Staff Roundtable: Madden NFL 12 Demo Impressions

[WhiteMan22]

I enjoyed the demo for what is worth. Played around 5 or 6 games. But I will not be playing it anymore.

I loved the demo, I feel as if it was way different than Madden 11 and in a good way. I will be getting this game release day.

[IntellectualAssassin]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fr8Train

it had just as many shortcomings a Madden did, if not more.

Couldn't disagree more

[bodean]

Quote: Originally Posted by WhiteMan22

I enjoyed the demo for what is worth. Played around 5 or 6 games. But I will not be playing it anymore. I loved the demo, I feel as if it was way different than Madden 11 and in a good way. I will be getting this game release day.

Would never run out on Release Day to buy a sports game. Bring on Patch 1.

[vols bravesfan]

Did I download a different demo then the writers? Because I love the demo!

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by IntellectualAssassin

Couldn't disagree more

It really did have a lot of flaws in the game though. I honestly don't even remember Madden 05, but NFL 2k5 definitely had some issues.

[Playmakers]

Quote: Originally Posted by TombSong

Lets be real here and not talk around the issue because its here and is nevr going away. There are those who are content with status quo from EA. There are those who don't know no better because they think what EA has offered to date is all that there is and can possibly be done. This group typically are the ones who make excuses for the games current state and expects everyone else to just fall in line like they have and just be content with less as they have. To that group I say, nothing wrong with that. If you are happy with what you got in your hands this year, I am glad you have peace and I aint mad at yah. There is another group that has seen better times, that have not forgotten what they had in other games. That groups standards are a bit higher than the others. So each year this group seeks a improvement on what they once had. Is there anything wrong with that ? Why can't this be discussed in a civil manner instead of treating a forum full of grown men like 12 year olds ?(discounting the guys who are actually 12 years old) 4 years ago a group of us could expect to see certain features and game play. That has been taken away from us by a "license deal". No matter what group you fall into and to the OS reviewers when you pick up this years Madden ask yourself can I: 1. Can I come out lined up in one formation then shift into the playcall formation for added strategy ? 2. Can I send more than one man in motion from any legal motion position(even after the formation shift) ? 3. Can I adjust my offensive line to double team the left DT or the right DT ? 4. Can I disguise my defensive coverage 1/2/3 deep with coverage shells ? 5. Can I easily make hot adjustments to my LBs and DBs without having to cycle through them all thus less micro management pre-snap ? 6. Can I get a play diagram to look at when calling audibles, not just a play name ? 7. Can I adjust those audibles on the fly while calling my play at the play call screen...no need to pause the game...no limit to the amount of audibles you can call ? 8. Can I call my Dline stunts separate from my play call and included in those stunts are twists left/middle/right side of the line...and hey work during run plays ? (Madden 12 your adjustments only work on pass plays, on run plays they get sucked into whatever the offensive line is doing...and you cant call twist stunts at all) 9. Can player abilities make each player have a distinct playability giving them a personality that is lacking in madden. Can the cpu run each team differently as though it has a game plan thus you dont feel like you are playing the same team and same coach over and over ? 10. Can I record how your friends play and make the cpu call plays like you friend would ? 11. Can there be 4 depth adjustments you can make(only 1 in madden) for the DBs plus you can shade inside or outside and do it much easier then the current madden 12 setup ? 12. Can there be Mulitple hit gang tackling where you the user can come in and actually influence the direction the tackle is going..plus you can reach out and grab ball carriers if engaged in a block ? 13. Can there be a multple choice penalty challenge system that works ? PLUS: Commentary that sounds like the commentators are in the same booth watching the same game, better animations, bigger player models, smarter AI, no warping, no psychic DBs, no super leaping LBs , no mario running, player specific jukes and running styles....(2k5 has a half time show that has not been matched to date) great presentation(Madden has just caught up) This was ALL possible 4 years ago. Is it unreasonable to expect those things to be in a game thats newer ? A standard was set that most game review sites ignore when they discuss Madden. Madden is not held to that standard. Madden is only compared to other Madden games. Do you who so staunchly defend it think thats right ? To those who get upset by the comparisons, how can you get angry at reality ? Reviewers, what in the game of Madden 12 is ground breaking ? What is the games strong points ? What I see: 1. A marginal graphic improvement...If someone had Madden 11 playing on my TV and said it was Madden 12, I could not tell by looking that they were telling a lie. Not speaking cutscenes or overlays here. Talking about what I see the most when playing this game, the players and the field. 2. Zig Zag player movement is slightly worse in this version than last years(probably because the game speed is faster) 3. Still have players that are unaware of the sidelines, I mean run their routes right out of bounds. 4. If you notice, if a WR is in a catch animation where he turns to face the ball and is standing still, his jump ball animation seems to make the defender AI go on full ******, they either wont try to defend the pass, or go into a WR catch animation, while the WR is jumping to catch the ball. If you try and manually defend you either can't move, or are put in a swat while on the ground animation or WR catch animation, WTF ? 5. Warping is STILL a big issue. 6. Suction blocking is STILL a issue. I actually got blocked by a offensive lineman that was in a get up off the ground animation. 7. You cant make football reads in a lot of cases when passing, you have to make "madden" reads because you can't believe what you are seeing. The defenders body language and momentum/direction they are running mean nothing. The instant you hit that pass button the whole Madden reality changes. The defenders make moves and changes directions in ways that would make a UFO jealous. There are those of us who play this game in spite of itself. We play it because our friends play it. Thats what makes it fun...playing with our friends, not the game itself. You will have those that will scream at me and say, well make slider adjustments, or , oh you just dont know how to play the game, and thoseare the SAME people who won't play a soul online...WHY ? Is it because the game they love allows a lot of BS and is broken ? Yet they expect me to absolutely LOVE it ? I am tired of typing...........This Demo is a 7.

No disrespect man but it sounds like to me you want Madden to be NFL 2K5

What i don't understand is why some people feel just because they enjoyed NFL 2K5 everyone else should feel the same way.

I'm not defending EA for their issues but sometimes i think some guys honestly believe NFL 2K5 was flawless. If that game was great for you fine but there are some us who actually found flaws in NFL 2K5 that turn us off with the gameplay.

I mean seriously complaining about the graphics not being upgraded by much it's still better than any graphics I've ever seen in 2K football

To act like DB's in 2K5 didn't have their flaws just as much as Madden is just basically doing what some of us do with Madden ignore the flaws.....

I'm not going to write a journal compiling a list of things a game from 6 years ago did wrong it's not worth my time......but the bottom line is some of you guys obvioulsy have yet to move on and every year we have to hear about what a company out of business used to do

I like Troy Aikman better than Tony Romo but guess what he ain't coming back to satisfy my fan experience when watching the Cowboys....

Seems to me the Madden crowd aren't the guys trying to convince anyone of anything.....it's the small 2K5 crowd that comes us over here every year trying to convince the Madden crowd that the game ain't great or it can't stack up to the holy grail which was 2K5.....

It seems like to me that some of the people who were in love with 2K5 only purchase Madden or rent Madden to compile a laundry list of things the game does wrong when compaired to 2K5 each year.

I'm sorry but if i didn't like a game there's no way in hell I'm going to spend $60 bucks just to see how it stacks up vs a game from 6 years ago

If your not a fan of the Madden series i'm pretty sure there's nothing EA can do with the gameplay to make you love the series accept one thing and one thing only make the game play like NFL 2K5

I'm tired of typing NFL 2K5 is DEAD!

[Skyboxer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Yeah...THAT Guy

It really did have a lot of flaws in the game though. I honestly don't even remember Madden 05, but NFL 2k5 definitely had some issues.

I loved 2k but yeah it had its share of issues like the money corner routes etc...
Its just become a cult game over time and gets better every year.

[bichettehappens]

Quote: Originally Posted by Yeah...THAT Guy

Why exactly are we supposed to assume 2k would have come up with a real-time physics engine before Backbreaker, when, correct me if I'm wrong, NBA 2k11 didn't even have "real-time" physics, and that was their best game?

That's exactly what I was thinking. I love NBA 2K11 but that game is animation central, including one of the worst animations across any sports game I've played -- the perimeter bump animation.