Madden NFL 16 Features All-New Controls to Dominate Air Supremacy

[NimitsTexan]

Its always "Fool in the Shower" with Madden people, it seems. Whether that is intentional (they "overdo" the corrections on purpose so reviewers, etc. will notice), or merely the result of poor football knowledge and rushed development cycle, I do not know, but every time in the last decade they try to fix something, the end up over-emphasizing something else.

[atomant94]

I'm glad they finally added WR/DB interactions but I'm not even excited for a new Madden game at this point

[bpac55]

ODB makes one amazing catch and EA is going to run with it.

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by NDAlum

I don't want to user catch. I want Dez to be Dez when AI controls him.

Not directed at you specifically and I have no really strong opinions on user catching, but this most directly gets at what I think a lot of people are talking about in this thread - the focus on the user control at the potential expense of authenticity vs the focus on authenticity of the experience of user control.

Madden NFL is a video game. Video games by definition have outcomes influenced by user interaction, and console games in particular are far more real-time action-oriented than PC games. To that end, any feature Tiburon considers adding probably has to impact directly how the user plays the game. The CPU is to use any tools that are added for the user to use in order to create a compelling single-player experience, but by and large the focus in the game mechanics will center on what the user is able to do with his button presses in a variety of contexts.

If on the drawing board Madden is considering two implementations of a thing - one which is all non-interactive AI and one which the user can affect the result - I fathom to guess the thing which the user gets to influence is what gets implemented in the game, always.

From the perspective of the average Madden player - the "casual gamer" I suppose - anything with user interaction adds more to the game than anything that doesn't. They don't have the eye for authentic WR/DB jostling and therefore don't notice and don't care. They see no new gameplay mechanics for the current year and thus the game is "just a roster update". They do know, however, that the Madden series to this point doesn't attempt making receivers dynamically attack an airborne football, so they switch players to do it themselves, and this requirement makes the experience more compelling and enjoyable to them. When they see new ways to interact with the game while controlling a receiver, there's something new to do, a new wrinkle in the game. There's immediate dividends, and the game is new and fresh.

Basically, Tiburon's approach in Madden from my perspective is an action-oriented approach to the game of football. Under this paradigm, don't expect user catching to ever go away or even be deemphasized. To be honest, don't even expect a fleshed-out coach mode beyond the token implementation that already exists. Do, however, expect new gameplay mechanics for that component of the game if wide receivers and defensive backs are indeed a focal point for this year's game. Do also expect the AI to use the tools that are added for the user to use, and do complain loudly when they don't (for example, the user can steer blocks as a defensive lineman in Madden NFL 15 depending on player ratings, while the AI never attempts to do this; this is a problem and Tiburon should fix this). Do not expect Tiburon to focus on something solely for the sake of improving the authenticity of the game (the exception possibly allowed being the offensive line because the user never has control over that) if the something in question doesn't directly impact how the average person interacts with the game and influences the outcome.

And to be clear, I'm not making a judgment on whether Tiburon's approach is good or bad, right or wrong - opinions certainly vary, I have mine, you all have yours. Rather I'm attempting to explain what I observe as their approach to developing the game as objectively as I can. Until this creative direction doesn't return multi-millions of sales and widespread media critical praise for Tiburon, don't expect their approach to change and spend your money and attention accordingly.

[Jr.]

Quote: Originally Posted by NDAlum

Pretty much. We can only speculate. If it's a bunch of new animations for user catching I'm going to be pissed. That is unless our CPU AI WR's will go up and be aggressive to the ball. The current mechanic is horrid. I don't want to user catch. I want Dez to be Dez when AI controls him.

This is what it sounds like. Controls that "allow you" to dominate, sounds like it's only tied to the user. I hope I'm wrong, though.

[Smallville102001]

I am sure it is just another gimmick. Its not like they haven't had a lot of gimmicks before. That is all madden is any more gimmicks and bad game play that always has at least one game killer game play problem.

[Smallville102001]

Quote: Originally Posted by atomant94

I'm glad they finally added WR/DB interactions but I'm not even excited for a new Madden game at this point

Yeah we haven't had a good madden game in like 10 years!

[LBzrule]

I'll get slaughtered but so be it. I don't have a problem with all user catching in Madden, especially in a game like Madden 15 where the DB's warp and cheat out of nowhere. You're not going to catch it every time anyways. If EA has a new way for catching for WR and play DB that allows you to make plays on the football, I don't mind it within a certain framework, ie, it can't always be a miraculous catch every play. Ideally I like user catching outs, drags, Digs, posts, corners because I think it's stupid to just sit there and always allow the defensive back to undercut the route for an interception. This is what we are dealing with, especially this year. Now of course some people user catch differently and I say let them do it how they want to do it as long as it doesn't make for a broken game - which history is not on their side in this regard but alas, it's where we are at with this game.

This is not a knock on anyone personally, but we criticize this game every year, knowing that the A.I is terrible, yet we expect them to get these digital counterparts to real nfl players to "act like those players" without us doing anything? Sounds like a very tall order for Tiburon based on what is said about them here. To say they can't do it, then expect them to do it is being contradictory.

In the end, stuff like this is not what ruins the game IMO. The game just suffers from a severe lack of depth in the game play and animations departments leaving most players to take a cookie cutter approach to schemes so that by the time mid October rolls around you've seen everything there is to see. About 98% of offenses you face are going to be the same. When it comes to defense you've seen it all. At that point you are either playing yourself or playing against something you can't stand at which point you just



I mean really, they are adding all of this stuff, but we still don't have line stunts in the game that we can mix and match with linebacker/secondary pressures. That's one of the reasons why you see so much of same stuff. No depth. On offense sometimes I just scratch my head. You go into a formation and you say, there are at least three nice pass plays here, but I only have a dive and a draw as run plays. Scrap this formation. I can't be balanced out of it. Go to the play book editor, it doesn't help, no good run plays there either.

Offensively, they just refuse to work on protections and just keep band aiding this damn thing to death such that OL still Michael Jackson moonwalk into place. Why I wonder don't they require the user to call protection? Ideally, they should have pressures in the game that defeat every protection they have but it should be up to the user to call protection to stop the pressures. But rather than doing this, they get the OL to cheat automatically to stop the stock pressures. Then what people do is just figure out a way to A gap it.

And I really hope EA doesn't come out this year and say, there are no nanos in the game. How many times have we heard this only to have it completely denied. And I think they actually knew they were there. Ever wonder why every QB in the game has this auto break tackle at times? Hmmm I wonder why?

Anyway, we'll see how this thing looks in about 4 weeks or less I suppose.