Madden NFL 11 Demo Available Now, Please Post Impressions Here

[fatleg3]

Does anyone have a problem with audibles? If you are playing a friend offline on the same console wont they be able to see what you are switching to or at least what type of play you are switching to?

[LeonM]

PS3 User. I have played 4 full games of the Madden 11 demo. I have mixed feelings on the demo. Some things I liked and some I didn't.

I played 1 game with gameflow and no gameplanning. The coordinator play calls were horrible. A 3rd and 18 draw was called.

2 games with gameflow and gameplanning. This is the only way to make gameflow work for you. The last game I played was without gameflow and the coordinator audio and subtitles turned off. This was my favorite experience.

All the games were on all pro level with game speed set to normal.

I have been playing football video games for over 20 years now. The biggest problem that the developers have with Madden is that the game has an outdated and flawed gameplay engine. How do they innovate and create enough new features to keep the game fresh and camoflauge the flaws in the engine.

When you judge Madden 11 as a football video game. It's actually pretty good. As a video game representation of football. The game is fun. As a true simulation of pro football. The game falls short. The same flaws that have been in previous madden games remain in Madden 11 but to a lesser extent based on my brief sampling thus far.

The Madden 11 demo has some strong improvements. Mainly the return of the ability to complete a deep ball pass that isn't aided by a rocket catch and the improved wr catch AI and animations. My favorite part of the demo has been the receivers ability to adjust to the football in the air and their attempts to drag feet in and attempt to stay in bounds after the catch.

Locomotion is a slight improvement to camoflauge the engine. It's kind of silly and unrealistic when it comes to real football running but as the user, It is fun to accelerate and break into the open field.

I am going to reserve comment on the commentary until I get the full retail version. Thankfully, I have a store credit with gamestop and I will use it towards M11. Ironically, It's traded in EA football titles from the last few years that will help me get the game. I am a fan of Gus Johnson's and Collinsworth but like alot of the football animations and feel of madden. The duo and audio does not seem very natural or smooth.

Gameflow is an amped up ask madden. It only works well with game planning but at the end of the day. This feauture would have been tremendous if the audio and playcalls were by the team's actual coordinators. That's too much to ask though......I prefer to not have Gameflow and gameplanning in the game. I never use all 300 plays in the playbook but based on each opponent and each situation. I like the flexibility of going to different formations for different situations. I like using specific players in specific sub packages. Gameflow does not allow me to do this. In the real NFL, teams have different players on the field for different sets.

The strategy pad is good and bad. Mostly bad. It's good for the nano blitzing losers out there. Bad for people who are used to changing plays at the line of scrimmage. It's not an impossible feature to handle but it is difficult and it defeats the ultimate purpose of EA making the games simpler and quicker to play. It will take some getting used to and perhaps a tweak on the accelerated play clock. Looking for ways to create more time at the line of scrimmage. Perhaps a 60 second play clock.

I am in the minority. I don't like NCAA 11. It is not very realistic. It's fun to play if you like dominating and making big plays but as for actual competition and simulation. It falls flat.

I actually found madden 11 to be more of a challenge because the game itself limits your ability to have success with the strategy pad/gameflow feature. Couple that with the fact that the players in Madden are better. Simple progression of college to NFL talent. You can actually see noticeable differences in player ratings especially with guys like Kris Jenkins.

I am happy to see Pro-Tak dead and buried. It was an overhyped selling point for last years madden. Pro-Tak was silly and unrealistic looking and feeling. No more line dancing tackling. Now if we can just eliminate fight for the fumble. Another silly video game esque feature.

I ultimately feel that the offensive gameplay in Madden 11 is better than 10. You see slight differences in the star players play and how the players move and function specifically the receivers.

Playing defense is less fun however than it was for madden 10. This area of the game needs to be focused on in Madden 12. Taking a page from Backbreaker would be great. Their defensive camera and feel is amazing. It's far from perfect but much more fun than playing defense on madden.

Madden 11 is a fun game if you eliminate gameflow and it's a good video game representation of football especially in passing and running. I rated Madden 10 a 6. This is just a demo but I would state that Madden 11 looks like it is going to be slightly better. Anyone hoping for true sim football. You are not getting it with this game. Maybe next generation. Maybe when actual physics and a new gameplay engine is installed.

[ryan36]

apparently, you can use "bluff mode " just like the playcall screen

[Maddenlover13]

Madden demo is very disappointing. The Strategy pad has to be the worst design ever in Madden. It takes to long and your opponent can see what your doing. Also when you go hurry up your opponent can also see if you want to Run, Play Action, Deep Pass, or short pass. Game flow is just for people who dont know their own strategies in football. Ncaa is much much better this year than this pathetic madden.

[ryan36]

Quote: Originally Posted by LeonM

The coordinator play calls were horrible. A 3rd and 18 draw was called.

...draws on 3rd and long are common NFL strategy to play field postiion, or maybe break a big gain. You gain 10 yards on a punt if it works, as opposed to running an 18 yard pass play that's low percentage

[rhesuspieces]

I've played about four games, and so far I'm on the fence with this one. They've fixed some things that bothered me in madden 10. Namely, run blocking follows legitimate assignments, catch animations have been vastly improved, and I like the smoother acceleration curve.

However, there are just as many problems that detract from the package. 1)The strategy pad is an unnecessary and obnoxious tweak that inhibits the ability to make presnap adjustments.

2)The gameflow feature is just dumb. Does anyone actually want the computer to pick their plays? In any case, the playcalling AI breaks down as the game progresses, and it is far too common for the computer to call the same play two or even three times in a row.

3)Several times, a defender was camped out in front of a wide receiver on a curl route, and the defender failed to even attempt a play on the ball.

4)Finally, and perhaps most obnoxious in the long run, I don't see this new implementation of player momentum they've talked about. Wide receivers seem to make instantaneous changes in direction following catches. On top of that, it seems to be more difficult to tackle (especially with the hitstick). This could make is far too easy to break big plays.

I actually like the kick meter though

[wrightnreyes]

question about strategy pad. on defense how do you double a receiver? i want to make it so I can have 2 players on man coverage on one receiver.

[Nadal]

To me the game felt and looked the exact same as Madden NFL 10. The running felt a bit better and I thought the animations generally looked crisper and smoother, but the player models looked terrible.

They just don't look like they are in HD almost. The jerseys are ultra fuzzy, and there is a lot of choppiness on their silhouettes. It just looks bad.

Also, the game time says it's 1:00 pm. Why is the sun setting? This problem has been here since Madden NFL 06 for the 360 and it's still here. This just leads me to believe that they don't care about this product.

Gus Johnson was ok. Much better than Hammond so I can't really complain much.

But other than those few differences, the game felt exactly like Madden NFL 10. I'll need to see some spotless reviews to even consider buying it (mostly because they basically said they didn't even touch franchise mode, online franchise, etc).