Madden NFL 16 News Post

Madden NFL 16: More Hands-On Impressions

10:49 AM - July 1, 2015 by RaychelSnr

It all happened on one glorious looking play. The pocket collapsed from Bridgewater's left side, and with nobody open, he rolled to his right. He has Rudolph open with a little room to spare on the sideline, but the entire defense is swinging back around. Bridgewater fires it, and what normally would have been an easy throw and catch became a fight for the ball. Rudolph moved inward, laying flat-out for the football, but an opposing defender swooped in and knocked it to the ground before the ball could even reach Rudolph's finger-tips.

This play isn't something that's unusual in the realm of NFL football, but it's definitely not something you see every day in Madden. The gameplay has the potential - though it doesn't always reach this potential - to be smooth and realistic looking.

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# 1 roadman @ 07/01/15 11:02 AM

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.

# 2 Datninja619 @ 07/01/15 11:03 AM

" It isn't the gang-tackling of old (seeing seven to eight players pile up is a rarity), but rather a dynamic system in which can actually prevent extra yardage from the ball carrier's side"

Does this mean an end to the falling forward animation? I understand it happens (especially for the Alfred Morris and Lynch types), but the player doesn't even budge when they enter this animation.

# 3 jpdavis82 @ 07/01/15 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMChrisS


	It all happened on one glorious looking play. The pocket collapsed from Bridgewater's left side, and with nobody open, he rolled to his right. He has Rudolph open with a little room to spare on the sideline, but the entire defense is swinging back around. Bridgewater fires it, and what normally would have been an easy throw and catch became a fight for the ball. Rudolph moved inward, laying flat-out for the football, but an opposing defender swooped in and knocked it to the ground before the ball could even reach Rudolph's finger-tips. This play isn't something that's unusual in the realm of NFL football, but it's definitely not something you see every day in Madden. The gameplay has the potential - though it doesn't always reach this potential - to be smooth and realistic looking. Read More - Madden NFL 16: More Hands-On Impressions

Are these impressions from E3 or a more recent play test? When you say the players on the sidelines look a lot better, what do you mean by that?

# 4 sir psycho @ 07/01/15 11:13 AM

Quote:


	A theme to this year's game seemed to be that Tiburon has no intention of players having to use house rules to restrict their games. The CPU, even on moderate difficulty levels, provides more of a challenge than before.

Awesome...I love hearing that as an offline guy. Hopefully this continues to be a theme and they can keep making the CPU smarter/more challenging as we go on.

The bit on the QB accuracy was definitely a bummer. They really need to fix that. I'm hoping the top 2 items that they focus on for gameplay next year are a new passing system that allows for inaccurate passes and a new system for OL/DL interactions.

# 5 Cardot @ 07/01/15 11:16 AM

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.

# 6 jpdavis82 @ 07/01/15 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sir psycho


	Awesome...I love hearing that as an offline guy. Hopefully this continues to be a theme and they can keep making the CPU smarter/more challenging as we go on. The bit on the QB accuracy was definitely a bummer. They really need to fix that. I'm hoping the top 2 items that they focus on for gameplay next year are a new passing system that allows for inaccurate passes and a new system for OL/DL interactions.

I'll have to hear more about this because in my experience it depended on which QB the CPU was and what their ratings were. Peyton manning was lights out but I thought I remembered Tannehill, Cutler, and even Ben R to a degree all struggling.

# 7 SageInfinite @ 07/01/15 11:48 AM

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

# 8 dkp23 @ 07/01/15 11:55 AM

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.

# 9 Armor and Sword @ 07/01/15 12:03 PM

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!

# 10 jb12780 @ 07/01/15 12:07 PM

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

# 11 The JareBear @ 07/01/15 12:10 PM

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.

# 12 BenGerman @ 07/01/15 12:23 PM

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.

# 13 The JareBear @ 07/01/15 12:26 PM

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

# 14 BenGerman @ 07/01/15 12:27 PM

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.

# 15 roadman @ 07/01/15 12:28 PM

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.

Good point, looks like it's back to the sliders for me. I just thought that if the CPU QB is throwing the ball away instead of taking a sack, it might lower the %'s a bit.

Back to sliders, it has worked in previous years, I'll make it work again.

Thanks for the input!

# 16 BenGerman @ 07/01/15 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The JareBear


	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

Agreed, and I think that's where Madden still falls behind other games. It's starting to look the part, but until you provide options to customize the experience against the CPU, you're still going to leave a handful of gamers with an empty experience.

I like the idea of footwork being something they look into. If they could incorporate player skill more into accuracy (which is one of the few reasons I liked the vision cone way back when), then there wouldn't be any complaints from the competitive community, either.

# 17 BenGerman @ 07/01/15 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	Good point, looks like it's back to the sliders for me. I just thought that if the CPU QB is throwing the ball away instead of taking a sack, it might lower the %'s a bit. Back to sliders, it has worked in previous years, I'll make it work again. Thanks for the input!

Makes sense, and maybe it will over a more prolonged sample size. I still saw pretty high numbers, but who knows. It could be that that change along brings a lower % in the long run.

# 18 BenGerman @ 07/01/15 12:35 PM

One thing I remembered this morning that I hadn't mentioned, yet: the CPU still refuses to try and stay inbounds. There was at least two occasions where the CPU ballcarrier could have run in for a touchdown but instead just ran straight out of bounds.

Oddly enough, I saw some really cool "stay in bounds" animations on the user end. It was baffling.

# 19 The JareBear @ 07/01/15 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenGerman


	One thing I remembered this morning that I hadn't mentioned, yet: the CPU still refuses to try and stay inbounds. There was at least two occasions where the CPU ballcarrier could have run in for a touchdown but instead just ran straight out of bounds. Oddly enough, I saw some really cool "stay in bounds" animations on the user end. It was baffling.

Wow, yeah, hopefully this is tuned up before release. Good to know those animations are in the game at our disposal. CPU should be able to utilize them too, I would think?

# 20 BenGerman @ 07/01/15 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The JareBear


	Wow, yeah, hopefully this is tuned up before release. Good to know those animations are in the game at our disposal. CPU should be able to utilize them too, I would think?

You would think. But that was also my concern with the new catch animations... I just didn't see as many on the CPU end as I did the user. Which is fine, I guess? It's just too bad that both sides weren't given equal attention.

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