PackWolf's Madden Impressions from E3

[TheDutchDad]

Quote: Originally Posted by mr_president

i am definitely skipping this year.last year the 360 version had to many problems with football basics(passing,running,blocking and tackling all broken) for me to believe that ea will fix them,with their track record i know they won't fix them...so yeah this will be another year i go without a new football game....

Why? We're 3 months out from release, and from what I've heard, its better than last years.

Plus, I highly doubt you'll "skip" another year.

[FlyingFinn]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mercurial23

Why? We're 3 months out from release, and from what I've heard, its better than last years. Plus, I highly doubt you'll "skip" another year.

If the atmosphere isn't any better then last year, even with game play improvements I will skip it again this year as well.

[Badgun]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

The E3 version I played is based of the 360 version. With that said, EA does sometimes fix things. When I played i felt that the DB coverage was pretty good and similar to the Xbox version. Also, lets not make decisions before you see both games. IMO, last years Madden 360 plays nothing like this years.

Yeah, I understand what you're saying, but the Xbox version and the 360 version were like two entirely different games. It's almost hard to believe they came from the same company. It's hard to put my finger on what I didn't like about the 360 version, but I guess the main thing was I never felt that I had the control over my players like I did with the Xbox version. The defenses didn't seem to react the way they should and I cannot count the times I saw defensive players running AWAY from the play.

I'll definitely give the 360 version a look, but in my opinion if this year's version is based off of last year's 360 version then they've made too many changes in the base gameplay for me to adjust. Just so many awful things that I saw that I don't think they could possibly fix them all.

[Badgun]

Quote: Originally Posted by FlyingFinn

If the atmosphere isn't any better then last year, even with game play improvements I will skip it again this year as well.

Two words...well actually three. Awful Radio Announcer. Nuff said...presentation completely ruined.

Does anyone know if they actually have real announcers in the Xbox version?

[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by Badgun

Yeah, I understand what you're saying, but the Xbox version and the 360 version were like two entirely different games. It's almost hard to believe they came from the same company. It's hard to put my finger on what I didn't like about the 360 version, but I guess the main thing was I never felt that I had the control over my players like I did with the Xbox version. The defenses didn't seem to react the way they should and I cannot count the times I saw defensive players running AWAY from the play. I'll definitely give the 360 version a look, but in my opinion if this year's version is based off of last year's 360 version then they've made too many changes in the base gameplay for me to adjust. Just so many awful things that I saw that I don't think they could possibly fix them all.

I swear this board kills me. Half of the people say EA has all the time in the world to fix things and half say EA doesnt have enough time. Going of of the E3 demo, they fixed the running game and defense appeared to be solid and that was at 50% complete. They have three months to continue to work on the game.

I'm not trying to sell you on the game ore promising that the game wont have any glitches or bugs...im just saying if you are basing your decision to buy this game off of last year's game....you are sadly mistaken.

[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by Badgun

Two words...well actually three. Awful Radio Announcer. Nuff said...presentation completely ruined. Does anyone know if they actually have real announcers in the Xbox version?

Madden and Michaels are in this years XBox game but there are no new lines of commentary. Its basically last year's commentary.

[Badgun]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

I swear this board kills me. Half of the people say EA has all the time in the world to fix things and half say EA doesnt have enough time. Going of of the E3 demo, they fixed the running game and defense appeared to be solid and that was at 50% complete. They have three months to continue to work on the game. I'm not trying to sell you on the game ore promising that the game wont have any glitches or bugs...im just saying if you are basing your decision to buy this game off of last year's game....you are sadly mistaken.

No, I hope you're right. You've played it, I haven't. My Gamestop manager said he played it for 30 minutes and he said he loved it. But he also liked last year's 360 version over the Xbox version. I guess my point is that last year's 360 version got so far away from my comfort zone that I can't imagine I could enjoy ANYTHING based off of that horrible engine.

I'll list some things that were horrendous in the 360 version last year and maybe you can comment on whether they are fixed or improved or simply design decisions, albeit bad ones.

1. Bad, bad defensive AI. (You've already said you thought it was better)
2. Receivers not running anything close to their correct routes.
3. Bomb way too effective. Just throwing it up worked a whole lot.
4. No accelerated clock.
5. CPU could No huddle and get to the line 2 seconds after a play ended.
6. Player models looked goofy, especially the way the qbs held the ball.
7. The often mentioned qb being hit as he throws being ruled a fumble.
8. No challenges. (I understand challenges are back)

That's just a few gameplay issues I had. I won't even begin to mention all of the franchise features that were taken out, but I understand a lot of the stuff is being put back in.

Just curious, did you spend any time at all with the Xbox version? Did it feel familiar or have they gutted it in favor of the new engine, too? My Gamestop manager said that he thought both NCAA and MAdden for the Xbox and PS2 were based off of last year's versions and were both very solid and very feature rich.

[Badgun]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

Madden and Michaels are in this years XBox game but there are no new lines of commentary. Its basically last year's commentary.

Well, that's better than nothing which is what they radio announcer brings to the table. Any idea why EA stuck with this for the 360 version? If they read any of the boards at all, they have to know that most gamers hated the radio announcer.

Did you see any of the ESPN licensing in the Xbox version?