Madden NFL 16: Day One Impressions Roundtable

[RaychelSnr]

We are officially a full day into the Madden NFL 16 release, and after a day of playing through different aspects of the game the staff is here to provide some impressions. Check out their thoughts after the jump and add your own day one impressions in the comments below!

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[TrippyBeaver]

Jayson why are you so salty? Madden did a lot of things right this year, and you only mentioned YOUR perceived negatives. Played a H2H against my buddy last night, I was using Texans and a 4 man pass rush. I controlled Clowney probably 98% of the plays. Watt had THREE AI sacks. Your opinion has never been more invalid. It sounds like you played one game with a crap defense who couldn't pressure the QB. or were playing the Cowboys whose line is borderline impenetrable

Unrealistic Animations?? Best animations I've seen in a long time. Beats last years 2K by a mile. Fifa may be the only game with better animations.

[kackle85]

Interesting that Robert and Jayson have such different opinions on the game. From what I've read the feedback has been largely positive which makes me want to get the game and then I read things like what Jayson said here and I'm back on the fence again.

[casey_horton]

Jayson...finally someone who is speaking the truth! I couldn't agree more with everything you said. I've tried to give this series a chance every year with negative results...its time to move on and wait for this EA agreement with the NFL to be over...one can hope, right?

[cmehustle]

Run your favorite play, and use your favorite team. Let your buddy use his favorite defensive play and try to stop you. Then, pick another team, any team. Run the same play against the defense. Matter of fact, use the backups, and run the same play. Chances are, the outcome will probably be about the same, no matter who you use on offense and who your running it against on defense. This is the thing that drives me crazy about Madden. Now try that same tactic in 2k. I know Im comparing basketball to football, but in 2K there is a HUGE difference in who you use to try and score, or play defense with. In Madden, not so much. Good game, but it will never be great until they have differential between the stars and average joes in the game.

[DBMcGee3]

I have yet to play this year's game, but Jayson's views pretty much sum up my opinion of Madden for the past several years.

-It looks weird when the players are running, period. The spin move in particular just looks awful.

-The AI of the CPU has always left a lot to be desired on both sides, but in the past its been bad enough to make me hate playing defense entirely.

-The game in the trenches has never quite felt right to me. Lineman ratings have never mattered as much as they should. For a guy like Clowney or (sober) Aldon Smith, you should pretty much be forced to double block them or they should pressure the QB on virtually every play.

All that being said, I'm waiting on my copy from Gamefly as we speak. I'd love to find out that some of this stuff has been improved, although I've seen enough videos to know that the animations still aren't great in my opinion. Either way, it should at least get me by for a few weeks until the soccer and hoops games come out, which almost always ends my Madden season.

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 16: Day One Impressions Roundtable

Run your favorite play, and use your favorite team. Let your buddy use his favorite defensive play and try to stop you. Then, pick another team, any team. Run the same play against the defense. Matter of fact, use the backups, and run the same play. Chances are, the outcome will probably be about the same, no matter who you use on offense and who your running it against on defense. This is the thing that drives me crazy about Madden. Now try that same tactic in 2k. I know Im comparing basketball to football, but in 2K there is a HUGE difference in who you use to try and score, or play defense with. In Madden, not so much. Good game, but it will never be great until they have differential between the stars and average joes in the game.

This is very noticeable in the 4 games I've played so far for Madden 16 and people are reporting the same thing in the impressions thread.

It's the first time I've been able to see it and say it: ratings matter.

I agree with 1/2 of Jayson's review, CFM is getting no love and needs a lot more.

[fballturkey]

Re: Madden NFL 16: Day One Impressions Roundtable

This is very noticeable in the 4 games I've played so far for Madden 16 and people are reporting the same thing in the impressions thread.

It's the first time I've been able to see it and say it: ratings matter.

I agree with 1/2 of Jayson's review, CFM is getting no love and needs a lot more.

Agreed. It's been most evident in Draft Champions, but Terrell Davis does not handle the same way as Frank Gore. Dez Bryant doesn't handle the same way as a 78 OVR WR. A stacked OL is doing noticeably better than a bad one. For all of the problems off the field and with presentation and animations the ratings seem to matter.

[JKSportsGamer1984]

Dang Jayson! A bit harsh are we? Lol

[jyoung]

Re: Madden NFL 16: Day One Impressions Roundtable

It sounds like you played one game with a crap defense who couldn't pressure the QB. or were playing the Cowboys whose line is borderline impenetrable

I completed around 7 or 8 games using a variety of teams across a variety of game modes, and also spent about 45 minutes in practice mode repeatedly running a four-man rush against empty sets to confirm what I was seeing in live games (the lack of AI pass rush) wasn't just a stamina-related issue.

In all of those scenarios, it didn't seem to matter if my AI pass rushers' moves were rated in the 90s, or if the offensive line was rated in the 70s, the end result was that manually controlling a pass rusher was pretty much the only way for me to consistently generate pressure. And I shouldn't need to take control of someone like Jurrell Casey in order for him to show up on the stat sheet. Especially when I know that my AI's pass coverage won't be able to hold up for very long unless I'm manually taking away throwing options by patrolling the secondary. All aspects of the defense in Madden are still too reliant on the user making plays. Your CPU teammates should be competent enough that if you're calling plays which put them in a position to be successful (for instance, 4 rushers vs. 5 blockers or 8 defenders vs. 5 receivers), the AI can consistently make positive plays on their own.

[The_Gaming_Disciple]

Let me first say that I have no idea what some of the negative criticisms are for. Keep in mind this is a video game, and seeking perfection in anything in life will not happen. It is what it is. However, as for myself, the last Madden purchase I made was in 03' when Mike Vick graced the cover of 04.' Therefore, in terms of differences for me is huge. I am an NCAA every year buyer but since that series is dead as of right now I transitioned back to Madden. I believe the solution for many of you that are frustrated is to stop buying the game every year. I stopped for over an entire decade, and guess what? I SURVIVED!!!

As far as what this Jayson guy is talking about concerning a pass rush, my AI brought the heat and generated sacks by themselves. Additionally, I was able to sack the quarterback, yes RG3 with a line backer user controlled. Therefore, I think Jayson needs to step his play calling IQ up.

Pros:

You need to know certain schemes about football in order to play this game. Yes some zone, and some man calls appear to be broken, but audibles, and hot routes are your friends. Teams in my opinion felt really different. For example playing New Orleans in an NFC South match up felt very different than playing the Falcons. Playing the Redskins felt different than playing the Saints and Falcons. So I don't know what this Jayson guy is ranting, and salty about.

The element where passing has so many variable is great, I definitely only have a split second to decide what window I want to throw in, high, low, rac catch, etc, before being sacked by the defense.

Running feels right; however, the run animations need to be changed, yes guys run like robots, but turning on a dime, does not come without losing momentum.

I had about 7 penalties called in my game which was with 15 minute quarters, and 15 second play clock after the snap.

The crowd looks amazing and realistic.

You can tell when the momentum has swung in the game. I threw two crucial interceptions with Winston when making drives down the field and paid the price for it by losing a close game to Washington in Washington.

AND GUESS WHAT? I LOST AND DIDN'T FEEL CHEATED (played All Pro) Playing on All Madden is for guys who have mommy and self esteem issues, it ain't that serious.

Cons:

I did experience the huddle penalty glitch twice, and I did not like that.

Yes, there are some issues with WR/DB canned animations that will frustrate at times, but I enjoy the battles and animations that take place.

I would like to see more fluid running, players still appear robotic.

Stats from my game against the Redskins

Winston 66.6 passer rating, 301 yds, 3 TD's and 2 Ints, 26/39
RG3 13/18 for 171 yds, 72% completion 1 TD,

Alfred Morris 23 carries 111 yards 1 TD
Doug Martin 22 carries 58 yards

I also had a user safety at a crucial point in the game. I made costly turnovers and the CPU capitalized on them so I can't cry and complain. That's what happens in real life.

Bucs possession time 33:24, Washington 26:36
Bucs total yards 497, Washington 393
Bus first downs 23, Washington 14

[jmarcguy]

Re: Madden NFL 16: Day One Impressions Roundtable

I agree with the "stop buying for awhile" idea. Improvements are tough to see when you play every year. They become subtle. I played Madden from the mid 90's until 2002. I was kind burnt out by then. I felt it was the same every year. I got on 2k which had a great feel & seemed fresh. I stuck with those games for 10 yrs. I picked up Madden 15 last month & it's actually not bad. The playbooks are deep & there's real football strategy than can be applied. Where it struggles is with the graphics engine. Poor lind play on both sides. The QB motions aren't smooth. It can be frustrating to play. However, it's fun & im enjoying learning a new game. The time away was good for me. Madden 16 looks pretty solid as well. Taking a break is beneficial.

[cjallure24]

Re: Madden NFL 16: Day One Impressions Roundtable

I was in the fence about purchasing M16, after seeing that CFM isn't ready yet, and according to Scott Buress in "CDVTW" (Chad Dukes Versus The World), that there really isn't a huge leap from last year's version, I'll stick with M08 in the PC. I can't justify spending 60USD for more penalties and WR/DB interaction.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

[2_headedmonster]

Re: Madden NFL 16: Day One Impressions Roundtable

The lack of a pass rush is a pretty glaring problem. I've gotten sacks but that doesn't change the fact that the majority of the time my d-line are preoccupied with having a shoving shoving match.

[gr18]

Re: Madden NFL 16: Day One Impressions Roundtable

I don't know why people can't let Jayson have a negative opinion without getting offended by it.There's been a lot of people expressing the same about the pass rush.

Like I thought,if you haven't liked Madden you probably won't be completely changed.It still feels like Madden,though improved.People that have liked Madden will more than likely be satisfied and consider it the best version in quite some time.