSE THE FRAMERATE WOULD BE HORRIBLE IF THEY LOOKED BETTER

I don't really care about them "looking better" per say, I just wish they would find a way to get names on the back of their jerseys also with their on field facemask. This would go a long way for immersion.

[Grandview2015]

Quote: Originally Posted by extremeskins04

Brooke you're getting penalties called? How many per game? Do you remember by chance?

I have gotten 4-7 both ways

9 min no running clock

[GiantBlue76]

Few of my disclaimers before I post my impressions.

1. No CPU Games
I do NOT play Madden against the CPU... Ever. If you want my opinion of that, I can sum it up very easily. I would never even consider buying this game if I was forced to play as a single player. It's absolutely horrific, IMO.

2. Ranked matches
I've played 10 ranked matches only. I'm a simulation guy, but I also will play ranked matches to practice.

3. Online Franchise
I'm strictly an online league player. I've been playing in a 32 man league for a LONG time. My interest is in the most realistic experience possible from the game itself.

Let's start with the good stuff first...

Pros

Graphics
Madden is easily the best looking football game I have ever seen or played. Most of that is due to the fact that there are no other NFL games, and haven't been for 13 years. Still, it looks great, the art team deserves a lot of credit. Lighting and player model detail is excellent.

Improved Animations
My biggest pet peeve in ANY sports game is player movement. I don't care as much about graphics as I do about how the players move and interact with each other. While I still have issues with how Madden animates and moves, it's much better than years past. The physics are still silly at times, but it's better than it was. I've also seen some better catch, pass rush and blocking animations. Tackling is much improved as well from an aesthetic standpoint. I see a lot less of those stupid WWE hits that no one ever does in real life. I like seeing defenders get dragged at times, or backs fighting for yardage.

Coach Adjustments
I'm putting this in the PROS section because it is something that was needed badly and they at least added it this year. There is a TON more depth that should be added to this as it relates to individual teams and players. I want the same level of depth that NBA 2k gives you with respect to how you want to play defense against certain players. At least you can make some changes as far as how your secondary mans up against the offense. This will at least limit (somewhat) the cheesy crap where you can move your stud receiver around and get him matched up against a crap corner. I've tried adjusting the pass rush but I did not notice anything different. Need more time for that.

Blocking
I've really liked the improvements to the blocking at the second level. It's nice to see that when I am running with the ball, my WRs, guards and tackles will engage the most immediate threat. While it still needs some improvement, it works well enough to be enjoyable.

Man Coverage
FiNALLY! It seems that man coverage can be a part of my defensive scheme again. In our 8 seasons in our league last year, I may have called Man twice. I've still seen some poor DB technique, but some of the interactions look good and play out well.

Now for the bad news...

Cons

Legacy Issues
I'm not sure why, but the Madden development team is the poster child for legacy issues. Every year we keep hearing how Rex is a guy who "isn't afraid to clean up ****", yet I still see plenty of it on most of the plays. It took me less than 3 plays in to have a play where the ball went through the chest of my WR (Brandon Marshall) right into the hands of the safety 5 yards behind him. I've also seen a lot of instances where players hands are reaching through bodies. It looks like complete and utter crap and makes me want to throw my controller through a wall. I really wish the Madden team would stop focusing on outcomes only and concentrate on the process which leads to the outcome. No one cares about unsuccessful outcomes if they make sense. It's the ridiculous crap that leads to the outcomes that is rage inducing and ruins the fun of the game.

Line Play
This is the #1 thing for me in a football game - Line Play. I still have NFL 2k5 and APF 2k8 because the line play is phenomenal. It's not a complete con here because it is a lot better than it was in some aspects. However, I still see too much binary stuff. I've also seen quite a few issues where the LG warps across to pick up a DT who is on the outside shoulder of the center on the opposite side. It still shows that the line play is not organic, and that the O line is tied to the D Line. That also tells me that stunts are not coming any time soon. Another problem is the ability to drop back 20 yards is STILL in this game. There really are times when I wonder if they actually play their own game. It's still insanely easy to roll out with the QB and I see the DEs with their back to the QB still engaged playing pattycake. Again, signals that it's not at all organic and it is just a scripted blocking animation. Absolutely terrible.

Player Awareness
The most prevalent is when a QB scrambles out of the pocket and your defensive players stand still until the ball crosses the line. Not only does it look awful, it's incredibly frustrating. Yes - I realize that I can click the right stick, but if I put a defensive player in a spy, he is now assigned to the QB. If the QB leaves the pocket and starts to run he should now be smart enough to give chase. This is also true of defenders who are covering an area of the field in zone where there are no receivers. They stand there and cover grass. Again, having the RS mechanic makes this tolerable, but it would be nice if there was better situational awareness in this area.

I'm not going to make any comment on CFM because everyone on OS knows how atrocious it is already. Nothing to add and I know nothing has been changed.

All in all, it's another year and another Madden. To be honest, I only get this game because our league has been going for many years and also because it's the only option. How this game could ever get some of the review scores it gets is laughable to me. I've learned to just accept it. It's not ever going to change so there really isn't any point in paying attention to it anymore. If you like Madden then you'll like this game I presume. If you are like me and you tolerate the game to play in a league, you'll find a way to get some enjoyment out of it. After 9 years, I still haven't gotten rid of my 360 because if I want real football, I pop in APF 2k8. If I want to induce controller throwing rage on a rainy saturday I still play some madden ;-)

[Brooklynbks4]

Can't even play the rest of the game because MUT Squads is amazing lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BadAssHskr]

I pretty much hate to be this guy, and granted this is based off of 2 quarters of game play, but i'm not sure the retail version is playing quite like the ea access version, which i played all 10 hours.

I had strictly only played Browns vs Browns games, and like wise today, 6 min quarters default all-pro, sim.

In particular i don't think the game feels as fluid now as in ea access. Seems the running game is a bit more clunky, or even tightened up, but like i said, less fluid.

I felt the cpu was playing more aggressively on offense today, but playing playing defense, felt a bit more, well, cheap, from my standpoint.

I'm hoping we are just going to have more variation game to game wise, but after limited time, i just have the feeling the retail is less "fresh" than the ea access version.

I'm playing with a digital copy on xb1s, am by far in no position to give any sort of formal game evaluation, but this is just a feeling i was having.

Maybe someone else who spent time with the pre-release can chime in, maybe im just crazy, perhaps its placebo because i was expecting a formal day 1 patch, who knows.

[bcruise]

There's a lot of room to adjust penalties, even if the consensus is that there are too few on default. Just to confirm that it would still be obnoxious by maxing everything:



Plenty of variety too - I saw every call except Defensive holding and PI (and I have seen those in streams).

Adjustments play into these too - while I did see some false starts early in the game, it got REALLY crazy in the 4th quarter. Denver FS'd 5 times in a row at one point, and I can almost guarantee that was due to them using the blocking adjustment while down 3 scores (the adjustment drop-down doesn't appear for CPU only/Slow Speed sims, so I couldn't say for 100% sure).

Lots of the dumb roughing the passer calls with that up there too, but I expected that. That one won't be moving much off the default.