10 First Impressions.

[HMcCoy]

Same story. Got the game today from a friend of a friend, and heres my initial take....



1. Everyone's seen the screenshots, so I won't get too deep into the player models, but I will say that the arms in this game are obscenely thick. Thankfully the proportions can be adjusted in the player editor, my buddy and I have already decided to adjust the arm sizes for our favorite 2-3 teams. Other than that, I can't really find too much fault with the player visuals. There's still more of a rounded look to everything which just doesn't look realistic to my eyes, but overall theres no one thing that you can point to that really looks out of place...

Except for the tree-trunk biceps that even the kickers are sportin'.

2. Acceptable mix of old and new animations and cutscenes in the pre-game presentation. Some scenes are 3 years old now, but there are quite a few new ones as well.

3.The skies look nice except for slight warping, and the stadiums look VERY nice. Actually on par with other games. Stadium lighting is well done, but the lighting on the models is mehhhh....Good, but i've seen better.

Overall, the graphics are really spectacular......

For Madden.

It still looks like a video game. Well duh, it is a videogame right? Yeah, but the bar for an immersive, just-like-real-life experience has been raised. There are just enough little things that keep Madden from really capturing a real-life feel. Right before the ball is snapped, look at both the offensive and defensive lines...everyone is completely frozen. No breathing, or digging-in animatioons for the D-Line. No pointing out assignments or any ambient animations whatsoever. When the ball is snapped, everyone moves at exactly the same time, both lines go into action in unison. Watch the same interaction in the competition's title, and you'll really see a difference.

Nitpicks for sure, but those things add to the perception that these guys on your TV screen are real people. Madden still looks like a well-lit, beautifully animated football GAME. A very, VERY well-lit and animated game, that is.

Other observations on the visual aspect:

-the detail on the uniforms pops in and out. You'll see the textures on players uniforms change resolution, randomly. Not a big deal, but strange.

-The uniform dirt again accumulates perfectly. Tiburon always did this well.

-The time progresses nicely, although it goes by quarters and not real-time. I was at the goal line on one play in an afternoon game and I let the first quarter expire. When they re-set the ball, the whole field was noticably darker. Its a real nice, immersive affect.

-The fan cutscenes are OK.

-The players with neck rolls look really good. Something about how the proportions of neck-roll guys looks spot-on.

-Did I mention the arms are too damn big? Think mid-80's Hogan. Seriously.

4. The QB animations are terrible. EA gets props for implementing a drop-back system, but the throws look horrid compared to the competition. No stepping into the throw at all. Also, sometimes the CPU QB sets up in the pocket facing the wrong way. Looks knda' silly when McNabb is in the pocket scanning the opponents sideline or an open reciever. The ball also comes out at wierd angles. Looks like the QB isn't calibrated to where the ball is being thrown. I replayed one throw, and the ball was actually pointed vertically(nose of the ball pointed directly down) when he released it.

That being said, props to Tiburon for implementing better blocking schemes for the tackles, because the ends are now pushed to the outside instead of being stood up at the LOS, the result is a real nice pocket forming now, making the 15 yard dropback and rollout tecnique nearly obsolete.

5. The replay system has the added touch of the game-sounds matching the speed of the replay. In replay mode, the grunt of a nice hit is distorted in slo-mo as well. This sounds super-cool, and adds alot of flavor to the replay.

6. There are now option routes which allow th WR to read the coverage and adjust accordingly. There were only 3-4 such plays in the Chargers playbook, but they are very nice additions. Overall, the playbooks seem to be a little more diverse and the routes more varied.

7. While you probably will have seen 90% of the entire tackling animation library by the end of the first half, the remaining 10% are specific situational animations (like the brutal bridging of an airborne reciever) are absolutely GORGEOUS. I saw Chris Chambers get up-ended and land on his neck. OUCH. his legs were splayed in the air and I swear it looked like ragdoll physics.

I was very surprised to find that while I do miss the unscripted multiple defender tackles of ESPN, the Madden tackling is juuuuuuust varied and well-animated enough to satisfy me, despite their one-on-one nature. Gone are the days of the shotgun to the spine tackle. The two man tackles, while scripted, happen enough to prevent the tackling from looking too repetitive.

8. Pinball physics still rule the interior running. Madden is in DIRE need of animations for interacting with the line. This is made even more apparent because VC was able to implement a ton of lovely cutback, bounce-out, and push-the-pile interactions, and EA still gives you the same bumpercar effect in a pile.

However, Madden's smoother physics model makes up for the lack of animations in that dept. ESPN looks pretty, but in small spaces their models still "swivel" on an axis. The plant animations don't kick in until theres a major change in direction, so the subtle movements through the line still apprear a little robotic. Madden has VC trumped here, because the player motion is never jerky or stiff. The tugboat effect has been toned down, and the result is a very fluid, grudgingly satisfying(for an ESPN nut) run game.

9. Still no head tracking? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! It is physically impossible for a person to run top speed while looking backwards, so the whole WR vs. CB is skewed because there is never any hand-fighting or battling for position while looking in for the ball. There is a trade-off, though. The ESPN corners display perfect coverage techniques based on inside/outside coverage, and the interaction with the WR's looks fabulous...the only problem is that the CPU logic does the absolute wrong animation WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too often. Its not a gamekiller but its definetly a gamebeater-upper. I'm almost to the point of giving up on that game. Madden may not have the proper animations for in-depth pass defense, but at least I don't have to hold my breath every time the ball is thrown. The new DB A.I. in this game is very smart, without feeling cheap like last year.

10. This game is solid. Actually more than solid. Its just....Madden, and if your absolutely, positively sick of the same-old game, none of the improvements will blow you away. The "Spin" guy from Madden Wishlist made this game seem groundbreaking, and that's actually laughable. Anyone who has been playing ESPN fot the last 2 years will easily recognize this "groundbreaking" new gameplay as the more mature, realistcally paced, balanced(offense/defence) gameplay that VC has already brought to the table. Thing is, its the same mature, realistacally paced, balanced gameplay..WITHOUT THE GLITCHES, BAD ANIMATIONS AND AI HOLES.

...Thats huge.

You see, as much as I love ESPN this year, it has problems. Madden has grown up enough to emulate real football. Almost enough to make me switch sides. The so far error-free gameplay of Madden is pulling me, but I haven't decided if its enough to get me way from a game that is so beautiful and realistic looking, that I'm almost FORCED to watch those sweet replays over and over again.

Whichever you choose, you CAN'T go wrong, IMO.

[EmekaConn]

Very nice Post. Glad you saw both sides and gave credit to both games equally. This is one of the better non-bias impressions threads I have read. Props.

I have ESPN, and I understand what people love about it. The little interactions with the line, the gang tackling, and CB/WR interactions is beautiful..but the robotic and often sluggish player movement, herky jerky controls, and stupid DB A.I. has made me all but give up on it. I guess its back to Madden for me, as lifelong Madden fan. I will keep ESPN for when I get bored w/ Madden next year. It will be a good change of pace I guess.

[Dapo]

great..great review. No bias whatsoever. i will give it a rent. One question, is thegame pretty enough to play in coach mode?

[HMcCoy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dapo

great..great review. No bias whatsoever. i will give it a rent. One question, is thegame pretty enough to play in coach mode?

Once you get over the fact that it ain't ESPN, the graphics are actually pretty damn nice. It takes a full 3 games though to get VC's graphics out of your head, though....

[RubenDouglas]

so, no baby glitches or bugs like in espn???

the smallest of bugs ma be the difference in what game has the better gameplay.

[jordan0386]

so are you saying, like, one out of every five tackles, may have a "gang" animation...or is it still completely random, to an extent of not seeing it, for the whole game?

[Rocky]

Well the thing is, everybody's saying that it's worth the extra 30 bones to buy, even tho I am more than sastified enough with ESPN and NCAA. I really don't want to spend $50 on Madden, but if it's THAT good I probaly will. So since you really seem unbiased, is it worth $50 to buy even tho I love ESPN? Is it that good? I don't want to spend 50 bucks on something I might enjoy for 10-15 games but will probaly collect dust when I go back to play ESPN(like Madden 2004). Madden 2004 left a real bad taste in my mouth....

[NoSkillz50]

There is a topic for impressions. Most of it was nitpicking, so I don't know how you came to the conclusion ESPN was better from reading that. Also, ESPN has bugs that completely ruin frachise, if I ever play it again it will be online only.