Madden 09 Demo Released, Impressions Here

[green94]

Played a few games last night, Loving it. I tried running backwards and making off balanced throws, and similar to NFL2k5, the QB actually had to come set before he threw - NICE!

Another funny thing, I scored with 1 second left and they let me kick the extra point and kickoff, I thought they might let me get a defensive set in, but to no avail.

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by adembroski

In the passing game, I found my biggest gripe. The Superman DBs are back with a vengeance. 5-9 cornerbacks who are able to leap Plaxico Burress in a single bound. And of course, Plaxico decides (perhaps wisely, considering the otherworldly athletic prowess of the DBs) he's best off laying out for passes in traffic rather than going up for them. I can't seem to figure out the logic in how a computer controlled receiver decides how to go for a ball. The selling point--- control. I don't know. I'm going to have to get used to the game before i can even start to think about that. Honestly, at this point, I can't tell the difference because the game is just moving too fast for me to react to the fact that I'm being tackled and make a move. I know the tackles are FAR more context sensitive. I was really impressed with this--- if I got tackled immediately after hitting spin, the resulting animation would make it clear the computer knew I hit that button. Meaning even in failure, you can see what you were trying to do. Doesn't have a direct impact on game play, but it makes you feel a lot more in control.

This is about how I feel. I rated as All-Pro passing (one more notch & I would've been AM) and I definitely saw the super-DBs that reacted to thrown balls when they really shouldn't have. Overall, and I know that it was the Pats D, I thought that the defense covered too much ground. Perhaps there is something to the idea that the field is too small...

I guess part of it would be what an earlier poster stated about the Madden AI defense always seeming to know what play I called or what I was trying to do. I suppose that could be good for long-term replay value, as it will force the user to call a lot of audibles, hot routes and the like. It just made it very difficult for me to get a read on things since I haven't played any virtual football since the fall (no NCAA 09 for me & Madden was dusty before Thanskgiving)...

As for the player control, I don't see where there has been a major improvement (again my frame of reference isn't that good). Players still feel like they are sliding around; I'm not seeing a lot of momentum/weight or true planting & cutting. Also, although not entirely related to player control, I don't know how many times my receivers ran their pattern out of bounds. They seem to have poor awareness of the sidelines to say the least. Their awareness of defensive players and the ball are also lackluster IMO.

Now don't get me wrong, I did see some goodness as well. The graphics are sweet, animations improved and some of the well-known issues (throwing on run, deep drops, throwing across the field, etc) seem to be better as well. However, the overall feel of gameplay doesn't strike me as a significant upgrade over 08.

I know this is a brief demo and Ian has stated that things were tweaked from the build we are playing to the retail version, but it just doesn't feel 'right' to me. For comparison's sake, the difference between playing the NHL 07 retail version and the NHL 08 demo was night & day. I immediately could see improvement in many areas (control, positioning, framerate) that assured me the game was going to be better. Maybe it's an unfair comparison, but that's what I was hoping for with the Madden demo.

Anyways, as I said to a fellow OSer over Xbox Live last night, take my impressions with a grain of salt as I'm starting to realize that I'm not a big football gaming type anymore. I didn't even buy NCAA for the first time in years, which was mostly decided even before all the negative post-release buzz, that just sealed it. I'll probably still get Madden (I have since the original Genesis incarnation), but right now it's more of a 50/50 than I was expecting prior to playing the demo...

[Goffs]

im bored of the demo...no substance at all...maybe because im a defensive guy i lost interest after i scored a touchdown (even though its my beloved G-men)

god next time they release a demo make it 4 quarts a min or 2 long....like NCAA!! now that demo i played alot...

[bigfnjoe96]

Not having the DEMO be 4 2 minute quarters really doesn't make sense to me. Especially if you are promoting 85 NEW Features. From the time I spent with the DEMO I found it to be OK.

I didn't play 08 so I'm not sure about this-1, but for those who did is the DEMO running in 60 FPS? because it didn't seem that way...

[TJdaSportsGuy]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96

I didn't play 08 so I'm not sure about this-1, but for those who did is the DEMO running in 60 FPS? because it didn't seem that way...

LOL, that's easy. Yes, it is. Go back to Madden 07 for proof. Feels like it's moving in slow motion.

[bigfnjoe96]

Quote: Originally Posted by TJdaSportsGuy

LOL, that's easy. Yes, it is. Go back to Madden 07 for proof. Feels like it's moving in slow motion.

Thanks TJ. In reference to speed it definitely ran smoothly, but for some reason on my set it didn't have that 3D type LOOK/POP like some other sport titles.

[ab2c4]

Quote: Originally Posted by callmetaternuts

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN If only you knew.......

If I only knew what? Are you talking about adjusting the sliders, or what?

[callmetaternuts]

Quote: Originally Posted by ab2c4

If I only knew what? Are you talking about adjusting the sliders, or what?

yea, was building off of the pandemonium from yesterday

But back to the demo......too hard to tell alot about it with 1:40 of gametime. I actually liked the virtual trainer, fwiw