BlyGilmore's Blog
Last week, I sat down with Phil Frazier, a long-time producer at EA Sports, and checked out the latest Madden 10 build. While I did not get a chance to grab the controller and start dissecting the game myself, Phil Frazier did demo many of the new on-the-field Madden 10 features for me.
However, before getting to those features, I must mention that on Monday I wrote that the unofficial theme for NCAA Football 10 will be customization. Well, when it comes to Madden 10 I believe the theme will be "immersion." From the first moment you put the game in your console to the moment you take the field, immersion will be the goal.
When the game is loading, you are immediately brought into a football state of mind as you watch a down marker count from one to four. The opening screen features Larry Fitzgerald diving and reaching for the pylon while sub-menus bounce around the stadium.
And, perhaps taking a hint from our article last season about how loading screens no longer contain useful information, this year’s Madden highlights players and their ratings as you wait to take the field.
Pro-Tak
On the field, most of Madden’s improvements center around a new animation technology called Pro-Tak.
Marketing jargon? Sure. But when Pro-Tak is flexing its muscles, you can see the difference it is making. At the heart of Pro-Tak is the ability to control players on the field through contact with other players, while also having the ability to shape how the player you are controlling will respond to that contact.
For instance, Pro-Tak is what makes the new gang tackling feature in Madden work. This year you are able to have up to nine players on the field involved in the tackle –- both offensive and defensive players.
Four Bills versus one Jet. Wonder who's going to win ...
For the first time, you will see running backs like Brandon Jacobs move a pile of defenders forward, tight ends run up to the back of a pile and throw their shoulder into it to push it up field, and an entire flock of linebackers converging on the ball carrier at the same time.
You will now also have the ability to initiate a tackle with one defender before switching to another defender to finish the job.
Pro-Tak is also working hard in every passing situation because it is the cornerstone of pass rushing defenders, blocking lineman and the quarterback. For example, Pro-Tak appears to have finally slain suction blocking and the dreaded 15-yard drop back. Animations between offensive and defensive linemen are much more fluid and lifelike –- with the war not being won simply by offensive linemen making contact.
... Not the Jet.
For pass rushers, this means no more button and trigger mashing to use one of a couple moves in your bag of tricks. Instead you will be able to use the right stick to steer your player through contact with the offensive line.
This steering is what kills the 15-yard drop back. If you drop back more than a couple of yards, you are giving the defenders an ideal angle to push through the offensive linemen, get on their outside shoulder and bull rush right to the point of attack.
For quarterbacks, Pro-Tak allows you to better feel the pressure coming at you and also trigger animations that try to avoid the rush. In the past, I think we all witnessed situations where the QB dodged a sack via some kind of miracle animation that we would be lucky to ever see again.
This year, those random animations are gone, and instead you control your QB's ability to shuffle left, right and up in the pocket with the right stick. The QB is able to truly slide around the pocket like Tom Brady (pre-knee injury) before throwing downfield.
Madden is also utilizing a vibrating controller so you can sense where the pressure is coming from. If you are getting heavy pressure from the right, you will feel it. If you have time but are getting a bit of pressure from the left, the joystick will vibrate a touch.
The Little Things
Perhaps taking a page from MLB: The Show, Madden 10 is also looking to focus more on the little details that have sometimes been overlooked in the past -– basically keeping the "if it's in the game" mantra in mind at all times.
When the ball is fumbled in certain situations, a number of players will dive on the loose ball and it will change hands in the pile numerous times. While it was not ready during my demo, in the final version of the game there will be a button mashing mini-game to decide who gets the ball - with the button needing to be hit changing throughout the sequence.
According to Frazier, these piles are going to be special, rare situations with most fumbles playing out similar to years past. But in certain circumstances you're going to see all hell break loose fighting for the football.
The emotion of the moment is captured as well, with referees pulling guys off the pile before emphatically pointing in one direction or the other.
A detail like Ben Roethlisberger's "7" appearing right on the yellow line of his helmet instead of on the side of it is important to the Madden developers. As Phil said to me, Big Ben is somebody’s favorite player, and the developers really want to make sure Madden lives up to the expectations of that fan –- getting every nuance correct if they can.
Madden 10 has a new, more streamlined playcalling screen.
The entire referee crew will now also be on the field. Now, while they do not have collision detection, you will still see them getting run over.
Defensive assignments are also back in the game. Once again, you will be able to take a defensive back or other defender and have him follow another player on the field -- no matter where he lines up.
Other Tidbits and Thoughts
- The graphics and lighting in Madden 10 are top notch. I thought NCAA and Madden 09 looked pretty good, and what I saw of NCAA 10 was on par with its 09 siblings. Still, Madden 10 is noticeable upgrade when compared to last year’s titles and even NCAA Football 10.
- The development team certainly seems to get what gamers are looking for and, perhaps more importantly, have the backing to go out and make a football game for true football fans. The true test will come when you get your hands on the controller and take the game for a whir. Nevertheless, from the limited on-the-field action I saw, the game appeared to be hitting on all cylinders.
- QBs have had their accuracy ratings changed. Instead of having one accuracy rating, they now have three ratings for long, medium and short passes. So, the Chad Penningtons of the world will no longer throw a good deep ball simply because they have a high accuracy rating. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the noodle-armed slingers like Pennington.
- There are no more weapons.
- Player ratings have been rebalanced. The aim is for the elite players in the league to truly feel superior to the rest of the players out there.
- During replays, when moving the camera around, you will now have a much better sense of depth since the game will focus on your target and blur out what is behind it -- similar to focusing on an item with a camera. This is something MLB: The Show did really well, and Madden’s system is just as impressive.
- Team-specific sidelines have been added. Everything on the sideline looks a lot more realistic than it has in the past.
- Super Bowl patches appear on a team's uniforms.
- Phil Frazier and other members of the Madden team hinted that they have a few more announcements in store for E3.
# 18
wckdmn2 @ Apr 29
Got to admit, it does look better than "09". I bought 2K5 a few weeks ago and the presentation blew me away. Chris Berman, Trey Wingo and Mel Kiper Jr! I hope the guys at EA has played 2K5 so they know what great presentation looks like....
# 19
cgalligan @ Apr 30
i'm not really trying to pile on, but i agree that this game hasn't lived up to the hype the past few years...
also, i really think they need to change the player models, i mean, look at the image above, with T.Polamaulo chasing Larry Fitz, both players STILL seem too CHUNKY and somewhat over weight... Larry Fitz is WAAAAY Too musculur, and Troy, looks like he has D-Linemen arms??? What is it with Madden and the STEROID player models???
This is not "what you see on the filed" which is supposed to be this years big thing in the game... Am i wrong to notice this type of thing in April?
also, i really think they need to change the player models, i mean, look at the image above, with T.Polamaulo chasing Larry Fitz, both players STILL seem too CHUNKY and somewhat over weight... Larry Fitz is WAAAAY Too musculur, and Troy, looks like he has D-Linemen arms??? What is it with Madden and the STEROID player models???
This is not "what you see on the filed" which is supposed to be this years big thing in the game... Am i wrong to notice this type of thing in April?
# 20
cgalligan @ Apr 30
Troy Polamalu
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/multimedia/pho...h/polamalu.jpg
Larry Fitzgerald
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/CjLQh...rry+Fitzgerald
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/multimedia/pho...h/polamalu.jpg
Larry Fitzgerald
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/CjLQh...rry+Fitzgerald
# 21
cgalligan @ Apr 30
also,
when are they going to change some of the defense plays???
2 man under, Engage Eight, and Cover 3 have been in Every teams playbook, every year for the past 10 years??? not all teams run the seame defense, we need variation to differentciate the teams please... For God Sakes add a 2k5 type of defense playcalling system, where you can combine different types of Dline, LBs, DBs assignments... This creates almost limetless playcalling ability for the user...
when are they going to change some of the defense plays???
2 man under, Engage Eight, and Cover 3 have been in Every teams playbook, every year for the past 10 years??? not all teams run the seame defense, we need variation to differentciate the teams please... For God Sakes add a 2k5 type of defense playcalling system, where you can combine different types of Dline, LBs, DBs assignments... This creates almost limetless playcalling ability for the user...
# 22
sportyguyfl31 @ Apr 30
I reserve judgement until I see and play the game hands on. This series no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt for me.
# 23
Lupe_Tabasco @ Apr 30
i just hope the ps3 versions have some movement on the ball. last years knuckle ball killed the game for me on the ps3.
# 24
BlyGilmore @ Apr 30
Metal - not really sure that helps your arguement - comparing him to a gun slinger who would have no problem bombing it down field on the off chance his WR makes a play on it.
I've always though people were too hard in Pennington because say what you will but the guy wins. With that said he also can't throw a 10 yard out to the far side of the field on a line.
I've always though people were too hard in Pennington because say what you will but the guy wins. With that said he also can't throw a 10 yard out to the far side of the field on a line.
# 26
north dallas @ Apr 30
Sorry, but I guess I am now one of the "haters." I will believe it when I see the final product. Last year, was the first time that I didn't bother with Madden in 11 years. I am hopeful that this year will be a better product especially as MLB 09 has really raised the bar on sports simulations
# 27
pontiacj @ Apr 30
I'm so glad David Ortiz (the other David Ortiz) "left" EA. They might not be able to execute on all of this, but they certainly have been listening at last.
# 28
Mattinglyfan @ Apr 30
I agree with a lot of what is being said. One thing that I find interestingly overlooked is that player assignments are back in so you won't have those tools who use formations subs to create mismatches. In all honesty, it won't matter how awesome or weak Madden is, the ignorant haters will call it garbage and the jockers will call it the greatest thing since Super Tecmo. The fact of the matter is, I check out some NFL2K5 stuff on youtube and many of the animations look very cool. It was a cool game. I bought Madden and 2K every year. I am old enough to remember that the critical reviews from both games were virtually identical. Where Madden went wrong was that its next gen game went backwards from the PS2/Xbox which were way better than their next gen counterparts the year they were released.
To the tool who said Madden might finally rival NFL2K5 and APF2K8, you need help. All-Pro was inferior in every way to NFL2K and Madden. I don't care how much a person buys into nostalgia, you need to mix in a dose of reality as well.
To the tool who said Madden might finally rival NFL2K5 and APF2K8, you need help. All-Pro was inferior in every way to NFL2K and Madden. I don't care how much a person buys into nostalgia, you need to mix in a dose of reality as well.
# 29
ridemooses @ Apr 30
No more weapons is kinda sad, but I guess it makes sense. In real football you train for strength, agility, speed etc. It will be interesting to see how this works out I'm actually looking forward to it I was always so caught up in how many weapons my team had rather then how well my teams fit together.
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