Madden NFL 25 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (360, PS3)

[jpdavis82]

Quote: Originally Posted by Only1LT

What happened to the improvements in AI with respect to Zone coverage that was supposed to be in 11 (or was it 12)? I don't see defenders passing off receivers in zones or see them drifting from zones that have no receivers anywhere in the area. All I see are defenders standing completely (light as a feather) stiff as a board in the exact areas that plays draw them up in, staring blankly in the backfield and hunched over like rejects from a Living Dead movie.

According to Shopmaster the build at community day had better zone coverage than this demo does. He thinks the demo is older than what they played, they gave them feedback about zones at E3. I guess we will find out soon enough(next week with Season Ticket)

[Armor and Sword]

Forgot to mention this.

last night playing Ravens (hum) vs Niners (cpu). The Niners ran back a punt for a TD on me. It was a thing of beauty. They set up a lane right up the middle....he bursted through and cut to the outside to finish it off.


I had not seen that this gen....at least on punt returns from the CPU. Was happy to get scored on.

[samtothewise]

Quote: Originally Posted by kblu54

I was impressed with the demo. I played 2 games (on Xbox) with each set. In the first game, I took the 49ers and beat the Ravens 38-20 on all-pro. 49er run game was dominant for me: gore 15 att-127 yds 2 TDs, kaepernick 3 att-67 yds including a 53-yd TD off read option on the game's 3rd play. Obviously this could be tuned with sliders, which I did not try yet. Also had 2 return TDs: tarell brown took an INT to the house when he stepped in front of a curl route, and lamichael james took a KR 99 yds to the house. I swerved perfectly between two groupings of blockers and raced untouched. I like the presentation, the physics look solid and the stats seemed reasonable. I did see 2 assisted tackles in the stats but they were both for the user team. 2nd game I took the packers against the seahawks and bumped it to all-madden. Lost 24-23 mainly because I tried for a 2-pt conversion after a late TD and failed (jermichael finley drop... Yikes). The run game was dominant for seattle: marshawn had 153 yds and 2 TDs on only 10 carries. He broke a lot of tackles. Again, I feel like the tackling and run ability sliders could tone things nicely. With Rodgers I went 19-27 for 249 and 2 TDs, including a 70-yd TD off a curl route to Jordy with 20 seconds left. Browner tried to jump the route and there was no safety over the top. I sacked Russell Wilson 4 times with the Packers D, but he still managed 40 scrambling yds beyond that. Overall I liked it. I'm considering a buy especially with the changes to franchise. The only weird glitch I saw was in the 49er game after Tarell's TD. In his celebration, he spiked the ball but the ball didn't bounce normally. It bounced very stiffly and then landed square on the ground with no after-bounce. Thought that was weird. Otherwise had no glitchy moments or freezes.

My thoughts are simple. The game is obviously an improvement over last years installment, that's easy to see.

Now, at least as far as this demo goes, at times it's still the clunky, oddly behaving madden we know (Just awful replay camera angles, poor tackle animations, players disregarding physics and falling all over the place).

But, these examples weren't in every play, only some. And the majority of the game was actually a lot of fun.
I was actually able to run through holes and make cuts to open field, past opposing players without being sucked into an animation. THAT ALONE is a huge improvement, and a leap towards realism.

If the actual release makes a few improvements in some key areas, it could be great.

[schmit_95]

After dismissing the demo 5 minutes after downloaded it, I spent a little time with it last night. I have to admit using the precision modifier, especially on defense, is a definite improvement to what we have had. It takes some getting used to, but I actually felt like I could get past an offensive lineman if I did the right things, it wasnt totally random like its been for years. Definite improvement and I think I may actually enjoy it.
Now, and please somebody educate me, but the passing does not feel total control at all. Maybe Im doing something wrong? On a curl route I hold down with the left stick and the reciever jumps in the air to catch? I gotta be doing something wrong.....
I think I am going to dive in and give this one last shot! I'm not holding out for next gen, Im closing in on 40, and I think my gamer days are going to die along with the 360...so this is my swan song for Madden. Hoping the stadium sounds, fight songs and celebrations work consistantly, and I hope the madden share will give me what I want with this game.

[jpdavis82]

Quote: Originally Posted by schmit_95

After dismissing the demo 5 minutes after downloaded it, I spent a little time with it last night. I have to admit using the precision modifier, especially on defense, is a definite improvement to what we have had. It takes some getting used to, but I actually felt like I could get past an offensive lineman if I did the right things, it wasnt totally random like its been for years. Definite improvement and I think I may actually enjoy it. Now, and please somebody educate me, but the passing does not feel total control at all. Maybe Im doing something wrong? On a curl route I hold down with the left stick and the reciever jumps in the air to catch? I gotta be doing something wrong..... I think I am going to dive in and give this one last shot! I'm not holding out for next gen, Im closing in on 40, and I think my gamer days are going to die along with the 360...so this is my swan song for Madden. Hoping the stadium sounds, fight songs and celebrations work consistantly, and I hope the madden share will give me what I want with this game.

Stadium sounds, songs, and celebrations seem to be working according to what I have seen in videos from community day and in the demo. I've seen Skol Vikings, Hail to the Redskins, the 49ers foghorn after a TD in SF, Bang the Drum after a TD at Lambeau.

[schmit_95]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpdavis82

Stadium sounds, songs, and celebrations seem to be working according to what I have seen in videos from community day and in the demo. I've seen Skol Vikings, Hail to the Redskins, the 49ers foghorn after a TD in SF, Bang the Drum after a TD at Lambeau.

Thanks man. That all sounds great, but all I heard last year was "the songs are in the game, theres a bug that triggers the crowd to drown it out" I just hope they all work when they should.

[Only1LT]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpdavis82

According to Shopmaster the build at community day had better zone coverage than this demo does. He thinks the demo is older than what they played, they gave them feedback about zones at E3. I guess we will find out soon enough(next week with Season Ticket)

That's good if that is the case, but I was referring to where is it period? I haven't seen any evidence of it in 13 or 12 or 11 from what I remember either.

[Big FN Deal]

Well I just fired up the demo for a quick confirmation on a concern I had about player differential and sure enough it's present. Anyone can feel free to try it out themselves, I played with the Packers(me) vs Seahawks(cpu) and subbed out the starting TE for an Offensive lineman. Sure enough he ran routes just as crisp as if it were Finely. Granted he could NOT make plays on the ball or catches like Finely but as far as the release off the line, route running and YAC, any difference was negligible.

There was one play where the TE/OL was wide open on a horizontal out towards the sideline, due to two receivers going deep vertical, he caught the ball and turned it up field along the sideline as if he were an agile light on his feet skill position player, not a 300+ pound lineman.

Also, the foot planting was definitely a needed addition but it seems to be generic and superimposed with little to no regard for player height, weight or applicable ratings. So it seems that like in M13, IE is just about adding physics for certain collisions or contact, not about bringing physics to how the entire game is animated and plays out. Kudos to anyone that is enjoying the demo and will enjoy the retail but I just can't overlook this stuff anymore.

I hope all these word games and slight of hand stop with Madden on the new consoles. Now I wonder if the fluid movement touted for Ignite Engine is something that will impact the entire game or will it be more of the same.