I don't think the strategy pad is all that bad, like most new things it will take time to learn and with practice will become much easier. Overall I love the way the game feels, and the fact that a player cannot cover the whole field or suddenly turn on a dime and go backwards for a pick.
You can win player of the game even if you lose, won it with Dallas Clark he had a great gm. 7 catches 200 plus yds 1 td
Loss my 3rd gm, 2nd gm with my Colts threw 3 picks smh. Two of the three I was just to locked in on one target, third one Revis just came flying out of no where & snatched it up. Final score 20 -14.
All three games I have played on all pro, when I played to the strengths of the Colts & Jets I won each matchup.
Third match up I dug my self into too much of a hole, that I had to basically pass every down so no play-action for Manning or something close to a balance resulted in my L.
Overall I like playing the gm, strategy pad is the only thing that bothers me. Rather have this be my only problem instead of other things that have been killing previous Maddens
I told Ian that the strategy pad was the only "game killer" for me at CD. I am downloading the demo right now, but unless a change has been made, we also lost a lot of audibles with the new strategy pad. In Madden 10 and prior and in NCAA11 you can call your 5 set audibles, but you could use the right thumb stick to call formation specific audibles as well. With Strategy Pad I don't think we get all of those options.
People were asking for the return of PS2 pre-snap controls and what we have with the demo are pre-snap controls worse than we have ever seen. I don't get it... and I don't see EA changing it thins cycle. Maybe Madden 12, but I highly doubt the will make that big of a patch for 11. Time will tell if enough people "hate" the strategy pad.
They have to patch this! I can't believe this strategy pad nonsense. It's not intuitive and it's not efficient. What were they trying to accomplish with this?
It's really destroying the game for me. Presnap adjustments are a thing of the past and can no longer be done with the ease that they were once done. I'd be lucky to make one adjustment per snap now. I really don't get it.
So far, after one game on all-pro, normal speed. Me-Jets, Cpu-Colts.
Nothing really jumps out at you. It looks good. Same as NCAA. Probably more shadowing.
Gameflow is kinda nice on offense. I can see myself using it. Don't really like it for defense. Will probably do a lot of switching between gameflow and standard play calling.
Player movement is tighter in a good and bad way. Seems to be less warping/sliding than NCAA but, it also seems stiffer and more robotic.
Turnover issue? Manning threw 2 picks and the returner ( I think it was Collie) fumbled on a kickoff return all in the first half. I'm assuming sliders will fix this.
Cpu can run the ball. Addai had some nice runs.
Pass rush. I got some pressure on Manning. No sacks. I had a lot of time to throw. Maybe too much vs. Freeney and Mathis. I was 9 for 10 passing. Too easy?
Strategy pad is not good for defense. It's clumsy and takes too long. Also, on offense I don't know what motion left and right mean. You can send players in motion the old way. If someone figures it out let me know.
QB voices? Maybe I don't know how Manning sounds but, that doesn't sound like Manning.
Ok here is my thoughts after playing the demo on 360. the camera is to far back. NCCA had right with the panning and zooming on plays. the commentary was ok. it's better than last year. gameflow is a good idea but it needs work. locomotion on madden is very different feel than ncca, honestly I prefer NCCA when you break on moves it feels more exciting.
The extra presentation so far make a better feel to the game, but I feel after a couple of games it will get stale. audio of the crowds are cool but it still missing getting atmosphere of a real game. its an improvement. My final judgment my mind hasnt change. this game is good but more of a rental than buy. is 40 dollar buy not 60. Im going pass and stick with NCCA this year
NCAA blows this game out of the water and its a shame. I wanted to buy both so i can get my fix of both college and the NFL but this demo is just really boring.
Gameflow -is cool but nothing more..
Gamespeed- is really slow and its annoying. Yes the gameplay needed to be slowed down but not this much its ridiculous. I dont feel like im playing with NFL players in a game this slow
Player Models- NCAA player models are leaps and bounds ahead of madden.. the player models look last gen but in HD..
Locomotion- NCAA feels much mure fluid it can be due to game speed but idk
Animations- NCAA>... Gang tackles, broken tackles, catch animation. You name it they all look better in NCAA
Count me in as somebody who doesn't like the strategy pad. I could get used to it but since the CPU doesn't give you ANY time to make an adjustment....
I had to rush through one game before I got to work. So I can't form a hard opinion, but it feels like a more polished version of M10. That's good if you liked M10 like me; but for others, I might can see why they wouldn't be so impressed.
Definitely going to need some slider adjustments. I jumped right into All-Madden and Jets D was stifling as they should be. But Sanchez (CPU) didn't miss hardly any passes and the Colts couldn't tackle anyone. Sliders should fix that.
Did see an episode of Revis running the route faster than the WR . I hear that sliders can adjust that as well.
WOW guys I am not impressed and rather bumming so far! I absolutely hate the strategy pad! Are you kidding me! Really! That is ridiculous that they changed they way we audible and change our coverages.
Even on offense it doesn't make sense! NCAA blows this game away IMO and I prefer the NFL so that really sucks for me. I am not feeling the game flow feature either at least as of now. Oh well- I will give it some more time but the d-pad is gonna ruin it for a lot of people.
It seems at least to me that NCAA All American level out of box with no slider adjustments is much harder then all pro on madden out of box. Also, I feel like I am at a funeral with crowd noise in Madden compared to the atmosphere in the NCAA Game. Just my 2 cents.
I can't wait to play the demo tonight. I am kind of surprised to hear so many complaints, maybe they are justified, maybe not. I wonder how different the retail version will be?
It never fails with an EA game. Something always ruins the experience. This Strategy Pad Idea has to be the worst idea brought to this franchise in it's 20 plus years.
If I had to judge between this and NCAA 11 based off this demo it would be NCAA 11 by a LANDSLIDE. The Pad simply kills it for me. No time to do anything. Why???
I am really wanting someone who has the game, compare it to the demo. So far:
Likes:
- The teams resemble how they play in real life
- Good pass rush
- CPU playing as Manning had trouble throwing the ball even on all-madden (13/20 200 yards 2 TD's and 1 INT)
- grass looks awesome and shadows are impressive looking
- lighting
- commentary is energetic
- J E T S chant sounds cool, and crowd noise sounds awesome until it becomes really quiet between plays
- oline blocking is improved a lot
- hits after player catches football looks pretty awesome, even got hurt by Clark when Cromartie INT it in end zone
- didn't feel cheated on all-madden when I lost 21-10
- gameplay is ok, thought I would like it more. It definitely makes game go quicker.
- WR / DB interaction
Dislikes:
- players models seemed to take a step back
- strategy pad is awful, although I am getting better at it, and at least leaves there to be less exploits when playing online, as it takes longer
- no depth chart or player stats in demo
- too many injuries
- too many fumbles
- players seem to move too slow, compared to game (normal speed)
- locomotion not as good as NCAA 11's
I can't wait to play the demo tonight. I am kind of surprised to hear so many complaints, maybe they are justified, maybe not. I wonder how different the retail version will be?
Yeah, I think people are crapping prematurely on Madden. The strategy pad warrants the criticism, but the demo has only been out a couple hours lol. How can you declare that NCAA blows this out of the water so fast?
Exactly people, give it a chance, too much hate on a demo.
By the way guys, are the Old Spice ADs excessive?
It is a demo impression. It is a bit unfair to judge a final release of a game vs a demo, but I am one of those who feels because of NCAA and this demo, I will not buy madden this year unless I hear amazing things about the final release.