Madden NFL 25 Impressions (PS4)

[HingleMcCringleberry]

Some pretty funny things happened in this one. Presnap, the guy I was CONTROLLING decided to jump for no reason before they got set and tackled the Center. I did nothing and pressed no buttons at all, but the game decided lets let this guy laugh a bit and tackle the center. An offside for no reason when i controlled him happened twice... My corners are watching their players make catches when they are in position to make plays. And I manage to get Michael Vick carted off the field twice in this one to only see him out there for the next play both times. Truly incredible... said no one ever. The tackle of the center preplay was pretty funny though. had a good laugh at that one

5 Games into the year, my team is projected to allow 3036.8 rush yards on defense, my RB is on pace to be 10 carries shy of the record and barely break 1000 yards, and my team is 5-0. Those numbers just do not make sense to me.

One other thing, anyone else getting an unusually large amount of Defensive TDs for CPU teams? 8 guys have 2 or more so far 5 games into the season. a couple have 3.

[longranger]

When I download a draft class. How do I import it into my season, dynasty, cc?
When it asked me which roster to use before I start my career I select the one I imported and they r supposed to show up as free agents but it doesn't. It goes back to day one rosters.

[zack4070]

I really hate how the divets disappear after every play. The grass is great and all but so dumb how the divets disappear. Either don't have so many divets on every play or leave them.

[Bruce LeRoy]

Played this game for the first time the other night. Played two quick games; I was not impressed at all. First off the graphics are not good at all for a next gen game, it looks like a high res version of current gen and all the player models are the same. True Step gives the defense an advantage- its not fare that the ball carrier has to slow down and chop there feet while the defense doesn't; the defense can turn in a dime and clobber ball carriers while they true step. Also it seems like the cpu takes control of you back when you first hand it off to them. Its like they try to guide you through the whole, I don't really like that, I want full control of my back from the start. The canned animations are horrific- numerous times I busted up the whole full speed only to be sucked into a canned tackle that looks out of place. Too many hit stick tackles! Every other tackle was a hit stick! I can go on and on about what I don't like about this game.

The only two things I liked was the pass push/rush from the defensive line and the secondary pass coverage defenders were in the right spot, they closed in on passes quick, and they intercepted the ball of you threw it to them.

If you're judging this game by next gen standards I rate it a 5/10 by last gen standards it gets a 7.0/ 10

[Mos1ted]

Quote: Originally Posted by HingleMcCringleberry

Almost every game I have played thus far had my 95+ Accuracy QB throw a 2 yard open pass without any pressure right to a defender nowhere close to the play. He is consistently missing on passes about 2 yards downfield. Not missing like something slightly overthrown or behind, but missing by 5+ yards often. and all running backs are getting 80 yard runs untouched on off tackle plays running for 150-200 yards a half against me. It's just not fun, and I keep trying to enjoy it but it becomes harder and harder the more this stuff happens.

I play with the QB accuracy slider set to 10, and I still get the ball to go where I want to given the context of the pass. If I'm throwing on the run, I expect the ball to be off target. In fact, that's the reason why I lowered the QB Acc slider: I wanted more inaccurate passes than were present at the default setting. The thing with passing on Madden is that you have to think like a quarterback. You have to know when to put touch on the ball, when to rifle it, when to throw it out of bounds, when to tuck it and run, when to duck for cover and take the sack, etc.

Are you trying to rifle the ball to a receiver just two yards away? Doing so will cause your passes to be off target because the speed of the ball is unnecessarily fast given your receiver's proximity. Try rifling a football to a buddy two yards away. I guarantee it won't be very accurate.

Also, are your feet set when you throw the ball? The game has a Throwing on the Run rating which also affects QB accuracy. You can't just look at the THA rating and assume that the QB can make every throw for every situation. There's also the SAC, MAC, and DAC ratings to consider.

Unlike in current gen and previous Maddens, Madden next gen requires a more realistic approach, which is probably the reason while I'm enjoying Madden for the first time in 9 years.

In regard to your rushing defense, are you calling the right plays to stop the run?

[Mos1ted]

Quote: Originally Posted by HingleMcCringleberry

Anyone else having issues with guys NOT coming back on routes to the ball and just kinda standing there or falling back watching as a defender jumps in front? I mean, comeback routes involve COMING BACK to the ball after all (hence the name comeback) and not falling back away from it. never heard of a 'fallback' route before. Back shoulder passes aren't working either as every time i try to throw back shoulder it just throws inside the numbers and the defender picks it every single time. If they threw back shoulder he wouldn't be able to touch it... Another thing I wish they would work on is the touch/lob pass which only works when a guy runs 60 yards downfield. otherwise it is just a pop fly right to the defenders. And bullet passes are just line drives without any sort of accuracy or placement. No control over ball placement at all in this game, and it's pretty much a "chuck and pray" scenario where you hope the game doesn't decide to place it right nowhere near any of your players so it gets easily picked off (happened 3 times already today). For some reason the game likes to say "you need a pick right now, so we will just place it nowhere remotely close to your wide open player." EDIT: Also, why when my TE is 1 on 1 vs a CB does he continue to get trucked by the CB even though he is lowering his shoulder. In what world would a 250+ pound TE get trucked by a 190 pound CB when he is lowering his shoulder into him. It would be like watching Champ Bailey truck Jason Witten. just never.

You have to play with the tackle slider to address the trucking issue. I haven't found a setting yet that truly alleviates it -- a flaw in game design that needs to be addressed -- but playing with tackle at default is definitely not the way to go. I play with the tackle slider set to 100, and oddly enough, I'm getting better results than with it set to 50. It's still not perfect, but it did eliminate some of the frustrating suction tackles for me.

Also, the DB coverage is little too good at default. I suggest turning down your pass coverage slider until you find a setting that's more realistic for you.

[celtics6]

I picked this up last night because I was getting a little bored with killzone and nba 2k on the ps4 and needed something else to play for the next couple months until some of the bigger games start coming out.

I'm fairly happy with my purchase out of the gate.. It's not the huge jump up that nba 2k is and doesn't scream next gen but it definitely looks and plays better than current gen imo. I've seen the stutter step thing and not sure how I feel about it so far. Overall I like how players move and how fluid it seems, how players square up etc.. Played a couple games so far and overall it played well. Felt more immersed than the current gen version and just something felt different.

Overall I'm not sure if I wasted $60 again though. Also have the current gen version but I've done this time and time again with this game. This years version just feels different to me and was enjoyable and had that madden feel but also something about the game just pops and feels more polished as far as the AI is concerned. it also goes to show how bad this game has been. 2nd game I beat the cpu cowboys vs steelers 24-0 on all pro. The first game was last years superbowl I won 17-7. The AI can still go into braindead mode where I can just march up and down the field mindlessly it seems calling the same plays and not really seeing the variety. REminds me of Live that way. Feels good at times and coverages and lineplay is better, but there is just that something where I want to sit down play a football game and for it to feel right. I talk about feel but Madden is such a tease that way. It's like omg this is what I've been looking for then it's like omg no it's not. Why can't EA just make a tough good AI football game for once. I don't mind the cartooney aspects of madden so much as I just wish it was capable of playing a real simulation. I'd like to see more variety and just better AI at times. Scored on some broken plays and by pressuring the opposing qb and getting picks. They make this game too easy and have lost that edge in ways going on years now. Yes the DB AI is better and yes there are tangible improvements but on the whole this is still the same Madden game with the same glaring flaws it seems. It looks good in context but then you really get into the nitty gritty of the game.


Going to bump it up to all madden but it seems like the same difficulty problems and lack of immersiveness in areas. It's a more polished version of that.


Edit:Played a game on all madden. Won 7-3. Manning vs Brady. Manning was unstoppable and robo qb then I knocked him out of the game. It was a well contested game throughout and enjoyable but still the same madden in ways. Didn't really see much wrong with the game I played although a little more variety would have been nice. Animations are smooth and flow together really well. Saw some nice touched with tackling and the lineplay in general. Also always wondering if the cpu is going to do something stupid to take away from the drama of it. They didn't this game but I feel like they will eventually.


Overall I am pleased but skeptical. It seems like a good football game. Best madden to date. Will it be playable and stand the test of time? Who knows. I spend $60 on this game every year play it about 10 times before it is broken. This game seems to always lack something as far as going that extra mile as far as substance and personality but it has that something as far as fun factor too.

[WithoutRemorse]

I think this game is a night and day improvement over the PS3 version. PS3 version is very arcade like in the way the offense can abuse the defense. I have only played a handful of games on next-gen but I can already see and feel the impact this game will have when playing in a sim style league.