After playing quite a bit of games last night and capturing them to replay over here are my impressions.
First though
Madden is the dominant game I play every version the most of any of the games I own (which are exclusively sports games. I buy Tiger, Madden and typically NCAA..and COD). Still Madden dominates my game playing. I am involved with another community solely for my Madden play in (4) Leagues, numerous tourneys, PUG quarters (PUG tracking system), etc. Needless to say I've played over 700 games easily this past Madden 12 version...which we are currently finishing up 2 seasons before the next version releases.
Now from my background, on to my impressions. Played only on All-Madden difficulty.
Note: Some of these will differ/change once able to play Online. Certain aspects of the game change when playing Online.
Also when I refer to Madden 12, it was also played on strictly All-Madden against other Users Online from my Community, not the CPU or lobby games.
Positives
I definitely notice the impact it has in the Gameplay. Currently in Madden 12 and all other released prior you could take your RB run into the back of your OL with your head down..and nothing would happen other than of course you just keep running into his back at a stand still. Or when you run through a hole with a OL or defender stretched out, you simply ran through them magically without slowing down. Once you found a hole it was simply speed burst through it.
Not anymore. You can't run recklessly through the hole and get through/past OL and Defenders. I can't tell you how many times I specifically tried to run the way you can in Madden 12, only to either get knocked back, fall completely, knocked off balanced or stumble. In each case this happened. It was a beautiful thing to see because the run game last version was entirely too easy since there was no negative result when someone simply ran into their OL. Another thing is that when OL are in the process of getting up and you run into them you will flip over or off of them. I loved seeing that.
When I ran with RB's like Frank Gore and Brandon Jacobs...two relatively Big RB's and they built up steam they almost always fell forward or got the better end of the run. If multiple Defenders hit them from all different angles that changed the outcome...speaking of which I didn't notice ANY animation tackling like in the past. From previous versions a RB could be running full speed only to get completely stopped in his tracks by a Defender in pursuit. Regardless of the runner, if this happens it will be forward progress as the end result.
On one particular run Ahmad Bradshaw carried the ball through the hole and was wrapped up a few yards down field from the side....he fell back onto a defender who was on the ground....never did any part of his body hit the ground, other players thought he was down but he rolled off of the defender planted his hand on the ground and took off for the TD. This was AMAZING to see I kid you not. It all looked natural and was not animation driven. Definitely unlike anything I've seen in previous Maddens.
It effects Defense even, in Madden 12 you could also fire through a Gap grazing OL or your DL without any negative result. Now you will get tripped or knocked off your path. Love that as well. The run game will be more rewarding and more difficult at the same time.
Note: I don't pay attention to the players after the play is over on how they react. On one play I did notice that the player that was tackled waited for the players to peel off of him before he tried to get up which was pretty cool
Still enjoy the Infinity Engine. Has it's quirks after plays that will have you laughing, but regarding in actual Gameplay the tackles, stumbles. trips, collisions have been beautiful. I haven't ran into any wildly glitchy tackles or anything that apparently others have had happened. Love the effect that it has on the game as I stated I've already had receptions and runs that would have easily been TD's in 12 and any other version not happen due to the physics. I fell when I was suppose to, tripped when I was suppose to, etc. Even the catches that happen and how the WR's catch them are impacted by the IE.
Another much needed feature that is very obvious and has an impact on Gameplay. I've been able to throw a number of passes that with just the right amount of trajectory found their targets over Defenders heads perfectly. Not every one of them were completed, if the Defender is in position and spots the ball he will make a play on it. Being able to throw every type of route now with different trajectory passes is great. You simply could not throw certain passes in Madden 12 or nearly all of the previous versions. People use to think it was due to super leaping LB's, but it was the trajectory of the ball that was low to begin with that enabled them to get a hand on the ball. You are able to throw to a RB or WR near the sideline and not put them OB giving them room to get up field or easily make the grab in bounds.
The different Throwing Trajectories are very noticeable. From putting the ball over a trailing Defender's head to throwing an actual Corner Post to the back pylon. I haven't had a pass swatted down intended 10,15,20 yards down field yet.
Due to the throwing Trajectories being improved, nearly all routes are available which DEFINITELY was not the case in Madden 12..or really each of the past versions. Each route I tried was there if I threw the ball on time or depending on the coverage (what play they called or if they were able to spot the ball prior). They weren't always successful but I could see that if my timing was better, I had more time or against certain coverages that the route was available. This is huge honestly. Last version there was really only a couple routes that were available to use. The others you had to hope would work at times but chances are you knew it would be swatted or just flat out picked off. Having access to every route is definitely a great thing. Same as I mentioned above. Now routes towards the sideline can work due to the Trajectories, especially ones towards the sidelines.
Another thing regarding routes. RB's and TE's have different hot routes than WR's in some instances. The Slant Out route that seemed to always be golden against Man or Zone in the past several versions has been removed. You won't be able to hot route an RB to a fade route out of the backfield either.
With that said looks like you can't throw "blind quick passes" sort of speak. Like the snap and throw variety. The ball will likely find the dirt more times than it will a WR.
From my experience thus far, any and all routes are available. Routes that Defenders played psychically last version and past versions are available. In fact if a Defender doesn't swing his head around he will not make a play on the ball accurately. He may put his hands up as a last ditch attempt sort of speak but it won't be an interception. This can be frustrating if you are use to that being an automatic interception given you have been playing the series a while, but it is finally refreshing.
In Madden 12 I seen the same 2-3 animations on every catch. Didn't matter the type of route it was or if the WR was near the sideline, the same animations would be attempted. Thus far I've noticed ALOT of different ones, especially near the sideline. I was able to complete a long ball over the LB's head in with Vernon Davis caught the ball in stride beautifully. Last version you would get 99.9% of the time, the "long jump in the air" over the shoulder catch which would give time for the Defender to tackle you or knock the ball loose. Now the WR catches the ball while still on the ground over shoulder.
It is great to see the ball caught in stride now. From Crossing routes, to Corner Posts to Streaks. The WR will now catch it in stride without taking a "hop jump" or some other animation that slows them down. Of course if they have to jump they do, but that was nearly every pass last version.
I will note that I do not care for how easy it is to manual catch deep passes. Before you needed some actual skill to accomplish it..now it's just hold the Triangle (catch) button down. I see alot of deep bombs attempted and doing just this. On a side note it at times can be easily defended the same way by the defense but the Offense appears to get the benefit of the doubt mostly.
Things I've noticed.
- Safety play is much improved. Safeties appear to be more cognizant of their responsibilities. In Madden 12, at times they would not cover their deep half completely allowing the WR to get deeper than they were. Or routes down the middle of the field they would play more towards the sideline in Man Under 2 plays. Once they locate the ball they will try to make a play on it. Antrell Rolle ate me alive when I kept trying to throw same route and ball his way.
- Man Coverage is enhanced. Not in a way making it over powered but subtle changes that may or may not happen automatically. For example if a CB knows that he has help over top and to the inside it appears that he will play the WR on his outside shoulder. That subtle change is great. I also did not notice any Psychic coverage from any of the Defenders like in previous versions.
- Shading appears to work as well correctly this version. When I shaded a specific WR my CB acted accordingly.
- Zone Coverage seems to be solid. Again Defenders will play the ball once they locate it. A single player cannot cover 10-20 yards of their area no longer it appears, but they will carry the WR further if necessary.
- Catch animations for Defenders have also improved. In the past you would also get the same animations from Defenders trying to swat or intercept the ball. Now they are aware of the sideline when trying intercept a pass.
- Defensive Ends seem to rush upfield like they should...especially the DE's of the New York Giants. As I noted again Offline against the CPU or in general always plays differently. But it was very promising to see their rush improved.
Standard pass rush has definitely been improved. You don't need to blitz to get a good rush to the QB. This goes for DE's and LB's in my experience. The good/great pass rushers seem to standout, James Harrison, Von Miller, Lamarr Woodley, etc.
- Man Lock is FINALLY back in the game. In the past you simply motioned a WR and could tell what coverage the Defense was in. Man if the Defender followed, Zone if he didn't and took steps back. Now the LB or CB will either switch or follow the motioned WR to where he goes while having his assignment switched without tipping this to the Offense. They could be in Man or Zone. This by far is one of the better additions as well and much needed for those of us who remember when it was in the game in the PS2 days.
Love that is back in the game. This may not be a big deal to others but to most of the Madden crowd this is huge!.
- * Alignment. This is one thing I will need to investigate when I get home later as I really didn't pay too close attention to it.
I've found no issues with alignment thus far.
Kicking has always been easy in Madden eventually once the meter is figured out and of course no lag. Going back to this meter is more natural. It will still be easy eventually but better than the button tap method. If it plays like it has Offline (which I doubt it will be that quick) it will make kicks more difficult. Hoping that the speed is based on accuracy or something.
Negatives
This is by far my biggest complaint of the game, (I've never liked it in NCAA either) The "guess a play" feature is back in the game. May be this has been in the past few versions and me just not know it but I didn't think it was since the 07-08 versions. You can either guess Run Middle, Run Right, Run Left or Pass. I absolute hate this feature and what it does to your Defense. The Offense came out in a Singleback 3 WR set. I called 2-3-6, Man Under 2 on Defense. I controlled the SS and "guessed" Run Middle. The Offense was running a pass play, I had 6 players into the backfield in an instance with Eli running for his life avoiding the easy sack.
The difference is night and day how the Defense reacts. When you use it every one of the front 7 moves faster immediately after the snap, especially the LB's. Now I will say that it wasn't always a given but nothing ever is against the CPU especially on All-Madden. They were able to have success both throwing and passing when I kept calling Run Middle (which is all I ever kept calling). Still the fact that my Defense reacted so much faster after the snap is garbage. The react like a bunch of blind pirahnas looking for blood IMO. I really really do not like this feature at all, I mean at all.
Still don't like this feature at all. Cannot stand it. What it does to your Defense in both run and pass is ridiculous. Testing it out in lab games for rule propositions I've gotten quite a few interceptions by just calling Zone and Pass Commit. Same for Man, your Defenders react and cover much better. A shame it was put back into the game. It dumbs down Defense in the game and just makes it easier to play. Defense is something you have to work on to be good at. I especially put in alot of time trying to perfect it, adjust to what I see and play it accordingly couple with User supplementation. Now it really is a point of guessing and using the "Ball Hawk Mechanic".
As I mentioned above some of these will change once able to play another User online. As always the case with the CPU they tend to do things that don't happen as often against Users. The CPU RB's break quite a bit of tackles. And they do it relatively quickly it seems. Some were ones they should have broke due to my angle, who it was and their momentum based on the Infinity Engine but there were quite a few that should have been one on one tackles. Bradshaw gouged me for nearly 200 yards rushing in one game as he was just unstoppable...a game in which I lost 42-14. He would break a good 1-2 tackles on most of his carries or was just tough to bring down in general. To be fair I'll say that I was just testing Defenses and wasn't really trying to play the run, but still.
Again this may change once Online. And I don't play the CPU anyway so it won't matter in that regard. But if it is something that I notice as well as others Online then it may need addressed. I guess people who play the CPU and adjust sliders will be able to limit or correct that.
Doesn't seem to be a broken tackle issue as I imagined when playing other Users online. The CPU is able to do ALOT of things that don't happen against another User, especially when online. This isn't an issue.
- Blocking on Special Teams
Specifically Punt Returns. This also could be another thing that changes when Online as again the CPU is able to play differently. I didn't notice any better blocking as from last year. I rarely had any room to work after punts as my blockers didn't do much. This may have been due to the calls I was making as far as Middle, Return Left, Return Right.
I will say that Kick Return blocking is better as I returned a kick for a TD after I found the crease and shot through. Nice to see that will be a factor again. Punt return blocking did not seem the same
Special Teams blocking much improved on both Kick returns and Punt returns. I've already ran back two legitimate Kick returns in my number of games played. Which is about 2 more than I ran back all of '12 version in ALOT of games played. So this doesn't seem to be an issue or a negative to me.
This is one of those subtle changes that I don't care for. I know I will get use to it but I don't care for it now with where the play name is.
I'm use to it now which I figured would happen.
Don't care for it being blue. I would have liked this to remain black like it was.
I love the overlays, just not the score bar.
Same as above. Use to it and it doesn't look that bad actually.
I may be the only one, but I do not care for this feature. It along with the Commit options seem to have dumb the Defense down making it easier for even the novice stick skill User to develop superior User skills suddenly. It was an Art sort of speak to having User skill and getting into position correctly to make a User pick. Now it is simplified to 1 button. In fact you don't even need to get in place any longer. Just click on and hold the Triangle button to make the interception. Now as I said in my instances the Offense has gotten the benefit of the doubt mostly, but that I figure is due to be not User picking that way ever before. I won't say I have the best stick skills around but it took ALOT of timing and hours put in for me to be where I'm at the past few versions which I feel is pretty good. Now the difference between a newbie and User who has superior stick skill isn't far off as it should.
Really wish this was a feature of certain players and not any and everyone.
Overall
Again I am impressed with the improvements in this game just off the Demo. They are very noticable from the past several versions and have and all have an impact on the game. I love the Infinity Engine and what it brings to the game. This will only get better and make the game that much more better.
This was going to be a buy for me but my feeling towards the game has improved to be more exciting. As I still play Madden 12 the improvements from it alone stand out very clear. My view of the game wasn't lessoned or changed hearing the things that don't mean anything to me like being able to Edit players ratings/equipment, CCM, Offline play, import classes, etc. My feeling was that if Gameplay was improved with things like Trajectory, Coverages, Physics, catch animations, Man-lock etc..and they all actually worked and were implemented correctly then I'd be that much more happier.
Definitely a step in the right direction for improving the game.
My Overall feelings toward the game are pretty much the same. Things went up and down since I'm actually playing Users now instead of the CPU. Still love the feel of the game and the things I am seeing. Wish a couple things weren't in the game, but hopefully they are not as bad once I have played 50 or so more games here soon. Again I won't be playing this game Offline or against the CPU so my view or impressions won't reflect any of that. I only play Sim Users, always on All-Madden (though JB and I played on All-Pro the other night). If you play this game against the CPU regardless the level of difficulty you will be frustrated. Things that the CPU can do, doesn't happen at all or nearly as much as it would against another User. If you also play this game against Lobby players you will will likely be frustrated though I assume it could be tolerable.
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Originally Posted by gigemaggs99
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