• Opinion: Madden is Too Generic

    TGT community member Rudy has penned an opinion piece on the gameplay of Madden NFL 16.

    I had quite a bit of fun with Madden 16 after getting it initially. I believe it is the best Madden on next gen consoles to date. But the game was full of bugs, particularly in franchise mode and I waited awhile to really get into my Dolphins franchise. In the mean time I’ve been playing NBA Live 16 and I popped Madden back into my PS4 and found myself bored. Madden is simply far too generic in gameplay.

    Continue on to read the entire column from Rudy and then share your thoughts. Is Madden too generic? What should the franchise do to help alleviate this issue?


    I had quite a bit of fun with Madden 16 after getting it initially. I believe it is the best Madden on next gen consoles to date. But the game was full of bugs, particularly in franchise mode and I waited awhile to really get into my Dolphins franchise. In the mean time I’ve been playing NBA Live 16 and I popped Madden back into my PS4 and found myself bored. Madden is simply far too generic in gameplay.

    Other Sports Games

    While playing NBA Live or 2K, when you go up against an elite player you really notice them. You worry about them. You have options to defend them like double teaming. They stand out in the game and when I play against Curry or Harden or LeBron those games feel special and unique. When you play MLB The Show your palms get sweaty facing Cabrera or Trout in the box. You struggle against great pitchers. Superstars clearly stand out. In Madden this just doesn’t happen.

    Superstars Don’t Make an Impact

    I played against Houston in my Dolphins franchise. I didn’t even notice JJ Watt. The best defensive player in the NFL was someone I didn’t even notice and can’t remember a single play he made all game. In the real NFL he gets a sack a game, at least 5 tackles, disrupts a bunch of things AND THAT’S WITH GETTING DOUBLE TEAMED AND GAMEPLANNED FOR! You don’t have any options to double DL (DTs like Suh get both the G and C double almost all the time) or chip them like great outside rushers get from RBs and TEs on release. I will notice a good CB like Revis but you don’t even have the option of moving him around to cover the #1 WR all over the field. Elite ball hawking safeties barely make their presence felt in Madden either.

    On offence great WRs largely go under-utilized by the cpu. They make next to no effort to throw them the ball more often like they should. So it’s not nearly as scary facing Julio Jones in Madden as it is in real life. The new catching system has helped as great players win those jump balls more but the targets are still too low. I don't scheme to stop great threats like Gronk or Julio and the game doesn’t provide a lot of options to stop them like DB shadowing or true double teams or brackets even if I wanted too. The only option is too highlight them and “spotlight” an individual player through audibles. But even if I did slide coverage over to Julio all game I would still expect him to get his catches and big plays. I believe that’s why Madden removed the double team play calls that were in the game in the first place. The game engine can’t handle it!

    On offense I still struggle to see a real difference between quick players and thumpers at RB – particularly on the cpu side. The cpu doesn’t use the special moves like juke or spin. I want to see them. I want to see a guy like Jamaal Charles break my ankles in space. Same for WRs after the catch like Tavon Austin. You just don’t see those highlight runs in Madden when playing against the cpu. Part of the problem is the juke move is not done well in Madden as it's too weak and difficult to use. The RB just hits the hole (sometimes the wrong one) and runs into your player while you tackle him. Nothing really exciting. So every RB feels similar when you play against them. I don't want to see highlight runs every other play but once in awhile would be nice. You will NEVER see the cpu pull off a run like anything in the video below.



    The good cpu QBs are finally better than the bad ones so I will give credit there for not seeing as many dumb sacks or INTs from Rodgers or Brady anymore.

    No Gameplan Necessary

    The bottom line when playing Madden is that you never need to adjust your gameplan. Every game you play you will do and try the same things on offence and defence. Every game will have a very similar feel. You don’t need to worry about great DL on the other team and you generally don’t have to fear great receivers or TEs much either. CPU RBs all run the same way and you NEVER need to worry about a cpu kick return as 99% of them are stopped by the 30 yard line. Too many plays and players have too many similar outcomes. It’s not organic enough and the great players don’t impact the game enough.

    Madden needs a talent threshold slider. I want to see the great players stand out more. I loved the old NCAA 06 Impact Player System where you feared the impact players. They had a massive impact on the game although many complained it was too much. I would gladly take that over a game where I feel like I am going through the motions too often. I want to be worried about JJ Watt and Suh on defence. I want to fear quick ankle breaking RBs and explosive players on offence. Madden needs to be more organic and less blah, blah, blah.
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Madden is Too Generic started by Rudy View original post
    Comments 21 Comments
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      I think changing the animation speeds of jukes and spins based on the ratings would be a good start to promote scat backs more and highlight the different feel in players.

      I think it would be interesting if a red flash on the edges of your screen helped to warn you of pressure as a qb.It shouldn't pop up all the time but is should happen more for higher awareness qbs.

      I'd like to see the movement on the lines be more generic. Instead of playing patty cake the bigger, stronger player should drive the other back more often. Not all the time! You have to have random elements in everything but more movement in the line play is necessary imo.

      Zone defences in the past were overly effective at times. How about a blown coverage based on awareness ratings sometimes? I see blown coverage in real games all the time. Even Kam Chancellor blew a TD last week.
    1. skipwondah33's Avatar
      skipwondah33 -
      I hear you will disappoint yourself playing Franchise mode. Mainly because it plays different than outside of CFM mode...but that's nothing new, been that way for past 4 versions or so.

      And that came from an PSN friend who use to play in the "League Daddy" type leagues with me past 7 years.

      The human element of error is always nice..find a group of users to play...the CPU won't give it to you
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -
      Quote Originally Posted by skipwondah33 View Post
      The human element of error is always nice..find a group of users to play...the CPU won't give it to you
      Humans bring a whole new set of issues. Especially if you do not have a group of people that have been playing Madden together for years.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      I don't have to play humans to get good opposing team and player styles in NBA or MLB. it's harder in football to get it right. But I still want it and Madden has a long way to go.
    1. baseballplyrmvp's Avatar
      baseballplyrmvp -
      Totally agree Rudy. The ratings for almost every player are too high in the less important ratings. How do you classify a 72 juke move vs a 68 juke move? They almost need to amp up the effectiveness the higher the rating (make it an exponential curve instead of a linear one)
    1. Hank's Avatar
      Hank -
      Rude, this is an EA-wide issue.
      Maybe, as you said, it's not like that in NBA Live, but I've heard and read countless gamers say the exact same thing about EA's NHL and FIFA series. Even UFC has similar issues.

      I'm not sure if it's because EA doesn't know how to program proper separation between stars and player types, or because they don't want to waste the time and resources on it, favouring instead off-field modes.
      Especially ones that result in micro-transactions.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Simply put the EA/Tiburon Madden team don't have a goal of depth of experience for the user. FIFA, The Show and 2K get it. Madden says play this way and if you don't like it... well you have no other choice! So Much potential and so little talent...
    1. gigemaggs99's Avatar
      gigemaggs99 -
      Quote Originally Posted by jaymo76 View Post
      Simply put the EA/Tiburon Madden team don't have a goal of depth of experience for the user. FIFA, The Show and 2K get it. Madden says play this way and if you don't like it... well you have no other choice! So Much potential and so little talent...
      Agree, it seems like each year FIFA and PES are pushing each other to get better.
    1. GatorfanStovy's Avatar
      GatorfanStovy -
      I'm freaking done with Madden until they get off there high horses ass of MUT. CFM is just dead and to dumb any more. MUT is hording all of the features and upgrades. I've played a little bit of CFM and its just ugh. It's really hard to upgrade players espically the whole team. Really I gotta earn xp during each game per weak? THen the points cost way to freaking much to where its impossible to upgrade your team. I'll be playing MLB the 16 all spring/summer next year. Skipping 17 for madden I'm tired of there copy and paste game.
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -
      Quote Originally Posted by GatorfanStovy View Post
      CFM is just dead and to dumb any more.
    1. baseballplyrmvp's Avatar
      baseballplyrmvp -
      Quote Originally Posted by GatorfanStovy View Post
      I'm freaking done with Madden until they get off there high horses ass of MUT. CFM is just dead and to dumb any more. MUT is hording all of the features and upgrades. I've played a little bit of CFM and its just ugh. It's really hard to upgrade players espically the whole team. Really I gotta earn xp during each game per weak? THen the points cost way to freaking much to where its impossible to upgrade your team. I'll be playing MLB the 16 all spring/summer next year. Skipping 17 for madden I'm tired of there copy and paste game.

      Looks like you want the game to be easy and be where every player is a 99 by week 1 of the regular season. Building a good team should take time. It doesn't happen overnight. You earn more points by playing longer games though. A game with 5 minute quarters doesn't yield the same xp as a 15 minute quarter game.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Tried to play a CFM tonight. Ended up super simming it. I have played so many great AAA titles as of late. It's actually shocking how subpar this game is compared to all the genres out there. I honestly can no longer find a reason to play this game anymore. Hands down it is the dullest experience of any game on my xbox1.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      Unfortunately I feel the same way Jaymo. Madden is just missing something for me right now. Next year's game is going to have to really change some things up to be a day one buyer for me. Plus Walmart in Canada usually has their anniversary sale mid September and madden goes on sale. I did get a great deal this year on a pre-order.

      Anyone else think they should bring back a bigger difference with the turbo button? In the past turbo meant a different animation, better speed but no wiggle. NFL players use this in the open field as they run upright and aren't bracing for hits.

      I watch the NFL and see some sweet moves and I just can't replicate that in Madden. The player movement just isn't right imo.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW -
      Welp sounds like I'm not the only one who's tired of Madden. Funny thing is you guys turned me off to CFM just by reading how easy it is to get overconfident and run wild on people. Sad that EA ONLY cares about MUT. However, I chatted with a guy a bit yesterday and he admitted to spending $500 for his MUT team.

      I think we just have to accept we are the minority and EA has left guys like us for consumers who are willing to shell out nearly $600 a year to play their game.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      $500 on that mode? Wow.
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      It is laughable how stupid people are.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes -
      And that's why we can't get shit done with Franchise and with the gameplay issues. Because you have these dumbshits who drop $500 or $1000 on MUT teams and do literally nothing else. Why would EA give a damn about us when they only make $60 off of us compared to these dipshits spending a month's paycheck on a virtual Fantasy team that won't even exist one year later when the next new game comes out.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW -
      Yep. Just played a guy with literally EVERY legend and 90+ OVR player in the game on his team and he runs 1 play on D which got instant pressure no matter how I did my o-line protection and 2 plays on offense.

      Every year MUT starts out o.k. and I win more than most (lets say .600 - .700) then a couple of months later either everyone has spent boat loads of cash or I have moved up to such a high level where every guy I play is exactly like that.

      Going to take the weekend to think about it but most likely Madden is going to gamestop for $33 trade in and I'm not buying Madden again unless/until CFM is playable and enjoyable b/c I'm tired of playing guys online that do nothing but spend hundreds of dollars giving me the $60 player 0% chance of competing much less winning. Instead I'll time my GameFly rental queue get it a few days after release whore out their easy lat: and mail this POS excuse for a football sim back.
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty -
      Quote Originally Posted by steelerfan View Post
      It is laughable how stupid people are.
      They are growing with each day. Extra content is #1 digital sales. FUT/MUT/HUT are the things that will make the single player take it in the BUT.


    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      That graph makes me sick to my stomach! That is why EA/Tiburon will never create a great and fun franchise mode... they don't have to.