Madden 25 Demo Impression thread

[GatorfanStovy]

The demo is here people to play.

Here is the EA link for information which has been posted in the info thread.

http://www.easports.com/madden-nfl/news-updates-gameplay/article/madden-25-release-date

My first game was a little rough at first in the first half. But eventfully I got the running game going with Sf and and just ran down the Ravens defense.

Graphically this game blows last year out of the water and seems to me be an upgrade I was really impressed with the player moments as well as the side line action. It was a lot more then usual it seemed. You could equipment like the field goal net a tread mil and a few coaches and players. The field it self looked great in detail. I could really tell the crowd a tad bit better about being in the game but not like in real life it is getting there.

Presentation wise it was just blah not much happen as far as half time presentation or post game for demo.

Commentary was the same ole crap to me I couldn't tell any difference from last year but I wasn't really listening all that well as I was just impressed with the new graphics from last year.

Game play - Lets get to it! The first thing I noticed with game play was the blocking on kick return and punt returns and it a whole lot better and you can get a good feel for the running motions they added and use them to a good advantaged with the new blocking.

Offense - For the life I could not get the option run game going at all but the regular running it was great. Again blocking seemed a lot better. The new run free stuff is really great to use with the RB and wide outs. The passing game was on target as usual depending on well you can pass and what the defense is doing. It seemed that I could just pass all over the field against the Ravens. I think they were man most of the time.

Defense - Defense seemed to me it is a lot better about man coverage except on deep patterns. I got burned just about every deep pattern the Ravens ran and hurt me on key downs. I dunno if it was the CB's SF had or AI is broken again. But fairness the defense on run game seems a lot better. Everytime I blitz I could easily sack Flacco or stop the run game in the back field. The biggest flaw or it was me sucking bad is the deep passing and out routes I could not stop for the life of me.

Overall stats for my game was pretty small compared to the Ravens. I only had about 120 yards passing to their 220 because of a few deep bombs Flacco eased out of my defense. Running yards I had was more of 125 to there 70 or so can't remember. I won 24-17 SF. It was a very close game my defense came up with 2 INT one my Aso and other by Willis. I was confused on the play of the game because it was the Ravens goal line fade for a td. To me it should of been one of my INT I would of though. Gore had 3 rushing TD's both at the goal line. Kaep had a descent passing game for only 5 minutes of a game. My defense won me the game.

Overall I enjoyed the one game I played it did feel a lot better then 13 and to me feels more like football. We will see how it goes down the line on next gen. I won't be jumping about Madden until Xbox One comes out. So NCAA will just have to keep me busy until.

[Rudy]

Nice impressions. I just started my download but it's 3.6 GB on the PS3! I'm getting just under 1 mbs at the hotel and with the logjam on PSN I will be lucky to be able to play it tomorrow.

[jaymo76]

Here are all my random thoughts in one place...

Game 1: Seahaws 10 vs Packers (me) 17 on all pro

I chose this game because I wanted to see how the read option would be from the cpu. REFLECTION: I was surprised to see how few times Wilson actually ran the ball.

visuals are stunning (players and stadiums look great)
default game speed is far too fast for my liking
commentary is better but there are still a lot of dead spots
I see they added the NCAA guess the play feature
Rb's seem pretty over powered with the truck-stick (I watched Lynch truck-stick 3 linemen
my first run from Lacy a 46 yard carry on a hb counter... overall running the ball is very easy
penalties are non-existent on default (zero penalties in my first game
the stiff arm is just way, way, way, way too overpowered
* Rice stiff-armed SIX players on one pass play!!!!
ball hawk feature works very well!
the crowd is great and the chants sound wonderful
I have seen a lot of drops by my wr's
zone d is fairly soft and a lot of post routes are poorly covered
the audible system is much improved IMO
there just aren't enough stat overlays for my liking (NCAA is far superior)
I like the sideline reporter but only heard her once
halftime show is not a show... it's pointless
infinity 2.0 seems a lot more crisp than last year
play action is money if it's set up well
haven't really seen any fatigue in this game
celebrations after td's are pretty cool
uniform degradation is far better in madden than it is in NCAA
the qb read option is guaranteed for big yards
I struggled to generate a pass rush all game. Sims even commented on it
route mirroring is still alive and well in Tiburon football...
the Seahawks had more injuries in the game (3) then I have seen in any one game on NCAA 14.
player of the game still screwed up... a defender with an int and i tackle is the mvp

Overall if you love D may may not enjoy this game at times. It is totally geared towards offense, specifically the run game.
I had a lot of fun playing the game but there is nothing breakthrough about this game. It's your standard Tiburon offering.

Forgot to mention the rushing stats...

Lynch 14 carries for 93 yards and a td (6.6 ypc) with 9 broken tackles and well over 20 stiff arms/trucks
Lacy 13 carries for 107 yards (8.2 ypc)

A strange stat.... Seattle had 22 pancakes and I had 3!!!
there are also very few assisted tackles in this game (I had 4 and the cpu had none)


Game 2: SF vs Baltimore (me)

In game two I put the gameplay on very slow and it feels so much better.

I also put injuries and fatigue to 70... SF has already lost their first two rbs halfway through the first. These sliders totally work.

It's nice to see that now all of the players in the starting lineups are recognized rather than the key players
Running with Ray Rice feels entirely different than running with Lacy. It feels like driving a tank with Rice when he cuts.
Game 2 played 100% different than game 1... it was all defense as I lost 10-7 to SF. A couple of extra notes after two games.
1. Zero penalties in two games
2. zero fumbles in two games
3. speed backs will be huge in this game as power backs can be slow to get off the mark
4. most injuries are not reported so you don't what's happening
5. cpu logic is better but still sometimes questionable.
6. ask madden... don't use it IMO


game 3: penalties at 100 test

GB vs Seattle (me)

penalties in order

1st q
facemask: 1
facemask 2
2q.
facemask 3 (me) (on a kickoff)
facemask 4
facemask 5
facemask 6
holding 1 (on a kickoff)

In the first half five of the six facemasks came on qb runs. My facemask was on a kick return

q3.
false start (me)
roughing the passer
holding (me) negated a td
facemask
holding (on the kickoff)
falsestart

q4.
falsestart (me)
falsestart (me)


I blew out GB 35-7 in this game. With all penalties at 100:

Seattle: 6 - 45
GB 10 - 102

It seems that false start, and face mask and the occasional holding are the only penalties called. Next game I will probably keep everything at 100 except I will turn facemask and falsestart down to 75.

I am really enjoying very slow with 70 injury and 70 fatigue. I might try slow next game though just to see. Either way, default is just too fast. I also need to look at threshold. Last year I had 30 so that may be the next test.

[jaymo76]

Upon reflection in you enjoyed Madden 13 and like NCAA 14 this game will be perfect for you. There are no surprises: Madden 13 gameplay with NCAA 14 traits. Nothing will shock or surprise tyou about this game nor IMO will it blow you away. I will be buying it and probably will play it more than NCAA due to OWNER MODE. However, this game will need some pretty big slider tweaks again.

Penalties for the most part don't work so I will not spend much time there. I will probably play on ALL-PRO with VERY SLOW speed as the default speed is way too fast for my liking. I also like injuries at 70 as it feels very realistic. I currently have fatigue at 70 but I may play around with that further. I used 70 for Madden 13. What I may do later tonight is try out my Madden 13 slider set with madden 25 demo and see how they play.

The areas that need most focus will be:
cpu qb accuracy
rb truck skills / stiffarm is pretty overpowered
cpu/hum zone D

[jaymo76]

Completely forgot to mention... people have criticized the zoomed out camera. I on the other hand really like it and it's the one I will use in season pass.

[WolverineJay]

I have played 2 games and the skill trainer on PS3.

Biggest gripes right now is invisible players during gameplay and weak defense. In both games the final scores were 34-27, lost to Packers and beat Ravens. During the 2nd half of Packers game their defense only would show 4 players the rest were only shadows and during the Ravens game their WR's and RB's were invisible. My 3 year old son was laughing and said do it again daddy do it again I like seeing the football float down the field, ridiculous.

[jaymo76]

I have played 2 games and the skill trainer on PS3.

Biggest gripes right now is invisible players during gameplay and weak defense. In both games the final scores were 34-27, lost to Packers and beat Ravens. During the 2nd half of Packers game their defense only would show 4 players the rest were only shadows and during the Ravens game their WR's and RB's were invisible. My 3 year old son was laughing and said do it again daddy do it again I like seeing the football float down the field, ridiculous.

I have not seen this issue but I know it has been reported by a portion of PS3 users.

[ryby6969]

I had like 10 minutes to try it out today and had the invisible players so I just deleted the demo. Not worth messing with.

[GatorfanStovy]

It is only on the ps3 the invisible player thing? the xbox one seems to run smoothly and no issues.

[Rudy]

I've heard about the invisible players. My demo is invisible as I just hit 15% on my stupid hotel connection. I will have to hope for tomorrow some time or Thursday at the latest to play it. The good thing about tweaking sliders this year is that there are barely any sliders at all anymore! I didn't have an issue with getting rid of RB Break tackles since it's largely correlated to the Tackle slider (some will debate the tackle slider triggers bigger hits when higher) but why not add an RB Ability slider? I would always give the cpu RB a little boost. And I don't understand not adding separate special teams sliders.

[jaymo76]

I've heard about the invisible players. My demo is invisible as I just hit 15% on my stupid hotel connection. I will have to hope for tomorrow some time or Thursday at the latest to play it. The good thing about tweaking sliders this year is that there are barely any sliders at all anymore! I didn't have an issue with getting rid of RB Break tackles since it's largely correlated to the Tackle slider (some will debate the tackle slider triggers bigger hits when higher) but why not add an RB Ability slider? I would always give the cpu RB a little boost. And I don't understand not adding separate special teams sliders.

The DL pressure is just brutal in the sense that it does not exist. In my third game, Rodgers had 11+ seconds on multiple plays to pass the ball. I believe pass rush has been removed so I gues I will tweak pass block and see if that helps. The special teams thing continues to be a legacy question. Why does Tiburon do what it does???

[I OU a Beatn]

I didn't mess around with it a lot, but I played long enough to realize there is going to be no defense, just like on NCAA. Maybe Ram's conspiracy theory of EA trying to dumb it down so that more people potentially buy it is actually true, because I'm having a hard time believing the guys on the respective NCAA and Madden teams think this is how defense is played. I mean, they do realize it doesn't take 8 seconds for a 4 man rush to get home, that zone coverage isn't that loose, and that man doesn't get roasted so easily, right?

It is 100% absolutely atrocious. The stupid thing is I've been bitching about the pass rush since '09 and I think it's actually worse this year than any year before. It's really becoming an annoying trend. I've played a good 100 games on NCAA '14 against friends, the CPU, and a few online games in Ultimate Team, and I have punted no more than 5 times and I've kicked field goals no more than 10 times. Honestly, barring some God patch, I don't see Madden being any different.

Oh well, not like I pay for it. I'll at least have some fun with my Rams this year.

[jaymo76]

I finally saw the cpu squib kick!!! I have never seen the cpu squib in madden.

[jaymo76]

I have been playing with the sliders all night and some work okay while most others seem to have no real impact. Eg.

pass rush even at zero does very little
fumbles has no impact at all



In addition to things not working, add hb screens to the list. Also I retract my statement about the read option being successful. It's actually stuffed for a loss on most plays.

The more I have played this game tonight the less I am enjoying it. Broken sliders, soft zone D, backups who play identical to starters, etc. impact the overall enjoyment of this game. It's a decent game but it has a long way to go to be great.

[Rudy]

You guys aren't cheering me up! With Madden removing so many sliders it was even more important they be strong enough and tuned properly but it doesn't appear to be true. Unfortunately the big game changers for Madden don't give a crap about them either. They never even looked at them while they were there to tell me if special teams sliders were in! I guess some of us slider guys are in the minority but they are very important to me.

Jaymo, when you get done messing with the sliders I'd like to see what you are using. I don't know if I will go All-Pro or All-Madden. The cpu QB play has been so bad with EA that I usually have to go to All-Madden just to avoid them throwing picks like crazy. In M13 there was no such thing as a great cpu passing game. I'm really hoping we can use the new pass coverage slider to help fix that and/or have EA make guys like Brady, Rodgers, Manning, etc be super dangerous. What level do you see yourself playing this on?

[countryboy]

I guess I am the only one who is absolutely enjoying this game! I have played two games thus far, one of each, and I absolutely love what I am playing. The only sliders I have adjusted is playing All-Madden, I set my sliders back to '50' to match the cpu.

As the Ravens I beat the 49ers 10-7. Loved how the 49ers mixed up their offense with read options and read option passes. Frank Gore is a beast! And I actually love playing defense! The ability to disguise cushion, highlight who to target on option plays, shading receivers, I can actually scheme a defense to take things away. And did I mention I am able to get a pass rush with a 4 man rush!

As the Packers I lost to the Seahawks 17-0. I threw a pick six on my own 20 yard line and then gave up a punt return for a TD. B.J. Raji got around the end on a pass play and kocked Wilson out of the game!

The only issue I have, and this is common amongst Madden games, is the penalities. Need to mess with them today.

God I am going to play the hell out of this game.

[countryboy]

The DL pressure is just brutal in the sense that it does not exist. In my third game, Rodgers had 11+ seconds on multiple plays to pass the ball. I believe pass rush has been removed so I gues I will tweak pass block and see if that helps. The special teams thing continues to be a legacy question. Why does Tiburon do what it does???

I've had zero issue with the pass rush. As the Packers, I got to Wilson 3 times before Raji eventually knocked him out of the game in the 3rd quarter. I have had times where my rush didn't get to him, but more often than not, I have made the QB make a quick decision with the ball.

[countryboy]

It is only on the ps3 the invisible player thing? the xbox one seems to run smoothly and no issues.

I'm on the PS3 and haven't seen invisisble players. I have seen what I guess could be considered shadow players when playing GB/SEA although I think it was more a lighting issue than anything. ONly occurred when the SEA safeties were in endzone.

[skipwondah33]

I started my download at around 6 lastnight....it still wasn't done at 11:30 when I stopped. Believe it was at 86%

Not sure I'll even finish it, I can wait 10 days or so to just download early release.

I downloaded the NCAA early release and Madden 13 in a little over an hour...yet this thing is taking 5+ hours

From the guys I play in leagues I hear Defense is playing better...CB's break on Curls and Comebacks moreso than they did in 13 (sporadic then)

I had no problem with Defense at all last version but Defense is my preferred specialty.

[jaymo76]

I'm on the PS3 and haven't seen invisisble players. I have seen what I guess could be considered shadow players when playing GB/SEA although I think it was more a lighting issue than anything. ONly occurred when the SEA safeties were in endzone.

I finally saw my first invisible players last night before I stopped playing. There were two on D and one ony my offense. It was weird because at first I didn't recognize it s I was thinking what are these gray smudges on the field? Then I clued in. In all the years of Madden that is the firstg time I saw something like that.

[jaymo76]

You guys aren't cheering me up! With Madden removing so many sliders it was even more important they be strong enough and tuned properly but it doesn't appear to be true. Unfortunately the big game changers for Madden don't give a crap about them either. They never even looked at them while they were there to tell me if special teams sliders were in! I guess some of us slider guys are in the minority but they are very important to me.

Jaymo, when you get done messing with the sliders I'd like to see what you are using. I don't know if I will go All-Pro or All-Madden. The cpu QB play has been so bad with EA that I usually have to go to All-Madden just to avoid them throwing picks like crazy. In M13 there was no such thing as a great cpu passing game. I'm really hoping we can use the new pass coverage slider to help fix that and/or have EA make guys like Brady, Rodgers, Manning, etc be super dangerous. What level do you see yourself playing this on?

Sure Rudy. I will post some development test sliders later today. For human pass coverage I have used 65 to try and tighten up the zones but it just depends on the game because often the cpu qb is deadly accurate.

[jaymo76]

I guess I am the only one who is absolutely enjoying this game! I have played two games thus far, one of each, and I absolutely love what I am playing. The only sliders I have adjusted is playing All-Madden, I set my sliders back to '50' to match the cpu.

As the Ravens I beat the 49ers 10-7. Loved how the 49ers mixed up their offense with read options and read option passes. Frank Gore is a beast! And I actually love playing defense! The ability to disguise cushion, highlight who to target on option plays, shading receivers, I can actually scheme a defense to take things away. And did I mention I am able to get a pass rush with a 4 man rush!

As the Packers I lost to the Seahawks 17-0. I threw a pick six on my own 20 yard line and then gave up a punt return for a TD. B.J. Raji got around the end on a pass play and kocked Wilson out of the game!

The only issue I have, and this is common amongst Madden games, is the penalities. Need to mess with them today.

God I am going to play the hell out of this game.

That was my initial reaction as well after my first 3-4 games. However, after playing around with the sliders and just not seeing any major results my frustration levels increased quickly. How an entire generation of games can be developed with sliders that don't work (or work as intended) is beyond me?

The game does feel better (and look better) than NCAA but it still is several steps back from where it should be IMO. I really think that the Tiburon team poured most of their attention into next gen for this year's offering.

[skipwondah33]

I really think that the Tiburon team poured most of their attention into next gen for this year's offering.You know that has been my feeling ever since hearing that Madden would be on NG as well

Which they have known I imagine before production even began on Madden 25 for CG

With that said I know I'll enjoy the shit out of 25 on PS3

[WolverineJay]

I played 3 more games last night to try and tighten up my defense and go pass heavy to test some things. Zone Defense over the middle and deep simply are not very good(numerous times the defender just stands there and allows a catch). Man coverage gets killed by drags, corners, slants, ins, and the 2 mother of all money plays outs and curls. In 1st 2 games, I went 28-33 and then 26-29 using Wilson and then Rodgers and that was enough to see what I will be getting pass defense wise from the CPU.

I play on All-Madden using the under 75 rule for the User so I had User Pass Accuracy on 5, Pass Blocking on 10, and WR Catch on 45. I changed Pass Defense sliders too since all 25's wasn't cutting it, set Pass Reaction on 10, Interceptions on 20, and Pass Coverage on 40. I did slightly better but not night and day, Rodgers still threw for 300 yds because of deep zone coverage getting beat so easily and the inconsistent pass rush giving him all day to pick me apart. I did sack him 5x the last game when I messed with sliders some more. I put Offsides on 100 and False start on 0 couple with 0 Pass Blocking for the CPU. I put more pressure on Rodgers as well but still numerous times he got 7+ seconds to pick my defense apart. My scores were 31-20, 24-13, and 28-10 so still too much scoring from my side in short games. I have been getting around 70-80 combined pass and run plays per game with accelerated clock off so that is about 50 more plays I will get during Franchise games(wow, I may score 50 every game). It is really sad that offline All-Madden is so easy, removing so many crucial sliders really kills this game for me.

Oh and yes I did get the invisible guys again but this time they were on my team :smh:. 5 games in and 4 of them had invisible players so disappointing that 25 years of making Madden games and this is happening. It shows me EA Tiburon doesn't test these games much at all, especially the PS3 version.

[SCClassof93]

Well I have read enough to know that I will wait, for reviews of the ps4 version that is:D.

[jaymo76]

Sure Rudy. I will post some development test sliders later today. For human pass coverage I have used 65 to try and tighten up the zones but it just depends on the game because often the cpu qb is deadly accurate.

Rudy I created a sliders thread. I put the one's up I am using and hopefully other will follow suit.


P.S. I hope your internet connection at the hotel has finally come through. You must be going crazy!

[Rudy]

I'm at 62%! I should have just left my PS3 on all night but I will tonight. I have to get at least one game in at this stupid hotel.

[countryboy]

Played 3 more games today and still like very much what I am seeing. I played as the 49ers and lost to the Ravens 7-0, played as Seahawks and beat Packers 9-3, and played as Packers and lost 7-3 to the Seahawks.

The feel of this game is simply amazing. The penalties still bug me, but after setting all to 100 except for Facemask(55) and Holding(60) it was tolerable. I did see an offensive pass interference call on Randall Cobb. :)

I still feel as though I can scheme a defense to force the offense to do what I want. Shading guys, disgusing coverage...such a beautiful thing. :)

[countryboy]

I'm at 62%! I should have just left my PS3 on all night but I will tonight. I have to get at least one game in at this stupid hotel.

Hope you get to play soon Rudy.

[jaymo76]

Played 3 more games today and still like very much what I am seeing. I played as the 49ers and lost to the Ravens 7-0, played as Seahawks and beat Packers 9-3, and played as Packers and lost 7-3 to the Seahawks.

The feel of this game is simply amazing. The penalties still bug me, but after setting all to 100 except for Facemask(55) and Holding(60) it was tolerable. I did see an offensive pass interference call on Randall Cobb. :)

I still feel as though I can scheme a defense to force the offense to do what I want. Shading guys, disgusing coverage...such a beautiful thing. :)

I just won 13-7 GB over Seattle. I have been having a number of defensive struggles. But I am a pro style offense based on long drives and ball control so the cpu A.I. doesn't get a lot of possessions. I admit I was tired last night and was a little too hard on the game. It's a decent game with a lot of good stuff to it. I just wish the folks at Tiburon could figure out how to make a football "total package." I so want to experience what we had with Madden 05 and ESPN 2K5. That was truly a great time in football gaming.

[jaymo76]

I'm at 62%! I should have just left my PS3 on all night but I will tonight. I have to get at least one game in at this stupid hotel.


Hope you get to play soon Rudy.

Rudy, your hotel may have the slowest internet in all of Canada. Two years back I was using this out-of-date router and it took me 6 hours to download Madden. Thankfully we did a huge upgrade to a Netgear gigabit router and now we fly. The servers were jam packed yesterday so the Madden demo took about 50 minutes. I suspect that season ticket will be a nightmare though as the game will probably be about 7 gigs. I must say though that 3.6 gigs for a demo is pretty hefty IMO.

[countryboy]

I just won 13-7 GB over Seattle. I have been having a number of defensive struggles. But I am a pro style offense based on long drives and ball control so the cpu A.I. doesn't get a lot of possessions. I admit I was tired last night and was a little too hard on the game. It's a decent game with a lot of good stuff to it. I just wish the folks at Tiburon could figure out how to make a football "total package." I so want to experience what we had with Madden 05 and ESPN 2K5. That was truly a great time in football gaming.

I am in no way crowning this as the greatest game of all time as this is only a demo. Not sure what, if anything, will be different between now and retail but I do like very much what I am playing.

This year's game honestly gives me the feeling that I am playing a better looking PS2 version of the game.

[jaymo76]

I am in no way crowning this as the greatest game of all time as this is only a demo. Not sure what, if anything, will be different between now and retail but I do like very much what I am playing.

This year's game honestly gives me the feeling that I am playing a better looking PS2 version of the game.

Oh yeah, with the Owner Mode I suspect this will go down as the best Madden on PS3. I just hope that they continue to build off of new features such as owner mode rather than bring them in and then never touch them again. For me, if I could have the EXTRA POINT SHOW back AND play any game on the schedule I would be completely satisfied as I would be able to overlook all the other things.

[countryboy]

Oh yeah, with the Owner Mode I suspect this will go down as the best Madden on PS3. I just hope that they continue to build off of new features such as owner mode rather than bring them in and then never touch them again. For me, if I could have the EXTRA POINT SHOW back AND play any game on the schedule I would be completely satisfied as I would be able to overlook all the other things.

Yeah I wish they had some sort of halftime/post game show. At least this year they added the ticker at the bottom of the screen for franchise games, so you won't feel so isolated from your franchise.

[jaymo76]

Yeah I wish they had some sort of halftime/post game show. At least this year they added the ticker at the bottom of the screen for franchise games, so you won't feel so isolated from your franchise.

Did they add the ticker? I must have missed that. I just assumed it was real scores from the traditional espn ticker. Well that's good to know.

[countryboy]

Did they add the ticker? I must have missed that. I just assumed it was real scores from the traditional espn ticker. Well that's good to know.

I thought I read somewhere that they included the score ticker at the bottom of the screen that is for your franchise (ala NBA 2K, The Show)

Hopefully I didn't read that wrong.

[jaymo76]

Okay so was I the only one who NEVER knew about the Gatorade Shower in Madden 11/12/13? I still can't always get it to trigger but it's kind of neat.

[Rudy]

After many hours of trying to download the stupid demo I finally get it only to have a corrupted error message when installing 80029564. It's most likely related to the router settings here at the hotel. I will have to redownload it all again tomorrow from home. At least that will be fast. I'll also have to reset up my network connection. I can't remember if I did custom stuff (UPNP or any of that stuff I'm clueless on) although I don't think that will be a big deal, especially since I never play online. I just want to download the dumb thing when I get back from Toronto tomorrow (and after my son's football practice).

[jaymo76]

After many hours of trying to download the stupid demo I finally get it only to have a corrupted error message when installing 80029564. It's most likely related to the router settings here at the hotel. I will have to redownload it all again tomorrow from home. At least that will be fast. I'll also have to reset up my network connection. I can't remember if I did custom stuff (UPNP or any of that stuff I'm clueless on) although I don't think that will be a big deal, especially since I never play online. I just want to download the dumb thing when I get back from Toronto tomorrow (and after my son's football practice).

That sucks Rudy! Well you should be able to d/l fairly quickly tomorrow when you get home.

[skipwondah33]

After many hours of trying to download the stupid demo I finally get it only to have a corrupted error message when installing 80029564. It's most likely related to the router settings here at the hotel. I will have to redownload it all again tomorrow from home. At least that will be fast. I'll also have to reset up my network connection. I can't remember if I did custom stuff (UPNP or any of that stuff I'm clueless on) although I don't think that will be a big deal, especially since I never play online. I just want to download the dumb thing when I get back from Toronto tomorrow (and after my son's football practice).I got the same message with NCAA. Wasn't router...but not sure what it was.

Madden installed fine. As did the early release of NCAA.

[bdoughty]

Okay so was I the only one who NEVER knew about the Gatorade Shower in Madden 11/12/13? I still can't always get it to trigger but it's kind of neat.

I never knew until I saw it mentioned in the demo. My biggest gripe with the demo is the cameras options not available. I may be in the minority but I really despise how far away you are from the LOS with the standard camera.

[bdoughty]

Originally Posted by EASPORTS_AJ
FYI - The traditional Madden camera angle is in the retail version. It's called "Legacy" in the camera options.

Glad you're liking the new one though. I personally like seeing all my WRs pre-snap.

I can now breathe a sigh of relief.

[skipwondah33]

I can now breathe a sigh of relief.Ditto

I don't have a problem with the other one, just would prefer the "standard" one

[jaymo76]

Okay these invisible shadow players are getting ridiculous. It seems to happen after playing for multiple hours. Last night it wasn't until my third game before players disappeared. My qb, Kaepernick was a shadow and he threw an INT to shadow Suggs. However, in the replay I see both players??? I have not heard EA/Tiburon address this issue yet but this better not be in season ticket.

[jaymo76]

Pasta Padre is reporting that EA has a patch to address the invisible players issue.


EA Sports today confirmed that a patch will be released by next Friday when the game goes live for Season Ticket subscribers. One thing addressed in the patch will be the invisible players.

[Rudy]

I got the same message with NCAA. Wasn't router...but not sure what it was.

Madden installed fine. As did the early release of NCAA.

I had read that it could be a RAM issue or with certain settings. One alleged fix was to reset the PS3 to factory settings. I won't try that yet. Hoping to download it tonight. Had no time to set the PS3 up when I got home due to Toronto traffic. I got home and was back out the door within 5 minutes.

[jaymo76]

One issue of concern in this game has to be the number of interceptions, even with slider tweaks. I have turned down ints. to 30 but I am still seeing cpu/hum multiple interceptions each game. I wonder if this has been tuned for release?

[Rudy]

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.

[CLW]

So how different gameplay wise is Madden 25 different from NCAA 14?

I downloaded the demo but haven't messed with it yet. I'm prob waiting to PS4 at best before picking it up but if Madden has ZERO defense I'll just pass on Madden again this year.

[Rudy]

I can only speak about the NCAA 14 demo but I felt there was a lot more defense in Madden 25 than I saw in NCAA 14. I found the NCAA demo disappointing because there was so little defense and the offense seemed to grab HUGE chunks of yards on every play. Even in M25 you have to work your way down the field. Just play the demo and check it out. There are those that still feel the coverage in Madden is too weak and easily exploitable so you will have to decide yourself.

I need to spend more time with the running game and probably the skills trainer (haven't done the Madden one yet). I need to learn the precision modifier. I don't have any strong opinions about the moves and running game yet although I did see a sweet juke out there. I need more time but liked what I did see when I played. Everything felt good.

[jaymo76]

So how different gameplay wise is Madden 25 different from NCAA 14?

I downloaded the demo but haven't messed with it yet. I'm prob waiting to PS4 at best before picking it up but if Madden has ZERO defense I'll just pass on Madden again this year.

Personally the d is better but it's not a huge leap better than NCAA. I find the zones are a little tighter and the cpu rb's are a lot better. However, I firmly believe that you must change the sliders in this game to have a better experience as on default it is offense heavy.

[jaymo76]

Rudy, I did the skills trainer last night and I am not a fan of the precision modifier. My running is simple: juke truck stick and on occasion spin. I have seen instances where the cpu rb does a handful of moves on each run (primarily repeated spin moves) and it just looks silly.

[jaymo76]

Not having done much with the read option I decided to use it a lot today. I chose the Hawks vs GB. Boy, when you use the read option correctly it is deadly. With Wilson I had 11 rushes for 141 yards and 1 td. The D really keys in on the qb so as long as you set it up with rb read option runs and keep the d on its feet you can really exploit the cpu. Between Turbin, Lynch and Wilson I rushed for almost 250 yards.

[Rudy]

I wonder how many licenses songs Madden has this year? I know I've heard Guns N Roses Welcome to the Jungle, AC/DC Thunderstruck and a couple more I think. I also wonder if they have each of the team fight songs in correctly.

Simms DID comment properly on a screen pass one time and then the next time criticizes the QB for throwing short on one. Still not right. Wilson did throw it away nicely on a 3rd down play when nobody was open. Coverage does seem good to me in that it varies from tight to loose. I don't understand how the Packers get their 3-4 defense starting lineup right but the Ravens and 49ers don't. Maybe it's because the Ravens have a 4-3 formation in their playbook and EA wants to show both 4 DL and 4 LBs?

At 15 QB accuracy the cpu QB may be too inaccurate. Either way I had both QBs at 15 and saw some inaccurate throws. I had Aaron Rodgers misfire twice on crossing routes for me. Russell Wilson (cpu) missed maybe a little too much but he's not quite as accurate. I still wish that misfires on deep throws would be further down the field. It seems that most of the misses are short and those can result in INTs too much. Beat the Seahawks 13-3 in my last game.

I haven't really gotten into the running game but I am going to take SF next against the Ravens and give it some more love.

I must say rushing the QB with Clay Matthews is nice. The outside rusher makes contact and still gets upfield nicely. It also look as though there is more of a mini game in the trenches. It seems the OT will alternate between giving you a path to the inside or letting you rush outside. Is it just me? It's as though the game wants you to recognize the opening more and mix up your pass rush moves to be effective. I like it.

[Rudy]

I am now concerned about Madden 25 since the sliders are still far too weak. I put run block at 0 and ran the ball down Baltimore's throat with Gore. My OL shoved them around and it was far too easy. User running was way too easy last year and it's going to be worse this year since they removed the defense block shedding sliders and kept the sliders very, very weak. I really wish some Madden game changers actually gave a crap about testing sliders properly. It should be very easy to make the sliders more powerful and test them. With human run blocking over powered I'm concerned the long term offense may really piss me off.

[jaymo76]

I wonder how many licenses songs Madden has this year? I know I've heard Guns N Roses Welcome to the Jungle, AC/DC Thunderstruck and a couple more I think. I also wonder if they have each of the team fight songs in correctly.

Simms DID comment properly on a screen pass one time and then the next time criticizes the QB for throwing short on one. Still not right. Wilson did throw it away nicely on a 3rd down play when nobody was open. Coverage does seem good to me in that it varies from tight to loose. I don't understand how the Packers get their 3-4 defense starting lineup right but the Ravens and 49ers don't. Maybe it's because the Ravens have a 4-3 formation in their playbook and EA wants to show both 4 DL and 4 LBs?

At 15 QB accuracy the cpu QB may be too inaccurate. Either way I had both QBs at 15 and saw some inaccurate throws. I had Aaron Rodgers misfire twice on crossing routes for me. Russell Wilson (cpu) missed maybe a little too much but he's not quite as accurate. I still wish that misfires on deep throws would be further down the field. It seems that most of the misses are short and those can result in INTs too much. Beat the Seahawks 13-3 in my last game.

I haven't really gotten into the running game but I am going to take SF next against the Ravens and give it some more love.

I must say rushing the QB with Clay Matthews is nice. The outside rusher makes contact and still gets upfield nicely. It also look as though there is more of a mini game in the trenches. It seems the OT will alternate between giving you a path to the inside or letting you rush outside. Is it just me? It's as though the game wants you to recognize the opening more and mix up your pass rush moves to be effective. I like it.

I have kept qb accuracy at 20. Plus moving ints to 25 removes a lot of cpu/hum pics. Pass coverage at 65 helps tighten the zones. I have NOT touched reaction time though as I don't want to mess with that.

[jaymo76]

I am now concerned about Madden 25 since the sliders are still far too weak. I put run block at 0 and ran the ball down Baltimore's throat with Gore. My OL shoved them around and it was far too easy. User running was way too easy last year and it's going to be worse this year since they removed the defense block shedding sliders and kept the sliders very, very weak. I really wish some Madden game changers actually gave a crap about testing sliders properly. It should be very easy to make the sliders more powerful and test them. With human run blocking over powered I'm concerned the long term offense may really piss me off.

Gore and Lynch are beastly good. I have had far less success with Rice and Lacy. Plus, I played around with the precision modifier last night and when you use it with Gore or Lynch they will truck all over defenders all day long.

[jaymo76]

A real red flag last night. In the first half of the Seahawks vs GB game, in which I was Green Bay, using my sliders I was up 10-0 in a very, very close game (statistically speaking). Then in the second half I removed all of the starters and put in the 2nd, 3rd, and sometimes 4th stringers. I should have been blown out... I WON THE GAME 17-0...:smh::fp: Looks again like ratings will mean nothing.

[Rudy]

Gore and Lynch are beastly good. I have had far less success with Rice and Lacy. Plus, I played around with the precision modifier last night and when you use it with Gore or Lynch they will truck all over defenders all day long.

I still haven't done the skills trainer yet. Not used to the precision modifier but I did a sweet stiff arm with Lacy the other day where I rode a guy for 5 yards AND that same defender still took me down. It wasn't an arcade like, drop the hammer stiff arm.

I'm going to try a game on base All-Madden with SF and see if my slider changes made the game easier or not. I really hope it's not too easy to run the ball. I could put up 2500 yards with a healthy Gore the way my last game played out if I just gave him the rock.

[jaymo76]

I still haven't done the skills trainer yet. Not used to the precision modifier but I did a sweet stiff arm with Lacy the other day where I rode a guy for 5 yards AND that same defender still took me down. It wasn't an arcade like, drop the hammer stiff arm.

I'm going to try a game on base All-Madden with SF and see if my slider changes made the game easier or not. I really hope it's not too easy to run the ball. I could put up 2500 yards with a healthy Gore the way my last game played out if I just gave him the rock.

Oh there is no doubt that the running game is going to be very overpowered this year. When "run free" is the theme you are going to see a lot of bug numbers in the running game.

[countryboy]

A real red flag last night. In the first half of the Seahawks vs GB game, in which I was Green Bay, using my sliders I was up 10-0 in a very, very close game (statistically speaking). Then in the second half I removed all of the starters and put in the 2nd, 3rd, and sometimes 4th stringers. I should have been blown out... I WON THE GAME 17-0...:smh::fp: Looks again like ratings will mean nothing.

Not sure this is a fair statement. You scored a TD with "backups" vs "starters", which can/does happen. Plus its a 20 minute game, so one drive can eat up an entire quarter.

I am not saying that your statement is completely wrong, just that to judge based off of one game that has 5 minute quarters, may be jumping the gun.

[countryboy]

So how different gameplay wise is Madden 25 different from NCAA 14?

I downloaded the demo but haven't messed with it yet. I'm prob waiting to PS4 at best before picking it up but if Madden has ZERO defense I'll just pass on Madden again this year.

Personally, I feel that, at least based off the demos, that defense is night and day from NCAA to Madden. With Madden I can generate a pass rush with 4 linemen, cover the middle of the field, defend deep balls, and actually scheme a defense.

[jaymo76]

Not sure this is a fair statement. You scored a TD with "backups" vs "starters", which can/does happen. Plus its a 20 minute game, so one drive can eat up an entire quarter.

I am not saying that your statement is completely wrong, just that to judge based off of one game that has 5 minute quarters, may be jumping the gun.

I agree with what you're saying about sample size. I should have given you more information with regards to the actual game for purposes of clarity. However, in the last two days I have played around a lot with backups and outside of qb long passing I am not really seeing a difference in abilities. I personally would like to see more extremes in 1st string versus second string. Harrel should not pass as well as Rodgers but in the short and medium game he does. As a test for yourself try setting all of your roster to backups and see what happens. I would be interested to see if you have similar results. (Note I am using my custom sliders from the slider thread and I also turned off accelerated clock to get the most amount of snaps)

I think for me though the biggest issue with the game I mentioned was that my backup D shut down the Seahawks offense so well. Some of GB's backups are very low rated. I was expecting to see a colossal difference in play. Now I still think this is a good game and I am still excited for season ticket next Friday but I have to admit that a little bit of the shine is off for me.

[CLW]

Played 1 game on All-Madden Seahawks (me) 35 Packers (CPU) 7.

YAWN the defense might actually be worse in Madden than it is in NCAA. I did whatever I wanted the entire game. Graphically its much better than NCAA but to me it's not worth another $60. I'll see if anything improves for PS4 and if not maybe Ill pick it up when its in the bargain bin.

Sad how I've gone from buying just about all EA titles on release down down to NCAA only and if they dont do something about the lack of defense in that series too I'll be done with it as well.

[jaymo76]

Played 1 game on All-Madden Seahawks (me) 35 Packers (CPU) 7.

YAWN the defense might actually be worse in Madden than it is in NCAA. I did whatever I wanted the entire game. Graphically its much better than NCAA but to me it's not worth another $60. I'll see if anything improves for PS4 and if not maybe Ill pick it up when its in the bargain bin.

Sad how I've gone from buying just about all EA titles on release down down to NCAA only and if they dont do something about the lack of defense in that series too I'll be done with it as well.

CLW, you have to tweak the sliders to get better games. All-pro and all-madden without changes is way too offensive. With significant tweaks I have had some great defensive struggles. My highlight was a 10-3 BAL victory over SF. A good game can be had IF you are willing to mess with sliders. Zone is still super soft and run free is way overpowered but I am having fun. Season ticket will be my determination for this game.

[Rudy]

Jaymo, I wasn't sure if I had seen the Gatorade bucket but I was shocked when one of those "tip" screens came up and told me that if I hit both R3 and L3 in the last 30 seconds of the 4th quarter it will cause the Gatorade shower on my coach. Can't wait to do that to Philbin when I get the game lol.

Cpu kick returns are still boring. They never break one while I have broken two for TDs and some big ones.

Presentation wise Jim Nantz ruined the surprise of the chain gang by announcing a first down on his play call only to see it go to the chain gang and then show it. The sideline reporter Bellini talked to Colt McCoy at halftime? Huh? I could only understand that if I played him but Kaep was never hurt (unless he missed one play and I never noticed but I was the 49ers). The last two times I played the 3-4 defensive teams only showed the 3 DL in the starting lineups. Maybe it showed the 4 DL one time because their first defensive snap was from a 4 man front? Don't know why it did that earlier.

I saw some tight coverage in this game by the 49ers. They definitely made some plays against me although I will repeat I'm not a great passer. I think the LE vs. RE issue is much more balanced this year. I don't think the LEs will be super pass rushers like last year.

The Play of the Game highlight is poorly chosen. One time it was a FG and I don't even think it was the game winner. In my last game, a game I won with SF, the play of the game was a Flacco 16 yard scramble. I don't get it. I had a 42 yard run with Gore on one play.

[CLW]

CLW, you have to tweak the sliders to get better games. All-pro and all-madden without changes is way too offensive. With significant tweaks I have had some great defensive struggles. My highlight was a 10-3 BAL victory over SF. A good game can be had IF you are willing to mess with sliders. Zone is still super soft and run free is way overpowered but I am having fun. Season ticket will be my determination for this game.

Well my running assumption is the sliders will be broken and/or not work just like NCAA.

[Rudy]

Well my running assumption is the sliders will be broken and/or not work just like NCAA.

Sliders that work well would truly make the game so much better. Adding a few more would be good. Splitting zone and man coverage, RB ability (which NCAA has), QB awareness (so we can make cpu smarter), separate cpu and human special teams sliders and a kick return blocking slider would be great. I'd really like to know how their sliders are coded. They should just adjust player ratings imo. One click in Madden which is 1% should boost the ratings up/down by 1%. Go from 50 to 0 and a player should have his ratings decreased 50%. It seems pretty simple to me. And if that doesn't do much then it just proves the ratings need to matter more which could also be tuned.

But talking with EA about sliders for their football games is like talking to a brick wall. They just don't give a shit about sliders at Tiburon. There is NO excuse for not having separate human/cpu special teams sliders in Madden. There is NO excuse for NCAA not to have a fumble or fatigue slider. I'd gladly sacrifice the fairly useless punt accuracy slider for a kick return blocking slider so I could give the cpu a much needed boost in that area.

[jaymo76]

Well my running assumption is the sliders will be broken and/or not work just like NCAA.

There is no doubt that they are pretty weak for the most part. However, some seem to work a little better than others.

[jaymo76]

Jaymo, I wasn't sure if I had seen the Gatorade bucket but I was shocked when one of those "tip" screens came up and told me that if I hit both R3 and L3 in the last 30 seconds of the 4th quarter it will cause the Gatorade shower on my coach. Can't wait to do that to Philbin when I get the game lol.

Cpu kick returns are still boring. They never break one while I have broken two for TDs and some big ones.

Presentation wise Jim Nantz ruined the surprise of the chain gang by announcing a first down on his play call only to see it go to the chain gang and then show it. The sideline reporter Bellini talked to Colt McCoy at halftime? Huh? I could only understand that if I played him but Kaep was never hurt (unless he missed one play and I never noticed but I was the 49ers). The last two times I played the 3-4 defensive teams only showed the 3 DL in the starting lineups. Maybe it showed the 4 DL one time because their first defensive snap was from a 4 man front? Don't know why it did that earlier.

I saw some tight coverage in this game by the 49ers. They definitely made some plays against me although I will repeat I'm not a great passer. I think the LE vs. RE issue is much more balanced this year. I don't think the LEs will be super pass rushers like last year.

The Play of the Game highlight is poorly chosen. One time it was a FG and I don't even think it was the game winner. In my last game, a game I won with SF, the play of the game was a Flacco 16 yard scramble. I don't get it. I had a 42 yard run with Gore on one play.

Yeah the gatorade is cool but it doesn't always trigger for me in the demo. One thing that bothers me is the coin toss. Before the coin lands the cpu will tell you whether you won the toss or not. That's another example of anti-climactic madden! Play of the game can be hit and miss but PLAYER OF THE GAME is 100% borked. If you get an int. or a fumble recovery, it's a 50/50 chance that player is player of the game. I am still seeing 4 dl, 4 lb's and 4 db's in the starting lineups. Don't get me wrong, I love the CFL but last time I checked, Madden is the NFL.

With regards to special teams, I absolutely hate them in Madden and NCAA!!! A kickoff return to the left is money if you have the blocking while the cpu does nothing. However, the biggest issue... special teams NEED sliders!!!!!!!!!!!!! In 20+ demo games NOT one field goal has been missed and 80+% of punts bounce through the endzone .

[jaymo76]

Wife and the kids just went out. I am going to fire up Madden 13 for a CCM game and then compare it to the feel of the 25 demo.

[Rudy]

It seems to me that the offensive tackles vary their pass protection now. In M13 they always protected the inside and every move you made as a DE was just an outside move. The best move was just to turbo around. The turbo move seems to be tuned to be less effective forcing you to use the r-stick more which I like. Also, the OT will cheat outside to take away that rush and force you inside. It's more fun and interesting this way. I do like how some DEs get low on the speed rush while they are making contact.

[jaymo76]

I just playing Madden 13 and a few things are very noticeable right away. Here are my thoughts at half-time of my CCM (Raiders at home to the Broncos... led by Romo, Hester and Andy Reid).

1. Madden 25 is a huge visual upgrade IMO. 13 looks washed out and bland
2. the cpu cannot run the ball
** rushing seems a lot easier than I remember (hum)
3. I think I may go back to legacy camera... it's nice to see up close during the play
4. zone d seems tighter in Madden 13
5. way less stats and overlays in madden 13
6. it's tough in both games to get a lot of sustained pass rush
7. LE and Ledt DT get a lot more pressure in 13. Seems more baanced in 25
8. crowd seems about the same IMO
9. hit stick in 13 sucks!!! I love trucking and hit stick in 25
10. the field looks pretty much the same in both games / crowd looks better in 25
11. I really miss the stiff arm in madden 25...
12. commentary in 25 is better... I see that now
13. uniform degredation is about the same but field degredation looks better in 25
14. the cpu drops an awful lot of passes
15. the screen is a lot more effective in 13

[jaymo76]

This might be taboo to say but I think I prefer the infinity engine in Madden 13 to the one in Madden 25. Yes the flipping and flopping looks silly but the players seem to move more naturally in 13. I am seeing a lot of the same canned animations over and over in 25.

[Rudy]

Nice comparison. I liked the IE at the end of M13 and even the demo seemed good to me. M25 doesn't feel a whole lot different to be honest. I never got caught up in all the post-play complaints. It wasn't gameplay related so it didn't bother me as much as some people. I think I will go to the Legacy camera as well. I hope that's the M13 camera and not the lower M10 type of camera which I did not like.

Surprised you like the stiff arm better in M13. I like how nice it is in M25. I've never been a hit stick guy so I have no clue as to what is better. Running the ball was too easy in M13 no matter what you did. M25 may be a little tougher.

[jaymo76]

Nice comparison. I liked the IE at the end of M13 and even the demo seemed good to me. M25 doesn't feel a whole lot different to be honest. I never got caught up in all the post-play complaints. It wasn't gameplay related so it didn't bother me as much as some people. I think I will go to the Legacy camera as well. I hope that's the M13 camera and not the lower M10 type of camera which I did not like.

Surprised you like the stiff arm better in M13. I like how nice it is in M25. I've never been a hit stick guy so I have no clue as to what is better. Running the ball was too easy in M13 no matter what you did. M25 may be a little tougher.

:D No you read it wrong, I hate the truck stick in 13. I can actually do it well in 25 hence why I like it. As for 13 I will be waiting and hoping that 25 fixed one big issue: player subs staying from one game to the next. 13 is a fun game but I blew out Denver 42-7 to go 7-0. It's all coming back to me now... winning in CCM is too easy. Let's hope the A.I. is a lot more competitive this year.

[Rudy]

AI has been a huge problem this gen for EA's football games. As far as I'm concerned AI is 95% alogorithm and programming and 5% hardware. Way too many people out there think that more horsepower in the next gen will fix a lot of this stuff. Boy will they be disappointed imo. EA simply hasn't figured out how to code that stuff right. Next gen Madden will have the same problems only look a little prettier. I personally think M25 looks great. Wouldn't it be nice if there was an AI slider where if you cranked it up they tracked your plays and countered them like a smart human? I'm not holding my breath.

[jaymo76]

I haven't seen much with regards to DPP in the Madden demo. I am curious as to how much impact it will have this year? Madden 13... when you were cold you were ice cold.

[Rudy]

The CPU calls too many screen passes.

[skipwondah33]

The CPU calls too many screen passes.If so that is a problem with both series. I have only played 7 games.

I played 1 dynasty in NCAA. With my MLB (that I manual every play). I had 9 interceptions on the season with 6 of them coming off of RB screen plays...4 returned for TD's. I could have had more but I was either a step too late or picked up by a blocker. I played 7 minute quarters and would see atleast 10 ran a game by the CPU.

I stopped playing the demo because the zoomed out camera is difficult to adjust to and just giving me a headache actually.

It's also throwing me off manually and I'm missing tackles/assignments left and right. Definitely like the Legacy camera better.

However I do know that Defense won't be as bad as it is in NCAA, so I'm definitely comfortable with it...just can't play with this camera anymore.

My official impressions of the demo. Have to be slightly taken with a grain of salt because the game not only plays differently offline than it does online. And also far different when playing the CPU (IMO).



Note: Some of these will differ/change once able to play Online against a User.

Things I've seen that I like

Offense


- Phyiscs

have been tightened IMO. Cleaner. I enjoyed the Physics last version though, the after play stuff didn't bother me.

Enjoy seeing the "force impact" stuff. In the few games i've seen some odd stuff with it...not saying it couldn't happen I just wouldn't think it would, but that's just me.

- Passing

tone down from last version. The "create your own" throws/routes as I use to call it from last version. Being able to make a Corner route into basically an Out route, appears to be toned down.

- "Run Free"

At first wasn't sure how I was going to like this, but after finally playing the game and seeing how it responded and looked. Actually not bad. I can't imagine myself using it alot because I never really use juke buttons but it is nice if I do get use to it.

- Run Blocking

Run games feels as best it's been. I enjoyed the run game in 12, 13 was fairly decent but thus far against the CPU and offline it feels really good.

- Option/Read Option

From my games it's pretty effective against CPU. Just like NCAA, the Defense only plays it one of two ones

Either the DE stands up and Contains or

The DE drives hard to the LB.

Haven't seen anything other than that. Curious to know how the assignments will happen against a user.


Defense

Curls/Comeback Defense

Not sure what to label that under so I called it that. Last version it was hit or miss how those routes were defended, coupled with the fact you could place the ball anywhere for the WR. The CB's just didn't defend them well (I don't EVER use pass commit so I wouldn't know if they did with it).

Thus far I have been seeing them covered far better than last version. Now again I only play User's in leagues, non-lobby ball. So that could change when I play a user for 1st time. Promising so far though.


Overall tough to get a feel for the complete D. I have gotten pressure with just a standard rush at times and with a few blitzes. Stock blitzes are working better than blitzes where I hot route or slide line which is both weird and promising. Again that could change once I play another person online.


Hits/Tackles

They look vicious! And some are actually resulting in fumbles. The ones in NCAA were a little too vicious, especially when you consider that it is college football..not to mention that nearly none of those hits resulted in fumbles..AND were more frequent. In a good bit of the hard hits that I have had in my short amount of games...the ball was coughed up legitimately


Ballhawk

I couldn't stand the feature at the beginning of Madden 13. I'm came to be about 50/50 as my feeling towards it changed. Only because it gave the defense the ability to counteract the manual ability WR's have (more catch animations, easily triggered compared to the Defenders)...think Madden 12 and the "special jump-twist" catch animation that was difficult to cover.

Now did it need toned down yes, very much so. I do notice it isn't automatic like last version. Then again that could be due to the camera angle throwing me off..and the fact I haven't played an actual user yet.

Commit Features

Still don't like them so won't comment on them. Seen there is a Option Commit feature. Won't use that either


Coverage

*Note: Hardly any coverage I've noticed seems to work against the CPU at first. In Madden 13 initially I didn't think I could stop a nose bleed the few early times I played CPU. Then after a while I was averaging 3-4 picks and 2-3 sacks. In short though the CPU seems to always find a way for their WR's to get open against a coverage that a User wont beat so easily...even using the same players and routes

With that I said I do believe the coverage is tighter and I've already seen MULTIPLE times throws/routes and zone depths work/not work that would have in Madden 13. Meaning a Purple buzz zone in 13 had little effect on a particular route. That same buzz zone in Madden 25 against that same route a couple of times didn't work as well. The Defender played it the way the assignment is designed...and picked ball off


Zone

So far appears tighter IMO. May be subject to change when I play a User but I was pleased to see how the Buzz (purple) zones played out. Against both Curl routes and Corner routes. On the Curl route the Defender didn't play deeper than he had to since the curl was short. On the Corner route he dropped well far enough to defend it or take it away.


Man

Didn't see anything of concern. Seems to be performing as it has last version. More testing would need to be done with an actual User. I didn't have a problem with certain aspects of man last version, other than the random coverage at times.


Really all I can think of now in terms of actual game.

Presentation doesn't really move me, however I do like the new look off the audible menu, score and things like that. Since I solely play on line I never see replays (outside of after the game), or stat overlays really because one of us are hitting X nearly immediately.

If the camera angle wasn't what it was then I'd have played this a few more times, but just can't due to it lol

Will have more in-depth like last version when I play an abundance of games during early release.

[jaymo76]

Skip, have you played Madden 13 and then played Madden 25 right after? It's a pretty noticeable difference between the two IMO.

[jaymo76]

The CPU calls too many screen passes.

Agreed! But at least the cpu doesn't run on 3rd down all the time like Madden 13. I don't run any hb screens in the demo because I ALWAYS get stopped for a loss. Screens were money in 13 for the hum player but I just cannot get them working for me in the demo.

[Rudy]

Great impressions Skip!

[jaymo76]

After playing Madden 13 non-stop the last two days and mixing in the Madden 25 demo I have come to the opinion that Madden 13 is a harder game than the Madden 25 demo (offensively speaking). Running in Madden 25 is just too overpowered IMO. I hope that things have been better tuned in the retail build. I still think Madden 25 will be a much better game but from a challenge standpoint vs the cpu I have some concerns.

[skipwondah33]

Skip, have you played Madden 13 and then played Madden 25 right after? It's a pretty noticeable difference between the two IMO.Yeah I've played Madden 13 once since playing the demo.

Difficult to adjust between the two though because of the camera angle, so I couldn't play the other for a substantial amount of time any longer

25 I feel is different though

The run game against the CPU seems easier, but then again doesn't at the same time. I was able to run against the CPU like this in Madden 13 on All-Madden when I played them, wasn't difficult at all to go for 100-125+ yards with 10-12 carries some games. There were still those instances where the Defense would shed any block and seem unblockable but even then wasn't too difficult.

It just seems easier IMO in the demo due to the fact that the Oline seems to interact differently and open holes cleaner compared to Madden 13. It is nice to see the Niners Oline dominate in run blocking as they should.

[Rudy]

Playing against the 49ers I only had 21 yards on 10 carries for Ray Rice with a long of 7 so hopefully the run game won't be too unbalanced. I was up 20-0 though. Kaep threw two picks.