Madden NFL 25 News Post

Madden NFL 25 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (360, PS3)

06:26 AM - August 13, 2013 by Rawdeal28

The Madden NFL 25 demo is available now for 360 gold subscribers, you can queue it up right here. It weighs in at just under 2 GB.

We'll update this post when it's available for the PS3. According to EA Sports, it should be available at roughly 3:00 PM EST.

UPDATE: The demo is available now for PS3 users.

The demo includes the following.

Two never-before-seen videos

New England Patriots owner, Robert Kraft talks about Owner Mode
Compilation of some of the new Madden 25 features

Four drills for the Skills Trainer

Precision Modified Running
Total Control Passing
The Option
Ball Hawk

Play Now Matchups

San Francisco 49ers vs. Baltimore Ravens
Seattle Seahawks vs. Green Bay Packers

Details

You can set the difficulty level
You can adjust sliders
Full game with 5 minute quarters
Only one camera angle in demo (Standard)
It will have commentary
49ers are the team available in Skills Trainer

Game: Madden NFL 25Reader Score: 5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / PS4 / Xbox 360 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 54 - View All

Madden NFL 25 Videos

Member Comments

# 761 Armor and Sword @ 08/15/13 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RGiles36


	I got a similar feeling, but more about the AI learning and adjusting. I've been dying for that to find it's way in Madden for five years now. All of this. The presentation is just demoralizing at this point, with M12 being the lone bright spot this entire generation. Most people don't care to go into that level of detail as you did, but props for taking time out to do that. I'm just at a loss of words with the presentation this entire generation. Honestly, I operate under the assumption that gameplay will get better & better over the years. I believe that. But I wonder if there will ever be a full commitment to broadcast presentation. This half-hearted and stiched together version of a broadcast has been frustrating and exhausting. We barely have presentation options for pete's sake. Is Madden the only sports game where you can't toggle the amount of instant replays? I really don't mean to sound like the evil GC. I've been waiting a long time for the presentation to rival what I enjoyed years ago in that other game, and save for M12, it never comes close .

Ok in regards to Madden 12 which is a game I really enjoy, other than the great camera angles between plays and great replays nothing about its other presentation is even average. The play by play was an abortion. The team entrances became stale after year one. Madden has never had top notch presentation.....including 12.

# 762 RGiles36 @ 08/15/13 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armor & Sword


	Ok in regards to Madden 12 which is a game I really enjoy, *other than the great camera angles between plays and great replays nothing about its other presentation is even average*. The play by play was an abortion. The team entrances became stale after year one. Madden has never had top notch presentation.....including 12.

A conversation for another thread certainly, but we can't just say besides the great camera angles... -- the camera angles are a BIG deal

. Some on this forum argued that those are the best cameras in a football game to date.

To make this relevant to the demo/impressions, it sticks out like a sore thumb to me that those angles have gone missing in M25. Football, at its core, can be a boring and methodical game. 3 yard runs and checkdowns aren't exciting, but the presentation keeps you engaged.

It's not so much that the presentation was top notch in M12 b/c it wasn't; but it marked the first time they put some real effort into presentation and for the first walk around the block, it was encouraging. With better commentary which was soon to come and some dynamic stat banners, they were on to something. They've undone a lot of that forward progress.

# 763 slthree @ 08/15/13 10:59 PM

As the Seahawks I lined up and the entire Packer Defense was invisible, all 11 guys. Ive seen 2 before but never 11.

This persisted for 2 plays and I took a delay of game and the team was back. Maybe that will work for others. Maybe it was coincidence

# 764 Seth79 @ 08/15/13 11:29 PM

My receivers can burn right by CB's. All I have to do is change the route to run straight up field. This works every time when CB's are trying to jam my receiver.

I had this problem in madden 13 and tested it on the demo on all madden difficulty and it's still there. Anyone notice this and know if EA will address this? Slider adjustments really didnt help last year. The "fix" was to turn up interceptions to 100%. This just barely helped.

Any response would be awesome. Thanks!

# 765 Formula1Racing @ 08/16/13 12:29 AM

Played two games on the XBOX360. From what I can see, looks like they tighten the graphics and it runs smoother then M13.

So far I like it! I pre-ordered the PS4(MLB The Show reason) and Madden25 for it so I hope it is just as good or better for the new consoles.

# 766 Ampking101 @ 08/16/13 02:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by celtics6


	Why is it always wait until next year with EA? I swear they do this stuff purposely and it's all marketing. I play the show and there aren't these AI issues. NBA 2k13 also doesn't have nearly the AI issues either. This has been my major complaint with EA football for the last 25 years. So I'm supposed to believe and applaud them for finally getting it when other games don't have these issues? What will be missing next? ::Golf clap::

I think one of the things us fans forget (and even I am guilty for it). The game of football is a very different game than say Football (Soccer), Hockey, Basketball, and even Baseball. One thing all these other sports have in common (save for baseball) is that all the players do very similar things. Take basketball for example, yes you have different positions but is a Point Guard really all that different than a forward (this also kind of applies to soccer as well)? I'm not talking logistics, I'm talking about the fact that all of them technically have the same job, which is shooting and guarding the ball. The only real difference in the games are ratings. Now with soccer you have the goalie which has a slightly different job/mechanic which is solely to defend the goal (this is also similar to hockey).

Now with baseball it's a little closer comparison. You have an "offense and defense" on the field. The pitcher has one job, the batter has another, you have basemen, and outfielders (though those last two can basically be programed together). However not all of them are involved in every plays, you don't have a ton of different types of pitches (I'm not talking stylistically just program wise), and you only need a number of catch animations for both infielders and outfielders.

Now in football we have a number of jobs. We have the quarterback, we have the wide receivers and runningbacks, we have blockers, we have tightends and fullbacks (who double as multiple positions), we have defensive backs, we have rushers, and we have line backers who double as rushers and defensive backs. All of this on every play, while all being in view at all times, and having everyone do their job correctly.

All that to say, I think we are a little too harsh on EA and Tiburon. While I think that they could better than they have, we are all equating it the 2k football game. Well let's be honest 2k found the golden code when they were around, EA wasn't so lucky especially when it comes to current gen and it's not exactly like they can steal the code, and with only a year for development between each release, it makes it that much harder....

The PS3 invisible bug I equate to "not all games port equally" (as stated in an earlier post of mine).

The disappearing features from year to year IS suspect but with EA it seems to be a lose-lose. Countless years I've seen people complain that something isn't in the game, EA puts it in next year (albiet not always perfect), they get complaints all year about it, they take it out, same people complain it was taken out (search for QB Vision Cone for an example).

Sorry to kind of go of topic but I think we all forget these things. Do I still think EA is a bad company? Yes. Do I think they could do better? Definitely. Do I think they deserve as much of a hard time as we give them? Not quite cause looking at the demo of Madden 25 I can see that they are at least trying.

Now come Madden 16 (or 27 or whatever they call it) I'll revisit this post and hopefully I won't be disappointed in at least slightly defending them.

# 767 vannwolfhawk @ 08/16/13 02:36 AM

I already posted this in another thread but why can't shutdown corners like r. Sherman stop a curl route in man 2 man coverage. I can literally run the same play and route and complete it 90-100% of the time! Mind you I have all madden and cpu pass reaction and coverage maxed at 100 and user pass block at 0. This has been an issue for years. Why has it been ignored?

# 768 R9NALD9 @ 08/16/13 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big FN Deal


	Well I just fired up the demo for a quick confirmation on a concern I had about player differential and sure enough it's present. Anyone can feel free to try it out themselves, I played with the Packers(me) vs Seahawks(cpu) and subbed out the starting TE for an Offensive lineman. Sure enough he ran routes just as crisp as if it were Finely. Granted he could NOT make plays on the ball or catches like Finely but as far as the release off the line, route running and YAC, any difference was negligible. There was one play where the TE/OL was wide open on a horizontal out towards the sideline, due to two receivers going deep vertical, he caught the ball and turned it up field along the sideline as if he were an agile light on his feet skill position player, not a 300+ pound lineman. Also, the foot planting was definitely a needed addition but it seems to be generic and superimposed with little to no regard for player height, weight or applicable ratings. So it seems that like in M13, IE is just about adding physics for certain collisions or contact, not about bringing physics to how the entire game is animated and plays out. Kudos to anyone that is enjoying the demo and will enjoy the retail but I just can't overlook this stuff anymore. I hope all these word games and slight of hand stop with Madden on the new consoles. Now I wonder if the fluid movement touted for Ignite Engine is something that will impact the entire game or will it be more of the same.

I've got some bad news for you if you expect this to change soon.

Look at Fifa...they sell the game as if the players have individuality...they don't nearly have as much as EA want us to believe. If you play PES...although and inferior game on an inferior engine...the player individuality is superb. Player individuality in FIFA has been a problem for decades.

The PES games on PS2 had better player individuality than what FIFA has now with all their marketing hype and fancy names.

EA will probably never go the realistic player individuality route...it's too sim and will frustrate the casual gamer probably too much.

It's a pity...a NFL game has so much potential.

# 769 swac07 @ 08/16/13 03:21 AM

Tried the demo...it was ok. The players felt like they had no weight to them[ tackles and general contact] imo,its like I was playing with nfl balloon players and that really bothered me. Lol even my brother [who doesn't really play sports games] walked in on me playing and said "why does everything seem real "floaty" with the players?"I can say the game looks good though especially during instant replays, but the presentation and crowd noises are still very cut and dry like previous versions. I'll pass on it again this year...maybe next gen will spark my interests.

Oh and EA might wanna tone down the injuries lol it's horrible right now

# 770 BradyBunch88 @ 08/16/13 07:16 AM

I've been playing Madden since '09 every year.

The best game I played was Madden 12 hands down. I loved the Franchise mode, they got that game pretty darn good if you ask me! It's been the only Madden game I played for the whole year, from release to the release of M13.

In terms of the Madden 25 demo, I actually like what I see.

First game I played, Packers vs Seahawks. I won 20-7 with the Packers. On Pro difficulty.

Things I noticed were the gameplay runs a lot smoother. Past Madden games it always felt a bit rough around the edges, lots of silly A.I. moves, lots of "cheat" plays etc. This game, I feel like I played and received - from the CPU - a fair game.

I love the run game now! The blockers actually block and the little juke moves, the quick little cuts the RB makes behind his O-Line to throw off DTs etc. I love it. Makes it so much more fun.

With the right sliders - someone better go wake up Jarodd! This game could actually be pretty fun!

# 771 R9NALD9 @ 08/16/13 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghettogeeksta


	How in the heck would player individuality frustrate the casual gamers? NBA 2K took over NBA Live when NBA 2K was a more sim game. And NBA Live was the Madden of basketball nobody thought that franchise could end up like this. Madden is just so far behind getting the basics down that Tiburon didn't have time to add nice features like player individuality, custom cameras, historic teams, new controls, penalties and so forth; I mean Madden 25 should have been 4-5 years ago.

It just makes it easier to win if every player can do everything perfectly on the field.

I'm totally with you, I wish we could have decent player individuality..I just don't think it's priority at all at EA, and won't be soon. Whether they are far behind or not...almost 50% of the problems to core gameplay is player individuality or ratings based IMO. Line play, locomotion, robo QB's, QB's trucking LB's etc.

# 772 Supersonic_BR @ 08/16/13 08:28 AM

At first i was underwhelmed, but after playing this demo for a while, i really, really like the direction the game is taking.

The running game is AWESOME, after being a complete bore fest during the ps360 days, they finally made the running game fun again.

This game is also really smooth, this benefits the passing game greatly. Really like some of the new animations.

Is it perfect? of course not, but i'm eager to put my hand on the full game.

Also eager to see what they can do with the next generation version.

EDIT: Oh, Kaepernick is unstoppable, how the hell can you stop him?

EDIT 2: also think the menus are a little confusing, specially on the defensive side of the ball. I'll get used to it, though, just a bit different from past iterations.

# 773 Supersonic_BR @ 08/16/13 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpdavis82


	I played 2 games last night and in both the CPU was ahead with less than a minute left and came out in victory formation and kneeled. They also kneeled at the half in the first game, when they were inside their own 20 with about 30 seconds left.

Yep, was up 14 7 against green bay, green bay had the ball around the 25 yard line with 10 seconds to go and no time outs, they kneeled. (obviously in the first half)

# 774 Supersonic_BR @ 08/16/13 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghettogeeksta


	Cut scenes gotta gotta go! I don't want a fricken mini dance cam stopping the flow of the game. They need to have the players celebrate without stopping the game like other sports titles. If next gen Madden 25 have cut scenes especially the same old recycled ones from current gen, it's an auto fail and I won't buy it! My fricken thumbs are sore from pressing the A button to skip pass them.

That i agree with. It's funny, in Fifa, an EA game, after you score a goal there are no cutscenes on celebrations, you control your celebration on the fly.

I don't get why implementing something like this is so hard to do.

# 775 rudyjuly2 @ 08/16/13 10:08 AM

I finally got to play a couple games from the demo and I�m really happy with it. If you hated Madden last year I doubt you will change your mind with this game. It�s an evolutionary step in the right direction. Since I enjoyed M13 I�m sure I will enjoy M25. Time will tell if the retail is exposed for bugs or problems but I had a lot of fun in two games.

PRESENTATION

I liked the new intros with the logos stamping on to each other. I�ve read people call the game lifeless and boring but I disagree. I thought the crowd sounded decent and I like the commentary. I thought Simms and Nantz were a fantastic addition last year and they will be good again next year. My biggest problem from last year was some comments were incorrect and there wasn�t enough specific commentary for certain type of plays like screen plays and the read option. Those aren�t just basic pass and run plays � they deserve extra attention to detail. After TDs the commentary would sometimes go silent and that could use a boost. The sideline reporter seemed good. I chose not to send Ray Rice in after an injury as he was high risk and she said that the team has held him out but he could return. Of course there is no commentary during the half time show but at least we get real replays. The replays themselves are a lot better but I wish they would show more angles and some of those need to be press box zoomed out angles more. I did see stat overlays during the game which are good.

Overall I like the presentation but some things are goofy. There are a lot of Gatorade cut scenes but no water comes out of the bottle in to the players� mouths. While I like the starting lineups being shown in full, the 3-4 teams should not have a 4 man line announced. Only a 3 man line should be shown.

The camera pre-snap is much too far away. I didn�t really understand these complaints until I saw it myself. During gameplay it�s fine but there is no reason to show that much field pre-snap. I can not only see all the WRs but I can also see the sidelines and the fan in the first row picking his nose. Simply too far.

The frame rate was a little choppy at times (PS3) but overall I think the game looks great other than the disappearing players I saw at the end of one game.

GAMEPLAY

EA has made Madden easier over the years and this year is no exception. All-Madden plays a very balanced and good game for me. The two big slider adjustments necessary are to drop QB accuracy and pass block (15 to 20 imo) but other than that it was good. The running game and read option seemed about right. I saw nothing goofy. The coverage was a bit loose at times but it also tightened up and made plays as well. I really enjoyed the two games I played which I lost 20-14 (I was Seahawks) and 20-16 (I was Ravens). Both times I had the ball on the final drive and threw an INT to end it (my fault on both). This is with acc clock turned off.

Player momentum felt good. I play on Slow speed so the game is smoother and had no issues. The DL play is better. There is more movement on blocks. I was Chris Canty on one play and strung out a run and made the tackle. It felt great not being stationary all the time or seeing the loser always end up on the ground. Guys keep battling. Even when stonewalled I felt I could still move or eventually get loose without the traditional obvious winner/loser outcome of the past. I did struggle rushing the passer but I think it will be more balanced between the r-stick moves and the basic turbo move (just turbo, engage and sack).

I think the one area that always bears scrutiny in an EA football game is the passing game. I thought it was pretty good. I saw a few deep balls hit by the cpu (Aaron Rodgers toasted me a couple times) and I hit a couple. I�m not a great passer so I can�t expose the cpu coverage like some. Every year I hear people complain about the lack of sacks or pressure for the user. I think some of this may be fair but people also need to realize that the great pass rushers get one sack per game and an additional 2-3 hurries in 30-40 rush attempts. Average players might sniff the QB 1-2 times a game (combined sacks and hurries). If teams average 3 sacks a game that is considered good. Also, we are not in the pocket like a real QB so we can�t sense pressure to help us know when to release the ball. One of the biggest problems in an EA football game this gen has been the cpu QB AI. They make too many bad decisions and throw too many INTs. This is REALLY bad if you get significant pressure. People need to accept the fact that both the user and cpu QB get more time to throw than the real NFL but it�s necessary for the video game experience. I can�t come close to hitting a real 95 mph fastball but I certainly can in a video game because it�s easier and not super realistic. Same goes for time in the pocket. A realistic amount would frustrate the vast majority of gamers. I do think the pass rush is too weak at default but I think slider adjustments alleviate this as I still got sacks every game.

The other long standing problem with passing in an EA football game is that balls rarely hit the ground in the passing game. It always hits someone whether it�s completed, dropped or picked off which is disappointing and I saw that in the demo. The QBs in the demo are excellent so it�s hard to know how bad this really is but I think QB accuracy has to be dropped a lot to fix this. I need to play around with this more.

I did return one kick for a TD with Jacoby Jones and broke a couple other nice ones too.

OVERALL

The videos prior to the demo bored me. This demo made me happy. I really enjoyed the two games I played and am definitely looking forward to the release.

# 776 icicle22 @ 08/16/13 10:17 AM

I really seem to like where this is going but I have an issue that is nagging me that I saw someone mention earlier but nobody ever followed up on it. The passing seems to have lost some of it's control. I feel as though I cannot lead my receivers nearly as well as in the past. This is with Aarron Rodgers too. I pick a streak, my receiver gets a step on the CB, I push the left stick up and to the outside...intending to lead him and fade to the sideline but the pass is thrown to the inside and hangs up. The CB makes up ground and the safety comes over and they go up and either intercept or knock it down.

I saw this over and over and felt frustrated. I went into the skills drill and tried the passing and discovered it didn't feel right in there either. When It told me to lead the receiver, it just didn't feel like I was leading him much if at all, despite really laying on the stick. In the past, I could overthrow guys or lead them so much they couldn't get to it. It feels as if the passes are now more scripted and thrown right to the receiver no matter how much I try to influence it.

Anyone else seeing of feeling this? The passing last year was dead on.....

# 777 roadman @ 08/16/13 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icicle22


	I really seem to like where this is going but I have an issue that is nagging me that I saw someone mention earlier but nobody ever followed up on it. The passing seems to have lost some of it's control. I feel as though I cannot lead my receivers nearly as well as in the past. This is with Aarron Rodgers too. I pick a streak, my receiver gets a step on the CB, I push the left stick up and to the outside...intending to lead him and fade to the sideline but the pass is thrown to the inside and hangs up. The CB makes up ground and the safety comes over and they go up and either intercept or knock it down. I saw this over and over and felt frustrated. I went into the skills drill and tried the passing and discovered it didn't feel right in there either. When It told me to lead the receiver, it just didn't feel like I was leading him much if at all, despite really laying on the stick. In the past, I could overthrow guys or lead them so much they couldn't get to it. It feels as if the passes are now more scripted and thrown right to the receiver no matter how much I try to influence it. Anyone else seeing of feeling this? The passing last year was dead on.....

Actually, I thought the lead passing was off last year. I'd flick the left stick left and the ball would sail right.

# 778 icicle22 @ 08/16/13 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	Actually, I thought the lead passing was off last year. I'd flick the left stick left and the ball would sail right.

Really? I never got that feeling. I felt that I could really lay the ball in there over the LBs and in front of the secondary....and lead the receiver whichever direction he was already going. If I put to much lead on it I would overthrow him some. This year....it feels less sensitive and I feel I cannot lead with any success at all.

# 779 schmit_95 @ 08/16/13 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icicle22


	I really seem to like where this is going but I have an issue that is nagging me that I saw someone mention earlier but nobody ever followed up on it. The passing seems to have lost some of it's control. I feel as though I cannot lead my receivers nearly as well as in the past. This is with Aarron Rodgers too. I pick a streak, my receiver gets a step on the CB, I push the left stick up and to the outside...intending to lead him and fade to the sideline but the pass is thrown to the inside and hangs up. The CB makes up ground and the safety comes over and they go up and either intercept or knock it down. I saw this over and over and felt frustrated. I went into the skills drill and tried the passing and discovered it didn't feel right in there either. When It told me to lead the receiver, it just didn't feel like I was leading him much if at all, despite really laying on the stick. In the past, I could overthrow guys or lead them so much they couldn't get to it. It feels as if the passes are now more scripted and thrown right to the receiver no matter how much I try to influence it. Anyone else seeing of feeling this? The passing last year was dead on.....

I think it was my post you were referring to. It is definitely off from last year. I do the same thing hold up on the L stick on a streak, Boldin has at least 2 steps, I tap the button with what I think is just enough pressure to put some air under the ball, it gets intercepted every time. I hold left, the ball does the same thing it would do if I just tapped the button. Hope this is not in the retail version....

# 780 Only1LT @ 08/16/13 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icicle22


	I really seem to like where this is going but I have an issue that is nagging me that I saw someone mention earlier but nobody ever followed up on it. The passing seems to have lost some of it's control. I feel as though I cannot lead my receivers nearly as well as in the past. This is with Aarron Rodgers too. I pick a streak, my receiver gets a step on the CB, I push the left stick up and to the outside...intending to lead him and fade to the sideline but the pass is thrown to the inside and hangs up. The CB makes up ground and the safety comes over and they go up and either intercept or knock it down. I saw this over and over and felt frustrated. I went into the skills drill and tried the passing and discovered it didn't feel right in there either. When It told me to lead the receiver, it just didn't feel like I was leading him much if at all, despite really laying on the stick. In the past, I could overthrow guys or lead them so much they couldn't get to it. It feels as if the passes are now more scripted and thrown right to the receiver no matter how much I try to influence it. Anyone else seeing of feeling this? The passing last year was dead on.....

I've noticed the same thing.

In the skills drill, when you're supposed to throw a pass low, no matter how long I held the stick down, the ball would never be lower than chest high, and sometimes the receiver caught the ball over his head, yet it still gave me a check as if the pass was low.

In games, it was harder to lead receivers as well. Seemed very limited.

Most likely, this is their "fix" for being able to change routes so drastically last year. Instead of having the same amount of control over the pass, but making the receivers not be able to adjust to changes that are too drastic through modifications of reaction time, awareness, and locomotion, they just greatly toned down how much you can control the ball's vector, because this is Madden, and passing is so tethered that ball control and receiver control are practically one and the same.

Long story short, to say that Tiburon is clueless about how to implement a passing game, would be a grievous understatement. They have been quite inept on this front since Madden 99, when they pretty much nailed the passing game, only to turnaround and botch it on the PS2 and henceforth (with the exceptions of 2003 and 07).

Not coincidentally, 99 was the last game made before their truly talented designers left to form their own studio and create another Football game, that you may have heard of.

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