OS Roundtable: Is Madden's Focus Where it Should Be?

[allstardad]

Is it where it should be? The simple for me is yes.

We've all complained that they weren't focusing on these things in past installments and begged and pleaded for them to do so with their next installment. And now, while its taken longer than we wanted and it probably should have, they are addressing key issues with the game.

We can all complain about how long it took for them to focus on these issues, but we shouldn't complain about the fact that they are addressing some legacy issues with the game.

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[MossMan84]

Im still not sure why we didnt have a madden 14? Madden 25? The game should be somewhat better than last years but how can it not be. The list of improvements sounds pretty nice but how can we have icing without cake? Im still afraid that there will be glaring holes in gameplay along with a broken franchise mode. I could care less about graphics, (to a point) presentation, mut, ect. Just give me a all around good gameplay with adaptive ai and a franchise mode that I can immerse myself in forever! "Focus Daniel Son!" Madden is simply getting sucked into another cycle of poor overall games. It sounds like they have good intentions but the overall vision is not there.

[LorenzoDC]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blue12

Just because they focus on the defensive side doesn't mean it will affect the difficulty going up against the computer A.I., but I really hope that is the case. I also hope they greatly reduce the number on interceptions by the computer defense, as that was usually the only thing that ever stopped me.

This is what really bugged me about M25. No matter how I tweaked the sliders, or whose slider set I used, I could not find a sweet spot in CFM.

For my defense, I either shut down CPU opponents pretty handily OR gave up a ton of yards and scores. On offense, I was able to tone down my run game, even lower than my team ratings would suggest I should get, but my passing game was only ever really stopped by interceptions, which came at a high rate.

I learned to be much more cautious with the throws I would attempt, but it was still a battle. If I toned down the INT's too much, then I could not otherwise be stopped by the defense, or I would reduce WR catching and see 8 drops per game. . .. it all killed the sim style I wanted to play.

I just want the game balance to be more like a real game if I play 15 minute quarters. Working with sliders, I can never get a real balance that does not create cheese one way or another, or tip the balance too far out for either the user or the CPU.

[Beardown]

I like the focus being on the defensive side of the ball as I tend to be old school. However, I wish they would fix the things already in the game before adding new tackle cones and such. I am glad they fixed the wind meter (about time) but what about penalties, why do I hear that I lost the game last week when I won, I play as a coach (Mike Ditka) and then in season 3 the Browns hire a new coach MIKE DITKA, I guess they cloned me.

I am all for gameplay improvements but presentation and franchise need major overhauls. The only thing I know for sure is that all of the features presented at E3 will not play half as good as they sound.

[SVCbearcat10]

I think the focus on graphics and defense this year is fine. If they don't work on redoing all their animations (running, DB/WR, authentic QB throwing motions, etc.) then I'll be upset. I wasn't planning on buying this and from what I saw, still probably won't unless it goes on sale. I don't think it will be a bad game, but I'll wait the few weeks for NHL to come out and play that.

[malky]

Its all about implementation and until Madden figures that out, these are the conversations we are going to have, it's really sad because a lot of their ideas have been great.

[Big FN Deal]

Man this is a tricky question, lol. Like CMHooe stated, no way the answer can be no because everything they are touting sounds so football good. However I think most would agree that it would be nice if their focus could be somehow widened. Maybe the game has so many fundamental issues that it's near impossible to even begin to touch everything all at once but that's still difficult to endure after so many years.

I'm honestly not being negative towards Tiburon on this, I absolutely love what I'm hearing about Madden 15 and don't envy this team that has to fix so many football issues, within time constraints. It's just this sucks for everyone, that even with so much good being touted and focused on in M15, there is still so much left to do to get NFL gaming back where it was around 10 years ago, much less completely surpass it.

[Blue12]

Quote: Originally Posted by Beardown

I wish they would fix the things already in the game before adding new tackle cones and such.

Going back to the original question, this is my biggest gripe. We don't need gimmicky features, we need a more realistic game. They should focus on the aspects that impact realism of the game. The gameplay, schemes, player likeness (not just visually but individual throwing, running etc) and even atmosphere affect realism. They touted living worlds last year, but I haven't heard anything about that yet. It looks to me like the crowd may be slightly enhanced, but the sidelines still look bad.

I agree with Beardown, they shouldn't be investing in vision cones until the fundamentals are up to par.

I will give them credit, I'm happy they shored up pass coverage, wind, re-imagined the kicking game, and made it graphically up to par with other next gen games. My biggest problem is that "features" aren't enjoyable when the game is lacking fundamentals. The resources they spent on the vision cone and halftime show could have gone into the areas I mentioned above.

I know it's a shorter development cycle this year, but I guess I'm just getting tired of waiting until next year, every. single. year.