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Old 08-22-2017, 02:13 PM   #70
D81SKINS
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Re: Madden NFL 18 Retail Impressions

Quote:
Originally Posted by Armor and Sword
This is after 2 full games in CFM Default All-Pro on the first game and in the second game all I did was click up fatigue from 50 to 60.



1) Game is flat out gorgeous on 4K PS4 Pro. Just really smooth, menus are lighting fast and responsive and not that slog we had for a while (since 13 to be frank).

2) Physics feel a lot better. Player weight, momentum in the running game, dragging tacklers, tackles feel violent as well. Laid the wood a few times with the hit stick to jar some balls loose. And you can feel and hear the hits this year.

3) Running game is excellent and earned. I love it.

4) WR/DB interactions are much improved and drag routes are not always automatic

5) Ratings do matter more on match-ups. Coaching adjustments.....what took you so long? They make an impact and can change the tide of a game. I hope and pray the CPU really does use them as well....but we will never truly know will we......

6) QB inaccuracy feels good....can use a little tweak IMO to be more unforgiving though and balance completion %'s

7) New commentary about games around the league is a much needed feature and a nice touch to make the league feel a little more alive.

8) CPU off season free agency logic looks improved. I saw some very nice players changing teams and it was good to see big name free agents move to new teams. Draft logic looked improved as well.


Cons:

1) CPU QB AI and play calling exactly like last year. This is a massive legacy issue now. If they don't commit to improving AI a lot, this is my last Madden purchase for the foreseeable future. Sliders can not nor will ever fix this. And CPU AI needs to be really looked at for us who do not play online!!! Otherwise the game will be dead to me after this cycle. I am really getting fed up with the lack of care into looking at playcalling and QB AI on the CPU level. We are the pioneer Madden gamers who enabled this game to become what it is today. And we continue to be the ones spending our money on it. Yet the AI is still......sub-par. It really is infuriating to me. I am probably one of the most positive sports gamers here on OS.....I know how to work with what I got and have fun with it. But two straight years of this type of QB AI is unacceptable. It is a fundamental flaw in that it is the most important position on the field and the AI is inept at it. I have to neuter myself with multiple house rules to play the AI.....and with games like The Show, NBA 2K hell even NHL......I don't. I can play the CPU and get a good challenge without compromising the way I play. I can't do that with Madden. And quite frankly it has been this way since the beginning. I figured hey they made 3 different playing settings....but all they did was call last years game simulation mode and made the real changes to the online players. I get it. MUT is huge. Online leagues are great. But the offline gamer has been left in the cold and this is to me.....a slap in the face. AI is critical to offline franchise gameplay on and off the field. Off the field they made some improvements. But if the on-field gameplay is meh.....who cares about off the field. It won't matter.

Really....that is the big con but it is a huge one.

If offline players don't have a good AI opponent.....the game looses it's luster fast. Somehow I managed to play two full cycles (16 and 17) and had a blast. But I am sitting here playing 18.....and this time I saying.....not this again. Can I really play this game for another cycle in this state with the AI? I actually pondered that after finishing my second game and was streaming (sorry to my audience but I was in vent mode this morning). I pondered returning this game today. Because although I love the improvements as stated above, the core soul of the game for me is the CPU AI and playing against them.....and they are exactly the same....no improvements were made. And yes......I have played hundreds of games between 16 and 17....so it was easy to spot this in 2 full games. I am not sugar coating this. The AI is exactly the same as 17 on the field.

2) Fatigue seems to be non existent right now even on 60 playing 9 minute no runoff. I will test higher values and even longer quarter lengths, but auto subs do not work....they simply don't. If I don't create my opponents coach and do formation subs with RB's their primary back will get 25-35 carries easy and the back/up or rotational RBBC guy will be left in the dust. So that is fixable.....but this year I have not seen WR's, LB's CB's subbed yet.....at all. So this is a new issue....fatigue is either not working for some reason and they know it and it needs a patch, or it was totally neutered.

3) On simulation mode in CFM.....penalties are non existent at default slider values. 2 full games and 0 flags on the CPU.....Zero.

4) Injuries - We pounded the sand on why we don't get timely and immersive injury updates since they removed the sideline reporter on 17. It is even worse now on 18 because while we have off-ball injuries (thank you EA.....finally), I have to pause the game after every injury time out banner that flashes, because 95% of the time you don't tell me in the broadcast who got hurt!!! It is a huge part of what you see on Sunday....but it is glossed over like nothing happened. So I have to pause and check the injury tab in the menu. Kills immersion during the game and the broadcast feel. Every now and then they show who was hurt and who replaced them if it is a QB or RB (all I have seen so far)......but 95% of the injuries are a mystery unless you pause and check for yourself. Come on guys. Huge oversight yet again.

So out of the box......with 1.01 patch installed (auto installed for digital copies, I have a physical disc)


6.5 out of 10


Huge letdown with AI, almost no penalties on simulation mode on default. Lack of injury news in game to showcase your newest feature with off ball injuries.

2 steps forward......yet still we are stuck in the mud with CPU AI on the field. The game made zero progress in that department.....and that is the biggest thing it needs to improve and fix to keep me around. Unless it truly happens?

My last Madden for the foreseeable future.


Well......I am going to test things all week.....turn some knobs, and hopefully get the game in my wheelhouse with some minor slider adjustments.

Default All-Pro on simulation mode......pure lipstick and semantics IMO. It is a huge letdown.

I am calling it like I see it.

This is exactly why I haven't preordered or decided to even buy, unless they come out and say,
HEY!
Sim crowd, we will be dropping a Huge Sim Patch that will address the CPU QB & Playbooks
Heck, I'd be willing to pay more if they could bring back the T&R traits and Update the Team's to have similar like gameplans and playcalling of there real life counterparts.
I thought that EA could use the teams real life gameplans and implement that into the Madden Gameplans/Play calling.
Also, What's up with the Statue QB? Is the animation developing too fast?
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