The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by kjcheezhead

I wasn't singling you out Road. Deuce also mentioned in his best and I think I saw it somewhere else in the thread. Just offering my opinion that I can't put it in the best or worst category yet. Fixing legacy issues could be a best for sure, I just think its premature to say they have been with no visual evidence.

I don't disagree KJ, but you can say that with anything for a top 4 best/worst list on anything that is a month away from release, in my opinion.

[Vazione]

The fact that Tom Brady being on the cover was even a thought, let alone an actual decision that was noted in the Top 4 Worst things about the game is bizarre.

The cover picture is more important than CFM?

[GiantBlue76]

This 'best' list is difficult to compile for me since I've learned over the last 12 years that just because Tiburon states something is in the game does not mean it works or is implemented the way they make it sound. Sorry, but that's just the honest truth. Usually, Madden sounds amazing every year... until we all start our league up.

In any event, the things that sound the best to me are the following:

1. WR/DB and player collision interactions/Animations.
Player movement and interactions, to me, is the single most important aspect of a sports game when it comes to making me believe that the players are real, living entities. Movement in Madden has been, by far, the worst of any sports game for an incredibly long time. I think it looks a lot better. It's still needs a lot of work, but I think the additional animations will enhance the game. The number of animations can be an issue, but the real problem is the context of those animations. They're very choppy normally and out of context which causes frustration because it doesn't make sense to the user. From what limited footage we've seen, it looks a good bit better.

2. Graphics
The graphics in Madden are always excellent. If Madden didn't have to move, it would be the best looking sports game ever.

3. Target Passing
I actually really like this addition. I think they did it right with how they made it available ONLY if people choose to use it on a given play. Players who wish to spend the time to master it will have an advantage. This is a step away from the constant baby-ing of players these days and gets us a bit further away from the Fisher-Price football that Tiburon has been creating for the past decade.

4. Engaged playmaking
I'm not 100% sure this is REALLY in the game, but one thing that I saw in the trailer was JJ Watt sacking Andrew Luck WHILE he was engaged with an offensive lineman. A lot of guys in our league joke that Madden is kind of like tecmo bowl or 10 yard fight with the binary outcomes between offensive and defensive players. Football games of years past really nailed this and it would be awesome to see this in Madden. It's been very tiring to see defenders only be able to make plays when they are completely unblocked. That's just nothing close to how it happens in real life. I'd love to see this everywhere, especially on the line, which will lead to a more realistic pocket that collapses as well.

5. Legacy fixes
Assuming these are actually fixed, this is great. Fix as much of these as you can because the lingering issues have really dampened the experience. Hopefully this is a trend that continues in future releases. Kudos for them addressing at least some of them.

Now for my worst list...

1. CFM is absolutely embarrassing
Sorry, but there is just no excuse for the things that are lacking in CFM. I've played every single football game in existence since the Atari 2600, and I believe that Madden's franchise mode on the PS2/Xbox was the best football franchise mode ever made. The fact that they haven't even come close to this with the power of today and over 5 years removed from the re-do of franchise mode speaks volumes to me about the career mode dev team. I have zero confidence that they will ever get this right. Hopefully I'll be wrong. Highly unlikely...

2. No offsetting penalties
I just don't understand this. NFL 2k5 is now 14 years old and it was in that game. When you re-did penalties, why would you build a system to not allow for this? Some may not think it is a big deal, but it is. There are too many omissions like this that are filed under "not a high priority" that it ruins the immersion that this game is so sorely lacking. This is a huge part of football, and there is no excuse that coming up on 2018 and they can't figure out how to do this. Also, if you are going to build a ground up system like their penalty system, build it right so that something like this is easy to add. All of the other great sports games include these types of things that add to their level of immersion.

3. No stunts on the line
Once again, how is this not in the game? Allegedly, line play was rewritten from the ground up for next gen, yet here we are on the 5th iteration of next gen and we can't have something that football games 13 years ago were able to provide. Broken record? Yes, going on 13 years of it. This is such a massive piece to football that should simply be a given. Again, if the line play was rewritten, why would this not be included in the design? This is the only NFL game, and we can't do a simple twist on the line? 5 years on next gen should have been plenty of time. Again, it's incredibly frustrating that the elements of football, in the only licensed NFL football game are not considered "high priority". At what point do we need to wonder if football is a priority in a football game?

4. Challenge System
See my two items above this. Again, a HUGE part of football on Sunday and it still works the same as it did 13 years ago. Again, really wish they'd stop making FOOTBALL elements take a back seat in a football game to things like Gauntlet, Draft Champions and a story mode.

[roadman]

Love both list, GB, love it.

I forgot about the challenge system and no line stunts.

The challenge system is becoming a legacy issue.

[Retropyro]

Quote: Originally Posted by Armor and Sword

Yeah but I want player ratings to matter and the development team clearly stated once you use target passing, it is all user control and QB ratings are null and void. So yeah...while I wanted non teathered passing, I want simulation (ratings) to matter heavily in a dice roll on the ability to complete passes. I can learn it and master it (much like meter pitching on The Show and shot stick on 2K) and then make average and below average guys pitch and shoot like elite guys. Not fun for me personally. So this is great for the tournament/competitive online crowd, but a useless (but sorely wanted) mechanic for the simulation crowd (and that includes online simulation leagues not just offline CFM vs the AI).

Not doubting you, but is there a link to where I can read/watch where they say this.

That's very disappointing, I was really hoping it was similar to the old passing cone where the size and speed of the cone was based on the QB's ratings.

[extremeskins04]

Yea Challenge system is huge also. That hasn't been right since Madden 2008.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Operation Sports mobile app

[JoshC1977]

My personal opinions:

The good things we know about

1. The addition of the game styles. Sorry, but I got SO sick and tired of the online folks ruining my sim experience the last several years (endless patches ruining sim play). It got to be pretty obvious last year; patch before online tourney nerfing penalties; patch after said tourney reverting them back. It got so bad that people were going to out-of-box settings; seriously, that should never happen. Separating the settings for people who want to play real football versus that competitive stuff is a HUGE addition.
2. Frostbite. Don't care about graphics....but do care about player interactions. Based on what I saw last year with FIFA, this could clean-up a lot of the legacy warping/sliding/suction issues. And to me, those things are major pet peeves.
3. WR/DB interactions. Another area that needed love and got it.

The bad things that we know about

1. Not offering an option to make target passing include ratings as part of the equation. Maybe this was not possible due to programming/design issues, but it is a major let-down.

Things I want to more info on before judging

1. CFM. I realize that devs said that no major changes have been made. But if you compare the franchise mode in M15 to M17, it has been infinitely improved already. We all know there is still much left to be done, but even a small handful of minor additions (combined with the improvements in gameplay) could make the mode serviceable.
2. Legacy "fixes". Curious what has been "fixed". It could be, "OMG, this is great" or "Meh....don't care.".

Things I don't give a crap about, but acknowledge that others do

1. Longshot - I love story-based, RPG-style games. I love sports games. I don't give a hoot about combining the two genres. Walking through the life of an athlete doesn't intrigue me in the least.
2. Anything MUT related. Until the mode allows for customization in quarter length (at least for offline MUT) to allow for a full-length 120-130 play game, I will continue to avoid this mode.
3. Anything else online related.

[kjcheezhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by Retropyro

Not doubting you, but is there a link to where I can read/watch where they say this. That's very disappointing, I was really hoping it was similar to the old passing cone where the size and speed of the cone was based on the QB's ratings.

It was in the passing blog. There was a lot of discussion about ratings not affecting the mechanic. Seems like it's been edited out since it's release because the ratings thing isn't mentioned anymore.