Well, I will say this to start... I think M18 is overall a better game than M17.
First, the graphics are better, this includes classic uniforms. Most, but not all, of the teams' classic uniforms have been fixed. The lost stripes on long sleeves is mostly gone. That makes me very happy.
I have had limited actual play game time due to roster creation, but I feel like the game plays better as well. QBs move around better than M17, blocking is better in both the run and the pass. Defensively is better as well, though I think there will be additional patches to continue to tighten up zones. Though with my rosters, zones are already a little tighter.
I am a huge fan of the off ball injuries. That alone, if nothing else was changed from M17 would make me play M18. I understand that people want the injuries to be displayed more than just mentioned on screen, but I will take it this year. I have not used them much, but the coach adjustments are a nice added bonus as well.
From the VERY limited amount of testing in Franchise, not much seems different for me. The sim stats are largely the same but I can work with the situation, I think. I will know more once I do more testing.
What I am not happy about
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The removal of generic playbooks to create playbooks from. This makes no sense to me at all. It is not a big deal, but it is frustrating.
More with playbooks... we still cannot assign the CPU a custom playbook in Franchise mode. This is what keeps me away from the mode for my classic rosters. I am forced to use the crappy rosters EA has. While I can assign a playbook to each team, I am unable to really make teams play the right way. I am forced to see formations that were not used in the 1980s. Also, EA did not do a good job of rating the plays in the playbooks. There are some ok workarounds that help, but it is still not perfect. Far from it actually.
Currently, while editing there are some problems. You cannot see passing and kicking motions in editing. They all look the same. This needs patched ASAP! Also, I have had problems in Play Now using custom playbooks with the game crashing. I use two profiles and set up the CPU to use a custom playbook. Far too often the game crashes. I think I have fixed the issue, but I am not 100% sure. The custom playbook must have all of the audibles set. This was NOT an issue in previous years.
QB play, in terms of running QBs is still not what it should be. QBs do scramble, but do not take off enough. When I am playing against Randall Cunningham, I want him to run a lot. He led the Eagles in rushing for multiple years. However, in Madden, though I gave him really good ratings to run, he moves around the pocket and then runs towards he line of scrimmage and throws the ball across is body way too much.
So, again, overall I think M18 is a step in the right direction. I think it is better than M17. Now, I am basing that on a limited amount of game time, so it is possible I could run into additional issues. But, right now I am pretty happy with the game and my ability to make it work for me.
Sorry for the really long message.