An Honest "Haters" Critique of Madden's New Features

[FadeEmAll]

If you don't agree then you are fine to debate but please no EA apologists screaming about "Ian is God " and "Ian have my baby". On the same note, no need for you EA and DEV Team haters. We don't need that "EA sucks" and "Ian is an idiot" trash. That being said tell me how you feel.

Quote: Originally Posted by Bgamer90

Pro-Tak Animation Technology Procedural tackle animations (nice) Steerable tackles (nice) Three to nine man gang tackles (over-rated but cool to have) Ability to use R-stick to break out of existing tackles to get ball carrier (don’t get it, may be the wording) Pile-Ups; Fight for the Fumble - Mini game/QTE used when there’s a pile up during a fumble. (over-rated but cool to have) Procedural Awareness/Emotions QB Play Improvements QB Pressure/Avoidance System (”When your quarterback is under pressure, your controller will rumble. When you feel that pressure, you can flick the right stick and do an avoidance move.”) (probably a “gimmick” that will be over-used, wack-a$$ QBs breaking way too many tackles, controller rumble is nice though) Changes to QB drop back (”For instance, in plays that utilize a three-step drop, that animation will play out before you have control of the quarterback’s movements.”) (nice addition) Actual Pockets (pockets aren’t as good as advertised) New QB ratings (nice addition) More realistic/precise animations of QBs passing (nice) Ability to toss the ball during sack animations (w/ sack power determining quality of toss) (nice) All new QB drop animations (QB dropback already covered) Lowered pass speeds globally; fixed “moon ball” trajectory (nice) New QB Sneak system (fixed effectiveness) (Video still showed easy sneak) QB Throw Styles (over 30/adjustable) (over-rated but cool) WR/DB Play Improvements WR/DB Jostling (using body to keep receiver in check) (not seen on video, sounds nice though) Wrap Swats (seems I’ve seen this before) Extended chuck animation time (need to see how this matters) Removed all animation compression on chucks (show me what this means) Fixed issue where players wouldn’t align properly during the chuck animation; caused clipping (nice, maybe 1% of people actually cared) Fixed “suction” bug where press animations could start from 5 yards away (nice) Fixed a bug with zone / man chuck animations (how many times we going to say “changed/fixed animations in order to make this list longer) Re-factored the logic for win/loss on chucks based on the route the receiver wants to run (nice behind the scenes tweak) Chucks can now start from stand (Been on past Madden’s, hard to award credit for these things) Improved Pursuit Angles (LOL, yeah people run to the ball….) Return of Defensive Assignments (Defensive Playmaker) (nice) Better Sideline catching (WRs don’t go out of bounds when catching passes near the sideline) (Didn’t they do this before) WRs will make bigger strides to try and get the ball (sounds like rocket catch) Tipped passes (Hasn’t this been on Madden?)>> Better defensive steering/manipulation (Steering listed again…) Defensive Assist (nice) Route Running Improvements: (nice) slip & fall receiver cut moves in bad weather (chances of slipping come from route running ratings) Re-factored all double moves to work correctly, including defensive cut moves that are companions to the WR cuts (chances of defender biting come from man coverage rating, play recognition rating, as well as boosts for correctly timed pump fakes) Added all new start play WR animations w/ more realistic acceleration Added “pop” animations where say a LB will hit a WR as he comes across the middle through his zone Overall Running Game Improvements Reduced tolerance (i.e. yards away) for a defender to tackle a ball carrier (nice) New blocking (nice) 50+ new block animations (same thing as above) Added the ability for the blocker to turn and seal a run hole or a backside defender (so yeah new blocking) Added the ability for the blocker to drive a defender in a direction relative to the run hole (so yeah new blocking, saying it 5 times still only makes it one thing) New running animations (many people disagree, but cool) Improvement to players disengage (nice) Improved turn rates for offense/defense (nice) Better/more realistic OL openings (don’t recall having a problem on previous Maddens) Player momentum and inertia physics (nice, though I have still seen some very fast spin moves and ridiculous cuts) Wildcat formation (almost mandatory) Assists and Half-Sacks (nice) Signature Kick Styles (over-rated but yeah I guess…) Better spin/juke animations (don’t agree) Ability to Drag Players (though i’ve seen this before but maybe not) 4-4 Defense (almost mandatory it would seem, but cool) Improved Fatigue ("A player's "reservoir" shrinks based on how much effort he exerts on every play.") (heard the fatigue thing before, but I’ll give the benefit of the doubt. I want to know how it affects ratings and performance)) Improvements to Online Online Co-op (2 players vs. CPU) (I don’t recall ever hearing about people playing together against the CPU or demanding this feature, but cool) Online Franchise (Full stats, full transactions, “you and up to 31 of your closest friends,” full access via your console, computer, iPhone/iPod Touch apps, cell phone, etc. Full NFL Scheduling, full rosters, full stat, full team management) (I refuse to accept this as “Online Franchise”. This is an Online League with player progression and stat tracking!!!!! It aint Franchise until we get the Salary Cap and Free Agency. Accept it or Reject it but please Respect it…) Hit Stick (3.0?)- Improved hit stick based on physics that’ll have a greater risk involved when using it. Because of pro-tak, you’ll be able to hitstick piles and existing tackles. (nice) New Penalties [such as illegal forward pass, late hits on QB's, as well as late hits out of bounds] (nice) Adaptive AI (We’ve heard all his before, so we will have to wait and see. I’m willing to bet I’ll be beating All-Madden level by the end of the month consistently with the same playbook.)>> AI changes accordingly to users picking certain plays over and over “Money Plays” are almost impossible “Having individual defenders make realtime adjustments meant that we could implement Adaptive AI for online and head-to-head play as well (i.e. not just for the CPU players).” Number of same exact plays ran before the AI adjusts is based on difficulty level Lowered global game speed + added game speed slider New slider for “speed difference”; used the ratings ranges for player speeds Ratings are getting stretched out; “…the game feels more sim than ever before” (All Very Nice) Elusiveness rating has been toned down and has received a major overhaul for non-ball carrying positions, especially defensive players. The elite guys, they’re safe. Peyton Manning, Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald, guys like that are going to be saved. But the average guy is certainly going to come down. Guys in the 70s are now average. You may even see some guys in the 40s. And the gameplay impact is absolutely huge. Now the teams actually feel like they have a personality. When you’re playing as a team like the 49ers who don’t have that elite quarterback, you’re going to have a hard time throwing the ball. It’s going to feel like you have a problem at that position, and that’s a great change.” Updated Graphics/Art (All Very Nice) Improved Player Models Improved Self Shadowing New Depth of Field (matches real world cameras) Single Digit Helmet #s Colored Cleats Super Bowl Patches Custom Super Bowl Fields (Team specific end zones, midfield logos, and player boxes that are dynamically configured whether you are reliving Super Bowl XLIII, or in year 30 of your franchise) Towels (fully animate) Hand warmers Referees on the Field (all 7 w/ animations of hand signals for TD, safeties, run clock, etc. ) Iridescent Helmets Chain Gang on the Sidelines Captains Patches issues fixed Secondary Color Equipment Better Nameplates AFL Throwbacks Clubs/Taped up parts for hurt players Improved colors/lighting New Injury System (All Very Nice) Choose whether or not to keep players in Harder/more painful injuries Injuries affect player ratings Progressive Injuries/Risk of re-injury Players show that they are hurt with in-game injury animations like limping Re-injury risk is increased for online and play now games Recreation of nearly every single injury type; replacing unrealistic legacy injuries like “bursitis” and “dehydration” w/ new ones Superstar Mode Improvements (can’t comment) More streamlined/straightforward experience (ex.: no mini games for ratings) Better play calling Better lace w:st="on">HOFlace> logic Franchise Mode reboot with help of Head Coach ‘09 team (Very Nice, not many extreme changes but I like the direction it’s heading) All coaches in Franchise mode have been re-rated and been set to act more true-to-life in terms of how they act on 4th down, specifically related to fakes and going for it. Better/easier interface Smarter player signing logic Better/more scouting comments Better draft logic New Draft Classes Progression improvements (”Older players will digress much faster. In fact, when a running back hits 30, he’s going downhill at warp speed. Younger players will progress quickly if they play well. We’re talking up 10 points in overall if he has a great year. Veteran players will still progress, but not substantially. They can also digress if they play poorly.”); elite coaches can effect player progression Better retirement logic / Players can become coaches after retirement Better scheduling (ex.: no more 4 straight Monday night games) Presentation Improvements (Very Nice) NFL Total Access Presentation w/ Fran Charles & Alex Flanagan Weekly Wrap Up Show called “The Extra Point” (Franchise) Halftime/Post Game Show (Both have a recap of stats, video highlights with banners, and some commentary along with different cut scenes) (I thought there was no voice?) Fans tailgating and at concession stands Improved replays w/ no framerate drop Super Bowl is getting better presentation USAF Thunderbirds/ Ntnl. Anthem (along w/ super bowl art) Pre-Game Warm-Up New/Improved Commentary New/Improved Stat Banners (much more detailed showing more in game stats and records) New Score Bug w/ real time info Backtrack improvements (showing up in better instances) Multiple Cutscenes [over 100 showing player training, injuries (showing players go onto injury cart), refs bringing out the chains, fans, etc.] New Injury Report Interface 500 new pre/post play cameras (w/ weather effects on lens) Improvements to camera flashes (rate depended on game) “Pure Football Feel” (Man what….) Player Weapons and Madden IQ on screen graphics are completley gone; Pre-Play controls are set to off by default 4 Player Offline Co-op (Don’t ever recall anyone doing this. I had the 4-man hook up on PS2 and that trash sucked. This is Madden this ain’t James Bond 007!!!) Madden Shop (info about it TBA) Mix/Match Uniforms (jerseys, helmets, socks, etc.; 3D preview of the uniform to see how it looks instead of just having the front view like in previous years) (Very Nice) Accelerated Clock (This is a new feature?) New Gameplay Camera Angles: (Most people don’t care about the cameras. Been using the same set for 20 years) Zoom Wide New menus that are easier to navigate/ user friendly: (Will wait to see) removal of ring builder Customization/slider menus Return of last gen layout playbooks Loading screens w/ player rating info

[seriousluboy83]

I personally feel this madden could be...key word "could"...the best madden so far...they still have this to fix and adjust but it's looking aight right now...i've been tossed back in forth wit this franchise and truthfully speaking my single biggest factor for buying madden is cause it's the only football game on the market wit the NFL license...and why does EA continually add a feature "NEW" that should've been there from the beginning...seems cheap to me...but overall this could be the best madden to date...given they're making it more realistic...but they're will be guaranteed something ppl will use as a crutch to exploit and cheat...GUARANTEED

[CMH]

That list is making me think about Madden 10. I should have never visited this forum.

The nice thing is the "addition" of missing features. Sure, accelerated clock isn't a new feature, but it was removed and that was a horrible idea. So when I see things like "this is new?" I think it's actually not a problem. They listened and put those things back in while adding a lot more.

[jWILL253]

Dude, whenever I get back on an actual computer, and not my mobile phone, you're getting a friend request...

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by seriousluboy83

..and why does EA continually add a feature "NEW" that should've been there from the beginning...seems cheap to me...

Would you prefer EA left it out entirely or listened to the fans and put it back in?

That isn't cheap for me.

[SmokeCapone]

I feel you on all this OP,

I am tired of old features that have been in maddens past re-introduced as new features in a new era of gaming hardware. To be honest I felt that madden should have been passed where we are at with it now.

We should have been had real time weather

Injuries that you make the call on as to whether or not to keep that injured person in the game.

A robust challenge system that is deep and immersive and emotional at the sametime.

I have a video i was gonna make a thread about regarding these new madden 10 features that should have made my play in the video that much more rewarding. But since this MARIO running style has been in madden for years then I guess its not really an issue if its been resolved for madden 10.

Just look for that thread and you will see, but good thread man.

[Broncos86]

Fair. Although, I have no beef with the state of Online Franchise. I'm not being charged more to buy the game because of it, so w/e. The right stick is used by the QB to avoid the oncoming rush (sidesteps, etc).

[seriousluboy83]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Would you prefer EA left it out entirely or listened to the fans and put it back in? That isn't cheap for me.

Well in my world that is cheap...cause it never should've been taken out and what makes it worst they "EA" advertise it as a new feature...it's lame and a hustle...matter of fact example for you ever seen that commercial where the ice-cream man is selling to customers but it's ice-cream without the stick...same principle