Madden NFL 16: More Hands-On Impressions

[SageInfinite]

Good write up, everything I read here seemed very honest and in line with the typical Madden release.

[dkp23]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cardot

I am really encouraged to hear there is a focus on eliminating money plays. This has pretty much been my major gripe of every video football game that I have ever played (And I go back to Atari). I don't use money plays, nor the plays that never seem to work which often leaves a narrow set of plays that I will use. So it would be great to open up the playbook and add some variety.

They will never get rid of money plays because money plays are based on money routes that work consistently. Through in the ability to hot route as you please, never going away.

[Armor and Sword]

The CPU will throw the ball away instead of taking a sack.

The CPU made a few last minute drives against me. Though they didn't always succeed, the play-calling was much better than it used to be

Paying close attention to the offensive line and player ratings, there's a noticeable difference in who you're running or passing behind.

This has been mentioned in the quick-look piece, but the game has finally reached a visual level of matching other sports titles.

Penalties actually happen, including one or two defensive holding/interference per game.

This is so good to hear from you. For the offline CFM simulation player we were pounding the sand for these improvements you mentioned.

Developing a great All-Pro Slider set with this foundation will make the game maybe the best Madden on the field ever. Something I felt M15 accomplished despite the ugly sack wart, bad ball spotting, bad 2 minute drill AI and bad sideline awareness.

I am very hyped for M16 for many reasons, but offline CFM is my bread and butter for Madden and this stuff get's me really excited to get my hands on the game 8/25 and getting into the laboratory to twist some knobs and get it playing more like what we see on Sundays!

[jb12780]

Haven't bought a Madden since the one with Fitzgerald and Polamalu on the cover. This game is now on the radar screen.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

[The JareBear]

Thanks for the write-up, BenG.

I am encouraged to hear your impression of the pocket collapsing from the edge rush. I haven't quite seen this very much in the E3 clips but I trust your judgment.

Hopefully this is a year where the CPU can prove to be a consistently worthy opponent for sim offline gamers.

[BenGerman]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

I became confused by the comment that QB's still rifle where the ball needs to be vs QB's now will avoid the sack and throw the ball away. Hopefully, that initial comment meant that human QB was still too effective, which can be toned down with sliders.

Hey Roadman, sorry for any confusion.

The QB's are far too accurate, still. Though, the CPU QB's will avoid sacks and throw the ball away (out of bounds) if they're about to be sacked. I brought this up because sacks have been a HUGE problem in year's past, mostly because the CPU holds onto the ball too long.

My thoughts on the QB's being too accurate is that it's always going to be this way. I got the sense from developers that they don't see it as a major problem (after all, the difference between 60% completion rates and 75% isn't that different for the majority of their consumer base) and that they don't want to lower offensive output for competitive play. Or at least not in a way that would frustrate players - which again, comes down a lack of variance implemented in the game. If all goes well, it should be fixable via a slider change, but you never want to have to count on that.

[The JareBear]

Quote: Originally Posted by BenGerman

Hey Roadman, sorry for any confusion. The QB's are far too accurate, still. Though, the CPU QB's will avoid sacks and throw the ball away (out of bounds) if they're about to be sacked. I brought this up because sacks have been a HUGE problem in year's past, mostly because the CPU holds onto the ball too long. My thoughts on the QB's being too accurate is that it's always going to be this way. I got the sense from developers that they don't see it as a major problem (after all, the difference between 60% completion rates and 75% isn't that different for the majority of their consumer base) and that they don't want to lower offensive output for competitive play. Or at least not in a way that would frustrate players - which again, comes down a lack of variance implemented in the game. If all goes well, it should be fixable via a slider change, but you never want to have to count on that.

Very valid point. I think this ties into what a lot of us here have been clamoring for and that is a "sim mode" setting. You can have "normal mode" for those who don't really care about differences in accuracy for their online/head to head games, and "sim mode" for those of us who want QBs "killing worms" when they short hop a bullet pass or sail one into the sideline.

Another solution would be for EA to really make footwork matter and proper dropbacks/setting the feet really make a difference on passes being on target or a little off

[BenGerman]

Quote: Originally Posted by The JareBear

Thanks for the write-up, BenG. I am encouraged to hear your impression of the pocket collapsing from the edge rush. I haven't quite seen this very much in the E3 clips but I trust your judgment. Hopefully this is a year where the CPU can prove to be a consistently worthy opponent for sim offline gamers.

Glad to help, Jare.

I mean, I'm as hopeful as you are. It was a relatively small sample size, but most of the time (in my experience) pressure was coming off of the sides. This could be because 50% of my time was against another user - and we all know how that changes things.

I'll be frank, we shouldn't consider it a fixed thing at all. I too will be waiting for the game's release before making a final judgement.