Alright Boyz!! Madden 07 impressions thread!!!

[Emiliano]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Is the fatigue bug only present in the 360 version or all platforms?

From what I've read on OS, MM and MN, it's a 360 thing only. In the current-gen consoles fatigue (in game) works normal. I still haven't figured out if the simmed stats are reasonable or not, tough. I guess I won't until I'll have the game in my hands.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by wade moore

I'm pretty surprised that anyone is defending this.

To not check for a bug that existed last year is inexcusable imo.

Are you sure that this bug existed last year?

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Are you sure that this bug existed last year?

Regardless, it seems like something that should be detected pretty early in testing.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by ice4277

Regardless, it seems like something that should be detected pretty early in testing.

I agree, but we're hearing this about practically every single sports game that comes out these days. Anyway, I'm not trying to look like I'm EA's bitch or anything, so it's no big deal. I'm just reading conflicting things about whether this bug was in last year's game or not, although I guess that that's not really significant at this point.

[Kodos]

Sounds like the current gen version is mostly the same as last year's version. Right now, I'm going to stick with Madden 2006 for my PS2 unless people start raving about the 360 version.

[jbmagic]

ICY

wow the pc version shows lots of pancakes from the stats you show.

Looks like the offensive line is going to progress fast and make the probowl.


Hopefully xbox 360 is not like that.

[MizzouRah]

I have the 360 version, but I'll wait until after soccer practice before popping it in and getting some good time with it tongiht.

I'll have some impressions for sure tonight!

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I have the 360 version, but I'll wait until after soccer practice before popping it in and getting some good time with it tongiht.

I'll have some impressions for sure tonight!

Thanks Todd

I looking forward to it.

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Are you sure that this bug existed last year?

The fatigue bug existed for sure on the sim games. The backups hardly played on the sim games.

[dbd1963]

I just played up through the first pre-season game in SuperStar mode. This is my first time playing this mode and it's a lot of fun. I am playing as a QB. Initially I was horrified that I had been drafted by the Browns, a team I have no affection for irl, but the game draws you in by giving you little goals to achieve. As you make the goals (earning something called "influence points") you find yourself settling in. Now I feel like the Browns rookie QB, and I don't mind.

The game doesn't help you an awful lot with all these new features and concepts. Before the draft, I couldn't figure out how the 40 yard dash and the weight lifting worked, but it didn't seem to hurt me. (Unless the hurt was getting drafted by the Browns instead of another team.)

Not having control of the team while the rest of the action is going on is a little goofy in the preseason since you only play a half. But you can't walk away from the game and expect it to complete itself because each time the offense goes on the field, the game stop until you allocate some points, even though you aren't in the game. I can't recall what these points are called at the moment, but they boost your stamina and toughness. I'm not sure how important this really is.

The game within the game is that you get influence points for all the positive things that happen, and get deducted points for the negative. This is pretty cool --except I'm not sure why I should get docked points if the RB doesn't get back to the line, or if he fumbles. I saw my influence go up and down during training camp without any idea of what was going on, until I realized that each camp session I had a cap (this is not announced, but you'll figure it out when you realize you aren't getting any extra influence after a certain point). I made it my goal to practice until I hit that cap. One weird thing is that each practice will seemingly never end. You play until you are tired of it and quit practice yourself.

I haven't read the manual and have no idea what the influence points will do, but I've been stocking up on them just because it's fun.

At gametime, I started with 40 influence points, but a couple of sacks and incompletions later, I was down to 25. This brings up one of my beefs with the way this mode works -- you are stuck with the camera angle they give you, and you won't be able to see what is going on sometimes. I ran right into a linebacker who I clearly would have seen had the camera angle been appropriate. My QBs head was looking right at him, but since I couldn't see him, I ran right into him for a big sack. I know one way to work around this is to know where all the defenders are and then make the assumption "If I can't see that LBer right now, then he's behind the line with me". But that seems like a crappy workaround for something that shouldn't even be a problem if the game was coded right. It's a gripe, but not a gamekiller though.

I did find the QB scrambling to be very good, once I learned how to do it. I've made a couple of big defensive linemen look like statues as I squirm and dart out of the way. This part of the game feels and looks awesome. Try throwing on the run, and it looks right. It's also hard to get a completion throwing on the run, at least for my rookie. Short lobs look perfect too. In fact, the animations on this version are really nice. It's easy to get drawn in and forget you are playing.

But another thing that camera angle is going to force you to do is figure out what DBs look like at certain depths so that you can tell on the hoof if a guy has your receiver cut off, or if you can get it over his head. This hasn't come natural to me so far.

I really like the influence point thing, even though I don't yet know what it is for. It got me working the safe stuff most of the time, but the payoff for a big play is pretty big -- I hit an 80 yard bomb to Jurevicious and was awarded 14 influence points for it. A simple completion is worth 2 or 3 points, depending on whether you get a first down with it or not, and then you get extra points for things like "big play", etc. I find myself checking on the big play, but then if it's not obviously there, going to the safe pass -- just like I'm supposed to. I don't think I cared as much about that before the reward system, so I see it as a good thing. It's like you are playing two games at the same time (maybe three, if you care about stats too).

It's a drag that the defense and clock management is completely out of your hands. As the QB, at least I can call some audibles if I'm given a completely ridiculous play, but I was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch the second half, with no ability to affect the outcome. Luckily for the Browns, the Eagles have Garcia as their backup. He promply tossed 5 INTs and the Browns eked out a win that should have been a loss.

And my guy looked pretty good in his first outing, gettng a QB rating of 140 with 2 TDs and no INTs. I actually felt proud.

I tried the 06 version of Madden and hated it. I have played NCAA 07 and liked it, but not a lot. I think I like this version of Madden best of all the Madden games I've played, though I haven't played any of the current gen games since 2004. I think when EA Sports releases the patch, this is going to be a solid game.

[hukarez]

Originally Posted by dbd1963

I just played up through the first pre-season game in SuperStar mode. This is my first time playing this mode and it's a lot of fun. I am playing as a QB. Initially I was horrified that I had been drafted by the Browns, a team I have no affection for irl, but the game draws you in by giving you little goals to achieve. As you make the goals (earning something called "influence points") you find yourself settling in. Now I feel like the Browns rookie QB, and I don't mind.

The game doesn't help you an awful lot with all these new features and concepts. Before the draft, I couldn't figure out how the 40 yard dash and the weight lifting worked, but it didn't seem to hurt me. (Unless the hurt was getting drafted by the Browns instead of another team.)

Not having control of the team while the rest of the action is going on is a little goofy in the preseason since you only play a half. But you can't walk away from the game and expect it to complete itself because each time the offense goes on the field, the game stop until you allocate some points, even though you aren't in the game. I can't recall what these points are called at the moment, but they boost your stamina and toughness. I'm not sure how important this really is.

The game within the game is that you get influence points for all the positive things that happen, and get deducted points for the negative. This is pretty cool --except I'm not sure why I should get docked points if the RB doesn't get back to the line, or if he fumbles. I saw my influence go up and down during training camp without any idea of what was going on, until I realized that each camp session I had a cap (this is not announced, but you'll figure it out when you realize you aren't getting any extra influence after a certain point). I made it my goal to practice until I hit that cap. One weird thing is that each practice will seemingly never end. You play until you are tired of it and quit practice yourself.

I haven't read the manual and have no idea what the influence points will do, but I've been stocking up on them just because it's fun.

At gametime, I started with 40 influence points, but a couple of sacks and incompletions later, I was down to 25. This brings up one of my beefs with the way this mode works -- you are stuck with the camera angle they give you, and you won't be able to see what is going on sometimes. I ran right into a linebacker who I clearly would have seen had the camera angle been appropriate. My QBs head was looking right at him, but since I couldn't see him, I ran right into him for a big sack. I know one way to work around this is to know where all the defenders are and then make the assumption "If I can't see that LBer right now, then he's behind the line with me". But that seems like a crappy workaround for something that shouldn't even be a problem if the game was coded right. It's a gripe, but not a gamekiller though.

I did find the QB scrambling to be very good, once I learned how to do it. I've made a couple of big defensive linemen look like statues as I squirm and dart out of the way. This part of the game feels and looks awesome. Try throwing on the run, and it looks right. It's also hard to get a completion throwing on the run, at least for my rookie. Short lobs look perfect too. In fact, the animations on this version are really nice. It's easy to get drawn in and forget you are playing.

But another thing that camera angle is going to force you to do is figure out what DBs look like at certain depths so that you can tell on the hoof if a guy has your receiver cut off, or if you can get it over his head. This hasn't come natural to me so far.

I really like the influence point thing, even though I don't yet know what it is for. It got me working the safe stuff most of the time, but the payoff for a big play is pretty big -- I hit an 80 yard bomb to Jurevicious and was awarded 14 influence points for it. A simple completion is worth 2 or 3 points, depending on whether you get a first down with it or not, and then you get extra points for things like "big play", etc. I find myself checking on the big play, but then if it's not obviously there, going to the safe pass -- just like I'm supposed to. I don't think I cared as much about that before the reward system, so I see it as a good thing. It's like you are playing two games at the same time (maybe three, if you care about stats too).

It's a drag that the defense and clock management is completely out of your hands. As the QB, at least I can call some audibles if I'm given a completely ridiculous play, but I was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch the second half, with no ability to affect the outcome. Luckily for the Browns, the Eagles have Garcia as their backup. He promply tossed 5 INTs and the Browns eked out a win that should have been a loss.

And my guy looked pretty good in his first outing, gettng a QB rating of 140 with 2 TDs and no INTs. I actually felt proud.

I tried the 06 version of Madden and hated it. I have played NCAA 07 and liked it, but not a lot. I think I like this version of Madden best of all the Madden games I've played, though I haven't played any of the current gen games since 2004. I think when EA Sports releases the patch, this is going to be a solid game.

Wow...thanks much for the time put into this impression.

My props to you, good sir!

[DaddyTorgo]

bought it today mostly for my lil brother who had a crappy day and I knew I was gonna buy it anyways. so we'll see...gonna fire it up after dinner

[Eaglesfan27]

I'll be playing in about 2-2.5 hours. Should be able to get in at least 1 game with 9 minute quarters. Going to go straight to the highest difficulty level. I'll post some brief impressions as well as the stats. I'm thinking about an exhibition with the Eagles vs the Cowboys for the first game (and I hope to nail T.O. plenty of times.)

[Greyroofoo]

I just played a Franchise game between my Colts and the Giants on the 360.

The fatigue bug seems to be there

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by Greyroofoo

I just played a Franchise game between my Colts and the Giants on the 360.

The fatigue bug seems to be there

Yes it already known.

There will be a patch for the 360 soon to fix it per EA.

[jaygr]

Originally Posted by dbd1963

Not having control of the team while the rest of the action is going on is a little goofy in the preseason since you only play a half...



It's a drag that the defense and clock management is completely out of your hands...

It sounds like you are playing the 360 version so I don't know if it is the same as the regular xbox version that I have, but during the game press start to go to the menu and there should be something in the lower right that says "team control" and you can press the right or left trigger to change it from user to cpu or cpu to user. Once it is on user, you control all the action, even when your player is not on the field- only when he is not it plays just like regular Madden. I didn't know what that was at first but I was able to figure it out. They really don't tell you how to do anything in this game, from the superstar controls to the try-outs, etc. That is pretty disappointing.

[jaygr]

Also, this might be a very specific problem, but I will give it a shot. I have the regular xbox version. I am playing superstar mode as a tight end, and was drafted by the Panthers. I am blocking on extra points, so I actually control my player there and the computer controls the kicker. Now I have been finding that the kicker misses a ton of XP's, seemingly every other. For example, I had a particularly high scoring game, and the kicker acutally missed 5 XP's.

I am wondering if this is a bug or something. The kicker is Kasay, who I don't know the ratings for off the top of my head but he must be good enough, right? Even a horrible kicker shouldn't miss that many XP's, if any. Is anyone else who is a TE or Lineman who has the computer kicking noticing anything similar?

[Raiders Army]

I would like some updated rosters up until at least the first day of the preseason games. Also, I notice that Paul McQuistan and Darnell Bing aren't on the Raiders' roster. Has anyone else noticed that certain rookies aren't on their teams?

FWIW, I really like the Madden Nation series on the HOF DVD. I did not know that EA Sports/ESPN did this. It's very entertaining if you like video games and reality shows.

[dbd1963]

The Saints were missing three or four rookies too.

I haven't been able to get back to the game.. the Mrs. still isn't home from work and I've got the kids..

Sigh..

Thanks for the props, hukarez, and thanks for the tip jaygr.

[Eaglesfan27]

Some VERY early thoughts from one game:


The Passing Defense, at least on All-Madden, seems much improved. The "tricks" I've learned to find guys open on NCAA didn't work at all, and I had a tough time completing passes, particularly in the 1st half with McNabb against the Cowboys.

- Interceptions seem toned down. Dallas had 2, but one was a desperation pass as I was down by 7 and the clock was running out. The other one was actually a very cool looking play where I threw a bullet, and rather than be a super LB, the linebacker just tipped it up. However, the safety behind him picked off the tipped ball. It looked quite realistic.

- Pass protection is tough at times on All-Madden, particularly against blitzes. However, that forced me to scramble. Scrambling is still a bit too easy, but not as bad as NCAA, I don't think. At least I didn't see wide big margins to run in for big gains. It was mostly 4 or 5 yard scrambles, and McNabb still has 79 speed.

- Definitely doesn't appear to be fatigue in the classical sense, but Julius Jones did fumble twice and they were both late in drives after he carried it 4 or 5 times in a row. Either way, a patch is needed. If guys are fatiguing, fumbling more as a result, and not able to be subbed out by the AI due to a broken meter, that is clearly a problem.

- The AI, at least on All-Madden, did a great job of running, setting up play action, and passing very effectively. However, the long passes and huge YAC that are in NCAA didn't appear to be in this one game at least.

- I'm not sure if this is in Franchise, but in the play now game, you can see that T.O has HORRIBLE morale. Drew didn't throw to T.O more than once the whole game.. probably just coincidence, but it would be cool if his morale had something to do with it.

- On the other hand, Drew threw tons of short passes to Terry Glenn who had some nice 5-10 yard runs after the catch.


Anyway, here are the stats (which are presented much nicer than NCAA.)

Oh yeah, there are some nice presentation touches that are subtle, but I like. For example, the ticker tells you the key player of each drive and how many carries, receptions, or passes they completed and key stats on the drive. Madden 06 might have done that, but I honestly don't remember since I didn't play the 360 version much at all..



Passing:

Blwedsoe was 15 of 21 for 201 yards. 9.5 avg. 71%. Long of 31. 0 TD 0 INT.

McNabb was 16 of 35 for 203 yards. 5.8 avg. 45%. Long of 54 (to LJ Smith on a fly pattern) 1 TD 2 INT's.



Julius Jones has 25 carries for 83 yards. He had 2 fumbles. He broke 9 tackles. 65 yards were after the 1st hit. Long of 12. He had 2 TD's.


McNabb had 11 carries for 44 yards. 1 Fumble. 0 broken tackles (I slid every time.) Long of 10.


Westbrook had 7 carries for 24 yards. 3.4 avg. 3 broken tackles. 13 yards after the 1st hit. Long of 8.

Lousaka Polite had 3 carries for the Cowboys for 13 yards.


Bledsoe had 3 carries for -2 yards, but did sneak in a TD. (The QB sneak worked well in this game twice, unlike NCAA.)


Much like the real Eagles, Westbrook seemed to be my best receiver.


Westbrook had 7 catches for 63 yards. 18 YAC. 1 TD. Long of 20. 0 Drops.

Jason Whitten had 5 catches for 70 yards, YAC of 22. Long of 20. 1 drop.

Terry Glenn had 5 catches for 61 yards. YAC of 12. 1 drop. Long of 28.


Lousaka Polita had 2 catches for 21 yards.


Greg Lewis had 2 catches for me for 32 yards. YAC of 4. 1 drop. Long of 31.

Reggie Brown had 2 catches for 30 yards. YAC of 1. 1 drop. Long of 25.


L.J. Smith had 2 catches for 56 yards. YAC of 1. Long of 54. 0 drops.

T.O had 1 pass thrown to him. 0 catches




JB, yes Pancakes are very high. Oh well, not a game breaker for me if they get the fatigue fixed:

Marco Rivera led the Cowboys with 7 pancakes. Every linemen had at least 3, as did T.O.

Probably because I didn't run as much as them, Shawn Andrews led my team with 1 pancake.

Runyan and Gaffney each had 1 as well.



Michael Lewis led the team with 9 tackles. He had 1 for a loss. He also had a FF.

Roy Williams led the Cowbows with 7 tackles. He also had 3 passes defended.



Dawkins was second on my team with 7 tackles and 1 FF. He also defended 2 passes.


Terence Newman had 5 tackles, 1 pass defensed, and 1 interception for the Cowboys.


Kearse had my only sack.

Spears and Ayodele each sacked McNabb once.


Bobby Carpenter had the Cowboys other interception.

Neither interception was returned all the way. In fact, Newman only returned his 5 yards. Carpenter had 0 return yards. Yay!


Akers hit one FG for me of 51 yards. (Doesn't look like I will need to bump up the sliders like I did in NCAA.)

Vanderjagt was 1 of 1 for 42 yards.


McBriar had 2 punts. Gross avg of 48. Bet of 30.5 as 1 was a touch back.


Dirk Johnson had 3 punts. Gross of 43.6. Net of 34.3 with 1 touch back.

I had one good punt return with Mahe for 14 yards.

Skylar Green had a 3.5 avg on his 2 punt returns.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

Just started my franchise, after deleting my madden gamer level, so that I don't start leveling that up and getting older players in the game. Anyway, I just noticed that Franchise mode has a "history book." I think that is new. It basically keeps track of the top 10 single game records, season records, and career records in a wide variety of areas. Unfortunately, they don't have the names of many of the record holders in the game, but they do for some of the older retired players, and they do for all of the players who are still playing. Definitely a small step forward for getting a feel for a history in a league.

[Eaglesfan27]

Double Dola -

For some stupid reason, the game defaults to CPU assistance for Updating depth charts, re-signing players, signing free agents, etc. Make sure to go to franchise options to turn this to user mode if you wish to do so.

[WVUFAN]

Anyone who has the PC version interested in a Coach-Only league?

[MizzouRah]

Well, the SS mode just didn't do "it" for me. Everything leading up to actually playing in games was great. I don't like just controlling one player (at least as a CB) and since I want to play every down, I might as well just start a franchise. Oh well.

I'm getting pauses between various parts of the game, EF or Troy are you seeing these slowdowns? Nothing seems smooth to me.

We'll see how a game goes, but right now I'm not overwhelmed.

[Eaglesfan27]

I didn't see any slowdowns during my game, but I played in fair weather (with a moderate wind.) I've heard there is a bit of slow down at times with a wet field in the rain.

Too bad that the SS mode didn't do it for you. I'm thinking of trying this mode on Sunday if the fatigue patch isn't out by then. Of course, I hope it is, so I can dive into my franchise.

[MizzouRah]

This was a normal game - no weather whatsoever. When it showed the players before lining up, it slowed up there every time.

[Eaglesfan27]

I didn't notice that at all during my one exhibition game. By the way, what kind of times did you get in the 40 and how many reps? I'm practicing since I don't have time for another full exhibition game before bed, and I'm getting in the high 5 range and only getting about 6 reps.

[MizzouRah]

about the same as you.. 5.40 is my best...

Maybe it has to do with SS, the slowdown. I'll try a normal game.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

Yes it already known.

There will be a patch for the 360 soon to fix it per EA.

are you for serious

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

are you for serious

yes, Look what Greyroofoo said. He seem surprise he saw no fatigue in his game. I guess he didnt know about the issue.

[MizzouRah]

Ok, played a normal game and I'm starting to like the game quite a bit now. I only see a pause after I select a play and it shows the linemen, it's noticeable, but not a big deal.

Saw a missed FG as well, which was nice! Mario running is definitly there, not sure they'll ever get that fixed. Playing on AP default, 9 mins has been quite perfect for me so far.

SS just isn't for me and that's too bad.

*The one thing I really like is how the game flows. Presentation is nill, but if it's not going to be done right, then just letting the game play isn't really that bad of an idea.

[MizzouRah]

More fun..

QB's can get wild, all kinds of different throws. Big backs carry the pile with them, meaning on a 3rd and 1 you better stack the line. Game just feels right.. I thought NCAA felt scripted at times. Lots of different tackles and animations. CPU even subbed in backups.

As soon as the patch and first roster update is here, I'll be ready to get a Rams franchise going.

[Deattribution]

Some things I'm noticing in the SS mode (PS2 version is what I'm playing) the accelerated clock doesn't seem to work with SS. While you can speed up the game by changing the team control, it seems to REALLY dumb down the players on the field.

In 3 preseason games on all-pro between the two teams with the fast game play in SS mode there was about 25 INTs (one game with 12 between the two team's QBs, 3 returned for TDs). The last two games were with -5 in AI interceptions, eventually I turned it all the way down (they still threw 2 more with pressure).

I'm not sure if it's just dumb luck between crappy teams, or possibly the need to really tweak the settings...

[dervack]

Originally Posted by wade moore

I'm pretty surprised that anyone is defending this.

To not check for a bug that existed last year is inexcusable imo.

I wasn't defending it. It's what patches are for, and all I said was that they couldn't pull back the masters.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by dervack

I wasn't defending it. It's what patches are for, and all I said was that they couldn't pull back the masters.

How exactly are they going to patch my PS2 game? (note: I haven't bought it for many reasons, but this bug is one of them)

This is the MAIN thing that really scares me about the XBOX and future gen consoles... console games getting to the mentality of PC games with.. "oh, we can just patch it later" rather than getting it right the first time.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by WVUFAN

Anyone who has the PC version interested in a Coach-Only league?

Wait... PC has on-line leagues this year?!

[Icy]

Crap, my pc died yesterday when i was playing the game. I guess oveheating fried the motherboard as it's so hot in the middle of Spain. The bad news are that it was my main working pc, i have my email acounts there etc etc so i need to try to work today from this notebook that really pisses me. The good news is that i had the perfect excuse to upgrade my pc, it was a PIV 3Ghz and i have just ordered an AMD 4.2 dual core, an ASUS mobo, a NVIDIA 7200 pcie vga, 2Gb of RAM and a 320gb HD so tomorrow once i receive the pack and mount the new system, i'll be able to work...er... to play madden 07 way better

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

This was a normal game - no weather whatsoever. When it showed the players before lining up, it slowed up there every time.

I get no slowdowns during the game, but I've gotten some temporary freezes during the menus and even the EA HD screen. I think it may have something to do with the ticker. Does anyone know how to turn it off?

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by wade moore

Wait... PC has on-line leagues this year?!

IP vs IP

[Blade]

Originally Posted by Deattribution

Some things I'm noticing in the SS mode (PS2 version is what I'm playing) the accelerated clock doesn't seem to work with SS. While you can speed up the game by changing the team control, it seems to REALLY dumb down the players on the field.

In 3 preseason games on all-pro between the two teams with the fast game play in SS mode there was about 25 INTs (one game with 12 between the two team's QBs, 3 returned for TDs). The last two games were with -5 in AI interceptions, eventually I turned it all the way down (they still threw 2 more with pressure).

I'm not sure if it's just dumb luck between crappy teams, or possibly the need to really tweak the settings...

I bought the PS2 version yesterday and went right into SS mode last night, and I found the same thing. The accelerated clock option is there, but it is greyed out and set to Off, so there is no accelerated clock. When you are not on the field, the action is fast, but the clock doesn't tick down between plays. For example, you will have one play that takes about 5 seconds, ends at 4:35, then the next play takes another 5 seconds and ends at 4:30. That means a ton of plays, and I had my clock on 9 minute quarters which meant a very long game. Not sure if there is any way to turn the accelerated clock on.

As for the INTs...there were not that many in my first preseason game...I think three total. But I have only played one so far.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Wow. Bill Harris (http://dubiousquality.blogspot.com) absolutely lambasted the Superstar mode on the 360......

Here's the program that writes Madden games:

Sub MaddenFootballDesign()

Dim DesignDesign as Integer

For DesignDesign 1 to 1000
If Design Decision<501 decision="Clever">
Else Design Decision="Shitty"
Next DesignDecision

End Sub

I think that's fully representative of how this game has been designed for years, and it's entirely accurate as a description of Superstar mode this year.

Unfortunately.

I've spent about three hours in Superstar mode. It's very cool in some ways, and mind-numbingly stupid in others.

How EA of them.

Before we get into actual Superstar gameplay, here's a good example: graphics. Take a look at the good and the bad:
+ Animation has significantly improved.
+ The player models look truly fantastic this year.
- The field textures look lousy (hyper sharp and totally unrealistic), and grass fields are torn up by halfway through the first quarter. What are these, fields from the AFL in 1965?
+ They've blurred the crowd slightly in the distance to get rid of the highly aliased look of the distance crowds in NCAA.
- Unfortunately, that crowd is constantly jumping up and down like pogo sticks and looks totally ridiculous.
- The scoreboard ticker has this very artsy grid pattern in the background, which makes the text look very ragged. The grid pattern is absolutely superflous and serves no purpose except to make the text harder to read.

That's a good example of how this game squeezes good ideas and bad ideas right next to each other, and it drives me CRAZY.

So let's get to Superstar mode gameplay, and it's more of the same, I'm sorry to report. First off, if you want to play this mode, you better read the manual. That is absolutely required this year, because each position has some specific options that you must know, and there will be no in-game tutorial in Superstar mode to introduce them.

I started as a wide receiver, went through workouts, the combine, and the draft, went to practice and found the camera angle totally unusable. I also wasn't aware of some of the wide-receiver specific commands (hence my comment about reading the manual being a requirement this year). So I ended that career and started a new one as a quarterback.

The mini-drills are fun--simple, but fun, and while my 40-yard dash time sucks ass, that's okay. And the position specific drills are interesting as well. Overall, solid marks on the team workouts and the combine.

On draft day, you're probably expecting to watch the picks scroll by, hoping that you'll be picked soon. That's a no-brainer, right? Well, no--perhaps it's a "low-brainer," because that's not what they do. You don't see any part of the draft, and all you get is a pop-up box telling you who drafted you.

Round? How the hell should I know when I was picked--it's not like they tell me. I found out two weeks into the exhibition season that I was drafted in the third round--by checking out the freaking depth chart!

So the draft is, without question, a complete disaster.

I report to my team, practice a little, and go to the first exhibition game. I was drafted by the Packers, and I've replaced first ballot Hall of Famer Brett Favre as the starting quarterback. No matter that he's rated 88 overall and I'm rated 84. The old bastard's got to go.

I'm looking forward to my first game. I like the idea of having a limited role and not calling plays. It's a great design idea.

Great design "idea." Remember that.

The Packers get the ball, I see the play I'm supposed to run, and I step to the line of scrimmage for my first in-game action as an NFL quarterback. I get ready to snap the ball, and--I get taken to a screen called "Influence."

WTF?

Oh, that's immersive. Nicely done, guys. Before the start of EVERY offensive possession, AFTER I walk to the line of scrimmage, the influence screen loads and I have to circle jerk a few points around to various attributes.

Now this could have been done BEFORE I walked to the line of scrimmage and it would have been fine (unnecessary, but fine). But doing it AFTER just absolutely kills the atmosphere of being in a football game. Just kills it.

The quarterback camera view in Superstar mode is tight. Very tight. And again, you better know how to look left and right with the right analog stick or you're not going to to be able to see your receivers. And you need to also know to use the "B' button to follow the ball after a handoff.

Speaking of which, do you know what I do on a handoff? I press the "A" button to snap the ball. That's it. Shouldn't I be timing the handoff or the pitch? Well, yes, but I don't.

Our drive ends and we punt the ball. While my team is on defense, I'm not playing, and all the huddling and between-play action is stripped from the game.

That's just a freaking great design decision. Seriously.

Unfortunately, the time that should have run off the play clock while teams were huddling, etc., doesn't, so the opposition is coming to the line of scrimmage with 30+ seconds left on the play clock.

And that is a freaking horrible design decision. Seriously.

The action while you're watching the game is sped up--I'm guessing it's running at about 2X speed. That seems really cool, until you realize that 90% of the time that's saved really comes from cutting the between-play intervals, and that 2X speed sucks for watching your team play defense (or offense, if your Superstar is a defensive player).

It would be easy to fix that, of course, if turning off the 2X speed was an option. But, of course, it isn't.

We get the ball back with less than two minutes left in the first half. All right! There's got to be some kind of two-minute drill, right?

Wrong. At least, nothing seemed different. The coach calls the play and up to the line of scrimmage we go. Um, hell. Oh, and the first play after the two-minute warning was the Hail Mary. Lay off the booze, coach.

I reach halftime of the first exhibition game and Favre replaces me for the second half. There should be a "sim to my next appearance" button, but there isn't. No problem, though. I'll just let the game run at 2X speed and it should be done pretty quickly.

Brett Favre walks to the line of scrimmage for his first play (boy, I bet he is PISSED), and--the influence screen pops up.

Again: WTF? I'm not even in the $*$damn game and I have to click through this stupid screen on EVERY OFFENSIVE POSSESSION. In other words, I have to babysit this game through the entire second half?

Yes, I do.

At the end of the game, I see that I've gotten a metric TON of Madden Gamer points for things I didn't do. Thanks, CPU players! You'd think that in Superstar mode I'd only get credit for what I did as a player, but think again.

That's Superstar mode so far: some really, really cool ideas, many of which are mangled beyond all recognition. I could live with it all, though, if it weren't for that damn influence screen popping up at the line of scrimmage at the beginning of every drive. What horrific design

My head. The wall. Pound.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

IP vs IP

ok, right, but that tells me nothing.

Is it franchise mode where it goes through the off-season and everything, or just you have to do it all manually?

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by wade moore

ok, right, but that tells me nothing.

Is it franchise mode where it goes through the off-season and everything, or just you have to do it all manually?

all manually

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

This is a list for the 360 version only. There's a couple of doozies in here.

-This is a nasty one. If a punt hits in the end zone and then bounces backwards, going out of bounds, for example, at the 4 yard line, the ball is spotted at the 4 yard line. If the ball goes into the end zone and bounces back out into the field of play and is touched by a player, it's a touchback. It would appear the programmers didn't consider that a ball could hit in the end zone and then bounce back into play and go out of bounds outside the end zone.

-Online you can't get a delay of game on a field goal. When the play clock gets low the CPU kicks it for you.

-I've seen this reported several times.....

"Here's an animation glitch that happened in my first game.

Eli Manning drops back to pass and has Amani Toomer over the middle, I hit his button and he goes into the animation as if he is throwing over to the flats but the ball came out directly towards Toomer over the middle."

-Lag in the menus (!)

-If you import a NCAA class into Madden, the players age 2-3 years (i.e. if a player was 22 coming out of college, he suddenly shows up as being 25 when he is imported into Madden's draft class).

-If you decline mercy online, the other player continues to play the game (against a CPU opponent) while you are forced to watch the game with the menus up, unable to reconnect to the game.

-Text in management screens sometimes unreadable on SDTV's (Dead Rising, anyone?)

-Scoring problem.....

"Playing as the Saints vs. Texans. I'm up 10-3 in the 3rd. Bush fumbles and it's returned for a TD. Challenge it and it's over turned and I get the ball back. On the scoring summary after the game that over turned TD is counted and the final score is showing as 17-12 when it was 17-6 which is what the score at the bottom of the screen shows."

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

all manually

Ugh... so you can't import the games into the franchise even like you could on the PS2 last year?

[Icy]

I guess some of those things said by Bill Harris only apply to the 360, because for example, in the PC version, you watch the draft picks in real time until you are drafted.

The only complain i have from superstar mode is that the influence points are not only earned/lost from your own actions but also from your team mates. Example, i'm an RB, a pass play is called, the QB sends a crap pass that is incomplete... and i lose influence points because that incomplete pass play when i was not the target or who threw the pass. Anyway this is not that big issue to me, i take as i should have pass protected him better to give him more time to pass etc. I'm really enjoying the PC version this year... or well i was until my PC broke but that is another non related issue.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

-If you import a NCAA class into Madden, the players age 2-3 years (i.e. if a player was 22 coming out of college, he suddenly shows up as being 25 when he is imported into Madden's draft class).

I would really appreciate it if someone who has both games can verify this for me. I have NCAA and I want to get Madden. This is a huge feature for me. If it is broken, then I am going to trade in NCAA and put the $$$ towards Saint's Row.

[dbd1963]

The influence points thing is driving me crazy. Since you've got a certain number of practices before a preseason game, you know how many points you can get, but there's no time limit. So, I'm pretty sure, if you didn't want to play all those practices, you can skip the first five and then play number six until you get your 60 influence points.

AND, it's rediculously easy to lose major points when you didn't do anything wrong -- guy fumbles downfield and it's returned for a TD -- you lose 17 points. God forbid you toss an INT that is returned -24 points.

And you lose points even when some stone-hands receiver whiffs on an easy catch. It seems like there could have an easy check for the CPU - was the pass bad, or was it dropped? Maybe that's harder than it sounds, but if it is, maybe it's not a good idea to get points docked for an incompletion. Maybe get the points docked if a defender touches the pass and it's an incompletion, because then you threw it in the wrong spot.

I agree with what Bill Harris said about the point allocation thing -- it's not just an annoyance, it also ruins the immersion. I guess once you have a lot of influence points to spread around, this could become a strategic thing. But how much influence would a rookie QB have over Brett Favre, especially when he's taken his job away? Sounds like about none, but in this game, you can up his stamina and toughness with your influence.

"Go Brett!" you say, and the HOF QB stands a little taller. Riiiight.

The practices were too tough on me so I restarted at All-Pro. While that made the running game easier, it hasn't helped the stone-hands dudes.

I had to find out about the head-swivelling with the right stick on my own, and I never discovered the B button trick.. no help whatsoever. That's not "in the game".

I enjoyed it last night, but this morning it was just a frustration festival. Endless practice shouldn't even be possible. You ought to get a number of plays per practice, and if you blow it, oh well.. I guess I could introduce my own Iron Man rules, but that always bugs me. The game should already be well thought out.

[Deattribution]

Originally Posted by Blade

I bought the PS2 version yesterday and went right into SS mode last night, and I found the same thing. The accelerated clock option is there, but it is greyed out and set to Off, so there is no accelerated clock. When you are not on the field, the action is fast, but the clock doesn't tick down between plays. For example, you will have one play that takes about 5 seconds, ends at 4:35, then the next play takes another 5 seconds and ends at 4:30. That means a ton of plays, and I had my clock on 9 minute quarters which meant a very long game. Not sure if there is any way to turn the accelerated clock on.

As for the INTs...there were not that many in my first preseason game...I think three total. But I have only played one so far.

You can turn the accelerated clock on before starting up SS mode and save the settings, but it still doesn't do anything unfortunately. It doesn't sound so bad on paper, but when playing it's a bit ridiculous since every play then only takes about 3-5 seconds when you have team control on CPU. My first preseaon game the two starting QBs had 25 attempts each and that was from playing only 1 half. Final team stats were something like 50 passes and 85 runs for my team (between like 2 RBs and a FB.

I am thinking the only potential work around to this is watching/playing the game at normal speed under user team control - but then you have to snap the ball on offense every possession and still no accelerated clock. It seems like such an obvious thing for them to miss....

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Deattribution

You can turn the accelerated clock on before starting up SS mode and save the settings, but it still doesn't do anything unfortunately. It doesn't sound so bad on paper, but when playing it's a bit ridiculous since every play then only takes about 3-5 seconds when you have team control on CPU. My first preseaon game the two starting QBs had 25 attempts each and that was from playing only 1 half. Final team stats were something like 50 passes and 85 runs for my team (between like 2 RBs and a FB.

I am thinking the only potential work around to this is watching/playing the game at normal speed under user team control - but then you have to snap the ball on offense every possession and still no accelerated clock. It seems like such an obvious thing for them to miss....

I guess that what we can do is to play less minutes quarters to get a real amount of plays per game.