Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

[johnnyg713]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

Love all the animations in this game. I wish there were replays after every play. I find myself pressing start and going into replay mode all this time. There have been some crazy interceptions, especially from safeties. I've really seem some jaw dropping plays. They need to fix the play calling screen next year and go all out on presentation. Gameplay is finally there IMO. Just blow out presentation next year.

The sack issue has been fixed, however now it's been replaced with an intentional grounding issue. Intentional grounding isn't getting called, however every time I get to the qb, he ends up trying to get the ball out and it falls for an incompletion. Hopefully there's a way to tweek this.

[rudyjuly2]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

Finally got Madden today. And after popping it in, waiting for the update and then waiting through a very long opening game sequence between Pitt and Arizona (it was cool but I should be able to skip it; load times are long) I got some gaming in. I did do a quick skills trainer on the passing game to get a quick look at the new passing and receiving controls.

I started out on All-Pro. Played a tiny bit against the Lions with Miami and got a pick 6 off of Stafford. Then shut if off since as I had to get back to work. Fired up a game later with Miami at Pitt (cpu). Roethlisberger lit me up like I couldn’t believe. At half time I was losing 35-7 as he ripped me a new one. He was 12-12, 285 yards and 4 TDs. He hit a couple bombs too as my coverage was horrid. It was actually really nice to see. I shut that game off at half and took on the Bills in Miami. This time I won 23-14 and Cassell was nowhere near as good as Big Ben. Very happy to see a separation between cpu QBs. I was also shocked that I saw the cpu QBs in some games actually throw the ball away including one time on a screen pass I covered where the QB spun out and threw the ball away. Unfortunately the pass rush is so awfully neutered on default that both QBs can read a book while sitting in the pocket. Definitely something that needs tweaking in the sliders but something that is certainly fixed offline.

I saw a few spectacular catches but more often than not these passes were not completed. My early impression is that the aggressive catch is not over powered although I haven’t used a dominant WR (although I expect a dominant WR to actually dominate). I think it’s true that you don’t have to hit those special catch buttons – I think they automatically trigger. But I do like the fact I can change them to something else. Quite a few times RAC popped up when I just wanted to secure the catch with possession. I do love the fact there is a battle in the air for the ball unlike years past where it was an automatic knockdown for the DB. I also like the options to keep my WR in bounds and this does seem much better to me.

The game itself looks fantastic in the afternoon games on the grass. The tackling looks great and realistic too. The halftime show is well done imo. But why can’t they apply that for a postgame show too? Instead we gets some highlight clips and no commentary. Nantz and Simms have similar commentary and I’m fine with them.

Special teams are still weak. No separate sliders for human vs cpu for some strange reason in franchise and you can’t even access special teams sliders in-game. CPU kick returners are never a threat and the cpu punter is terrible. The one time the punter kicked from his own 45 and I got the ball on my 41! I guess he kept it out of the end zone.

CPU clock management has changed. I don’t see the automatic timeout at 1:00 anymore. I’m guessing it’s around 45/46 seconds now. They don’t seem to burn their timeouts as fast but they also don’t use them well either. The cpu tried to squeeze in one more play before the half and the time ran out WITH a timeout in their pocket! Penalties are called more on default. I haven’t messed with those sliders but I trust everyone else that it’s much improved.

Everything feels like Madden has improved a bit or stayed the same and that leads me to my biggest annoyance – the inside running game. Overall with the running game I’ve seen some cool animations. Twice my RB seemed to spin off a tackler (without me hitting spin) and I got some extra yards including a cool long TD with Lamar Miller. The r-stick juke sucks but if you hold L2 (modifier) it’s decent although the spin is probably better.

For the last 2-3 years the inside running game has been too easy on ANY difficulty level and you could not fix this with sliders. The same appears to be the case in Madden 16. Guards and Centers routinely knock the DTs off the ball – usually by at least a yard though not always. DTs almost never seem to get into the backfield or even hold the point of attack. Despite all the cool animations in the passing game you don’t even need to see them. Just run ISOs inside or Inside Zone runs out of the shotgun and you never need to pass. Three straight runs and you get a first down as you march down the field and score. I dropped the user run blocking to 0 and the same thing happens. I then changed it to All-Madden with user run blocking and my interior OL kept knocking the DTs back as I continued to grind out first downs on the ground. I took Miami and had rushed for almost 200 yards against the Bills on All-Pro. Then in the second half with Cleveland against Philly I tried All-Madden with 0 run block and continued to stick it down their throats. It’s not like I’m running for 25 yards every time but when you can routinely pick up 3-6 yards every time it’s basically a money play. Running basic plays between the tackles should never be a money play and tackles for losses should happen more often. It makes third downs too easy to convert. I have begged EA to fix this but it’s still not. Very disappointed in this aspect of the game. This area killed M15 for me. I’m worried it will do the same for M16. If so I won’t be continuing my mistakes by buying Madden again for awhile. If they would only make the run blocking slider more powerful and tie it into the movement the OL gets I could fix this myself. But that slider still appears fairly useless. I’m frustrated.

[Madden's Jowels]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

I hate how the CPU can sit and hard count all day long and never false start, I do it like twice and it's an automatic false start every time, and I never draw an offsides.

[taylor34]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

Playing Madden for the first time in years due to EA Access, had fun so far but there appears to be menu/play selection lag? All I know is I keep accidentally selecting plays trying to skip animations, which is super annoying. Currently I'm leaning towards not buying it because of that. Everything else seems generally how I'd expect it, a few bugs but nothing major. The new receiver/db interactions are pretty decent, I'm glad that they brought back a tecmo bowlesque feature like that.

[NYJin2011tm]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

My first game CPU had 2 false starts on hard counts.

[jfsolo]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

I just had an awesome 13-10 defensive slugfest on AP default 12 minute quarters.

Something I'm seeing consistently in my games is the difference the QB position makes. I was using HOU, and there were just certain throws that were absolutely off the table for me using him. Gone are the days where you could basically make every throw with every QB. I love that. If I played a whole season with a team like that, I could see 6-10 or worse being my record, which is just how it should be. I had to really work the safe passes and my offense lost all hope of creating explosive plays as a result.

Also, I think the sacks are just right. My high for a game is 4, which I've gotten twice, but I've also had a 1 sack game and two 3 sack games. I'm very happy with the way the pass blocking and pass rushing are tuned.

I pretty much agree with all of this. I play with Nick Foles and his 63 deep pass accuracy, so throws down the field are a monumental struggle for me.

Playing 15 minute quarters and getting 125-130 plays a game, the numbers usually in up normalizing by the time the game is over. Completing %'s, sacks and hurries, YPC for backs, etc., all end up falling into ranges that one would see in a real game.

How the animation sequences play out with the battle in the trenches are too binary for sure, but the sacks, hurries, occur at a realistic % in my games, even by CPU rushers for both teams. When I'm controlling a dlineman, it looks prettier because of how I attack the QB, but the effectiveness end up being about the same.

My first game CPU had 2 false starts on hard counts.

Yeah, I played a game today where the CPU had 4 false starts.

[casey_horton]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

Madden Madden Madden...you get me every time. Year after year I pray to the heavens that maybe, just maybe I will see some kind of semblance of what I would say is an enjoyable game. For some reason I go in with higher expectations than the year prior but I am met with the same results. Perhaps I am too strict on what I am expecting, but when it is the only NFL licensed game I feel like I should be getting my money's worth. Granted there was a time where I loved the Madden series, and I really mean that. But as I reached into my shallow pockets for another $64.19 to be exact, I find that maybe I'm falling into Einstein's definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Now before I completely give my thoughts, I feel that it is necessary to outline the good in this game...yes I believe there is good in all things (insert cheesy chime). But really I can't rip the game from all angles, of course there are positives!

Positives
Graphics - Unbelievable job, I mean Madden and just EASports in general is bringing it this year in the graphics department and they nailed it again. Face scans are MUCH more accurate for each player and I'm happy that they've added closer cameras in the cutscenes to show the great work they've done.

WR/DB Interactions - Glad they have added new animations for a department that has been lacking for a long time. For such an integral part of football, the passing game has needed fresh animations and interactions for this facet of the game. Spectacular catches maybe happen a little too frequently but its sick to see that one handed grab as you sky over the defense. Also seeing your DB not give up on a play and actually be able to start a little tip drill, it just tickles the fancy.

Man I wish I could come up with more positives but I just think at this point I'm taking my frustrations out on my keyboard. When I came home and fired up this game, the Superbowl moment hits you, and I'm not going to lie, the player chatter and intense moments that they provided in that opening sequence, I became engaged in that game. That sense of being involved with the trash talk, players yelling at the refs, that's the intensity I want to feel in the game. Now if they could ever get that over in the actual game...but I digress, the real reason I am writing this is because of the same old same old.

I'm not an All-Madden guy (sorry I bow down to all you superior players), but I do play on All-Pro. And for whatever reason this is to me, I run into the same problem...on offense there is the linebackers with 20 ft arms, repeated drops from my higher rated WRs, and man coverage on my wideouts so close you'd think the CPU's DB's had stickum on their jerseys.

On Defense - Apparently my coverage was written with 0 artificial intelligence because they are always so far behind every WR. I just don't understand when I call a zone, why these players are parked 10 yards from the closest wideout when it is clear that is the player to attack or keep close in coverage. Ok ok, maybe I'm being nitpicky, but if I don't control a defensive lineman there just appears to be no pressure. If I don't control a DB Dez Bryant is running down the field 30 yards wide open. I'm just asking for a little bit of help from the other 10 players on the field. Many a times I play QBs have just outrageous completion percentages. Long drives are always manufactured by the offense with all these passes coming across the middle. Maybe I'm alone but a lot of times I just feel like I could pick a play, not move my defender, and the play will just play itself out. Even if I control somebody, I don't feel as though I can make an impact.

Deeper than the field
Okay if you haven't figured out I'm a huge NFL 2K fan and always will be. But I believe 2K in general especially from the NBA franchise is something that all sports games should aspire to be. It's the cream of the crop in terms of depth and getting more from the game. It's the experience of the player morale, having players interact with you after games bringing their concerns and bringing down chemistry. Ticket prices, jersey sales, media interaction, I mean I feel like they've nailed every part I've ever wanted. But what Madden fails to deliver in year after year is the depth of its franchise mode. I play a game, do some funky repetitive training drills, level up my players, and advance a week (does this sound familiar Skyrim fans?). I'm not knocking Skyrim but come on, Madden is getting away from realism and creating this arcade/RPG effect which is something that is just awful. The weekly goals combined with the goals on the drive, add to the clutter that is just unnecessary. Every time a drive starts, they are telling me if I get 40 yards I get XP, and when I do I begin to see +1 XP above my characters (players). I didn't realize I was playing World of Warcraft...

Listen I love football and obviously with it being the only option for my NFL fix what other choice do I have...keep the fantasy games and my sports games separate, is that too harsh of a comment? I just hope that this series expands just from the fantasy aspect and fix the legacy issues that it has always had...or maybe I should just download some new sliders...

[WISports]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

Just got the game tonight. Popped it in, and after playing just one quarter (offline) I can say that is easily the most fun I've had playing Madden to date. And I'm 40, so I've played a LOT of Madden in my lifetime.


Also, graphically, it is the best looking sports game to date, IMO. Passing up 2K15.


Bravo, EA.

[dynastynation]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

I don't even know why I keep buying this game. This "new" wide receiver and defensive back animations are a joke. You press a button and they warp into whatever animation the game decides. They went completely overboard with the Odell Beckham Jr. one-handed catch. He made a spectacular play in real life, fantastic. Why do I see it re-enacted at least once per game? Just for the fun of it, my friend and I played an online game and we just abused the hell out of the "spectacular catch" animation to see just how successful we could be throwing deep bombs. In single coverage, it was successful about 95% of the time... in double coverage, about 85%.

I even had a corner have two hands hovering around the ball while a receiver caught it with one hand. Why does this receiver not have the awareness to just swat the ball away? Instead, he willingly drops his arms and goes to the ground. I have tried to give this game a chance, but it's just truly awful. Gang tackling is an absolute joke. The guys just run into each other and fall over. Receivers get stuck on linebackers when running across the field and don't ever have the awareness to run around them. Defense stands flat footed 75% of the time. The players (and ball) warping around the field is still a huge issue. See below for an example. This is a fumble recovery in Madden 16... player laying on the ground, face down, with the ball to his right. Then it just magically warps through him to his left forearm and that's how he recovers it... this was a huge play in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl that cost the other team the game. I truly felt awful for winning that way.

Is this 2015 or 2005? Why do people defend this game? The developers put out trash every single year. Personally, I feel pretty dumb for even thinking that they would possibly deliver a fun and realistic game this year. My opinion is if you are thinking about giving the game a chance... save yourself the $60 and several headaches and stay away. I just wanted a game that I can play out of the box and have it not be a complete clusterf***. The past three years of buying MLB The Show, I've never touched a slider or a setting other than the difficulty... yet with Madden you consistently have to change everything to try and fix broken game mechanics. I refuse to do it anymore. I'm sure I'll be banned for this post, so... bye!

[JayBee74]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

For those of you having a hard time running, I strongly suggest you do the Hard Hat Skills trainer. It is imperative this year to actually count the people in the box you trying to run to. Free defenders no longer get tangled up coming through the hole. If it is 4 of them vs your 3 blockers, that free guy coming through and meeting you in the backfield. People really need to get into the habit of flipping the run play at the LOS or simply changing the play to something completely different. Forcing a play is a no no this year.

Good tip. I notice a quick tap of the RS (juke) gives you a direction change and you're actually centered and balanced.

[REALFOOTBALL]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

Defensive AI is a bit better but still alot of standing around, linemen on offense for USER still look like they don't know what there doing out there. Run blocking is ok FINALLY, but once again I'm watching linemen just run straight up field without blocking anyone. There's little to no pass rush, in my franchise the CPU qb is averaging almost a full 8 seconds or more, and if someone does get in the quarterback throws a clean pass to a wide open receiver. CPU quarterbacks will get to the line and does not snap the ball (this has happened 3 times in one game. Tackling looks horrible just running into each other is all it is! High low passing doesn't work most of the time, I have thrown almost all my high pass 20 yards out of bounds, low pass are also bad!

[Smallville102001]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

So was doing some test CFM sim to just look at things like sim stats and some other thing like how the draft is set up ect. The sim stats look to be pretty good but need to do a few more. Had 7 guys with 4000 or more passing yards. TD and completion % was good to and ever thing else for the most part looks good with things like catches, tackles ect. The only thing I would say looked a little off was CB INT where a little high and the amount of punts for kickers a little high. I forgot to look to see if the amount of guys running for 1000 or more yards looked good or not but in my second sim I had 15 guys with 1000 or more not bad. Also I think the money issue from last year with owner mode may be fixed. Last year in owner mode you would not have a lot of money and like have to let a lot of guys just level or even get rid of guys. In my test sim with the packers I was able to resign some of my players and pick up a few new ones to.

[Smallville102001]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

I have not liked a madden game in a long long time like 07. Yet almost ever year I buy madden hoping that this will be the year that the game is good again only to find to many flaws with the game and am tried of the game after like 2 maybe 3 months and then fell like I wasted money on the game I guess because I am so desperate for a good NFL game again and it is hard to go back and play a game like madden 07 because of how dated the graphics are. Each year I fell like there is at least 1 major game play problem that is a game killer. Last year was close to a game I would like but the sack issues was just to much. With all of that said this years game is good I am shocked! This has to be maybe the biggest improvement I have ever seen for a sport game in just 1 year! Now CFM is pretty messed up though. If it gets fixed I will be able to really enjoy a NFL game for the first time in almost 10 years!


With all that said I am nervous because with the track recorded of madden I think either we don't get a patch to fix all the CFM issue or we do but it ends up causes to many big new issues. That has happened with madden a lot of times where a patch messes up something else or where madden gets some sort of new game problem the next year that was not a problem the year before. This years game though is so improved it is crazy. The game is not perfect of course but having things like flags is big and the DB/WR interaction is great and some of the catch animations are amazing! Tacking is so much better to. I don't know how any body can say this is madden 15.5.


The CPU QB this year will step up to avoid a sack and make nice passes and will throw the ball away when they should. With the CPU doing that and the improvements to tacking animations and WR/DB integrations and having flags the game fells like a new game. Then you also have QB accuracy being more realistic. In the past basically the only way you would get incompletions where if the WR dropped a pass or if the DB dropped what could have been a INT that is not realistic at all. This year because of the improvements you not only get incompletions because of dropped passes and dropped DB INT but you also have DB making plays on the ball and over thrown passes by the QB to. Also for the first time WR will attack and go after the ball instead of like just wanting for the ball to get to them.


While not perfect to the CPU QB last year at the end of half's would just take sacks and just try to throw deep passes not this year. For sever years the CPU punters would never try to punt the ball inside the 20 now they some times do. The graphics are ahead of MLB and NHL now but behind NBA 2k game just looks great. Animations while are really improved are still behind both NBA and MLB. While tacking looks better there are still some times it can look a little off at the end of a play and to often on catches the WR arm will go back behind them and it just doesn't look right. Also the offensive line and defensive line play needs some work. The offensive play and defensive line doesn't look that good like the worst part of the game play.


For the first time in a long time though it fells like the game plays like real football. If they can just fix CFM and not have big glitches going forward with CFM and can improve the line play has much has they improved the WR/DB integrations this year then next years game could go from good to really good maybe even great! So please just fix CFM and improve line play next year. Commentary could be better to but really that is like the most unrealistic part of like ever sport game because all sports games get to repetitive and don't have enough emotion.

[SportsGamer94]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

Good tip. I notice a quick tap of the RS (juke) gives you a direction change and you're actually centered and balanced.

Yes but it's wayy to slow! It needs to be quicker.

[THESHAMISASHAME]

Re: Madden NFL 16 Community Impressions

In a handful of games I could say this is the best Madden in a long time and I took the advice of others here and didnt touch the sliders other then a few on penalties and Im having great games on All Pro default .

I also think key players play like themselves so ratings do matter and I enjoy kicking FGs very realistic , play by play has improved and I like the new catching and Intercepting function .

I really just bought to kill time until NHL 16 but I was pleasantly surprised by its being pretty sim while still being fun and interactive