[jjoneshbk]

Hey hey..been enjoying this madness since about 12:00pm yesterday so I think I've gotten enough time in for a small review.

At its core Madden 13 doesn't feel outrageously different then 12 but to its credit, I can't go back because of the changes and improvements put in place.

As Smoke7 stated, the pass trajectories have been vastly improved, though it does take time and practice to get used to them. Played a game with the Pats last night and when I got under center or in Shotgun with Brady, I honestly felt invincible, it wasn't a question of if I wanted a completion, only where.

DEFENSE
With that said, I will say on the flip side it feels like playing defense is more difficult, especially now that you can place the ball where you want. I remember when playing the demo, the 49ers corners couldn't cover man up to save a life but I thought," Oh well, when I get back to Baltimore it'll be all good." Well what a rude awakening that was. I don't know how I feel about it..on one side, I'm happy that unlike in past Maddens, not just anyone can cover anyone, but at the same time, I feel like I've seen Darelle Revis hop into the hip pockets of receivers and not give up 7 yards of separation on a 5 yard zig route by Wes Welker. Oh and FLIGHTWHITE, it's not your defense, I've been taken deep a few times as well, just make sure your non-top end speed corners are individually backed off the speed wideout when you think a possible deep ball is on the way.

Linebackers have it tougher than ever in Man coverages though, which I guess is realistic seeing how last year TE's took over the world but man..it's like LB's and SS's can't hold their own EVER. I mean..really? I can't depend on Bernard Pollard to cover that fat TE on a 5 yard out? HE ain't even taking you up the seam and you're giving up yards!? I digress, though it has seemed that whether it's myself, the com, or a friend, LB's left in man up against almost any TE = auto completion. Zone coverages seem to be a real bright spot though, I can tell they've been tuned because for the first time in ever, I don't have to hot route every single zone blitz I call to compensate for what I see at the L.O.S, once the ball is snapped, if there's no one in a said area, the defender assigned will move to the next closest thing instead of standing in open space like " DOH!" I' threw quite a few INT's by forgetting I'm playing a new game. Though there are rough spots as well. As in the demo, whenever you can identify a corner playing deep zone or (ya know..that deep blue colored one), comebacks are automatic even if there's nothing else to worry about on that side the corner will stay behind instead of squeezing down on the wideout. Even if the wideout has come to a stand still..annoying.

Oh and I have not seen any psychic DB's Super LB's or any of that madness. I'll leave off here for now and check in alittle later with some offense and all.