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

[BrianU]

Just something to keep in mind with the gameplay impressions... Last year the Play Now AI was vastly different from the CCM AI. The AI running game was atrocious in CCM even on All-Madden until the final patch, and the AI playcalling was equally terrible and generic for every team. We found ways around it assinging different playbooks to the CPU teams but that is a ridiculous fix.

[GisherJohn24]

Quote: Originally Posted by secondsolution

OK after playing a couple of games (both on all-madden) I want to give a quick rundown of my pros and cons. Pros: - CPU AI is better. I felt like they were just smarter overall and actually capable of scoring points. - The games felt competitive. - I lost both games (I think I lost one game in Madden 13). - The Packers passed a lot, where as the 49ers ran more. Not sure if it is a coincidence. - Player control feels great. - The commentary sounded improved. - Blocking was improved. - Hit sticks felt satisfying. - I threw intercepts that were not ridiculous. - The scores felt realistic Cons: - Could still exploit the defence with streaks on the outside when they are in zone. - CPU completion percentages were too high (around 90% both games). - Too many injuries (and I was one of the people advocating for more injuries). - I had Lamichael James stiff-arm and truck two defenders in the one play. Ultimately this did what every demo should do. It made me excited for the game. Another quick note, the skills trainer was working for me. Had a message before each playing saying to do a move, I would do it and it would work.

I always wanted the hit stick to be a big reward for the gamer for timing it right. That's why I like Madden 10, I could put on a brutal hit stick and a lot of times I could get a fumble out of it. I hope the hit stick is more important like it used to be, it's a feature that I think they neglected last couple of years. Downloading demo now.

And for those whining about not having the demo, give us Gold guys some love, we gotta get something worthwhile for being gold! haha. Besides free full games of course.

[xbandguy]

I changed the gamespeed from normal to slow and its like night and day leaps and bounds better. The game plays wayyyyyy better on slow. On nirmal its like the game is an arcade game and on slow its a sim. Literally everything works better, you can feel the foot planting and feel the difference in the better players. Cant explain it but even the camera has a chance to catch up with whats going on in the field. The game set on normal makes it feel like its on fast forward and you lose all the intricate details.

[bcruise]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

16 pages and no one noticed one of the biggest flaws of last years game seems to be fixed? The CPU late game AI seems to be much better. The Seahawks had the ball with 1:26 left in the half and they tried to score. They did get a FG out of it. Last year, they would have run the ball into the ground. Rodgers doing the belt celebration on a TD throw? He only does it when he runs for a TD. Did like a sack by Nick Perry and he put his finger to his FM. Also, what I liked about the commentary was it was updated. Woodson leaving the Packers was mentioned. Otherwise, seems a bit stale between plays.

Thanks for the heads up about the end of game playcalling. That's huge.

Quote: Originally Posted by BrianU

Just something to keep in mind with the gameplay impressions... Last year the Play Now AI was vastly different from the CCM AI. The AI running game was atrocious in CCM even on All-Madden until the final patch, and the AI playcalling was equally terrible and generic for every team. We found ways around it assinging different playbooks to the CPU teams but that is a ridiculous fix.

Yeah, but as far as the end-game AI went, it was broken in both offline play now and offline CC. Online CC was the only mode where it worked like it should (after server-side fixes). Hearing that it's better in play now on the demo is very good news.

[secondsolution]

Quote: Originally Posted by BrianU

Just something to keep in mind with the gameplay impressions... Last year the Play Now AI was vastly different from the CCM AI. The AI running game was atrocious in CCM even on All-Madden until the final patch, and the AI playcalling was equally terrible and generic for every team. We found ways around it assinging different playbooks to the CPU teams but that is a ridiculous fix.

Very good point. I meant to mention that in my impressions. I loved the Madden 13 demo and was incredibly disappointed in the full game. I hope that it isn't the same this year.

[R9NALD9]

Quote: Originally Posted by secondsolution

Very good point. I meant to mention that in my impressions. I loved the Madden 13 demo and was incredibly disappointed in the full game. I hope that it isn't the same this year.

Same here...put in more hours on the demo than the full game.

[SickDL]

Is there even defence in this game? Its just like i thought it would be a broken tackle fest. Ill wait for the full game and tweek the sliders for a better game.

[kcsam]

I play on PS3, so can't get an answer to these questions myself. Can anyone help with these questions?

• How are penalties? anyone see an offensive or defensive PI yet?
• I understand there's no coach mode in the demo, but if you don't touch the controller of the human QB, does the CPU allow him to scramble out of the pocket and actually run down field?

Thanks for the feedback.