Backtrack Needs To Go

[J Masta J]

EA Backtrack, the feature that occurs in-game when Collinsworth breaks down a play, why it went wrong, and how it could've been better executed, was a nifty idea. Essentially, it allowed Madden to be a teaching tool for Cris Collinsworth as he shared his insight.

However, it's implementation is simply not conducive to a true "SIM" style of game. This was made apparent to me as I watched the footage from the Eagles v. Cowboys gameplay vid. Although, the video was already extremely choppy and lacked fluidity (if you notice, they put together multiple plays from different games). However, Backtrack took the cake for being the most intrusive and distracting, a veritable NFL sim style game killer.

There are many problems with feature. Most importantly, it is incredibly slow-moving, time consuming, and deviates greatly from the "flow" of the game. Collinsworth spends upwards of 20 seconds looking at what happened on the play, and then suggesting how you could've done better. This intrusion seems incredibly artificial and forced. From my own experience it is an entirely unwanted interruption, which completely ruins the pace of the game. Although it's similar in some ways to a real NFL game where a commentator will break down in depth what just happened, EA's version of it is simply a half minute, poorly implemented, game dulling moment, which although novel, gets old and repetitive too quickly.

Further more, half the time the advice Collinsworth gives is simply not correct. We saw it in the recent gameplay footage. He suggests throwing to a player, whom he claims is open, but in reality is locked down in blanket coverage. These types of moments simply make the feature look comical. Sadly, they happen all too often. Couple the deficiencies of the advice given with the fact that the feature itself cripples the flow of the game, and I believe it needs to be done away with.

My idea for a fix? More "real-life" style replays and more stream-lined commentary. Something like, "Well, with that type of pressure coming, ________ (insert name here, something they need to do more of) needed to get rid of the ball quicker. He didn't, and as a result he took a nasty hit and coughed the ball up." For replays, maybe show an "iso-cam" shot of the blitzer beating his man and hitting McNaab, and then the end of the hit from a different angle, or something along these lines. You know, something that they would actually do on a Sunday broadcast.

Oh yah, one thing...Hammond sucks...I hope Michaels is back in '11....he was great. Or maybe Joe Buck and Aikman, they're good too.

[I Peench]

I agree with most of what you said. Don't you think that title is a bit misleading though? I feel like you're saying backtrack has a ton of potential that it isn't living up to right now.

[Captain Obvious]

i agree, i dont need lolinsworth to tell me where i shoulda gone with the ball after a pick. i look at the goddamn replay and see what i did wrong. i dont want a second chance

[coogrfan]

or.............you can simply go into the settings and turn it off.

[Bgamer90]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

or.............you can simply go into the settings and turn it off.

Exactly.

[Cusefan]

Sorry you guys hate it. Personally I think it is pretty cool and am happy to see it will be used more in Madden 10.

If you do not like it, turn it off or just skip through it...

[Fresh Prince]

Collinsworth in general needs to go.

[MRxAmazing]

Not to mention, the guy he highlighted was actually about to be open. A touch pass towards the endzone would've easily beaten the coverage, so I guess you don't have a keen eye.

For those with not such a good eye, the TE was wide open on the out pattern (as always).