Madden NFL 11 Impressions: FOOTBALL!

[ChaseB]

With Gameflow and Locomotion being the two main features for Madden NFL 11, it’s safe to say gameplay truly is the name of the game for this year’s pro-football title. Gameflow, as promised, does speed up the pace of the game allowing you to concentrate on execution rather than having to call plays. However, we noticed a potential issue with the feature for the defensive team. When using Gameflow, the offensive information isn't displayed on the screen therefore leaving the defense guessing when manually choosing plays. Hopefully that’s an issue that can be fixed in the final build.

As for player movement, the running game is much more intuitive with locomotion. The removal of the turbo button places more emphasis on your stick skills and as a result makes running much more rewarding. Catching animations and general wide receiver play are sure to please most Madden fans. In tight spots, receivers now intelligently react to the incoming pass. Gone are the days where only the defensive back makes a play on the ball or the receiver runs out of bounds on a catch without at least trying to keep his feet in play. Sadly, quarterback sliding is still very visible and the running animations, although fine-tuned, aren’t what they should be. Overall, a rewarding running system should make for a much more balanced football experience in Madden NFL 11.

Lastly, presentation this year has more in-game cut scenes, including players’ game day arrivals at the arena and new in-game replays. Ray Lewis' exuberant pre-game dance routine is also featured in the game. To my surprise Madden NFL 11 doesn’t have the “Lock on” camera that’s present in NCAA Football 11 for CPU games or head-to-head matchups. Player specific cameras are only available for Online Team Play. We will have more on OTP and more Madden NFL 11 in the coming days from E3.

Follow me @mrsimcity and @operationsports for more day-by-day E3 updates.

[PantherBeast_OS]

Sound good but still waiting for some good video footage. 2 days into E3 and still no good footage. I would aleast thought fans that went to E3 would record some footage and put it on youtude. But other then that. Sounds nice. Can't wait.

[Blitzburgh]

Not having the "lock on" camera is very disappointing to me! I love the BB view for the most part and I really love how NCAA uses their "lock on" camera. I almost hate playing defense the other way now and I would think that I am not alone with this. This is a subtle change that will change the way people play the game and I can't for the life of me understand why that is not in there!

A simple camera change makes the game feel fresh and new! Just look at NCAA with their replay system, amazing!

[MrSimCity]

Quote: Originally Posted by Legend Killer

Sound good but still waiting for some good video footage. 2 days into E3 and still no good footage. I would aleast thought fans that went to E3 would record some footage and put it on youtude. But other then that. Sounds nice. Can't wait.

Here is some gameplay footage I captured yesterday.

http://www.operationsports.com/newspost.php?id=420024

We got more to come today

[wheelman990]

Anything about the zoom camera, or possibly new camera options in offline single player modes?

[at23steelers]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

With Gameflow and Locomotion being the two main features for Madden NFL 11, it’s safe to say gameplay truly is the name of the game for this year’s pro-football title. Gameflow, as promised, does speed up the pace of the game allowing you to concentrate on execution rather than having to call plays. However, we noticed a potential issue with the feature for the defensive team. When using Gameflow, the offensive information isn't displayed on the screen therefore leaving the defense guessing when manually choosing plays. Hopefully that’s an issue that can be fixed in the final build. As for player movement, the running game is much more intuitive with locomotion. The removal of the turbo button places more emphasis on your stick skills and as a result makes running much more rewarding. Catching animations and general wide receiver play are sure to please most Madden fans. In tight spots, receivers now intelligently react to the incoming pass. Gone are the days where only the defensive back makes a play on the ball or the receiver runs out of bounds on a catch without at least trying to keep his feet in play. Sadly, quarterback sliding is still very visible and the running animations, although fine-tuned, aren’t what they should be. Overall, a rewarding running system should make for a much more balanced football experience in Madden NFL 11. Lastly, presentation this year has more in-game cut scenes, including players’ game day arrivals at the arena and new in-game replays. Ray Lewis' exuberant pre-game dance routine is also featured in the game. To my surprise Madden NFL 11 doesn’t have the “Lock on” camera that’s present in NCAA Football 11 for CPU games or head-to-head matchups. Player specific cameras are only available for Online Team Play. We will have more on OTP and more Madden NFL 11 in the coming days from E3. Follow me @mrsimcity and @operationsports for more day-by-day E3 updates.

Thanks for the honest review. Do you think QB's will slide less in the final build? Also, do you expect the announcing to be a lot better in the final build? Thanks!

[Valdarez]

Chase, can you break down locomotion from us, especially with regards to differences between what you saw in M11 and what is in NCAA 2011? I played the NCAA 2011 demo, and while I enjoyed the new locomotion system, players were moving too fast on turns after reaching full speed with rarely any slow down or footwork to support the direction changes. I've been trying to analyze the footage from M11 and it looks to be the same. Did the team there say anything about Locomotion turning prior to release of M11?