Madden NFL 25 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (360, PS3)

[rudyjuly2]

I finally got to play a couple games from the demo and I’m really happy with it. If you hated Madden last year I doubt you will change your mind with this game. It’s an evolutionary step in the right direction. Since I enjoyed M13 I’m sure I will enjoy M25. Time will tell if the retail is exposed for bugs or problems but I had a lot of fun in two games.

PRESENTATION

I liked the new intros with the logos stamping on to each other. I’ve read people call the game lifeless and boring but I disagree. I thought the crowd sounded decent and I like the commentary. I thought Simms and Nantz were a fantastic addition last year and they will be good again next year. My biggest problem from last year was some comments were incorrect and there wasn’t enough specific commentary for certain type of plays like screen plays and the read option. Those aren’t just basic pass and run plays – they deserve extra attention to detail. After TDs the commentary would sometimes go silent and that could use a boost. The sideline reporter seemed good. I chose not to send Ray Rice in after an injury as he was high risk and she said that the team has held him out but he could return. Of course there is no commentary during the half time show but at least we get real replays. The replays themselves are a lot better but I wish they would show more angles and some of those need to be press box zoomed out angles more. I did see stat overlays during the game which are good.

Overall I like the presentation but some things are goofy. There are a lot of Gatorade cut scenes but no water comes out of the bottle in to the players’ mouths. While I like the starting lineups being shown in full, the 3-4 teams should not have a 4 man line announced. Only a 3 man line should be shown.

The camera pre-snap is much too far away. I didn’t really understand these complaints until I saw it myself. During gameplay it’s fine but there is no reason to show that much field pre-snap. I can not only see all the WRs but I can also see the sidelines and the fan in the first row picking his nose. Simply too far.

The frame rate was a little choppy at times (PS3) but overall I think the game looks great other than the disappearing players I saw at the end of one game.


GAMEPLAY

EA has made Madden easier over the years and this year is no exception. All-Madden plays a very balanced and good game for me. The two big slider adjustments necessary are to drop QB accuracy and pass block (15 to 20 imo) but other than that it was good. The running game and read option seemed about right. I saw nothing goofy. The coverage was a bit loose at times but it also tightened up and made plays as well. I really enjoyed the two games I played which I lost 20-14 (I was Seahawks) and 20-16 (I was Ravens). Both times I had the ball on the final drive and threw an INT to end it (my fault on both). This is with acc clock turned off.

Player momentum felt good. I play on Slow speed so the game is smoother and had no issues. The DL play is better. There is more movement on blocks. I was Chris Canty on one play and strung out a run and made the tackle. It felt great not being stationary all the time or seeing the loser always end up on the ground. Guys keep battling. Even when stonewalled I felt I could still move or eventually get loose without the traditional obvious winner/loser outcome of the past. I did struggle rushing the passer but I think it will be more balanced between the r-stick moves and the basic turbo move (just turbo, engage and sack).

I think the one area that always bears scrutiny in an EA football game is the passing game. I thought it was pretty good. I saw a few deep balls hit by the cpu (Aaron Rodgers toasted me a couple times) and I hit a couple. I’m not a great passer so I can’t expose the cpu coverage like some. Every year I hear people complain about the lack of sacks or pressure for the user. I think some of this may be fair but people also need to realize that the great pass rushers get one sack per game and an additional 2-3 hurries in 30-40 rush attempts. Average players might sniff the QB 1-2 times a game (combined sacks and hurries). If teams average 3 sacks a game that is considered good. Also, we are not in the pocket like a real QB so we can’t sense pressure to help us know when to release the ball. One of the biggest problems in an EA football game this gen has been the cpu QB AI. They make too many bad decisions and throw too many INTs. This is REALLY bad if you get significant pressure. People need to accept the fact that both the user and cpu QB get more time to throw than the real NFL but it’s necessary for the video game experience. I can’t come close to hitting a real 95 mph fastball but I certainly can in a video game because it’s easier and not super realistic. Same goes for time in the pocket. A realistic amount would frustrate the vast majority of gamers. I do think the pass rush is too weak at default but I think slider adjustments alleviate this as I still got sacks every game.

The other long standing problem with passing in an EA football game is that balls rarely hit the ground in the passing game. It always hits someone whether it’s completed, dropped or picked off which is disappointing and I saw that in the demo. The QBs in the demo are excellent so it’s hard to know how bad this really is but I think QB accuracy has to be dropped a lot to fix this. I need to play around with this more.

I did return one kick for a TD with Jacoby Jones and broke a couple other nice ones too.

OVERALL

The videos prior to the demo bored me. This demo made me happy. I really enjoyed the two games I played and am definitely looking forward to the release.

[icicle22]

I really seem to like where this is going but I have an issue that is nagging me that I saw someone mention earlier but nobody ever followed up on it. The passing seems to have lost some of it's control. I feel as though I cannot lead my receivers nearly as well as in the past. This is with Aarron Rodgers too. I pick a streak, my receiver gets a step on the CB, I push the left stick up and to the outside...intending to lead him and fade to the sideline but the pass is thrown to the inside and hangs up. The CB makes up ground and the safety comes over and they go up and either intercept or knock it down.

I saw this over and over and felt frustrated. I went into the skills drill and tried the passing and discovered it didn't feel right in there either. When It told me to lead the receiver, it just didn't feel like I was leading him much if at all, despite really laying on the stick. In the past, I could overthrow guys or lead them so much they couldn't get to it. It feels as if the passes are now more scripted and thrown right to the receiver no matter how much I try to influence it.

Anyone else seeing of feeling this? The passing last year was dead on.....

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by icicle22

I really seem to like where this is going but I have an issue that is nagging me that I saw someone mention earlier but nobody ever followed up on it. The passing seems to have lost some of it's control. I feel as though I cannot lead my receivers nearly as well as in the past. This is with Aarron Rodgers too. I pick a streak, my receiver gets a step on the CB, I push the left stick up and to the outside...intending to lead him and fade to the sideline but the pass is thrown to the inside and hangs up. The CB makes up ground and the safety comes over and they go up and either intercept or knock it down. I saw this over and over and felt frustrated. I went into the skills drill and tried the passing and discovered it didn't feel right in there either. When It told me to lead the receiver, it just didn't feel like I was leading him much if at all, despite really laying on the stick. In the past, I could overthrow guys or lead them so much they couldn't get to it. It feels as if the passes are now more scripted and thrown right to the receiver no matter how much I try to influence it. Anyone else seeing of feeling this? The passing last year was dead on.....

Actually, I thought the lead passing was off last year. I'd flick the left stick left and the ball would sail right.

[icicle22]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Actually, I thought the lead passing was off last year. I'd flick the left stick left and the ball would sail right.

Really? I never got that feeling. I felt that I could really lay the ball in there over the LBs and in front of the secondary....and lead the receiver whichever direction he was already going. If I put to much lead on it I would overthrow him some. This year....it feels less sensitive and I feel I cannot lead with any success at all.

[schmit_95]

Quote: Originally Posted by icicle22

I really seem to like where this is going but I have an issue that is nagging me that I saw someone mention earlier but nobody ever followed up on it. The passing seems to have lost some of it's control. I feel as though I cannot lead my receivers nearly as well as in the past. This is with Aarron Rodgers too. I pick a streak, my receiver gets a step on the CB, I push the left stick up and to the outside...intending to lead him and fade to the sideline but the pass is thrown to the inside and hangs up. The CB makes up ground and the safety comes over and they go up and either intercept or knock it down. I saw this over and over and felt frustrated. I went into the skills drill and tried the passing and discovered it didn't feel right in there either. When It told me to lead the receiver, it just didn't feel like I was leading him much if at all, despite really laying on the stick. In the past, I could overthrow guys or lead them so much they couldn't get to it. It feels as if the passes are now more scripted and thrown right to the receiver no matter how much I try to influence it. Anyone else seeing of feeling this? The passing last year was dead on.....

I think it was my post you were referring to. It is definitely off from last year. I do the same thing hold up on the L stick on a streak, Boldin has at least 2 steps, I tap the button with what I think is just enough pressure to put some air under the ball, it gets intercepted every time. I hold left, the ball does the same thing it would do if I just tapped the button. Hope this is not in the retail version....

[Only1LT]

Quote: Originally Posted by icicle22

I really seem to like where this is going but I have an issue that is nagging me that I saw someone mention earlier but nobody ever followed up on it. The passing seems to have lost some of it's control. I feel as though I cannot lead my receivers nearly as well as in the past. This is with Aarron Rodgers too. I pick a streak, my receiver gets a step on the CB, I push the left stick up and to the outside...intending to lead him and fade to the sideline but the pass is thrown to the inside and hangs up. The CB makes up ground and the safety comes over and they go up and either intercept or knock it down. I saw this over and over and felt frustrated. I went into the skills drill and tried the passing and discovered it didn't feel right in there either. When It told me to lead the receiver, it just didn't feel like I was leading him much if at all, despite really laying on the stick. In the past, I could overthrow guys or lead them so much they couldn't get to it. It feels as if the passes are now more scripted and thrown right to the receiver no matter how much I try to influence it. Anyone else seeing of feeling this? The passing last year was dead on.....

I've noticed the same thing.

In the skills drill, when you're supposed to throw a pass low, no matter how long I held the stick down, the ball would never be lower than chest high, and sometimes the receiver caught the ball over his head, yet it still gave me a check as if the pass was low.

In games, it was harder to lead receivers as well. Seemed very limited.

Most likely, this is their "fix" for being able to change routes so drastically last year. Instead of having the same amount of control over the pass, but making the receivers not be able to adjust to changes that are too drastic through modifications of reaction time, awareness, and locomotion, they just greatly toned down how much you can control the ball's vector, because this is Madden, and passing is so tethered that ball control and receiver control are practically one and the same.

Long story short, to say that Tiburon is clueless about how to implement a passing game, would be a grievous understatement. They have been quite inept on this front since Madden 99, when they pretty much nailed the passing game, only to turnaround and botch it on the PS2 and henceforth (with the exceptions of 2003 and 07).

Not coincidentally, 99 was the last game made before their truly talented designers left to form their own studio and create another Football game, that you may have heard of.

[schmit_95]

Quote: Originally Posted by Only1LT

I've noticed the same thing. In the skills drill, when you're supposed to throw a pass low, no matter how long I held the stick down, the ball would never be lower than chest high, and sometimes the receiver caught the ball over his head, yet it still gave me a check as if the pass was low. In games, it was harder to lead receivers as well. Seemed very limited. Most likely, this is their "fix" for being able to change routes so drastically last year. Instead of having the same amount of control over the pass, but making the receivers not be able to adjust to changes that are too drastic through modifications of reaction time, awareness, and locomotion, they just greatly toned down how much you can control the ball's vector, because this is Madden, and passing is so tethered that ball control and receiver control are practically one and the same. Long story short, to say that Tiburon is clueless about how to implement a passing game, would be a grievous understatement. They have been quite inept on this front since Madden 99, when they pretty much nailed the passing game, only to turnaround and botch it on the PS2 and henceforth (with the exceptions of 2003 and 07). Not coincidentally, 99 was the last game made before their truly talented designers left to form their own studio and create another Football game, that you may have heard of.

You win!

[crpav]

Not sure if this was posted or talked about yet but is there a setting to disable the computer taking control of your defender/kick/punt returner? What I mean is on punts they decide when to NOT return a punt and vacate the area. I like to decide if I want to return the punt or not. That has been in the game for a while so not a big deal. The big thing I noticed this year however is on an interception in the end zone. The computer took control and knelt down for me. There was nobody near me except 2 of my team mates and I could have returned it for some decent yards.