Madden NFL 18 Retail Impressions

[Grandview2015]

Quote: Originally Posted by GiantBlue76

The more games you play, the more you see this. It's awful. Couple this with the non-existent pass rush... I don't care if the guy doesn't make the play, but seeing them just stand there and do nothing is flat out atrocious.

It's PA and 4 Vert, but sliders do help it a ton, but will still happen

[NYJin2011tm]

Quote: Originally Posted by DeuceDouglas

Haven't posted impressions in quite a few games, mainly because not much has change but I'll give a quick rundown of the games I've played since my last impressions: Steelers (L 47-41) - Didn't like playing this game. Lost 47-41 in OT and there was just no defense on either side. There was around 1200 yards of total offense in it and it just was not fun at all to play. The Steelers must have ran verticals like 20 times in this game and it seemed like more often than not someone was absolutely wide open. Rams (L 31-24) - This game was a lot better until the end. I was down 14-0 early but battled back and took the lead before having it tied back up. I punted the Rams down to the 5 with 1:05 to go and it took Goff like 35 seconds to go 95 yards and score. He ended up finishing 28-36 for over 400 yards but I sacked him 7 times. Colts (W 36-21) - Fun game. Actually was able to play some defense and forced some turnovers. Still gave up over 300 yards through the air but a lot of it was late and I held Gore in check the whole game. Sacked Luck 6 times. Panthers (W 28-24) - One of the best games I've played. Newton felt a bit inaccurate and threw some wild passes. Only sacked him 4 times and he did move a bit but not very intelligently. Gave up a rushing touchdown to him on a read option near the goaline. This was a really fun game. Saints (W 36-31) - Kind of a mix between the Steelers and Rams game. In the end it wasn't very fun but it was mainly because of the end. Punted it away up 30-25 with around 2:00 to go. Saints go into hurry and become pretty much unstoppable but I get a couple of sacks and force a 3rd and 25 from the 50 and they're still in hurry up. Then they completed a 50-yard TD with 12 seconds to go because my DB's bumped into each other and just completely stopped and allowed a guy to get behind them. Then I returned the ensuing kickoff for the game winning TD. I didn't want to but I bit the bullet and changed some sliders. I was going to bump it back to All-Madden and try the settings I'd been playing with on M17 but I decided to instead tweak All-Pro a bit. Turned QB Accuracy to 20 on both sides. Turned my run blocking down to 40 and then bumped both Coverage and Reaction Time to 60 and knocked INT down to 40 on both sides. Buccaneers (L 48-38) - The score looks bad but there was actually more defense in this game than in most games I've played. I had a pick six in the first with Peters which was nice to see because he's been a non-factor in most of my time playing. I had a 30-19 lead going into the fourth quarter after they blocked my XP and took it back for 2. They ended up scoring 29 points in the fourth quarter on a blocked punt TD and 2 pick sixes. It was just an implosion on my end. Defense did feel tighter and the accuracy changes definitely stood out for Winston. I started hot but missed more than a few passes as well and we both finished with just under 60% which has been quite rare. Overall though, I think the game just needs more defense. I'm having a lot of fun and enjoying the game but the lack of defense can be really frustrating at times. I think if they could tighten up defense a bit and then make AI QB's a bit smarter then I'd be good. Just going to keep playing though and see what happens.

This is what turned me off on 17. Every game I played was 60-40, 60-50. It was like outdoor Arena League football. After about 10 games I stopped playing.

[Brooke2011]

With more time with the game I'm really liking it a lot . I gave it a high score from the get go, but I have to say this is one of the most polished games of madden I've ever played. A few notes. I play 4 minute quarters because I like to play 3 games a day because I'm pressed for time with kids, job ,etc. from what I've seen on all pro default sliders , the game plays well. There are some legacy issues in the physics and collisions , but they are not as drastic as years past. This is noticeable is some of the tackle animations. The facemask animation can be overdone at times. Every game so far has a moment where it just makes you go "wow" in a good way. From what I've played the defense and offense of the CPU play better than years past. CPU QB's do evade blitzes and will move out of the pocket for the most part . Penalties are definately noticeable . Like I stated before , I'm getting 2-3 per game . I'm also getting 2 injuries per game. Most are off ball and require no loss of playing time.

Graphics and lighting are so good everyteam looks beautiful. I love the sideline interaction , but next year they have to add the actual players.

Don't think I'm going to mess with sliders or game speed. For now I'm content to how the game plays and looks.

One more note: scat passing plays and some PA screen plays have the Wr running the wrong route. The dint flare or sit on their route . They wander off up the field. This is a patch tuner and will prob be fixed.

[elmerlee]

That finish to your ram game is why madden is real crap. And your other games had a big dose of it too. The Hugh amount of scoring in the last two minutes is not football. This was not in the game for a long while in v16 but was later put back. V17 had it right from the start and now v18.......I just cannot enjoy that junk,

[elmerlee]

I meant saints game. But the ram game was gas too.

[DeuceDouglas]

One thing I keep forgetting to mention is that I hopped into a CFM using the new starting points which is definitely pretty cool. It had all the real numbers from Week 1 although the box scores were a little weird as obviously there were tons of players who had stats that aren't even in the game so they're not shown which is to be expected.

The one thing that I didn't like but had a feeling would happen is that I started it up and basically as soon as it loaded in, there had already been 50 transactions made by CPU teams. So if you're looking to use a regular season Week 1 starting point to have authentic rosters, I wouldn't exactly count on that being the case. They'll be mostly accurate but as soon as you load in teams are going to start cutting guys and signing free agents to replace them before the week starts.

[Furq]

As someone who is only a casual fan of the NFL and more of an NBA fan ... is this worth the upgrade from 17?

I've had issues with realism in the past, on 17 the computer at one point had 4 false start penalties called in a row which I found aggravating. I also feel like the computer can be down by 3 TD with 2 minutes to go and instead of conceding defeat will play hurry up offense as if they have a chance. Are these sorts of things fixed in 18 for you guys?

[Brooke2011]

I def think it's worth the upgrade just for the visual effects alone. I don't think the penalties are that bad. For me they seem pretty random and sporadic .

As far as realism goes I think it's ahead of 17 for the following
1: movement is better
2: player likeness is better
3: team run outs add atmosphere
4: better animations from all 3 phases ( offense, defense , special teams)
5: better down field blocking
6: player celebrations updated and done well
8: lighting and graphics
9: stadium upgrades and field textures
10: play now live weakly updates
11: long shot....... lol just kidding