Madden 12 News Post

Staff Roundtable: Madden NFL 12 Demo Impressions

07:16 PM - August 10, 2011 by ChaseB

Contentious, heated, excitable. Whatever buzzword I use, it probably can't properly sum up the way things get around here once the Madden demo hits each year. It truly is exciting and terrifying all at once. The staff has been playing the demo like all you folks out there, and they have a wide range of views on the game.

So read on to find out what some of our writers think about the Madden 12 demo at this point.

Read More - Staff Roundtable: Madden NFL 12 Demo Impressions

Game: Madden NFL 12Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 44 - View All

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Member Comments

# 1 DeuceDouglas @ 08/10/11 07:37 PM

2k5 needs to die. There was a reason it was 20 dollars. I would rather play Tecmo Super Bowl than that trash.

# 2 XtremeDunkz @ 08/10/11 07:43 PM

You can spotlight receivers in Madden, and you have been able to for years. You just have to hold RT instead of LT.

# 3 addybojangles @ 08/10/11 07:44 PM

Madden needs a new engine.

I came away totally unimpressed with the demo. It just felt off. I went into instant replay after a few plays and saw janky animations, "cheat" animations (like a ball's flight defying gravity to zig to a player's arms), clipping, and a ball's spiral actually stop and rotate the complete opposite direction.

Meh!

# 4 dannyr326 @ 08/10/11 07:55 PM

I absolutely love the new collision system. That's one aspect that just feels realistic and stands out as an amazing improvement from last year. Presentation is improved, graphics, etc, (but those aspects are pretty much expected at this point).

My main gripe is along the lines of what Jayson and Steve mentioned. The Psychic Cornerbacks are simply ruining the fun of "threading the needle" on higher difficulties and as Jayson said "player warping make it feel like the CPU is at tims cheating you on defense instead of legitimately outsmarting you with superior tactics or skills"

***I am shocked because the WR/CB interactions have been broken every year this generation.***

*Go ahead and try to fit the ball in those tight spots and the Corner will be facing in the complete opposite direction (running full speed), and still change direction in a split second to make the interception.

Fix those problems mentioned above, bring back the importance of controlling ball placement/ trajectory, and implement real-time physics (as the NHL series was able to accomplish) and I will be content with Madden football.

Does anyone out there agree?

# 5 therockstar2005 @ 08/10/11 08:05 PM

I think the best piece of news is what Christian was talking about - that the E3 build (hopefully a later one, not earlier) played better than the demo does. If so, while the demo might not be the best, I'd rather have a great final product with a ho-hum demo...Again, still some optimism for the game

# 6 TreFacTor @ 08/10/11 08:05 PM

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who saw the flaws in the demo. I really hope the final version is leaps and bounds better with whatever tweaks are made. I still have to wait for patch one and the list of what it fixes befor I can make a purchase decision. One thing I saw no one mention was DPP. Is it me or is it that 5 min qrts with acc clock don't allow this feature to be showcased or is it simply absent.

For instance knox was stated to drop open passes and he was actually my main target because hester seemed to draw dbl coverage on most pass plays. Grant was said to fight for extra yardage and should cover the ball more if he fumbled but after making him cough it up his running style didn't change.

One area I felt was a glaring issue was the repetitve and cloned animations. I juked 3 defenders coming at me and 2 did the same slip animation at the EXACT SAME TIME. Again I truely hope the most obvious "issues" are ironed out.

Good read.

# 7 DeuceDouglas @ 08/10/11 08:12 PM

I think that this demo is a huge step forward from Madden 11. I do agree with the fact that the speed does feel a bit faster than last years but I don't think it is to the point where you can say the game is arcade. NFL Blitz is arcade. I also absolutely love the new collision system. It makes everything seem so much smoother and the absence of seeing a receiver jet the last five yards of a route is wonderful.

I also think the zone defense have been done very well. I've been playing a lot of Madden 11 recently and on higher difficulty the defenders would literally run your receivers route before he did. With the new defensive approach I was able to complete routes that were an afterthought on M11.

Also, I think the graphics and presentation have been done very well. I love the way players look and I like all the post play cut scenes. I thought the halftime set up was good, the only addition I would have liked to see is a team stat comparison but that's no biggie. The colors and lighting are awesome. I'm not even a fan of the Bears or Packers and I've already played like 10 or so games and will continue playing it up until release.

# 8 Dashdagreat @ 08/10/11 08:24 PM

TOTALLY agree with Jayson and Steve! I couldnt have said it any better.... i dont see where the optimism is coming from from some people... I honestly thought it was just bad! NCAA is a GREAT game! I love that game and though it have flaws, THAT title is heading in the right direction. Madden is just not... to me problems and i dont want to hear the its just a demo. A demo is suppose to make u want to buy the game not say o thats ok its the demo. NCAA was rough but good and made you say "Hey that final build is going to be GREAT!".

Madden just made me say....hmmm.....well at least i got NCAA!

# 9 Dashdagreat @ 08/10/11 08:32 PM

Caley u summed it up for me..

"I am having fun with the demo, but, again, it doesn't feel like NFL football to me -- just an upgraded version of Madden that we have been playing for years. "

# 10 seasprite @ 08/10/11 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dashdagreat


	TOTALLY agree with Jayson and Steve! I couldnt have said it any better.... i dont see where the optimism is coming from from some people... I honestly thought it was just bad! NCAA is a GREAT game! I love that game and though it have flaws, THAT title is heading in the right direction. Madden is just not... to me problems and i dont want to hear the its just a demo. A demo is suppose to make u want to buy the game not say o thats ok its the demo. NCAA was rough but good and made you say "Hey that final build is going to be GREAT!". Madden just made me say....hmmm.....well at least i got NCAA!

I would rather play the demo of M12 all day than play another game of the retail NCAA. AA this year is so full of glitches and breakdowns its hardly playable. The player(especially DBs) warping through WRs and TEs is the most frustrating thing I have ever encountered with a football video game. Its a shame to, because I put AA above Madden for the last 4 years.

# 11 pittsburgher86 @ 08/10/11 08:33 PM

Aren't demo's not the final build of a game? And if not we will probably have a day patch and aren't there tuner sets this year as well? I personally am enjoying the demo and can't wait for August 30th.

# 12 blklightning @ 08/10/11 08:33 PM

no big loss for me. i'll just wait a few more weeks and pick up the hd splinter cell collection in late september. sorry ea; better luck next year.

# 13 blklightning @ 08/10/11 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dashdagreat


	TOTALLY agree with Jayson and Steve! I couldnt have said it any better.... i dont see where the optimism is coming from from some people... I honestly thought it was just bad! NCAA is a GREAT game! I love that game and though it have flaws, THAT title is heading in the right direction. Madden is just not... to me problems and i dont want to hear the its just a demo. A demo is suppose to make u want to buy the game not say o thats ok its the demo. NCAA was rough but good and made you say "Hey that final build is going to be GREAT!". Madden just made me say....hmmm.....well at least i got NCAA!

imo, ncaa is absolutely terrible. they have to resort to the biggest cheat tactics they can think of to give you a challenge. go try nba 2k11 to see how giving the user a challenge is supposed to be done.

# 14 NINJAK2 @ 08/10/11 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeuceDouglas


	2k5 needs to die. There was a reason it was 20 dollars. I would rather play Tecmo Super Bowl than that trash.

It will die when a better NFL game is put out....I'm still waiting.......

I thought the demo was fun and I really liked the presentation, graphics and collision system. Didn't like it as much as the ncaa demo though..

# 15 Dashdagreat @ 08/10/11 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannyr326


	I absolutely love the new collision system. That's one aspect that just feels realistic and stands out as an amazing improvement from last year. Presentation is improved, graphics, etc, (but those aspects are pretty much expected at this point). My main gripe is along the lines of what Jayson and Steve mentioned. The Psychic Cornerbacks are simply ruining the fun of "threading the needle" on higher difficulties and as Jayson said "player warping make it feel like the CPU is at tims cheating you on defense instead of legitimately outsmarting you with superior tactics or skills" *I am shocked because the WR/CB interactions have been broken every year this generation.* *Go ahead and try to fit the ball in those tight spots and the Corner will be facing in the complete opposite direction (running full speed), and still change direction in a split second to make the interception. Fix those problems mentioned above, bring back the importance of controlling ball placement/ trajectory, and implement real-time physics (as the NHL series was able to accomplish) and I will be content with Madden football. Does anyone out there agree?

i do! My biggest problem with Madden is OL/DL play and ball trajectory! They just ruin the game for me... On NCAA im a little more ok with it cause its college, but in a Pro football game, its just inexcusable

# 16 Blitzburgh @ 08/10/11 08:54 PM

Here is a thought... How about someone ask the developers if this build is older than the E3 build! I don't understand why we have to debate such simple questions that are so easy to obtain.

# 17 Dashdagreat @ 08/10/11 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blklightning


	imo, ncaa is absolutely terrible. they have to resort to the biggest cheat tactics they can think of to give you a challenge. go try nba 2k11 to see how giving the user a challenge is supposed to be done.

O ima 2k11 BEAST!!! I would rather be playing a 2k football game, but since its not a option, i like the NCAA. Kinda lesser of 2 evil i guess. LIke i said its flawed ( hence why i wont play it online ), but fix a couple sliders n its enjoyable for me... I would MUCH MUCH rather be playing NFL2k12 but thats a whole different topic

# 18 SportsTop @ 08/10/11 08:56 PM

I'm not sure why the writers that thought the game play was too fast just didn't adjust it to slow in the options.

And yes, you can spotlight receivers, play up or back of individual receivers as well. The issue is the CPU QB hikes the ball too fast to make many of these adjustments.

# 19 mellamoaaron @ 08/10/11 09:03 PM

If you play the game on the default speed and complain about it without changing the game speed down to slow, then I don't have much to say to you. Put the game speed on slow and you can even turn the threshold down to 35, and it plays at a perfect speed (with or without the threshold being lowered).

# 20 The Bimmer @ 08/10/11 09:06 PM

Christian hits the nail right on the head. Lets face it demo impressions while they help the developers to some extent, are just forums for people to give opinions in a world full of opinions.

Lets say we are watching Iron Chef and the judges gave their impressions of the food before the Chef's completed their entree's. We would all be saying "What are they talking about, they arent even done yet".

One may think, well if they gave them the entree to try before it was complete then it would be ok to make redundant remarks, but you see they DONT do that. Thats my point.

Sorry about the rant, I just gotta quite reading DEMO impression threads.

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