Madden NFL 11 Demo Available Now, Please Post Impressions Here

[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by FedExPope

Demos are supposed to make you want to buy the game. EA has some sort of twisted logic that they ASSUME we will buy it, and so a few weeks before release they release a build of the game they were using in April, in order to show their biggest changes, and probably to sate us until the game comes out...well, it didn't work for me with Madden, EA.

Actually, Phil Frazier confirmed that the retail build was only 2 weeks after the demo. Sorry to dissapoint, but gameplay-wise, there won't be many changes between the demo and retail. I really didn't care much about the strategy pad. To me, it would just be something to learn and get used to. I have zero issue with that. I do have an issue with the gameplay. It didn't feel very good at all. I was really disappointed. It still feels very unpolished. I've never purchased an NCAA game before as I am a big NFL fan and not much of an NCAA fan. However, playing the NCAA demo, I felt a polish on the game like I have not experienced in years from an EA Sports title. Madden still feels very unpolished. lots of things that show little attention to detail. Things like the cut scenes, Chris calling Gus Tom, the poor audio dying in between plays, the silly animations, guys running out of bounds, the synchronized running, the lack of a real challenge system, refs stll not throwing flags, the size of the football, sliding, the warping to the ball by receivers and DBs, etc. etc. Admittedly, I'm a converted Madden player. I was a die hard fan until I played 2k football in 2002. I haven't bought a madden game since. I've played all of them and I thought Madden 2005 was an excellent game. I enjoyed 2k5 much more, but still doesn't take away from what the Madden team did that year. So far on this generation, I keep seeing all of these same issues crop up again and again. When I see so few features added, no new innovation, continuous problems with animations, nothing added to highly touted items like pro-tak, adaptive AI and online franchise... I get discouraged. Madden has zero focus. It's ADD each year. Focus on something and really make it polished. Considering this was the year of gameplay, it's rather disturbing to me that they spent over a year on a lot of the gameplay. Really? It's really not very noticeable, at least from the demo. Very stuttery with player movement, the QB passing is still not right. Same problems as before with getting to the QB. He ALWAYS gets rid of the ball before you get him, and you can be dragging him down and he still throws a 100mph rocket right to the receiver. Sorry to be such a downer, but these are just things that can't be ignored.

At this point in football gaming I would have liked to have seen an incredible online league/franchise system. The ability to be a spectator of other games being played in your online league. Fantastic physics based animations with signature styles by players. Massive depth in the ability to manage your team, create/manage playbooks, add a personality to your team. Adaptive AI that follows your tendencies much like the AI did in 2k5, but even better. Make the players look and feel alive, scuffles after the play (see APF 2k8), guys tripping and stumbling from blocks/shoves, guys kneeling down or bent over from fatigue. When it rains/snows, uniforms being torn/dirty, helmets scuffed, etc. etc.

A lot of this stuff isn't even necessarily unprecedented. Not trying to wage comparison war here, but 2k8 has a lot of this. This brings a lot of life to the players. It makes them appear to be living beings. When I see the entire special teams crew of a team all getting up and walking in sync to the sideline, it feels robotic to me and reminds me that this is just a video game.

Commentary. How often do you watch a game on Sunday and the commentators don't talk to each other? I mean, it's obvious that Chris Collinsworth wasn't even brought in to work with Gus Johnson. This is the exclusively licensed NFL game. No "an" NFL licensed game. It's also EA, the endless resource company. Is there really an excuse for this? I can pop in much older games and feel like I am really watching a game on Sunday. How about using the Telestrator to draw on replays and highlight a DB out of position or show how Peyton Manning beat the blitz? That would blow people away and add to the immersion.

Madden wreaks of complacency. It's disappointing to face that fact, but it's there. Even the game's biggest apologists and fanboys cannot deny that fact. The question to be asked is what can be done to change it?

[FAM CEO]

I guess I am in the minority, but I like the changes that were made. Not comparing to NCAA or anything else. I think that both are good games.

* Gameflow is a nice addition to the pickup and play gamers that don't care to understand formations. Just want to pick a pass or run play.

* The offense coordinator is kinda cool to make you feel like the sidelines is talking to you.

* Toning down Hit Stick was a good idea. I used to use it crazy and caused so many fumbles. Now i have to make sure I use it at the right angles.

* The Quarterback seems like they are a little faster and pass blocking is better. I swear I could never use Manning because I would be sacked 12 times a game.

* Receivers now get separation and keep it on deep routes. I hit Dallas Clark on a 40 yard over the shoulder grab that look great. Last year the DB would have caught up and tipped it away or it would have been a jump ball.

* Along the same lines as above, sideline catches are good as players try to stay in-bounds

* Locomotion is nice too. Can't wait to see Chris Johnson. Actually my brother will be playing with him, so maybe I can wait.

* I like the little tweaks to the atmosphere. Nothing revolutionary, but the booth review looks better, TD celebrations, and Commentating have been improved. I was up by 3 with like a min left and they showed on the sidelines a few players kneeling and holding hands as they waited for the results.

* The strategy stick is a little confusing, but after 10 games I got the hang of it.



Overall, I liked it and can't wait till it comes out. Hopefully, the Dynasty sim stats are improved ,as they claimed, and I should be all set.

[gameronwheels]

Quote: Originally Posted by tazdevil20

Actually, Phil Frazier confirmed that the retail build was only 2 weeks after the demo. Sorry to dissapoint, but gameplay-wise, there won't be many changes between the demo and retail. I really didn't care much about the strategy pad. To me, it would just be something to learn and get used to. I have zero issue with that. I do have an issue with the gameplay. It didn't feel very good at all. I was really disappointed. It still feels very unpolished. I've never purchased an NCAA game before as I am a big NFL fan and not much of an NCAA fan. However, playing the NCAA demo, I felt a polish on the game like I have not experienced in years from an EA Sports title. Madden still feels very unpolished. lots of things that show little attention to detail. Things like the cut scenes, Chris calling Gus Tom, the poor audio dying in between plays, the silly animations, guys running out of bounds, the synchronized running, the lack of a real challenge system, refs stll not throwing flags, the size of the football, sliding, the warping to the ball by receivers and DBs, etc. etc. Admittedly, I'm a converted Madden player. I was a die hard fan until I played 2k football in 2002. I haven't bought a madden game since. I've played all of them and I thought Madden 2005 was an excellent game. I enjoyed 2k5 much more, but still doesn't take away from what the Madden team did that year. So far on this generation, I keep seeing all of these same issues crop up again and again. When I see so few features added, no new innovation, continuous problems with animations, nothing added to highly touted items like pro-tak, adaptive AI and online franchise... I get discouraged. Madden has zero focus. It's ADD each year. Focus on something and really make it polished. Considering this was the year of gameplay, it's rather disturbing to me that they spent over a year on a lot of the gameplay. Really? It's really not very noticeable, at least from the demo. Very stuttery with player movement, the QB passing is still not right. Same problems as before with getting to the QB. He ALWAYS gets rid of the ball before you get him, and you can be dragging him down and he still throws a 100mph rocket right to the receiver. Sorry to be such a downer, but these are just things that can't be ignored. At this point in football gaming I would have liked to have seen an incredible online league/franchise system. The ability to be a spectator of other games being played in your online league. Fantastic physics based animations with signature styles by players. Massive depth in the ability to manage your team, create/manage playbooks, add a personality to your team. Adaptive AI that follows your tendencies much like the AI did in 2k5, but even better. Make the players look and feel alive, scuffles after the play (see APF 2k8), guys tripping and stumbling from blocks/shoves, guys kneeling down or bent over from fatigue. When it rains/snows, uniforms being torn/dirty, helmets scuffed, etc. etc. A lot of this stuff isn't even necessarily unprecedented. Not trying to wage comparison war here, but 2k8 has a lot of this. This brings a lot of life to the players. It makes them appear to be living beings. When I see the entire special teams crew of a team all getting up and walking in sync to the sideline, it feels robotic to me and reminds me that this is just a video game. Commentary. How often do you watch a game on Sunday and the commentators don't talk to each other? I mean, it's obvious that Chris Collinsworth wasn't even brought in to work with Gus Johnson. This is the exclusively licensed NFL game. No "an" NFL licensed game. It's also EA, the endless resource company. Is there really an excuse for this? I can pop in much older games and feel like I am really watching a game on Sunday. How about using the Telestrator to draw on replays and highlight a DB out of position or show how Peyton Manning beat the blitz? That would blow people away and add to the immersion. Madden wreaks of complacency. It's disappointing to face that fact, but it's there. Even the game's biggest apologists and fanboys cannot deny that fact. The question to be asked is what can be done to change it?

Actually this is not totally true, parts of the demo are recent, and parts aren't. for example, Ian has confirmed that the commentary, in addition to being cut, was about 6 weeks behind the finalized version. Demo even says its still a work in progress, which means that that things still were being tuned after demo completion, and don't discount what can be accomplished in two weeks of straight tuning. Also, to your point about the telestrator, that would be incredibly hard to program, because you can only program how a play is supposed to work, so if the user changed something to make the play different, that would screw everything up, plus they tried to do something similar and people just skipped right over it. Remember EA rewind? This is the middle year of a 3 year plan, so its not going to be as huge a leap as year 1 or 3.

[MCNABB51BOI]

Quote: Originally Posted by tazdevil20

Actually, Phil Frazier confirmed that the retail build was only 2 weeks after the demo. Sorry to dissapoint, but gameplay-wise, there won't be many changes between the demo and retail. I really didn't care much about the strategy pad. To me, it would just be something to learn and get used to. I have zero issue with that. I do have an issue with the gameplay. It didn't feel very good at all. I was really disappointed. It still feels very unpolished. I've never purchased an NCAA game before as I am a big NFL fan and not much of an NCAA fan. However, playing the NCAA demo, I felt a polish on the game like I have not experienced in years from an EA Sports title. Madden still feels very unpolished. lots of things that show little attention to detail. Things like the cut scenes, Chris calling Gus Tom, the poor audio dying in between plays, the silly animations, guys running out of bounds, the synchronized running, the lack of a real challenge system, refs stll not throwing flags, the size of the football, sliding, the warping to the ball by receivers and DBs, etc. etc. Admittedly, I'm a converted Madden player. I was a die hard fan until I played 2k football in 2002. I haven't bought a madden game since. I've played all of them and I thought Madden 2005 was an excellent game. I enjoyed 2k5 much more, but still doesn't take away from what the Madden team did that year. So far on this generation, I keep seeing all of these same issues crop up again and again. When I see so few features added, no new innovation, continuous problems with animations, nothing added to highly touted items like pro-tak, adaptive AI and online franchise... I get discouraged. Madden has zero focus. It's ADD each year. Focus on something and really make it polished. Considering this was the year of gameplay, it's rather disturbing to me that they spent over a year on a lot of the gameplay. Really? It's really not very noticeable, at least from the demo. Very stuttery with player movement, the QB passing is still not right. Same problems as before with getting to the QB. He ALWAYS gets rid of the ball before you get him, and you can be dragging him down and he still throws a 100mph rocket right to the receiver. Sorry to be such a downer, but these are just things that can't be ignored. At this point in football gaming I would have liked to have seen an incredible online league/franchise system. The ability to be a spectator of other games being played in your online league. Fantastic physics based animations with signature styles by players. Massive depth in the ability to manage your team, create/manage playbooks, add a personality to your team. Adaptive AI that follows your tendencies much like the AI did in 2k5, but even better. Make the players look and feel alive, scuffles after the play (see APF 2k8), guys tripping and stumbling from blocks/shoves, guys kneeling down or bent over from fatigue. When it rains/snows, uniforms being torn/dirty, helmets scuffed, etc. etc. A lot of this stuff isn't even necessarily unprecedented. Not trying to wage comparison war here, but 2k8 has a lot of this. This brings a lot of life to the players. It makes them appear to be living beings. When I see the entire special teams crew of a team all getting up and walking in sync to the sideline, it feels robotic to me and reminds me that this is just a video game. Commentary. How often do you watch a game on Sunday and the commentators don't talk to each other? I mean, it's obvious that Chris Collinsworth wasn't even brought in to work with Gus Johnson. This is the exclusively licensed NFL game. No "an" NFL licensed game. It's also EA, the endless resource company. Is there really an excuse for this? I can pop in much older games and feel like I am really watching a game on Sunday. How about using the Telestrator to draw on replays and highlight a DB out of position or show how Peyton Manning beat the blitz? That would blow people away and add to the immersion. Madden wreaks of complacency. It's disappointing to face that fact, but it's there. Even the game's biggest apologists and fanboys cannot deny that fact. The question to be asked is what can be done to change it?

AMEN

[Texas Ace]

I HATE that the All-Madden difficulty setting is reverting to being cheap, AGAIN as opposed to harder.

Anyone play on All-Madden yet?

Good luck tackling the RB on any of the first three attempts....that is if you can actually get past the perfect blocking.

I've played my last 3 games against the Jets on All-Madden and I haven't been able to keep Greene under 10 yards a carry yet.

Stupid.

[RGiles36]

Quote: Originally Posted by Texas Ace

I HATE that the All-Madden difficulty setting is reverting to being cheap, AGAIN as opposed to harder. Anyone play on All-Madden yet? Good luck tackling the RB on any of the first three attempts....that is if you can actually get past the perfect blocking. I've played my last 3 games against the Jets on All-Madden and I haven't been able to keep Greene under 10 yards a carry yet. Stupid.

Yeah all-Madden is uber-difficult. I've even seen some cases where my offensive line folds like an accordion at a synchronized time so the defenders can get in and make the play. I might use All-Madden as a base to tweak my sliders -- otherwise I'll be torching all-pro in no time. I had more fun with M10 in recent weeks but making it a realistic possibility to lose a game.

[uiucjpo]

Each year is getting better, no doubt. But will warping and clipping EVER be fixed?! Bethea just warped about 5 yards THROUGH Cotchery for a pick. I thought the new locomotion was supposed to fix this. So close, yet so far...

[monkeybutlerz]

Just put up 179 yards and 4 TDs on 20 carries with Greene.