• Madden NFL 13 - Share Your Thoughts & Impressions

    Madden NFL 13 will be available beginning Friday at 6 PM ET for EA SPORTS Season Ticket subscribers with the retail launch on August 28.

    Highlighted by Connected Careers and the new Infinity Engine, Madden NFL 13 may be the most anticipated edition of the franchise in years. Once you play the game, share your thoughts and impressions on the game here with the community.
    Comments 331 Comments
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      Quote Originally Posted by jaymo76 View Post
      Yeah Rudy, in CCM you CANNOT adjust sliders. All slider changes must be done outside of the actual game. It's really frustrating because I had Rivers carvving me up because he would avg 7-9 seconds to throw. I could not adjust my pass rush until the game ended and then I went back into the CCM hub. Bizarre!
      This kind of crap along with no separate special teams sliders just makes no sense. Are slider lovers in such a small minority that we can be ignored and screwed over like this? I rarely adjust sliders in game so it's not a huge deal but I don't get it. They need to improve their in game menu to include this along with formations subs like NCAA.
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan -
      I downloaded the early release last night. I played a little this morning. I got back on to play this afternoon and now it says my Season Ticket has expired.

      Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by steelerfan View Post
      I downloaded the early release last night. I played a little this morning. I got back on to play this afternoon and now it says my Season Ticket has expired.

      Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
      Ugh... that sucks! You should have it until the game expires since you d/l it before your pass expired.

      Speaking of awful... I have not seen it but it is being reported that if you trade for a player you may get duplicate numbers on your team if someone on your team has the same number as the person traded for. Apparently longterm cpu progression is also off for cpu controlled teams.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      I've read some impressions on OS and most people think the cpu offense is pretty crappy on All-Pro. Sounds like All-Pro is dumbed down this year like NCAA 13. I agree with many (based on the demo) that All-Pro can be very fun and balanced on offense but the cpu can be too dumb and ineffective. I know for the demo I've got by pass and run reactions at 0 and cpu run block at 100 to help them out.

      I've also read guys say the cpu doesn't hit the big play. I've seen it in the demo so I don't think I agree with that. Too many football gamers think they should be able to run Cover 2 Man all game long and stuff the running game. Then they complain the cpu can't pass or hit deep plays. Well with two safeties back you aren't going to hit a lot of plays but you should be giving up some rushing yards. The average NFL back averages 4 yards a carry but that's including short yardage and defenses that also come up to try and stop the ground game. My opinion is that your difficulty setting and/or slider settings should allow the cpu RB to gain 5+ yards a pop between the 20s if you play a vanilla safe defense like Cover 2 Man. That will force the user to run blitz a little more and crowd the line which will also loosen up the cpu passing game. Same goes for the pass rush. People want a great pass rush without blitzing but the cpu QB is at his worst when he's under pressure. Want to help the cpu passing game? Boost the pass blocking and you will see a big improvement.

      I still think a slider for cpu QB awareness would really help fix some things on the lower difficulty levels. I don't like going to the highest difficulty just to help the cpu offense because my skills aren't good enough. Hopefully I'll be able to tune All-Pro to my liking.
      In my experience the cpu pass game is pretty strong but the rushing is non-existent on all pro. I held Mathews to 19 carriers for 14 yards when I played SD (USING THE BASE SLIDER SET FOR ALL PRO). There needs to be significant tuning updates for the cpu run game as well as hum pass rush. On the bright side though, the injury slider is absolutely awesome this year. I have it at 75 and the results have been wonderful. I have seen more injuries in one game than all five seasons of NCAA 13 I have played.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      I haven't played around with the injury slider in the demo. I did read Pasta say there weren't many on default. I'll have to take your advice and use 75.

      Honestly Jaymo, boost the cpu run block to 100, up the broken tackles to 75 and drop your run reaction to 0 as well. That helped a lot in the demo for All-Pro.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      I haven't played around with the injury slider in the demo. I did read Pasta say there weren't many on default. I'll have to take your advice and use 75.

      Honestly Jaymo, boost the cpu run block to 100, up the broken tackles to 75 and drop your run reaction to 0 as well. That helped a lot in the demo for All-Pro.
      Sorry Rudy, I meant to say 70 for injuries. I also have global fatigue at 70 to get the players more run down. I prefer to see a lot of injuries as it feels more realistic. I will have to try out your suggestion for cpu running as right now the cpu is awful.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Alright... I got in two additional CCM games tonight

      Oakland 9 Miami 16
      * I was kept to under 200 yards all game. It was 9-9 into the last two minutes of the game.
      * I counted 18 of my players as being on cold streaks before this game started. That made no sense

      Pittsburgh 14 Oakland 49
      * I could not do anything wrong... why such a contrast from the week before???
      * Roethlisberger threw 5 pics and 352 yards passing

      I am now 2-1 in the regular season and I went 4-0 in the preseason. So after seven games here are some more thoughts.

      1. Why does EA include CHALLENGE THE PLAY? It doesn't work because there seem to be no physics with regards to field boundaries.
      2. Weight, height, and momentum do not exist in this game. Cutting on a dime is still a regular occurance.
      3. Please get rid of the WR slipping on slant routes in the rain!!! The DB's never slip.
      4. the more I play the more apparent it has become that zone D in this game is sub par to where it should be.
      5. OL/DL line interaction proves to be very frustrating at times, though it is better than NCAA 13.
      6. Way to many players are signing contract extensions each week (according to the tweets since you can't find out any other way)


      This next point will sound really screwed up but I don't find CCM as immersive as they made it out to be. In many ways I find that Madden 10's immersion with the Extra Point and the easy to use interface provided a lot more immersion. The Tweets and news stories don't let you expand on them and there is no way of finding out what transactions have occured throughout the league unless it's mentioned in a tweet. You also have no real sense of how the league is going and how teams are performing.

      To be fair, scouting is improved even if you don't get enough points and the XP progression thing has actually turned out to be fun in small doses. I love that you can create yourself as a coach too. Progressive lighting looks really good in this game even if the player models have taken a step back.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW -
      I've played a ton of games today against the CPU and HUM opponents and this game is just utter trash. Playing defense is an absolute BORE and you can run the same shit over and over and over again and there is just no stop for it.

      Honestly, I wouldn't play this game if EA paid me to do it its that bad and that big of a waste of time. I'll stick with NCAA.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      Quote Originally Posted by CLW View Post
      I've played a ton of games today against the CPU and HUM opponents and this game is just utter trash. Playing defense is an absolute BORE and you can run the same shit over and over and over again and there is just no stop for it.

      Honestly, I wouldn't play this game if EA paid me to do it its that bad and that big of a waste of time. I'll stick with NCAA.
      So you're saying there is a chance you like it?

    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      Well, I clearly wasted ... well, not money ... on Season Ticket, but time. Bought it Friday, didn't have a chance to play it until now, and Jaymo's impressions, among others, would have already convinced me not to get it. Could've at least gotten a couple extra days or weeks out of Season Ticket (because I know I'll be getting it for NHL).

      Oh well. Grand scheme, not much.

      So far I only have a few things:
      • The menu structure within CCM is ... well, not intuitive in the least. I've never used the R-Stick to navigate except in 2k games (and I hated it in 2k games).
      • The Checklist is very nice as a central location. I really liked the "Clipboard" in Head Coach 09, though it was more fluid and wouldn't work quite as well in Madden/NCAA.
      • Advancing week by week has killed my ability to "do something quick" like I was hoping to. I was hoping to go straight to the postsseason/offseason and do some stuff in there, just to see how I like it.
      • One of the upsides to Head Coach 09 was that you could delegate anything you wanted to. Don't feel like Scouting? Delegate it. Don't feel like playing your games? Delegate it. And you could even choose not to even be prompted for those things, beyond simply delegating it. Madden and NCAA don't have that. I hoped Madden would with the college scouting, but it's obvious they don't. There's some stuff you can choose to have the CPU do for you at the opening menu, but you're still prompted.


      One of my reasons for checking out Madden is that, every year, I think it might replace my interest in Head Coach 09. Nope. I'd already cancelled my pre-order (not going to have any time to play it anyway), but if something blew me away I was willing to re-consider. Nope.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      So you can't set scouting to auto if you want? That kind of sucks. I plan on doing it all but after realizing that scouting sucked and was largely useless last year I quit doing it after my second year with Miami.

      Madden's menus were bad last year. I was hoping it would be better but it sounds like they are still weak. I know Pastapadre wrote that he EA didn't even display the countdown for his draft and ended up having his pick being done automatically by the cpu. Even in the demo the play call screen doesn't always show the down, distance and clock. That is a bad design decision but the worst decision was to go with the NCAA style replays. Awful imo.

      Madden made a really strong push towards TV style presentation last year and I really enjoyed the instant replays and the cut scenes. M13 takes a big step down in this area for me. The infinity engine has not been a big deal. It's nice but I thought Madden 12's tackling engine was pretty good and I still consider it better than what NCAA 13 has. Part of me has actually thought of buying Madden 12 instead of buying Madden 13. But the commentary is better and the passing game is WAY better than Madden 12 for me. I don't think I can go back to some of the frustrations of M12's passing game. I'm hoping the draft and free agency are a lot better too.
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      So you can't set scouting to auto if you want?
      Far as I can tell, no.
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      I was hoping it would be better but it sounds like they are still weak.
      They may be better, I'm just more used to NCAA. I haven't played Madden since '10, and while '10 was pretty intuitive (and shared a lot of similarities with NCAA), '13 isn't, IMO.
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      I know Pastapadre wrote that he EA didn't even display the countdown for his draft and ended up having his pick being done automatically by the cpu.
      That's a half-truth, I think. The countdown is displayed on the primary screen, but once you go inside one of the menus (like "Trade Up" or "Draft Player"), I think it's not obviously seen from in there.
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      The infinity engine has not been a big deal. It's nice but I thought Madden 12's tackling engine was pretty good
      I've played very little on the field, but there's nothing I'm seeing, so far, that makes me say "obviously that wouldn't have happened last year". Or in NCAA.
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      I'm hoping the draft and free agency are a lot better too.
      Free Agency is meh. Personally I would have liked '12's system, with it's auction-style. That's something I really enjoyed in HC09. The draft has nice presentation, though it's not clear when the bottom ticker is showing you real news versus in-game news (FWIW, that's a problem across all of CCM, IMO).
    1. I OU a Beatn's Avatar
      I OU a Beatn -
      I can't believe some of the tactics these douche bags will resort to. Just got IP flooded and booted while up 24-7 in the 2nd. Unbelievable.
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      Okay, just saw something that probably wouldn't happen in '12 or NCAA. Had a ball bounce off my receiver's chest, and another receiver managed to snag it before it hit the ground. 4th and 1, too!

      Also, the default Pro is laughably easy. Just took at QB with 59 Deep Accuracy and was throwing spot on Corner routes.

      The #1 projected player in the draft fell to the Jets at #7. There were some very questionable draft choices made by the teams in front of us, including the Rams taking a QB.
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      Quote Originally Posted by I OU a Beatn View Post
      I can't believe some of the tactics these douche bags will resort to. Just got IP flooded and booted while up 24-7 in the 2nd. Unbelievable.
      The fact that I can easily find tons of discussions on IP flooding for NCAA or Madden is enough to make me never play Random Online ever again. Really? DDoS to win a [censored] video game? Get over yourselves.
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      In the 2013 pre-season, Nantz and Simms are still reflecting on the 2011 Jets. Oops.

      Also, the "Gridiron Club" wants to reward me for playing Madden 10. Apparently the game does not notice I have? Hoping that's just something of a quirk with the Early Release factor (since things like UMT aren't available) and not evidence that it fails to go back and look at past played titles. Or it could be because I no longer have the Game Data stored on my PS3 (that may be the most likely) ... which would disappoint anyone that had to change consoles.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by JeffHCross View Post
      Okay, just saw something that probably wouldn't happen in '12 or NCAA. Had a ball bounce off my receiver's chest, and another receiver managed to snag it before it hit the ground. 4th and 1, too!

      Also, the default Pro is laughably easy. Just took at QB with 59 Deep Accuracy and was throwing spot on Corner routes.

      The #1 projected player in the draft fell to the Jets at #7. There were some very questionable draft choices made by the teams in front of us, including the Rams taking a QB.
      I have seen this quite a few times now. It looks really good... at first but it gets more frustrating with time.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      I forgot to mention this in my earlier posts... the cpu runs the ball too much. Normally I wold be happy to see the cpu run but unless they are losing they don't pass enough, even though Simms goes on and on about how it's a passing league. As I mentioned when I played Miami Garrard through the ball 8 times... Slaton had 43 carries!!!
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      So you can't set scouting to auto if you want? That kind of sucks. I plan on doing it all but after realizing that scouting sucked and was largely useless last year I quit doing it after my second year with Miami.

      Madden's menus were bad last year. I was hoping it would be better but it sounds like they are still weak. I know Pastapadre wrote that he EA didn't even display the countdown for his draft and ended up having his pick being done automatically by the cpu. Even in the demo the play call screen doesn't always show the down, distance and clock. That is a bad design decision but the worst decision was to go with the NCAA style replays. Awful imo.

      Madden made a really strong push towards TV style presentation last year and I really enjoyed the instant replays and the cut scenes. M13 takes a big step down in this area for me. The infinity engine has not been a big deal. It's nice but I thought Madden 12's tackling engine was pretty good and I still consider it better than what NCAA 13 has. Part of me has actually thought of buying Madden 12 instead of buying Madden 13. But the commentary is better and the passing game is WAY better than Madden 12 for me. I don't think I can go back to some of the frustrations of M12's passing game. I'm hoping the draft and free agency are a lot better too.
      Rudy, it's not that the menus are bad it's just that you have to navigate through so many different levels to access information. It is cumbersome to remember where everything is. Have fun looking for the offline save franchise... it's well burried. I really prefered MADDEN 10's simple screen format with all of the information down the right-side

      I think the presentation is hugely better than Gus Johnson last year but with only one year in it just doesn't have the depth thus far.

      Quote Originally Posted by JeffHCross View Post
      Well, I clearly wasted ... well, not money ... on Season Ticket, but time. Bought it Friday, didn't have a chance to play it until now, and Jaymo's impressions, among others, would have already convinced me not to get it. Could've at least gotten a couple extra days or weeks out of Season Ticket (because I know I'll be getting it for NHL).

      Oh well. Grand scheme, not much.

      So far I only have a few things:
      • The menu structure within CCM is ... well, not intuitive in the least. I've never used the R-Stick to navigate except in 2k games (and I hated it in 2k games).
      • The Checklist is very nice as a central location. I really liked the "Clipboard" in Head Coach 09, though it was more fluid and wouldn't work quite as well in Madden/NCAA.
      • Advancing week by week has killed my ability to "do something quick" like I was hoping to. I was hoping to go straight to the postsseason/offseason and do some stuff in there, just to see how I like it.
      • One of the upsides to Head Coach 09 was that you could delegate anything you wanted to. Don't feel like Scouting? Delegate it. Don't feel like playing your games? Delegate it. And you could even choose not to even be prompted for those things, beyond simply delegating it. Madden and NCAA don't have that. I hoped Madden would with the college scouting, but it's obvious they don't. There's some stuff you can choose to have the CPU do for you at the opening menu, but you're still prompted.


      One of my reasons for checking out Madden is that, every year, I think it might replace my interest in Head Coach 09. Nope. I'd already cancelled my pre-order (not going to have any time to play it anyway), but if something blew me away I was willing to re-consider. Nope.
      Jeff, I totally agree about the R stick navigation. Who does that? It's just really awkard to use it to scroll the menus.
    1. I OU a Beatn's Avatar
      I OU a Beatn -
      Quote Originally Posted by JeffHCross View Post
      The fact that I can easily find tons of discussions on IP flooding for NCAA or Madden is enough to make me never play Random Online ever again. Really? DDoS to win a [censored] video game? Get over yourselves.
      I know. It's so pathetic. Not to mention, isn't it illegal? How stupid and pathetic can these guys be?

      I remember people doing it ALL the time in Gears of War and Halo. You couldn't even get through a full game without it happening and now it's starting to make it's ugly head known in NCAA and Madden. It's the first time it's happened to me on a football game, but I've read the horror stories.

      It is illegal, right, or am I thinking of something else?