Madden 09 Demo Released, Impressions Here

[ITSFAVRENOTFARVE]

I played the demo (My Madden IQ was 666). Looking forward to the final version

[adembroski]

Quote: Originally Posted by ITSFAVRENOTFARVE

I played the demo (My Madden IQ was 666). Looking forward to the final version

... I, I dunno, drop a pass next time... I don't think I'd want that score. Happen to be an ASU or Duke fan?

Anyways; my impressions.

I've put in a good hour with it. Nice thing about the demo is it gives you a pretty damn good taste of offense since you can basically play indefinitely.

I severely dislike the Madden IQ system. The drills are not sufficient to judge anyone's skill level, the skill levels are way to broad to accurately tune the game. Difficulty takes precedent over realism, and that truly sucks. Now, when I acquire an elite group of wide receivers and a great quarterback, I'm going to be penalized for good team management? I'm not sure I'm down with that. If I have a **** team, I'll have my skill level lowered to off set that. This is not cool. So, I'm pretty sure I'll toss the Madden IQ settings out the window and customize as best I can.

As for the game... graphically, it's a mixed bag. The stadium seems really small to me. The player models are outstanding. Grass texture is nice, but it's too busy. It doesn't seem to lose detail at a distance and thus it's constantly this weird mix of black and green and it kind of annoys me to an extent.

Blocking is a mixed bag. I've seen really nice protection, and I've seen disorganized clumps of players gathered in front of the quarterback. In the running game it's a bit better, but there always seems to be someone breaking free. One might attribute this to the Patriots defensive playbook (which looks great from the perspective of the opposing QB) and it's myriad of looks and blitz schemes.

In the passing game, I found my biggest gripe. The Superman DBs are back with a vengeance. 5-9 cornerbacks who are able to leap Plaxico Burress in a single bound. And of course, Plaxico decides (perhaps wisely, considering the otherworldly athletic prowess of the DBs) he's best off laying out for passes in traffic rather than going up for them. I can't seem to figure out the logic in how a computer controlled receiver decides how to go for a ball.

For the 20th year in a row, EA has neglected to incorporate physics 101, as the ball still travels in a perfect arch, coming down at the mirror angle as it left the QBs hand (or kickers foot, which is an even bigger issue). This allows cornerbacks who are beaten by 2 yards on fade routes to simply leap in the air and tip the ball away. Drives me nuts, but... the CPU Knockdown slider should take care of it... oh, wait... ****.

Excuse me, I really don't wanna be snide. Consider that directed at David Ortiz.

A LOT of tipped balls at the line. Maybe more realistic than I've experienced with the franchise, but I guess I don't have a real firm grip on how often this happens in real life. I know I experienced about 5, but I don't know if I ran 120 plays or 500 plays to be honest. So it could have been overdone, could have been just right. Wasn't too few, I know that.

The selling point--- control. I don't know. I'm going to have to get used to the game before i can even start to think about that. Honestly, at this point, I can't tell the difference because the game is just moving too fast for me to react to the fact that I'm being tackled and make a move. I know the tackles are FAR more context sensitive. I was really impressed with this--- if I got tackled immediately after hitting spin, the resulting animation would make it clear the computer knew I hit that button. Meaning even in failure, you can see what you were trying to do. Doesn't have a direct impact on game play, but it makes you feel a lot more in control.

I need to run more to get accustom too it. I haven't run much at all. I'm not really in love with the Giants playbook (feels way too much like the Notre Dame playbook, and I was hoping for something a bit different to play around with).

Anyways, there ya go. Some impressions. Compared to the demos and short time I had with previous NextGen Maddens, this is no doubt the best... I mean NO DOUBT, but my reference point is PC and PS2, and I'm not sure it's there.

[jyoung]

I scored a TD with about 0:27 left.

Then I kicked the extra point, lined up for an onside kick, recovered it, and was greeted with the following message:

"YOU HAVE FAILED THE CHALLENGE! RETRY?"

Nice to see that EA can't even put a demo out without having some bugs in it.

[Rimfro]

Quote: Originally Posted by Maukey

Exactly. He's not referring to one on one coverage, he's saying he hates the way a CB 15 yards down field running stride for stride with a reciever on a fly route can magically turn around and persue the ball the moment u throw it in the flat to a HB on that exact same side. Been a problem with Madden for years. But, in defense of EA, it only plagues the upper difficulties to make it challenging, and I think it's tied to the defense awareness. So adjusting that slider may help. EA's gonna have to take a look at 2K football and see what they did to remedy this.

I love how some of you 2k5 fanboys have put this game on a pedestal, its not the perfect football experience that you all make it out to be. The best thing about that game was the fact that it was only $20. It had iffy animation, a lot of pass plays ended in jump balls. You had to charge jukes and spin moves. The presentation was sick, but that game is old news. If you want to play an old, budget football title, be my guest, but quit whining about Madden and comparing it to some out dated, non-conformists football dream. If 2k5 is so great, why aren't you playing it instead of posting on here about how "bad" Madden is? I have been let down the last few years by Madden, but with the scale of these stadiums and the animation in this title, I couldn't help but get a little giddy. Oh yeah, Madden 05 was leaps and bounds more fun to play than 2k5. I had both, but I couldn't get a single football fan I know to play it.

First person football? What a joke. The secondary coverage in that game is a joke, as well as the player models. They all had arms down to their ankles and were lankier than Wilt the Stilt. I won't get into how lame the quarterback play was, the a.i. didn't realize that Vick was a mobile QB. And the much touted Cribs feature? I'm not into doll houses, so the only person who got any use out of that was my little sister, she said it was an awesome football feature, and truly showed how sim 2k5 was.

Madden looks to be back on track, so if you don't want to play, don't, but please quit shoving this 2k did this and 2k did that garbage down my throat. You 2k5 fans should have a convention.

[-DaVe-]

Quote: Originally Posted by Rimfro

I love how some of you 2k5 fanboys have put this game on a pedestal, its not the perfect football experience that you all make it out to be. The best thing about that game was the fact that it was only $20. It had iffy animation, a lot of pass plays ended in jump balls. You had to charge jukes and spin moves. The presentation was sick, but that game is old news. If you want to play an old, budget football title, be my guest, but quit whining about Madden and comparing it to some out dated, non-conformists football dream. If 2k5 is so great, why aren't you playing it instead of posting on here about how "bad" Madden is? I have been let down the last few years by Madden, but with the scale of these stadiums and the animation in this title, I couldn't help but get a little giddy. Oh yeah, Madden 05 was leaps and bounds more fun to play than 2k5. I had both, but I couldn't get a single football fan I know to play it. First person football? What a joke. The secondary coverage in that game is a joke, as well as the player models. They all had arms down to their ankles and were lankier than Wilt the Stilt. I won't get into how lame the quarterback play was, the a.i. didn't realize that Vick was a mobile QB. And the much touted Cribs feature? I'm not into doll houses, so the only person who got any use out of that was my little sister, she said it was an awesome football feature, and truly showed how sim 2k5 was. Madden looks to be back on track, so if you don't want to play, don't, but please quit shoving this 2k did this and 2k did that garbage down my throat. You 2k5 fans should have a convention.

Ok now this^ is coming from a true Madden "fanboy". You had more fun with Madden 05 good for you(alot of kids enjoyed dropping back 50 yards and throwing bombs to the receivers) but you're asinine if you think it's a better football game than 2k5. Seriously. 2k5 was leaps and bounds better than Madden 05. It's not even close IMO ....Hell Madden 09 still looks like it hasn't out done 2k5 in some areas. When I see refs in a Madden game instead of ghosts , that's when I'll start to realize that Madden is coming along...
And countless other things that I don't feel like typing up right now

[countryboy]

guys knock off the 2K vs Madden talk. This is a demo impressions thread.

[noplace]

Same old Madden with better environment, tacke animations...Not impressed after playing the demo but its not like they gave us alot to go on...No comentary, 1 drive, etc....

[Likwidkewl]

Is no one else bothered by the slight white outline around all the players? I am assuming it is a lighting effect, but it's driving me crazy. It looks like the models were cut out with scissors, but some white outline was left around the edges then they were pasted into the environment. I am hoping it is just due to the lighting in that stadium.

PS. I noticed the same thing on both the 360 and the PS3 demos. I am not talking about the PS3's specific issue with shiny graphics.