Madden NFL 13 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (360, PS3)

[FlyEaglesFly3]

First of all to EA, Game Changers, Staff, and anyone else had anything to do with the game . . .

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

Likes:

Tackling System:

It's great to see runners get stopped by their own blockers and have to find a new route, or give up on the play. It's really fun to see two or three people involved in a tackle and they all react to each motion differently. A few times I recall a ball carrier running with the ball, breaking a tackle, and the staggering to keep his balance, all to get cleaned up by another guy a second later. The only tackles that look "the same" are when you try to strip someone or the horse collar tackling animation.


Passing Trajectories:

Oh my what a difference this makes in the passing game. Anywhere on the field is available for a reception, and you can AIM THE BALL. . . FINALLY. When I say aim I just don't mean lead him or cut him back, I mean every pass you take you can put it in a spot to throw your WR open. This works great when you and the WR are on a timed route, CBs no longer are psychic either. Also the Super LB is no longer in effect, I have thrown over LBs multiple times, as it should be, and they know they can't reach the ball.


Commentary/Crowd:

Every time a big play happened on 12 it would be an after thought or the fans wouldn't react. . . not anymore. I was playing one game, time dwindling in the 4th, I'm up 7-3 against the Redskins. RGIII throws a ROCKET to Pierre Garcon, who by the way has my man beat about 3 yards, it get there the crowd goes WILD, super loud. . . then he drops it, without contact, you hear AWWWW! lol amazing. Also I like when the commentators actually talk about the play, the shifts, the coverage, and react to big plays.


DISLIKES

Drops:

I have probably averaged 5-7 drops a game. I'd have a receiver WIDE OPEN for a 1st or even more. . . drops it. No contact, not a poor ball, hits him in his hands and he just leaves the ball behind. I understand when people get hit or have tight coverage, but that is not the case. . . maybe the CTH rating is finally in affect and everything isn't almost gaurentee a catch, so when people try to cheese by just getting fast players with 50 catch and they dtop everything. . . etc.

All-Madden Mindset:

Once AGAIN, Madden doesn't make the game harder by schemes or outsmarting other teams, they do it by making the CPU SKILLS better than that of the HUMAN. Example, every time I have a RB dead to rights in the backfield, he breaks it, weather it be my safety, CB, LB, or DL, the first tackle is always broken. Same when I have RGII, Matt Flynn, and Alex Smith in my sights for a sack, they find a way to break it, and continue to get the pass off. I just can't stand when I make a great play for no reason . . .

CPU AI:

This isn't about how the players react to gameplay or the ball etc. This is about WTF are they thinking?! lol.

Two points here:
At the end of every game they are winning they never knee the ball, and pass on third down. Weather it be 17-3 or 3-6 and they are up, they don't kill the clock
Second, I was beating the Giants 14-7. . . Under 1 minute left. 0 timeouts for them, they are running the ball. In fact, it was 4th and 1 on the 50. With about 5 seconds to go . . . they run the ball inside for a 1st and the time runs out...

This is only the Demo, things the the AI are going to be fixed. . . as for the All-Madden/Drops who knows if that's a problem or if it's because the CTH rating is relevant finally.

Can't wait for the finished product.

Just my two cents.

Go Eagles!

[kmp714]

How many offensive plays is everyone getting on default settings? It seems like I'm not getting as many plays this year. Online last year I could usually get close to 40 plays a game for ranked matches.

[DarkFudge]

Quote: Originally Posted by RLaguna

I dunno, maybe its the fact that I recently have been playing All Pro Football 2K8 with the new NFL13 rosters, but I just had a lack of excitement for M13 after downloading it and playing 1 full half this morning. The animations and all around controls and movements just seem so cartoony by comparison. For example, the CPU RBs have this propensity to run in a hunchback zig zag manner thru the holes and it just doesnt look or feel authentic. Yes the physics engine adds a bit...a bit of variety to the outcomes but by and large it also adds (as others have said) a very wonky robotic look and feel to some of the movements and collisions. Also, the sense of weight and momentum seems a bit light and airy as opposed to being solid like you would expect for a 240lb RB hitting a 275lb Linemen. Its got alot of the same Madden that you either loved or hated over the years still in its engine and the physics and passing improvements dont stand out enough imho to elevate this game past some of the previous versions. Who knows It may get better, the more I play it...but at this point it feels marginal. I actually still prefer the more grounded solid feel of Madden 10 if I had to play a Madden game. Maybe this will change after a few more games (hopefully) I personally still feel it is not nearly as deep and as advanced a football engine as AP2K8 is....And certainly doesnt feel as dynamic that anything can happen on the field. Thoughts?..Am I nuts?

I havent gotten very far into the impressions thread yet but after playing the demo, also owning 2K8 and reading your thread I want to say 2 things

Firstly thank you for referencing 2K8 has NFL rosters for this year because I would have never known this until I read your post! I downloaded them and played them for the last 2 hours and cant believe how much more fun and realistic AP2K8 is now!!!

and secondly and more importantly on topic here, I agree with your assessment of the demo. It's almost as if the new physics engine takes the game down a notch from previous versions rather then enhancing it at all. This is a shame because I, as many others were very vocal about wanting a true physics engine and now they implement it and I almost wish they didnt!

The game feels very messy and is difficult to enjoy. It reminds me of the days back of Coach's Club Quarterback in regards to how silly some of the tackles and interactions look

I'm glad I downloaded the demo because the one saving grace for me with this game was supposed to be the physics engine since I heard they stripped out all the customization abilities of the Franchise mode.

With the state that this game plays along with the lack of editing and playing out different matchups in franchise mode, there is really no reason to consider picking up this game

[Stampede_94]

Quote: Originally Posted by tnottke

The reference to "the toy" had me laughing uncontrollably! What a great flashback to a classic movie! I agree, the engine will at least hold my interest to continue playing madden through the real NFL season.

Man I wished their was a replay system in the demo, it was hilarious seeing Beast Wheel! These are the fun and sometimes serious "holy sh*t!" moments I was talking about going into this engine. So far it's great, can't wait to see how weather effects the movements as well.

[XxMad-CowxX]

hm. is it just me or is juking very stiff, robotic, and slow?

specifically, the highlight stick juke, left and right.

[brandon27]

Ive gotten to play a few games now, and I must say Im very impressed.

- Love the new passing, its a nice addition, just like in NCAA
- Loving the infinity engine. Frustrating at times as I try and run between the tackles and trip over my linemen, but hey, I just have to run smarter. Some of the tackles look a little too rag doll like... but its better than a one on one tackle animation that cant be broken and all other players just animate around them. Hopefully they can tune it
- All the NCAA improvements that are in here, just make this game so much more fun to play
- The visuals are outstanding IMO. With one exception that I'll touch on later. Grass looks great, 1000 times better than the mess of grass in NCAA. Helmets look great, uniforms, and stadiums. Wish they could improve the sideline stuff, but... not that big of a deal.
- Sound... the sound is much better too IMO. Crowd sounds good. Commentary is a great chance of pace. Still the odd hiccup here and there where you may question a statement, but nowhere near as awful as gus and collinsworth.

My only big complaint right now is the lighting. Playing the Seattle/Washington game, it seems to dark. Players all look like theyre wearing black jerseys it seems. Hope there's something they can do to tune that. Hope its been done for the release already, or I hope they can patch it, because its tough to tell who is who sometimes.

Other than that, so far so good IMO.

[ajk49er]

ive had matt flynn burn me deep when I made a mistake. ive had one of the most amazing 1 handed grabs ala tony moeaki from 2010 by randy moss. sure there are guys stumbling over each other, but this game is a lot more fun that in year's past.

slow, speed thres at 25, and sliders in to turn down fumbles and interceptions, auto strafe/sprint off, and im having a blast with this game.

the passing game is so incredible now. I had a short pass to the flats and saw the DB creeping, and he did indeed try to jump it, and due to the total control I was able to throw this line drive to the outside that I wouldnt have before, and it barely made it in. seeing a lot of small things like this that really change the game for the good.

[Stampede_94]

Quote: Originally Posted by brandon27

Ive gotten to play a few games now, and I must say Im very impressed. - Love the new passing, its a nice addition, just like in NCAA - Loving the infinity engine. Frustrating at times as I try and run between the tackles and trip over my linemen, but hey, I just have to run smarter. Some of the tackles look a little too rag doll like... but its better than a one on one tackle animation that cant be broken and all other players just animate around them. Hopefully they can tune it - All the NCAA improvements that are in here, just make this game so much more fun to play - The visuals are outstanding IMO. With one exception that I'll touch on later. Grass looks great, 1000 times better than the mess of grass in NCAA. Helmets look great, uniforms, and stadiums. Wish they could improve the sideline stuff, but... not that big of a deal. - Sound... the sound is much better too IMO. Crowd sounds good. Commentary is a great chance of pace. Still the odd hiccup here and there where you may question a statement, but nowhere near as awful as gus and collinsworth. My only big complaint right now is the lighting. Playing the Seattle/Washington game, it seems to dark. Players all look like theyre wearing black jerseys it seems. Hope there's something they can do to tune that. Hope its been done for the release already, or I hope they can patch it, because its tough to tell who is who sometimes. Other than that, so far so good IMO.

The Seattle/Washington game is most painful with the lighting, real or not, they need to tweak this. I feel bad for Skins fans that caught the shaft with those demo uni's lol.