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Madden NFL 15: The Five Features To Be Intrigued About

We are deep in the heart of summertime, which means that you are either really excited about baseball or completely over it at this point.

It also means its time to start getting serious about football season with the first NFL pre-season game tonight with the Giants and Bills squaring off in the annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.

The first pre-season game brings a lot of good back to the world, with all 32 teams still in contention for the playoffs and the Super Bowl — yes even you Browns and Lions fans. There is hope, no matter how small it may seem.

The Hall of Fame game also brings another annual tradition to our doorstep, the release of Madden NFL 15 is now only a few weeks away. We have several reasons to be excited about this year’s game, with better presentation and tons of work done on the gameplay. It always seems like Madden is under a deeper microscope each year, and for all intents and purposes it delivers a solid but flawed game of football each season.

I’ve said it several times over the past few years, you know what you are getting with Madden at this point. EA’s football brand has been going in a clear direction for a few years now, and the style and approach are consistent and clear. Hoping for a magical change of formula is unrealistic at this point.

What we have with Madden is a game which approaches the game of football from a standpoint that’s neither sim or arcade — it’s like it’s own vision of the sport that mimics real-life football but also throws its own twists in.

However, even within this vision of Madden there are a few things that I’m looking for out of this year — and a few things I’m especially excited about of the announced features thus far:

    1.    The improved DL play — This has been an addition which has long been needed to make defense more fun. It remains to be seen if it’s actually more fun or not, but giving people more to do than just pursue the ballcarrier almost certainly will mean a more active and alive experience.
    2.    The Tuned QB Accuracies — From early videos, I’m not sure how much QB accuracy has been tuned, but sliders and higher difficulties might be where the real changes are in this year’s game. However, we’ve been needing more differentiation between elite and average QBs for awhile — and more overthrows and misses are sorely needed in this game.
    3.    The Improved Coverages — This is another part of the passing game which has always needed immense help. Players have consistently found themselves out of position and slow to react to the ball. From what I’ve seen in gameplay videos there is some improvement, but you see the promises of improved coverage each year. What has me a little more optimistic is that there is some focus on defense and the passing game this year, which could give defenders a bit more oomph.
    4.    New Tackling Mechanic — The tackling mechanic is getting a lot of noise and hype this year out of camp EA, but I’m more interested in how it might change the game. Will the hard tackles de-balance the gameplay? Will there be a reason to choose a ‘safe’ wrap up over a big hit? Will this be cheesy? Will it not and actually make tackling on defense a fun mini-game? These are all questions and possibilities I can’t wait to explore.
    5.    The NFL Films Presentation — From what I’ve seen, this looks to be a small but definite step up for the franchise. The halftime show is cool enough, and if elements of this presentation make it into connected franchise that’ll be even better. Using the NFL Network and NFL films as the backdrop to presentation is a good call. This is an area of the game which has needed immense technical help and know how for a couple of years, the small changes of eliminating pre-rendered cut scenes and improving camera angles look to be helping quite a bit.

The Early Outlook

Madden has a lot going for it in the pre-release hype cycle. With a few weeks remaining until release, we’re still waiting on more word on Connected Franchise, online modes, and more. This year’s game has a chance to be very well received, but there are pitfalls and definite balance issues which can and will come into play if certain elements of the gameplay are not executed properly.

Needless to say, I can’t wait for August 26.


Madden NFL 15 Videos
Member Comments
# 1 Darth Aegis @ 08/03/14 12:23 PM
Well written my man! This is always the longest three weeks of my life every yr. Waiting for madden to drop and the NFL season to start. It feels like the night before Christmas day, that giddy feeling all over again. Best time of the year!
 
# 2 scottysivley @ 08/03/14 01:06 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cutler23
Well written my man! This is always the longest three weeks of my life every yr. Waiting for madden to drop and the NFL season to start. It feels like the night before Christmas day, that giddy feeling all over again. Best time of the year!

that's how I feel every year! i literally bought 25 again because I needed a "fix" lol
 
# 3 rkocjay @ 08/03/14 01:30 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cutler23
Well written my man! This is always the longest three weeks of my life every yr. Waiting for madden to drop and the NFL season to start. It feels like the night before Christmas day, that giddy feeling all over again. Best time of the year!
Ii agree even though basketball is my favorite sport I'm not as hype for NBA2k then i am for Madden every August then football season to follow
 
# 4 Sheba2011 @ 08/03/14 01:51 PM
The QB accuracy is the potentially biggest change to the game this year. In past Madden games any QB could easily throw for 400 yards a game. Hopefully with good sliders we will see some realistic passing numbers from both elite and below average QB's.
 
# 5 friscob @ 08/03/14 02:00 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheba2011
The QB accuracy is the potentially biggest change to the game this year. In past Madden games any QB could easily throw for 400 yards a game. Hopefully with good sliders we will see some realistic passing numbers from both elite and below average QB's.
I think the cumulative effect of revamped qb acc, better pass rush, and better coverage is what has me excited. 1 of those by themselves would be nice but together theyre going to fix a lot of the issues i had with last years game.
 
# 6 The JareBear @ 08/03/14 02:05 PM
I'm only intrigued to see if the CPU uses the new features or not.
 
# 7 bxphenom7 @ 08/03/14 02:51 PM
Not a fan of the new tackling mechanic as of right now. All in all, I think this hype train's going to crash. It definitely seems like more than an incremental improvement this year, but people who are expecting a Madden that we should have had by now are going to be disappointed.
 
# 8 dsk1317 @ 08/03/14 02:51 PM
The inside or outside shading is B.S., we need true route recognition, but EA gave us another gimmick. The flat zones still jump flat routes, just to give up an easy 12 yard completion. It's laughable, because we were told by rex dickson this was fixed, but obviously not. What simfballcritic's video from the 1st live stream at the 35:44 minute mark. To make things even worse, rex exclaims, "look how that cb jumped that flat route." What he should've said, look how the cb gave up an easy 12 yard completion, but the 2 yard pass sure as hell wasn't getting completed. It's so disheartening, but EA has mastered how to lie to us, so they are improving at something
 
# 9 franch1se @ 08/03/14 03:30 PM
the final countdown is taking forever..Usually I don't mind because I have NCAA in the meantime...but, well, Thanks O'Bannon
 
# 10 GarrisonGrant @ 08/03/14 03:35 PM
Next year they need to really focus on OLine play, Signature player styles, and go all out on Career Mode. Career mode should be just as good as 2k14 next year. Everything else about the game is fine to me.
 
# 11 kjcheezhead @ 08/03/14 03:39 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheba2011
The QB accuracy is the potentially biggest change to the game this year. In past Madden games any QB could easily throw for 400 yards a game. Hopefully with good sliders we will see some realistic passing numbers from both elite and below average QB's.
On paper, this is true. It hasn't translated to the videos. CPU qbs are deadly accurate and are only slowed by coverage sacks. I'm very worried about robo qbs throwing record numbers except against cover 6 where every pass will be a throw it away or they'll eat it and take a loss.
 
# 12 gr18 @ 08/03/14 03:40 PM
I imagine the qb accuracy will be something more for those that just haven't gotten used to using a manifesto for the slider to get the desired result.Some of us have used workarounds for some of the improvements but I guess if it's legit and makes things a little more convenient.
 
# 13 RyanLaFalce @ 08/03/14 03:41 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by GarrisonGrant
Next year they need to really focus on OLine play, Signature player styles, and go all out on Career Mode. Career mode should be just as good as 2k14 next year. Everything else about the game is fine to me.
Hey, is there an E-mail I can reach you at? Your PM's aren't working.
 
# 14 Darkeus @ 08/03/14 04:00 PM
Lol, it is funny but it seems like whenever defense is winning championships in real life is when defense gets worked in in Madden. ;-)
 
# 15 Darth Aegis @ 08/03/14 04:28 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by franch1se
the final countdown is taking forever..Usually I don't mind because I have NCAA in the meantime...but, well, Thanks O'Bannon
Yeah I hope O Bannon likes his 2 dollar check he's going to get from the lawsuit. When he probably thought he was going to get paid.
 
# 16 Darth Aegis @ 08/03/14 04:35 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by The JareBear
I'm only intrigued to see if the CPU uses the new features or not.
I agree with this. If the CPU doesn't have the sense or logic to use all of the new defensive features this year like there endorsing. This will be a huge swing and a miss with the passes loaded in the 9th.
 
# 17 bxphenom7 @ 08/03/14 06:52 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by dsk1317
The inside or outside shading is B.S., we need true route recognition, but EA gave us another gimmick. The flat zones still jump flat routes, just to give up an easy 12 yard completion. It's laughable, because we were told by rex dickson this was fixed, but obviously not. What simfballcritic's video from the 1st live stream at the 35:44 minute mark. To make things even worse, rex exclaims, "look how that cb jumped that flat route." What he should've said, look how the cb gave up an easy 12 yard completion, but the 2 yard pass sure as hell wasn't getting completed. It's so disheartening, but EA has mastered how to lie to us, so they are improving at something
Good find, smh
 
# 18 MAGboyswifT27 @ 08/04/14 02:43 AM
I'm excited for the 26th, Football season is upon us!
 
# 19 CT Pitbull @ 08/04/14 05:47 AM
Do yall realize that EVERY WEEKEND from now till February...WE WILL HAVE FOOTBALL!!!


Its the most, wonderful time....of tha year!!!!!....ahhhh yes!
 
# 20 TreyIM2 @ 08/04/14 08:05 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by gr18
I imagine the qb accuracy will be something more for those that just haven't gotten used to using a manifesto for the slider to get the desired result.Some of us have used workarounds for some of the improvements but I guess if it's legit and makes things a little more convenient.
I was thinking the same thing.
 

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