Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

[ChaseB]

With Madden 21 still a more than a month away, I did receive a beta code...

Written By: Robert Kollars

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[michaelhawj]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

i got beta code so here are my impressions

Pros : open field tackling look so good, graphic/visual look so good, new scorebug look so cool with new font style text, passing feel pretty decent

Cons : Gameplay need more polished, animations are sometimes goofy on running, tackling and blocking. ai cpu play sometimes so dumb against me in few games i played as Chiefs, Ravens. Man and zone man coverag seem kinda broken to me

overall score for gameplay : 7/10.. i don't think it is worth buying on current gen. i wait for next gen console on this game to see if gameplay is different between current gen and next gen

[xSABOx]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

THINGS I LOVE
-CPU throws on the move
-CPU making anticipation throws
-CPU aggressive downfield
-Throw out of sack innacc throws
-stretching for 1st is HUGE for cpu
-user movement in general is realistic
-Players feeling slower
-Catch in stride is smooth
-Cant cover entire section of field with 1 player
-Sped up/realistic bc moves

THINGS I HAVE TO MOD
-CPU bc doing the zigzag movement
-bc headtracking seems off?
-2 man catch is still unnatural looking and needs to be toned down
-play action fakes not effective enough
-cant lead WRs
-pass blocking blitz pickup feels busted
-4 man pass rush is non existent for both sides
-zone players, especially deep zone, are slow to break on the ball
-cover 4 logic seems busted
-barely any gang tackles
-too many hitsticks

[XtremeDunkz]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

The biggest thing so far for me is getting very little love. The new change of direction rating. This makes the game as a whole much more realistic. HB and QBs moving in the backfield, usering a LB on defense are all much more realistic due to having to slow down when they try to flip direction.

[ripcandlestickpark]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

I played a 15 minute quarter game last night as the Ravens vs. the Falcons (CPU). It was a high-scoring Ravens win (41-30), with each team punting only once. Here are some quick, small-sample-size impressions:

Good

• Most of the gameplay changes for this year seem to be working as advertised so far. I noticed some really good-looking open-field tackle animations (including an impressive gang tackle) combined with older, not-so-great ones.
• The "under pressure" QB throwing animations are apparent and welcome.
• Kickoff returns don't feel as futile as they have in years past. Instead of feeling like being tackled somewhere between the 20 and 30 was an inevitability each time, I felt like anything could happen on any return. In particular, I had a pretty nice return to midfield that felt pretty organic.
• It seems like they added a couple of new sideline cutscenes, which are always welcome.

Not-so-good

• Sideline awareness for WRs still seems lacking.
• Some long-standing issues with CPU QB AI still persist. Matt Ryan had periods of "Robo QB" and the majority of his incompletions were out-of-bounds throws, absurd overthrows or drops.
• The presentation changes are a mixed bag. The new score bar (and associated stat graphics) are great. The wipes are defnitely game-ey, but I can live with them (especially if they changed the text on them to make them team or player-specific as opposed to gaudy "Move The Chains" type text). If I had to compare them to something, they remind of of the wipes you see when using the MLB Network package in MLB: The Show. MLB does it better, though, by keeping them team and player-specific. The intros are awful, though. Like another poster alluded to, they're reminiscent of the worst parts of NCAA 14 (footage from the game you're about to play, for instance).

Miscellaneous

• Neither side had much luck running the football (apart from Lamar, of course). We'll see if that's the case as I get some more games in.
• I had one bug where Todd Gurley's stats were shown on a graphic, and Gaudin said he was a having a great day running the football even though he had negative yardage at that point.

I'm going to to try to get in at least one or two more 15 minute quarter games (as well as some shorter ones) before the beta period ends.

[jfsolo]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

A lot of AI logic needs work, but like the article says the fluidity and contextual appropriateness of most of the animations both with one and multiple players is greatly improved.

It would be too jarring for me to go back and play any of the previous Maddens of this generation because of how much cleaner this game is compared to any of them.

[Brooke2011]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

-Lighting is def brighter
- player models are tweaked a little
- WR have new stances
- zoom camera is much better now that passing cam has been fixed
- tackling is much better than last year
- new button layout has a big learning curve to it
- new moves on the defensive line are awesome on all pro.
- much better WR /DB interaction
- Played on All pro simulation and it was a nice balance.
- game does feel smoother but there are some issues when trying to switch directions quickly .
- u can choose your celebrations by hitting a choice of 4 buttons for offense and defense.
- as of now I would say it is a much more polished version of madden 20 .

[ODogg]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

I loved it after playing a bunch, specifically the way you can rush the Qb now. Players have a better weight to them too. I went ahead and got my preorder in for Xbox One MVP edition w 20% off.

August can't come soon enough!

[TB12BucTD]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

Thanks for the impressions guys this is something to look forward to.

[Darth Aegis]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

This has a new car smell, but I think with the new additions to game play this year already makes it a better product than Madden 20 out of the gates imo.

Played on - All Madden - Sim 15min qtrs
Play now - Offline
Gameplay - 8/10 (So Far)

Overall I like the new tackling additions probably the most. While not always perfect it looks like more like real life football instead of the bumper boat tackling they have now.

Likes:

* Player movement
* Foot planting
* Slower Gameplay which allows for smother animations & better tackling
* Polished & refined tackling
* Momentum feels better. Player weight seems to matter more
* Reaching for the goaline
* New COD rating - Change of direction - Can be a gamechanger would like to tweak this more
* New DL moves on the Right Stick is nice(Instead of button mashing)
* Playing the DL is fun and adds a bit of a strategic element with the OL.
* Like the new hype intros
* Newer cutaways between and after plays
* Actually like pick your celebration (surprisingly); adds a personal spin on things
* Kickoff camera changes view once in awhile on kickoffs (Might just be when CPU is kicking)
* CPU's throw on the run; LJackson was lethal running the ball
* Running felt good, being patient and waiting for your blockers
* Cpu seemed to adjust to my playcalling and my spamming of Tyreek Hill over the middle.
* Might just be me, but the placement of the tacklers hands seems improved. Like there actually
wrapping their hands around a ball carrier, instead of just bumper boating into them for tackles.
* CPU QB's appear to make quicker decisions.
* Saw 3 off ball injuries in 1st qtr of one game - set injury slider on 40.
* QB drops seem slower with weight to them.

Dislikes:

* Screen wipes - First Down, Defense etc
* CPU had a nice lead in the 4th and the game was over, but was using aggressive strip ball coaching
mechanic.
* Need to see more gang tackling - Lowered the slider to 45 and seemed to help that area more.
* At times some odd tackling animations that need to be cleaned up before release.
* Saw the running in mud animation by Lamar Jackson for a few seconds.
* New ball carrier/change of mechanics seem meh
* Pile on tacklers seems to be removed. Teammates seem to just stand there if their teammate has
the ball carrier wrapped up even though they're close enough to add on to the tackle in some
situations.
* Penalties on default are hardly being called still.

[Cowboy008]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

Played a few games and enjoyed it for the most part some things that stood out.

Played on All Pro

+ Player movement
+ CPU QB AI ( Lamar took off 5 times for 25 yards)
+ Throws out of sack
+ AI play calling (maybe it’s because I haven’t played 20 in a while but the play call for the most part seemed to be pretty good)
+ Was harder to break off big runs unlike in 20
- I didn’t see the CPU do a lot of moves (spins, jukes, stiff arm, hurdle)

[Hshaw810]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

Havent played it but from the impressions here one of my biggest issues is still there in 2021. The AI is still clueless. That kills the game for me since i only play head2head occasionally

[Aestis]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

QB inaccuracy is much more organic/realistic. Seen multiple instances where instead of missing guys by 15 yds, an inaccurate pass is more like, not hitting a short crosser in stride allowing for DB to break it up. Far better.

In a number of 12m quarters I don't think I've seen a single one of those WTFFFF next-zip-code-over type of inaccurate throws.

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

It looks like a new game... presentation, stadiums, new broadcast package, some new animations

but,

It plays almost identical to Madden 20... no more challenging that M20. Blew out the CPU in my first game on All Pro. CPU playcalling is weak, their clock management is still awful, CPU running game nonexistant.

The broadcast stuff is cool, but it felt like 90% was Madden 20 and 10% was new additions and that's just not enough for me right now... Madden 20 Beta felt like a new game. The SS & XFactors changed things so much it was a totally new game. This year it just feels the nearly same as last year's game.

Disappointing, especially when you take into account how franchise is untouched.

[kennylc321]

Re: Madden 21 Beta First Impressions (Feel Free To Add Your Own)

What I learned in Madden 19 and 20: the game plays much differently in play now than it does in franchise. So the gameplay you see in beta and when the demo or whatever comes out won’t be the same as in franchise.

So it’s pretty much take it with a grain of salt unless playnow is your thing