RUSSELL05's Madden 09 Hands On Impressions

[Russell_SCEA]

First I would like to thank EA, Tiburon, Will Kinsler, Ian Cummings, Sean Bailey, Anthony White, Donny Moore, Josh Looman, Phil Frazier, Ryan Ferwerda, and all parties involved for their hospitality and taking time out of their busy schedules to speak with us.

EA Tiburon Community Manager Will Kinsler

What the Hardcore community cares about
There has been a media blitz of articles on Madden this week especially since most of the mainstream media sites have builds of the game now. With that in mind I will try and focus on core game play impressions.


The Big 3 User Control, Break Away Tackling Engine, and Tweaked Player Ratings


Control
NCAA had already spoiled me the day before with the responsiveness on offense, defense, and special teams. However the control in Madden 09 was better. These two games hands down feature the best user control of any EA football game ever made. The exceptional control made the running game, kick return game, and YAC far more fun and rewarding than in previous years. I never had the feeling that I couldn't make a play because of control and/or animation limitations.

Madden current gen has finally surpassed old gen in the control department by a landslide victory (IMO). Without feeling cheap which was the way it has felt for me the past two years in Madden/NCAA. (By cheap I mean fielding the kick off running to the middle of the field hitting spin and magically a guy morphs through three defenders and then he has a clear path to the end zone.)

Playing LB on defense is now possible, its also possible to be very effective at it this year. (Last year it seemed impossible to shed blocks on a consistent basis.) Its extremely hard to convey how impressed I am with the controls this year its something you must feel for yourself to understand the leaps Madden 09 took in this area.

It's been said that the game looks like there is no momentum to the players and I felt the exact same way after watching the first couple of videos. After playing the game I don't feel that way totally, the players do have weight to them which is an upgrade over last years version. They also don't turn on a dime, well L.T. & A.Peterson can but I'm ok with studs being able to do it. When trying to change direction I still feel there isnt enough weight to the players when moving around with the ball or without the ball. I don't believe it needs a major tweak just a little tuning.


Break Away Tackling Engine
You've seen the producer blog on the new break away tackling engine. Believe me when I say you can't grasp how monumental of an upgrade this is until you get the sticks in your hand. It totally changes the way the game feels/plays and has to be one of the best additions to the franchise. (It's also a big reason why NCAA isn't the best football game this year from Tiburon)

The concept is very simple once a tackle animation istriggered you can potentially break out of the tackle you can also fumble the ball on the flip side. Now what you probably haven't heard yet from the mainstream media sites is that ratings are factored heavily in this equation. Elusiveness, Spin Move, Juke Move, and Stiff Arm are the ratings you should pay attention to. If your using a stiff arm beast like W.McGahee you should attempt to stiff arm out of those tackles. In contrast A.Peterson is more likely to run straight out of a tackle because of his high elusiveness rating. For AD you should try and wiggle the left and right sticks to break out of tackles.

The defensive counter to this is gang tackling, dynamic stripping, and using the strafe button. You can now attempt a strip at any point during a tackle. Heck you can try to strip the ball without even making an attempt at a tackle. (I did this three times in a row and got burned badly I whiffed on all three tackles back-to-back-to-back.) Or you can engage the player then attempt the strip which is safer, but the potential for the ball carrier to break out of the animation is increased.

Thus making the cover the ball button way more important than in the past. (Last year the cover the ball feature didn't work about 40% of the time which bugged the hell out of me I'm glad to report its been fixed. If you cover the ball now before the tackle animation triggers you will never fumble)


Ian was kind enough to put together a little something for me on this subject.

http://www.vimeo.com/1108198/l:transcoded_email

Quote:

First off, please note that this was captured in a special debug build we have for gameplay so we can track a lot more info on a given play. That explains the lack of a stadium, the chugging frame-by-frame replays, no skin tones or specific faces on the players, and all kinds of other graphical issues. With that out of the way, this video shows 2 quick examples of our breakaway animation system, which is a fancy word for trying to break out of tackle animations after they've started. In the first clip, I am wrapped up with a normal tackle, but hit the stiff arm button to try and get out of it. I fail the check on actually breaking the tackle, but you do see immediate visual feedback with the animation changing. The great thing is you see an extremely smooth blend and a barely noticeable transition into a totally new tackle animation, which could not have been accomplished without the tools and systems we have in place now with ANT (thanks to Simon and crew). Though you mightnot be able to read it at the top, there is debug text that actually shows you the name of the animation, and you can see when one ends and a new one begins (as true proof that these are totally new animations). In the second clip, again I am wrapped up, but this time I try a spin move and successfully break out of it. The same thing applies as above - the transition is barely even noticeable. Also again if you look closely enough you'll be able to see the animation names change. I don't want to show too many examples because this is one of the more fun things to play around with in Practice mode and in game - trying to figure out the best way to break out of tackles based on the weapons you have at your disposal. Also, for the overly pessimistic, let me just say we think we've tuned this quite well based on the different skill levels and player ratings to make sure this is fun but not overly powerful. The best way to combat this on defense is to swarm to the ballcarrier for gang tackles and also to break down (with strafe) and be in good position for a tackle so he has a much lower chance of wiggling out of it. Ian

Tweaking ratings
One of my favorite subjects to talk with developers about has always been player ratings and the way they effect game play. I'm always extremely happy to report when they either add new ones or tweak the existing system. I only get to talk about the latter since no new ratings where added this year.

I'm a firm believer that the stick skills, player ratings, and play calling are and should be the most important factors when determining who is going to win a game head to head.

I spoke with Ian and Sean for quite some time on this subject during my time at Tiburon. Sean stated they went to town on ratings this year and what they mean on the field in real time.
There are two major changes on this front. The new tech the team is using allows for more minuet increases and decreased between ratings in the same category.

For instance in old gen if you lined up three players with speeds of 90, 93 and 95 had them run the 40 yard dash. They would all cross the finish line at the same time.

With the new tech this year the team is able to tune the ratings on a slopped scale, instead of a straight line. You will see this exaggerated more in NCAA 09. Due to the talent gap in the college game where as in the NFL most guys are on a level playing field.

In Madden this year expect to see a more diverse poll of possibilities due to the new tech with how player ratings effect game play. Mismatch's are more exploitable this year if you cover LT with a LB who isn't elite you will get burned and burned badly. (It looks criminal how he just accelerates away from scrubs this year.)

Change number two has to do with how they tweaked what the ratings mean on the field of play. Sean and Ian where completely honest and told me they added all those ratings the past two years and didn't take the time to tune them. Many of them where just placebo ratings the past two years. That fact is the primary reason why the QB did not receive any new love in the ratings department.

However Ian and Sean did tweak THP & THA this year. Im Madden 09 an 99 THA rating pretty much means that P.Manning and T.Brady will almost never over throw or miss a receiver if their feet are set. So don't get mad when V.Young constantly over throws, under throws, and doesn't put the ball where you want him to all the time.

You can see this in the Ravens vs. Chargers game that me and Shopmaster from MaddenWars recorded. J.Flacco has an accuracy rating of 83 and I'm pretty sure I threw at least 4 or 5 bad passes with my feet set in the pocket.

Another example is the play recognition rating for defensive players this year. A LB or any other defender for that matter if he has a play recognition rating in the high 90's he doesn't hesitate on passing and running downs. As soon as the ball is snapped he knows if its a running play or not, nor does he bite on play actions.

I really felt the team did their due diligence on tweaking the ratings and what they mean on the field of play this year. Using the Ravens I was able to keep the Patriots, and Chargers in check on defense. In contrast the Ravens offense is anything but potent so I had a hard time scoring more than 10 points in any game.



Playbooks

Anthony White holding the 49ers Playbook

If you had a chance to read my producer article you should have a good grasp on how enamored I am with the playbooks this year. Anthony White did another fantastic job on them. There are over 800 new plays this year and 45 new formations. The playbooks are approximately 30% bigger this year.
http://www.operationsports.com/forum...eper-look.html


Online and Online Leagues

Ryan Ferwerda

Ryan Ferwerda is lead producer over all things online and he talked to us in depth about online, online leagues, and the future. First and foremost it doesn't matter how good online leagues are if you can't complete a game due to lag right? No worries the team is using entirely new servers this year and they have been playing the team in Canada a ton to make sure the game ships with great servers. Ryan told me I could quote him on it "Madden 09 will not have the same issues 08 had when it comes to online game speeds."

Along with that you can also expect to see online weather this was added late in the game development cycle because the community wanted it so badly. Now its not real time weather, nor is it random weather. The team used a program and tracked the weather patterns for all the NFL teams cities so online you get the weather associated with the month the game is being played in. (You won't see it snow in Tampa Bay for example.)

That's the good news, the bad new is that we can't save depth charts for online yet. (Man that bugs the hell me although the depth charts are really fast to navigate through this and you should have plenty of time to set your depth charts by only pausing the game once.) You also can't use alternate uniforms online something you can do in NCAA.

Ryan talking to the community leaders about online

On the subject of online leagues Ryan and the team first wanted to make sure they gave us a good base to build on. What you can expect is full stat tracking and a fully functional web site.

While I'm on the subject of online Ian, Sean and the gang made what I believe will turn out to be quantum shifts in the balance of power this year. On All-Pro and All-Madden difficulty settings you can NOT manually trigger spectacular catch's period. If you take control of the receiver you will not have access to those animations. You must make a choice do you let the cpu catch the ball and potentially trigger one those catch's or do you attempt the former.

Secondly the jump heights on spectacular catch's have been brought toned down they are now more on the level with actual vertical jump heights.


When BobbyStorm (a.k.a the Godfather of Madden Tournaments) heard this he damn near fell out of his chair. The tourney crowd won't be rocket catching this year.



The New Camera
Since its next generation inception Madden has only had one camera angle which is criminal by anyone's standards. I must say I was surprised to see that Madden 09 did in fact receive a new camera angle and I love it. You can see the entire field and it dynamically shifts when you send players on fly routes.

Speaking of deep passes its also slightly harder to see them now which is a nice touch. When its man to man coverage on deep routes you won't have a problem seeing the receiver and wether or not he has separation on the defender. However if its double coverage things become a little trickier because its hard to judge wether or not the defenders will make a play on the ball.

I know the majority of the community would like to see more camera angles and that's completely understandable. I'm all for more camera angles in the game. On the flip side the new one did impress me hopefully it makes it into NCAA 2010.


General Game Play Impressions
Madden 09 is a major step in the series game play wise from what we had last year. We say this every year the game is better than last years it should be. But the jump this year is substantial in contrast with last years game and the jump from 07 ot 08. Honestly its not even fair to compare this game to 08 it kills it in every area. Don't take my word for it play the game for yourself and you decide.

I played three games against BobbyStorm on All-Madden Ravens vs. Patriots. The scores where Ravens 7 Patriots 0,Ravens 10 Patriots 3, and Ravens 3 Patriots 0. Playing defense on in Madden 09 is a blast and I was able to keep the Patriots out of the end zone in all three games. Another big plus is that its also possible to stop someone in goal line situations this year. (Granted everyone at Community Day where noobs at the game.)

In Madden we saw much lower scores on the All-Madden settings. I think people should see very realistic stats on 6 minute quarters this year. That doesn't mean you can't score with elite offenses this year because you most def can.

The game just felf tight nothing seemed out and whack and I never had that feeling of being cheated on any given play. All community day participants where impressed with the game play this year.


MISC.
The new equipment this year includes 7 new different colored visors, 15 gloves, high/medium/low socks, and 6 shoes. The DNA helmets however did not make it into the game again. I can't wrap my finger around that one those helmets have been in NCAA the last two years and they are still not in Madden.

Player fatigue was also in full effect if you say the full game Ravens vs. Chargers you can see the defense sucking wind on long drives.

Community Leaders

Final Thoughts
I liked Madden 08 played the hell out of it I thought it was a solid title after the patch that is. After playing 09 I look down upon Madden 08 like a divorced wife and I never want to see her again. Madden 09 is a major step forward in the series you must play the game for yourself to fully grasp this concept. I have stated this many times in this article for a reason the videos can't show how much of an improvement 09 is over 08.

In contrast Madden 09 isn't perfect and we can never know what issues will present themselves once people start playing online. In the build we played the deep ball wasn't tuned, yellow coverage zones didn't work right, and the man coverage was to weak from elite defenders. I have been assured all these issues will be fixed before release. Ian and Sean are also working on a QB excessive drop back fix that all of us talked to them about last week.

My enthusiasm for Madden 09 is hard for me to contain I loved what I saw in those 15 hours I had with the game. As I sit here at my computer desk thinking on how I can sound prolific in closing out this article I won't even try.

I think Madden 09 is the sh*t.

P.S. Play the game for yourself and make up your own mind RUSSELL05 out.

[Nza]

Good write up. It's really building up this year. I feel it's getting to the point now, with months still to go, where EA really has to deliver as the anticipation is snowballing rapidly, and another let down could be catastrophic. Perhaps not for the bottom line but for the demographic that inhabits places like OS.

Just a side note, about the visors, were you refering to Madden or NCAA? AFAIK, coloured visors aren't even allowed in the NFL are they? Also do you know if any new facemasks were added?

[Rawdeal28]

another excellent article russ. i cant wait to get the game in my hands. i especially liked the ratings tweak discussion. i always felt that there wasnt much of a difference sometimes between someone with 92 speed and someone else with 88. i use to hate to see Scott Fujita with 81 speed keep up with my RB with 89 speed.

one thing i think should change is the no fumble when using the cover up button. i mean if someone lights you up with a Hit Stick then you should have chance of fumbling the ball even if your using Cover Up??? what u think?

[Steeler99]

Good read and I have to admit I'm getting excited for Madden 09', but his statement near the end makes me question his opinion a bit.

"I liked Madden 08 played the hell out of it I thought it was a solid title."

IMO Madden 08' was the worst version of Madden to ever be put out ... almost unplayable due it's many faults. Here's to hoping 09' is all that and more .....

[BrianFifaFan]

Good write up Russell. But I'm gonna have to agree with Steeler99 about 08. Pre-patch, horrible terrible game. Post patch, OK. Not great at all ,but doable. And boring. I do have a request for you guys next year. Could you possibly broaden your scope and focus to be inclusive of the offline crowd? The entire world isn't online and not everyone likes playing 12 year olds who disconnect. I'm just asking that you and Pasta and others give us some love seeing as you guys have the game in your hands. And get to talk to the guys face to face. Thanks......

P.S. I'm agreeing with you that the gameplay looks to be the Shizzle! Thanks again!!!!!

[Phobia]

Russell top notch man. I love the sound of LOW scoring games!!!!!!!!!!

[bucs44]

Sounds promising but 08 was garbage and I never bought it.

[bigfnjoe96]

Good stuff once again Russell... BTW that vimeo video link is still LOCKED