Madden 16: Things I see that aren't getting enough credit... Things that need upgrade
Since the end of my NCAA 14 days to work on premarital issues and time management (which have thankfully been resolved after some difficult but finally rewarding times), I have been mostly inactive on the boards here. Glad to see there's still a quasi-active group fluttering around and making noise :up:, despite the dissipation of NCAA :fp:
Moving on to the post at hand, I'm like most of you in needing Madden to step up to the plate and "prove it on the field" and no doubt there is still much to be done. However I wanted to start with some of the stuff that I've noticed from E3 that frankly isn't getting much play or credit and move on to a semi-wishlist of things that still need to be addressed. Obviously the major things such as Air Supremacy and WR/DB interactions won't make this list, my thoughts on those will make their way to the appropriate threads. Let me know your thoughts if there are other small things you notice/want or don't care about and why.
It's interesting to me that as a community we preach year in and year out that it would be better if Madden (and NCAA back in the day) spent one or two years where they didn't touch graphics and all the "visual" concepts of the game in a major way in order to focus on game play, yet now that they have done that we're already getting the "it still looks like last year" lines. Yes, as far as graphically with the pregame intro, in-game scoreboard, jumbotrons, refs and even a good portion of the player movement, it does look like last year.
HOWEVER, there is plenty to love about the "small" additions and/or tweaks/upgrades to areas that aren't getting the hype that they should be, based on the gameplay we've seen.
POSITIVES:
GAMEPLAY:
- The new tackling engine looks absolutely amazing. We've been asking for this for years and I love that defenders near the ball-carrier will try and become a part of the tackle. Momentum and weight seem to play a factor with this system via the little bit we've seen, tough to tell though. Regardless, a big bonus to this is the addition of the half-sack/half-tackle, which will make for more realistic stats across the board defensively, depending on style of play, min. per qtr and such. Really happy this engine has been implemented.
- For online gamers it probably doesn't matter at all, but for me the work on the AI qbs is MASSIVE. Also the "new handoff system" looks good from what I've seen. It times out a lot better than the old animations and looks cleaner.
- The new "play receiver" mechanic looks great and was implemented well. Really changes the game down the field. Hand-fighting was done better as well, but there needs to be more to make it prominent to the naked eye. They said there were new hand-fighting and early contact animations for PI down the field, I am yet to see one however. Interested...
- I did say I'd leave the wr/db out of it, just something I did want to point out. While people are saying that the "aggressive catch" is overpowered, look at today's NFL. I bet dbs say the receivers are overpowered. These catches and frankly the yards gained are super-realistic. Guys like Golden Tate and Fitz and OBJ and Cruz and all those guys come up with these passes in traffic all the time, every week. Looks like you need a great corner to make plays.
- Similarly, the silly drops by the defense look like they may be down significantly and throwing while moving is better tuned. Still think there needs to be more variety on where the ball goes if a throw is "off target" (i.e. closer to the target but just out of reach or just barely out of bounds vs. 10 yds out) but there have been strides here that could make pocket play more important and having skilled, big receivers a plus/necessity.
- More thoughts/suggestions on db/wr interactions are in the designated thread. There is a lot more potential here.
AESTHETICS:
- Players look more polished and look to have better momentum than years past.
- The crowd and overall atmosphere in the stadium is another MASSIVE upgrade to me, while not necessarily being a boon to everybody else and quite possibly being a "small" addition. Not sure I'm looking forward to watching towels wave around inside of Century Link -- Seahawks -- (as it looks at this point like all stadiums are still the same -- hopefully I am wrong), but gawd it looks great in the Pittsburgh and New York gameplay we have available. Not many crowds use them prominently, of course the terrible towel is a signature of the Steelers and I feel like NYG uses them as well.
- Signage around the walls of the stadiums are authentic and there are even signs in the crowd that look great and add variety. And remember the day of the massive blocks of colors in the crowd? Gone. Most importantly though the crowd sounds and acts like it knows what is going on as it is happening, which has been a real sticking point in the past. Hopefully the devs give a breakdown on what all they've done with the atmosphere soon.
- Little things like linemen throwing their hands up as the rb breaks free and the crowd rising not in unison but again timed nicely while a big run or deep throw or turnover is in progress is big, big, big for someone like me who needs atmosphere for replay-ability. And did anyone notice the upgraded sidelines? Not where we need them but at least the guys get hyped and bummed with some relatively cool animations when they should. It's a step.
NEEDS IMPROVED:
GAMEPLAY:
- First and foremost, Blocking and line interaction has never reached potential in this game, even though it's been a hype-item in the recent past. Whether pass blocking or run, there is need for a big year devoted mostly to fixing the trenches. There are others that can go into greater detail on the line play, but it baffles me how they can have a retired NFL offensive lineman working on it a couple years ago and still struggle so mightily in implementation. Perhaps we are overly demanding here as it's likely more difficult than it looks, but like I said there needs to be a year of game play just devoted to line play and interaction so that they can get it right. I think this alone could take Madden to the next step, because it would play so differently. Hopefully that year of fixing is Madden 17.
- In that respect, there is a lot of work that needs done with differentiating the running backs in Madden. Every position needs this, but rb seems like the most simple and logical creation for different styles of runner. In a year mostly devoted to line play there should be time to fix the running back styles.
- Speaking of rbs, the new trucking mechanic looks awful imo. Hopefully that's a fix that can be made by release, because dang it if the rag-doll physics doesn't work against the engine in this regard. Simply terrible. Not that it was good last year with guys just bouncing off, but sliding to their backs while the rb slides his leg over, or a defender three feet away looking like he's trying to hold on to a guy is worse! Somewhere in between I think would be what we need to see and there needs to be better player-on-player contact at the point of attack. That or new animations altogether for this.
- Additionally, we need to see offensive linemen jumping into scrums and pile ups to push the pile forward, peel off tacklers, etc. Short yardage and the goal line plays would become a lot more fun and challenging.
- In order to accomplish this right, the "high motor" trait would be used to decide which linemen would go after defenders after contact on the rb in a pile-up situation. There still needs to be differential for which OL would be aggressive in these situations to help their team and also which ones go after their initial engaged blocks to get another or move to the second level, making the "high motor" trait an actual important thing to have in your OL.
- Warping is still far too prominent and ball to player connection and physics needs an upgrade. It's better, I'll give them that, but with the current new gen tech there should be even more ability to connect player and ball, ball and turf, etc. There are still too many instances where things happen because they are supposed to, not because there is any evident physical interaction between the ball and whatever it is "supposed" to be touching/bouncing off of.
- When lined up under center, the qb is a good yard away from his center!!! You can't see from the normal angle but when looking from the defensive playmaker angle and broadcast it's pretty clear there's a disconnect. Again those physics need cleaned up. I would have to think this would be upgraded with a new pass blocking game. Perhaps it's a fail-safe for jumping defenders so the qb doesn't just fall at the snap if a guy hits a gap.
- Special teams. Mostly in the kicking game, there needs to be a complete revamp in the system at some point. Would love to see the implementation of a two-step, golf-style kicking game where you must choose exactly how you need/want to kick the ball with all of the "elements" of the given day. Again, more traits/abilities need to be implemented specifically for kickers to make this work properly and also the elements need to be more prominently featured, so that all kickers are not created equal. This is something a casual fan would hate but as a hardcore Madden player I would love this. Are you going to kick a chip shot with a truer kick but a real lack in distance, or do you try and boom one and take a real chance on a hook/push? Perhaps hook/push should be added as a kick adjustment. Perhaps backspin for punts at the risk of accuracy/length reduction? How accurate your kicker is should also factor in a major way. There's so much potential here.
- More on special teams and in general. They say head-tracking has been improved, which is awesome, but players still act wonky and quickly/unnaturally with the ball in the air. Kick returners slide to their positions effortlessly and players still matrix for interceptions that they do not fully see. Granted they "should" see them but the animation makes it looks cheaper than it actually is.
- I think with the new catch system the team missed a HUGE opportunity this season by not adding a multitude of "over the shoulder" animations down the field. Actually I think all of the community concerns about overpowered "aggressive" catch could be cleared up simply by implementing this animation and putting it on the "possession" and "RAC" buttons. Mostly I think this because in the small sample size of evaluation and just knowing how the game has played in the past, aggressive is really the best way to attack the deep throw with your receiver based on the available animation options. So even if the defense knocks away a fair amount, we'll see aggressive take over as the overwhelming choice on a majority of the downfield pass attempts.
- If over-the-shoulder catches were added in a big way, there would be more of a choice to make as far as best way to secure the catch and would likely (definitely) bring down the aggressive attempts, in turn bringing down the expectation and assumption of overpowered. Beyond that it would give you a different way to attack the ball downfield for your "possession" type wrs, which is another big byproduct. Basically, more variety is the best thing you can add when introducing so-called 'revolutionary' or 'game-changing' things. I know over 400 new animations were rolled out, but it could have been 425+ easy and potentially people feeling "cheese" in the game.
AESTHETICS:
- If indeed crowds are the same league-wide in the game, there is a necessity to now differentiate them. The 3D models are finally looking like they should, but in order to create the true "living worlds" that we were promised 3 years ago, the team needs to step up the authenticity of the crowd variables around the NFL. Again it's nothing huge to an online gamer but I only play franchise and little things make the difference in a major way to my experience. If the crowd in STL and JAX acts and sounds different than the crowd in KC or Seattle, I'm going to feel an immersion there. Unfortunately EA isn't allowed to have "dynamic crowd attendance" anymore to start a game, so something has to take its place.
- Something that I really don't like is the intro into the stadium. That stupid-looking chrome thing is ... well ... stupid looking. I'd rather they take a page from NBA Live and show the front of the stadium or something like a live broadcast does.
- Commentary. Just every aspect and especially dynamic presentation/commentary. Not necessarily even a new narrative team (although that's preferred by much of the community), but there is no seasonal/career immersion there. NBA 2K has had this feature for years and it has been a huge success. Why not make this a priority in Madden? It's probably one of the easiest things to implement honestly and the guys are already coming in to do lines. Man I could go on and on with commentary, as we all could. Anyway...
- Team Celebrations need upgraded badly. Yet another thing that few even notice or think about but would make a huge difference in my experience. Individual and even two-man celebrations in this game are pretty solid, but things like teammates/coaches running in to jump on a defender's back or smother him with helmet slaps and chest bumps after he's intercepted a ball or recovered/forced a fumble or after a wr makes a big catch would add greatly to the excitement of the game. All of this needs to be post play, proximity based and real-time of course, so that sideline mates and/or those on the field could indulge in the celebration based on their placement near the ball at the time of being downed. Of course this necessarily applies to touchdowns more than anything but the rest would be a nice "living world" item.
- OMG can we please -- PLEASE get upgraded equipment? PLEEEEEASE!? They haven't worked on this since new gen arrived.
- I'm not as in to mascots as the rest of it, but they would be a cool side item at some point to the rest of this.
