Madden NFL 15 Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (XB1/PS4)

[Bdubb]

Haven't played madden in a few years so this is my first football video game action in a while. This game is beautiful, and so far so good. The gameplay itself was fun online, I had a good time slinging it all over the field with Rodgers in an online game, like i was 18/21 with 3 TDs and a rushing TD by Rodgers.

Total Package 3/5 so far for me because of small issues like Sim stats in season. I'll still play because the game itself is fun. Add in updated rosters, a patch, a good slider set and Madden score will go a little bit higher. Lucky I haven't had this happen to me yet Lol http://www.barstoolsports.com/m/dmv/...ecuted-for-it/

[ObviouslyConnor]

Thought I would give my input here. First impressions, I am fairly impressed with the game so far. The defensive changes are awesome. It feels like you are actually achieving something. I was playing as the Bucs against the Jets and they were on the 1 yard line and 3 straight plays I stopped them with the new defensive pass rushing moves. It felt great when it happened. Defense is actually fun to play. Being able to change the camera angle on the fly is cool as well. You can actually feel weight on the players now. There is a huge difference between running with Doug Martin and Steven Jackson. The graphics are way better then 25. Overall I'm really liking the game so far. I've only played about 3 full games as of now and haven't dipped into franchise yet. Only gripe as of right now is the play calling menu like everyone else.

[blackceasar]

So this is coming from an old school sports gamer from way back in the times of Moses lol. J/k. But what I'm about to say is coming from someone who still uses 2k5 as sort of a measuring stick for certain things about Madden.

First off, this is NOT a port of Madden 25 next gen. It looks, feels, plays and sounds (sounds to a degree) like a different game. The Graphics are pretty sick. I'm a bigtime coach mode guy and I used to do it from the broadcast cam (for years now), but I've found the game looks best when you play from one of the more zoomed in cameras because you can see the detail of everything and when a play is ran the camera follows the action closely so from the time to ball is snapped until the end of the play the game just looks so dam good.

VISUALS:
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Animations are pretty good. I think its still going to take a little time for EA to perfect the animations and physics. I'm not complaining though because until its perfected (and It might never be in a football game) your choice will be to have what we have now which is physics based contact with hits, tackling, etc and live with the times where your dude just looks like he's a pinball going through bumpers.. OR go back to the non physics canned animations with no variance in what happens during a play... remember those? Yeah I do to. I don't want to go back there either. I'll take this over that and just hope EA sports devotes some time to further refining it every year.

SOUND:
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First of all, I didn't break down and get a legit headset until last week (for Diablo 3) and I have to tell all of you.. if you don't have one, get one. Even if you have 7.1 set up in your room, I still hear and pick up things through the headset that I don't get from the home theatre system. With that said, sounds are good but the commentary is, well.. its what you got last year for the most part. Im curious as to how much time they get with Nance and Boomer in the booth to do the recordings for stuff because if they have limited time with them, I say just get some good voice actors that will spend the time needed to really get commentary and in-game storytelling right. I don't think having some real life celebs in the booth help sell the game anyways. Again, EA needs to look at NBA2k and even EA's own NHL franchise and take notes. I will say though that some things have been added to have a bit of storytelling in game from them, but its still not at the level you will get from other sports titles that are just lightyears ahead of Madden in this department. I will say this though that you don't get that much of in Madden 25, the crowd volume and amount of cheering will change depending on the game situation. It just feels much better this year.

GAMEPLAY:

As far as online goes (I've played about 6 ultimate team games) it feels a lot better. I did not fully understand the power of playing one defender in player lock until about game 3. I started learning what good defensive sets there were to call on people and once I called the right play, I would switch to a DE or LB, flip the camera and soley focus on terrorizing opponents. Playing like this online made me feel like my own Jadeveon Clowney. Even if you don't get the sack, there is a sense of pure satisfaction when you have rattled the QB so bad coming after him he throws a pick to one of your other defenders.

Overall the gameplay is considerably better (even without the new defensive stuff). I can't go super into detail here because I haven't applied any sliders to my game yet.. AND when I'm not playing online, I'm in pure coach mode anyways.

PRESENTATION:
I already touch a bit on this when it comes to the sound so I will back off the commentary there. Presentation received a shot in the arm. Now I wouldn't call it a super HGH Barry Bonds record breaking shot in the arm, but its still improved. EA is FINALLY after 10000 years is on the right track when it comes to what I call "in game storytelling" What I mean is the little things that you see and hear during a game that enchances the experience of that game. There are more stat overlays that come up to call out certain players numbers during the game and this time around its not just about the QB. Also at times you will get a mini-recap cutaway in game about how good or bad a team has been today at a specific area (running the ball, passing, defense etc) accompanied by a couple of replays. This made me smile because these things happened during the game and not at halftime. Speaking of halftime, I think EA is starting to understand what we are looking for. I have to underline "starting" though because it's just that, a "start". We actually now have someone describing the half and the key plays ala NBA2k series. It's not as deep as 2K but consider it a poor man's version of it. It's something to build on, and I HOPE they build on it for next year and not just keep it as is and consider it "done". Another thing I noticed that I liked in my CCM was the commentators would call out both teams upcoming matchups for the next few weeks, accompanied by a graphics overlay of those teams and their win/loss record. I'm only 3 games in with my Raiders franchise so I don't know if they will start talking about playoff implications with this or not. It's EA so I doubt it lol.. but again, its something new they now have in the game that they can build on. *fingers crossed*

MISC.
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I actually like the gameplanning stuff for every week. It's deeper than people think if you really start breaking it down. What I LOVE about this though is how it affects the draft. Let me explain.. remember in the past two years how you might get an 80 or 84 OVR rookie in the first round only to find 5 seaons in, his OVR hasnt moved, or maybe even declined? Well you know that trait some of us overlook that's called "development"? Because of being able to focus on certain players during the week through gameplanning you wont feel bad about not getting that first RB off the board only to wind up with a 4th round RB with a 70 OVR because you see that his development though is off the charts. So in ways, this feature affects the draft, in a good way. It wasn't until my third game in my franchise with the Raiders that I saw the coaches in gameplanning call out something specific about the Patriots (who was my next opponent). They said "With Derrell Revis, The Patriots have one of the strongest pass defenses in the league, we should really focus on getting our starting WR's ready for this game". Its these little things that EA is starting to realize that while little, go a LONG way into franchise immersion and keeps you wanting to play multiple seasons.

CONCLUSION:
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It's the best Madden EA Sports has put out since Madden 92. It's a much MUCH bigger leap from 25 to 15, than 25 old gen was to 25 next gen. It's truly EA's FIRST next get version of Madden. I can't talk about bugs and glitches because Ive only played a few online games and 3 games into my Raiders franchise. I give the game a solid 8.5/10 BASED ON MY TIME WITH IT SO FAR. This number could go up with finding little things along the way through my season, or it could go down by discovery of unpatchable bugs or issues but right now as it stands 8.5/10 is my score. My advice to EA is this... This is the game that's going to get alot of us that are super critical of you back on your good side. This doesn't mean to think your job is done though (for example, don't think because we now have a halftime show that your job is done in that area.. it could be a lot better, etc). Just ride this wave of NON-COMPLACENCY and carry it on into next year's game.

THINGS FOR EA TO THINK ABOUT FOR NEXT YEAR:
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CCM - AS A PLAYER:

1. Find a way to bring a real NFL draft presentation to the game and the things leading up to that. Give us the option as a player to go to the combine and after each session lets see what the experts are saying bout our stock via twitter, etc. Lets get Adam Shcefter and Mel Kiper up in this piece.

2. Lets get press conferences after the game ala NBA 2k. No I don't think you need the whole story fluff they have in that game, but it would be cool to have you answer a few questions after each game and have that affect your team/teammates. Heck lets get them before the game as well. Remember that year Chad Johnson had his list of DB's he was going up against? Not literally THAT, but id love to get some of that RPG feel into this and have it effect what your team thinks of you... AND your coach (maybe you get benched for a quarter for comments, etc).

3. STEAL THIS FROM MLB THE SHOW... Give us an option to turn injuries for our own player on and off. Very few players make it through a 10,12, 15 year career without missing a game or two. Sure some people won't want to do that, but some of us love the challenge and adversity.


CCM: AS A COACH:
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1. What team you go to as a coach should have an owner factor worked in (like NBA2k). Some owners are hands off while some are very hands on. Imagine if you're the new coach of the Dallas Cowboys and you've been scouting a much needed DB in the first round but Jerry Jones is in love with the nubmer 1. WR in this year's draft. What if he gave you some things he'd "like" to see happen in the draft and wether or not you draft well, or find a way to accomplish some of this stuff will have an impact on your standing with the owner. could you imagine having to find a way to trade up (when you dont really want to ) to get a player Jones really likes?

2. Pre and Post game press conferences.

3. Bring position battles back and have them mean something.

4. Bring holdouts back.

5. Give people the option to turn these on or off.

[tuck243]

Few things...

Good:

1.) The presentation and graphics are pretty damn cool. The players' bodies actually look real now.

2.) The throws also feel like you're throwing the ball and you can tell the difference in QBs.

3.) The defensive cameras need to stay in the Madden franchise forever. DON'T TAKE IT OUT NEXT YEAR AND GIVE US IT 3 YEARS FROM NOW LIKE ITS A NEW FEATURE.

4.) The cone defense tackle is helpful and doesn't mean you will actually make the tackle which is good.

The Bad:

1.) I have a GREAT TV... Got everything you want in a TV... I say this because playing this game on my TV is CRAZY, BUT that's only during the day time. During night games this game changes to an Xbox 360 looking game. Basically what I'm trying to say is "It sucks during night games!!"...

2.) I've read on these forums that ratings matter now for the o-line, but Idk about that one. I'm a QB for the Raiders in CFM (I created a 99 guy for SNG) and I can barely get 60% of my passes completed. If the defense rush 3 I don't have a lot of time to get off. If they blitz everyone my receivers don't get enough separation to throw the pass on a slant. They get what looks like enough, but the DB's or linebackers step in front of the pass I lead them with majority of the time. You have to take sacks or throw the ball away a lot now. That's fine, but I want it to be a little realistic as DB's and LB's aren't that damn good on slants or dump passes... I shouldn't have to throw dump passes every possession and that only works within the first 2-3 seconds of a play.

3.) Speaking of o-line... They are still dumb as hell... The Madden team managed to get the defensive line better, but forgot all about the o-line. You still have linemen with no immediate responsibilities loafing around the line. I see no double teams on 2 or 3 rushers sometimes. There's no way mediocre d-linemen should be able to rush 2 ppl and get in the QB face.

4.) Also calling audibles is not worth it on this game vs. the CPU. Change your offense to a run play instead of pass and the defense automatically send another player in the box. Switch it back to pass and they move out the box... Basically they know EXACTLY what play you going to run when you audible...

5.) On the flip side of throwing slant routes for your receiver vs. man to man defense, the CPU can hit that ALL DAY on your defense.


Conclusion: This Madden is probably the best one to date and I'm really not the guy who complains about catch animations and such... That's nitpicking IMO.. The issue I have year in and year out is line play. Enough is enough, they can't get this right at all. The current engine they have is obviously broken and they can't fix the offensive line woes. This is a major flaw and dictates what happens with the rest of the game. No matter what QB, RB, or WR you have, it will be a long a$$ day if your linemen can't block 2 ppl... This is basic football, I don't care about what Megatron is doing out there if I can't get 3 seconds in the pocket.

Maybe this game needs sliders to be better... IDK, but playing on All-Madden or All-Pro isn't delightful at all. All I do is spam 3-4 yard passes and wait until I see bump coverage on the outside and throw through the small opening that was created. I don't think I'm trash in this game either, I try to use different plays and not go to the same money play all the time. Which is hard as hell to do because only a few plays work on this game currently.

[kb0731]

Quote: Originally Posted by Skyboxer

% is a tad high but I can deal with that. Just uploaded a full(almost) game. Made a couple slight adjustments and will probably leave it at that and move on.

Yea just watched the game. What accuracy do you have the CPU qb at?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Postman17]

You are absolutely correct. these things are still happening online. I played a couple of guy online who are doing this online with success. Its not a happening as much but its still there. The Wr make catches with so many defenders around them is really the worse.

[Postman17]

He is very correct in what he is talking about. Contain is a joke. it doesn't work like it should. And screen plays are the new money plays. Wr catching passes with 3 defenders around is also a joke.

[tessl]

I don't have 15 yet. Question - I read a preview saying tackling has been changed so now the defensive player just has to be in the area, not actually make contact.

How is this implemented? I use coach mode and I didn't see anything wrong with last year's tackling.