Madden NFL 13 - Season Ticket & Retail Impressions

[Playmakers]

LOL anyone think Madden is worth $45. Love me some GameFly get a "used" game 2 days after release and then "keep it" for $45.

The only thing about this game that upsets me is the inability to edit players/ratings/teams and also play any game on the schedule outside of your own. I'm a huge fan of created old school rosters and with the legends EA included this year i wish they would have given us the ability to edit and create classic teams. Outside of that I love the game play....it's the best Madden ever IMO. It has a few warps but nothing that frustrates me like NCAA 13 does on the field. I've settled on some All-Madden sliders and the game plays incredible for me.

I'd say getting this game for $45 is a flat out STEAL.

[Rudy]

So Rudy, have you had a chance to play around with CCM yet? If so, what are your thoughts? After my pass expired I did not purchase the game but it's been on my mind like a bad hangover. A part of me wants the wife to come home with a surpirse from best buy... CCM has A LOT of flaws but I still found the games to be very enjoyable.

Haven't looked at franchise mode at all. Just want to play some exhibition games in and a feel for the game. After reading about some problems I don't want to start one until the game gets patched (if that's necessary for franchise). And for the record I'm going to start calling it franchise mode again. I think it was dumb to change the name. A guy at work says his kid calls him and is panicking saying "They took out franchise mode!" I told him they just changed the name to confuse everyone. So I'm going to go back to calling it franchise mode instead of CCM which is a lame marketing attempt at calling it the same thing.

[Rudy]

I played three games last night in Madden 13. Took my Dolphins at home against the Jets and it was a pretty low scoring, ugly game until Sanchez threw three picks. They did get an onside kick late but I still won 30-21. Then I got my butt kicked by the Lions against the Cowboys and by the Giants against the 49ers. The Giants beat me 31-17 or 38-17 but Ahmad Bradshaw had just over 300 yards rushing against me. He ran me over as Patrick Willis twice for huge runs. They had three long TD runs altogether and so I tweaked my tackling slider. I had it low for the demo but they definitely were better on the disc. The game speed also changed on the retail version. I had tried Very Slow for the first time on the demo and liked it but Very Slow feels like molasses on the retail version. Now playing on Slow but it’s a touch fast for my tastes.

PRESENTATION AND COMMENTARY

I really like the commentary team. Simms does a really nice job, doesn’t sit on the fence and has a lot of specific commentary. He will let you have it if he’s not happy. He’s a little obsessed with first downs and while he misses the mark occasionally I think this is a big improvement. I do worry that there aren’t enough lines in their first year and that they will get repetitive over time but right now it’s a plus.

I still can’t stand the slow motion replays and constant switching of angles. Definitely a big downgrade in the presentation this year as M12 had it right. They would show you a replay angle and let it play all the way through. Then they might show you a different angle and let it play all the way through. That’s the way it’s done on TV and it’s a lot better. I’m skipping through all the presentation elements in M13 already. I’m sick of this garbage. Terrible downgrade in the automatic replay department.

Another downgrade was the halftime show as they show NO highlights from the game. I don’t understand this. The postgame show uses real highlights but the halftime show just uses scripted cut scenes. Last year’s halftime show was half real and I wanted more. Now they move the other way. Whoever was in charge of presentation in EA needs to step aside for M14. Really disappointed in this area.

One final thing, the down and distance, play clock and score should ALWAYS be shown while picking my play. Often this information is not on the screen and I shouldn’t have to pause the game to see it.

GRAPHICS

I think the graphics took a step back from last year. I do like the grass better and I really like the zoomed in camera on running plays better but the colours make the graphics look too cartoony. The lighting really hurts this look at times. Playing with the Cowboys in their dome and the graphics didn’t look good. With the 49ers in SF the game looks great but I don’t think the lighting effects work well. In certain stadiums at certain times the game just doesn’t look nearly as good as it could.

INFINITY ENGINE

I’ve been a bit disappointed with IE. I was expecting more in the demo and it’s really a subtle change from M12 for me. It does appear toned down from the demo as well and I’m not sure that’s a good thing. I still see too many NFL Blitz type tackles with players blowing each other up. The one great thing is the gang tackling. No more forcefields around players as you clean them up. Running up the middle is nice when a RB gets tripped by an arm. I’m sure this will be tweaked over time but I really don’t see IE as a selling feature or huge improvement.


RUNNING AND PASSING GAMES

I was worried after reading other impressions that the cpu would be running 80% of the time and that they would suck as well. Not the case last night. The cpu is a bit run heavy but threw the ball quite a bit and was effective at both. This was a sigh of relief. I still think they need to get the ball to their playmakers more. When I played against the Lions they targeted Calvin Johnson only once in the first half. I will say I’m annoyed with the shading feature on defense. It seems to take forever to highlight a WR on defense. Not even sure I’m doing it right and the playbooks seem to have dropped the double team WR options. What the heck? Why did EA do this?

The game does seem to be missing some personality. Last year I would see more individual characteristics and cut scenes. Right now everything feels a bit generic. Maybe I’m not playing with the right guys but I miss seeing certain defensive player celebrations and other things I was seeing in M12.

Overall I did have fun running the ball. With Miami I broke some longer runs with Bush and finding the cut back lanes is fun. There is movement out there and you have to read your blocks. The cpu running game on a tweaked All-Pro was pretty good so that doesn’t worry me as much.

The cpu passing game was good too. My favourite thing about this year’s Madden is the passing game. The new trajectories allowing me to get the ball over people is great. Throwing guys open, throwing to the back shoulder, etc are all really good too. You used to always get frustrated with throws in the past where you could see a guy wide open but couldn’t quite put the ball where you wanted and it got broken up. Not anymore. Timing is also a lot better. The icons lighting up also helps you complete those comeback routes much better. The comeback and curl routes are a lot easier to hit this year. Really happy with that. My slot receivers used to always lead my team in catches but the new passing engine makes it a lot easier to get the ball in the hands of your outside WRs and better players.

OVERALL

In terms of gameplay I think this is the best Madden to date and best football game this gen. The commentary is good but the lousy presentation with horrible replays that I am already skipping through certainly hurts the experience. There is also a bit of a generic feeling to the game that I can’t shake right now. While I wasn’t blown away last night but I did have fun. Hopefully that continues.

Current sliders I'm using on All-Pro: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...MTDlVS2c#gid=1

[CLW]

The only thing about this game that upsets me is the inability to edit players/ratings/teams and also play any game on the schedule outside of your own. I'm a huge fan of created old school rosters and with the legends EA included this year i wish they would have given us the ability to edit and create classic teams. Outside of that I love the game play....it's the best Madden ever IMO. It has a few warps but nothing that frustrates me like NCAA 13 does on the field. I've settled on some All-Madden sliders and the game plays incredible for me.

I'd say getting this game for $45 is a flat out STEAL.

Maybe I've been grouchy or something lately but I was not impressed with either the Demo or Season Ticket (perhaps it was because I was playing too many random onliners which is not my thing). Care to share the sliders - I'd like to give them a try once my GameFly rental gets here to see if maybe I should just take the game for $45.

[GatorBait06NC]

I literally threw my copy of Madden 13 in the trash. Rather than rip someone off by selling it on ebay for more than the $2 that its worth.

As i predicted, Connected Careers killed the series and is totally full of bugs and glitches. Stuff that would have been caught if the game had been tested for 5 minutes.

Want my honest impressions, here you go:

-Last year the Madden team talked about how big of a must it was for us to have complete control over editing so franchise mode could be ours. Then they remove editing all together.
-The fact that Connected Careers is scripted doesnt allow for editing.
-So you end up with 2 or 3 of the same number players on your team. You cant edit and change it. Stupid crap like Donovon McNabb being signed to the Browns or Vikings every year is crap.
-Changing of sliders, skill level, etc doesnt work at all in CC.
-I simmed on season and had 30, repeat 30, 1,000 yard rushers.
-Preseason is still broken. Starters show back up late in the game at other positions.
-Game face is broken.
-The XP system is really stupid.
-You have to have a constant connection to the EA servers for games to count.
-Having fake rookies and fake draft classes is one, I dont care to be told that the heisman winner is planning on being a hollywood actor. CC is full of childish, cheesy, retarded storylines. Makes me want to puke.

EA is basically catering to online players. PERIOD. Thats it. I can no longer play my franchise mode with me as a created player in the mode. I'm forced to either be a coach or player AKA superstar mode.

Not being able to edit rosters, create players, or create or edit draft classes is a killer. I knew it would be from the start. Fans want realism and this Madden offers 0 realism. Just a bunch of hype, broken features, broken promises, and the most stupid game mode ever in Connected Careers.

Connected Careers will be the final nail in the Madden coffin. EA no longer has the long exclusive deals. My hope is that Sony or 2k step in and offer us another NFL, NCAA Football and Basketball games. EA has had their shot and they just cant get the job done. Every year the games are getting worse and worse, more patches are needed to make each game playable.

FANS WANT REALISM AND TOTAL CONTROL. WE WANT AS MUCH EDITING ABILITY AS POSSIBLE. That is a very simple statement that EA cannot figure out. No one asked for Connected Careers.

NCAA Football 13 is acutally pretty good this year, but if they input connected Careers into NCAA, that game will fry too.

EA needs to actually listen to the fans and give us our old franchise mode w/ edibility back. I'm tired of not having an NFL game to play.

Please Sony, Please 2k, do something about this.

I know that no game is released in perfect shape, but why do EA titles always have so many issues. I'm just fed up with waiting for patches.

[gigemaggs99]

Does it ever feel like some fantasy land? I mean I don't play the other big name games out there....so when I go to Gamestop at midnight for NCAA or Madden I'm really surprised how many people are there. There were A LOT more people there for Madden than there were for NCAA but like GaitorBait is saying, it is...."discouraging" to see how many patches are needed for the recent releases of EA titles. It seems like in the last couple of releases you mainly hear about how bad the games are, or how they have removed this or that, or how the "new improved feature(s)" just don't simply work.

It's almost like they have a "soft" deadline of July something for NCAA 14 but not really, there's always room for a patch...what about having the mentality of having it READY for release day? EA made a big deal this year about the NCAA 13 demo being release early, like for the E3 deal or whatever it was, well if they were able to release it "early" one would "assume" they were ahead of schedule...maybe they started working on NCAA 14 instead, maybe they took the days off to play golf...who knows. Just makes you wonder why the older versions worked for the most part, didn't require patches or maybe use the patches as a crutch to smudge the release deadline.

Others that play the big name titles, COD, Gears of War, etc...do they require patches after patches? Is there a shooter game out there that has glaring issues i.e. the gun/trigger just doesn't work? Then the fans write in, numerous obvious issues and the developers are blind to the fact that it's an issue or seem to dance around the issues? Is it just EA?

I've never played these other titles like people always seem to bring up 2K, Blitz, etc....I have tried winning 11, but prefer EA's Fifa. So I guess when it comes to football games I really only have brand to pick from, I guess in the end this is the definition of a monopoly. Maybe someday another brand will enter the market and we'll see improvement, until then...it seems like we are at the mercy of whoever the sole brand is.

[Gotmadskillzson]

This game and NCAA 13 share the same problem. And that is the CPU offense can't sustain a drive for an entire game. It is as though once you intercept the CPU just ONE time, they lose their will to live and can't do nothing right for the rest of the game.

Other then that, best Madden in about a decade. Infinity engine is nice, HOWEVER, I don't like my RB falling backwards on his back just because he ran into the back of an offensive lineman. He should automatically push off with his hand. Kind of disappointed I haven't seen any helicopter hits yet on a WR jumping for a pass over the middle.

Yeah I was upset over no coach mode in CCM when they have legendary coaches in the game. Kind of defeats the point of having a legendary coach in the game if YOU CAN'T COACH MODE WITH THEM.

IMO the right stick needs to be tuned better. It isn't sensitive enough when you try to shield the ball away from a hit. Juking.....I want quick jukes not that hopping juke. And when I want to lower my shoulder to bowl somebody over, it should happen instantly and not take 2 or 3 yards for it to come out.

And my final problem is the strategy guide. Guide is 351 pages long, but yet they don't even talk about Connected Career mode other then 5 bullet points with 3 of those bullet points being useless. So to me yeah EA dropped the ball on the strategy guide.

You add this super deep new feature to the game called Connected Career and you don't go into depth about it in the strategy guide ?? Really ? But yet they go in depth about fantasy football in the guide, 10 pages on it....SMH.

[GatorBait06NC]

Dont get me wrong, Connected Careers is a great idea. It's big flaw is that EA is the company producing it. It's just completely bug filled.

Call me petty, but I was absolutely disgusted when I saw three #85s on one team inside a coaching connected career. They wont let us edit anything while in CC mode, yet they will allow three #85s to play on one time. That is just disgusting, piss poor development.

That is just basically a slap in the face to everyone who tried to point out how important the ability to edit players was to EA before the game's release.

To me, EA is know for slapping it's consumers in the face. They have been getting away with it because of exclusive licenses. But now they no longer have those.

I dont expect EA Sports to be in business in 10 years. Look at their NBA title. 2k kills it. If another company were to make an NFL and NCAA football game, it would put EA out of business. College Hoops 2k8 is still the best next gen college hoops games despite the fact that EA released newer games.

It really sickened to me to see EA getting a deal with the UFC. Dana White is an idiot. EA MMA was terrible.

[GatorBait06NC]

Franchise Mode in Madden peaked on last gen. It was finally getting to be decent on next gen and then EA comes up with this big plan to just remove it. And replace with an online bias piece of crap mode like Connected Careers. Pretty soon "Play Now" wont be available, it will be replaced with online games. EA Sports wont make a game for people who dont play online.

[I OU a Beatn]

No offense, but the online crowd has been ignored this entire generation. If you ask me, it's about time they served us up something worthwhile. NCAA could take note and do the same considering we're still dealing with the exact same interface that we've had since it was first developed for 360/PS3.

[JeffHCross]

It's almost like they have a "soft" deadline of July something for NCAA 14 but not really, there's always room for a patch...what about having the mentality of having it READY for release day?

I think practically every game plans on there being at least one patch. Especially games that can't / don't want to move their release date.

I dont expect EA Sports to be in business in 10 years. Look at their NBA title. 2k kills it. If another company were to make an NFL and NCAA football game, it would put EA out of business. College Hoops 2k8 is still the best next gen college hoops games despite the fact that EA released newer games.

You have heard of the MLB 2k series, right? That "killed" in another way. NCAA College Football 2k sucked. The NHL series drove the NHL 2k series into submission too. 2k has consistently gotten only one sport right: basketball. Now, maybe if they went all in, assembled the greatest football staff ever, and put every penny they could into making a football game, then they could knock Madden or NCAA off their respective pedestals. But 2k hasn't shown an ability to compete, over the long-term, with EA Sports in anything other than basketball.

EA Sports might not be in business ten years from now. But it won't be because of 2k. Or probably competition at all.

[oweb26]

No offense, but the online crowd has been ignored this entire generation. If you ask me, it's about time they served us up something worthwhile. NCAA could take note and do the same considering we're still dealing with the exact same interface that we've had since it was first developed for 360/PS3.

Didnt they give you gamepad? or whatever it was called. lol

[Playmakers]

Maybe I've been grouchy or something lately but I was not impressed with either the Demo or Season Ticket (perhaps it was because I was playing too many random onliners which is not my thing). Care to share the sliders - I'd like to give them a try once my GameFly rental gets here to see if maybe I should just take the game for $45.

I'm playing on All-Madden here's a link to the sliders I'm testing.
http://www.virtualsportsnetwork.com/...57#post2117557

[GatorBait06NC]

I would like to be able to create myself to a team, play franchise mode, and control the entire team just like I have done every year since Madden introduced franchise mode back around 2000.

This year I cannot do it anymore. EA just says no. I'm forced to play superstar mode or NFL head coach. I can't play Madden the way I have for over 10 years.

I see no way that Madden 14 stays with connected careers without at least giving users the ability to edit players, equipment, appearance, and ratings at any time like we should be able to. Using created rosters is a must in CC.

I just cant get used to the fake players incoming in the drafts. I wish they would steal a line from 2k and let us create our own draft classes or edit current ones.

I just pray that NCAA doesnt go in the direction of connected careers. Sports gaming would be dead for me. And that would suck.

[jaymo76]

A bunch of interesting tweets from Mr. Looman:

The GM‏@theGMsuite
@Josh_Looman I'm sure youve been asked this a million times, but how the hell do I change my team scheme in CCM, not position scheme?



2hJosh Looman‏@Josh_Looman

@theGMsuite We're looking into that. There's currently no way to do it.

@Josh_Looman any chance of allowing users to play other games from the "weekly schedule" not just their own, like M12?

8hJosh Looman‏@Josh_Looman

@EP_AudioVideo Probably not. We base everything around your character and how much XP they earn in game.


@Josh_Looman Why can't I control more than 1 team in connected career mode? I've done it every year in franchise. Where's this feature?


8hJosh Looman‏@Josh_Looman

@leechaolan26 Connected Careers is based around controlling one character and taking them to the HOF.


7hJustin Adkins‏@leechaolan26

@Josh_Looman but you removed the option to play as multiple teams a feature you've had for years. Why?


@Josh_Looman Are you going to patch it where if you retire a created player, they stay in the game (like any real player)?


9hJosh Looman‏@Josh_Looman

@RedGoldBleeder We're not going to change that for Madden 13 as of right now since it could introduce a ton of griefing and bugs.


WFF‏@steve_wff

@Josh_Looman great job! One question: how do you extend/restructure contracts for players not in contract year?

11hJosh Looman‏@Josh_Looman

@steve_wff We tried to not overwhelm you this year and only ask you to deal with the contracts that are expiring.


@Josh_Looman Would u happen to know if we start a "franchise" online now will the patch that is coming out update it or do we have to wait?

11hJosh Looman‏@Josh_Looman

@Chris_Pollack Not sure yet. Some things will automatically update and others may require a restart. We'll know more once we have more info.

Josh Looman‏@Josh_Looman Playing as a coach in Connected Careers is the same experience that franchise mode was last year. Outside of a few features, it's identical.



@Josh_Looman Are fantasy drafts going to be an update?


12hJosh Looman‏@Josh_Looman

@yankeesman999 Nope. See my response yesterday. Fantasy Drafts will not be added to Madden13. They aren't possible in a patch.


We will not be adding fantasy drafts to #Madden13, but we do appreciate your feedback. We realize how important this feature is to you.



@Josh_Looman I'm guessing that goes for player editing as well? (The other big thing I keep hearing from die-hards)


28 AugJosh Looman‏@Josh_Looman

@ntonioChristian We're looking into that.

[jaymo76]

Based on the last tweet I get the feeling that the Tiburon team is feeling tremendous pressure to return editing at least in some way shape or form. This issue has become a lightning rod for offline and online gamers. Tiburon blew it on this one and I think they are trying to correct this huge oversight.

[ram29jackson]

thats 2 years in a row of not being able to fully edit a player in a dynasty

[GatorBait06NC]

I think practically every game plans on there being at least one patch. Especially games that can't / don't want to move their release date.

You have heard of the MLB 2k series, right? That "killed" in another way. NCAA College Football 2k sucked. The NHL series drove the NHL 2k series into submission too. 2k has consistently gotten only one sport right: basketball. Now, maybe if they went all in, assembled the greatest football staff ever, and put every penny they could into making a football game, then they could knock Madden or NCAA off their respective pedestals. But 2k hasn't shown an ability to compete, over the long-term, with EA Sports in anything other than basketball.

EA Sports might not be in business ten years from now. But it won't be because of 2k. Or probably competition at all.

EA is going to put themselves out of business if they keep on releasing crap like Madden 13. Sales are down for NCAA, wonder why? People are just tired of the same ol issues. Competition from 2k or Sony would make EA put out a better product IMO, just like last gen.

EA has good ideas, they just suck at implementing them. EA DOES NOT test their product. There's no way they do. There's no way they would miss this stuff that consumers are finding in 15 minutes of gameplay. Madden and NCAA were both great games when EA had competition. Now the door is open again for someone to compete with them.

Im tired of buying EA Sports games and having to wait 3 months and multiple patches later to play it. It's disheartening. I saw right through Connected Careers from day 1 and knew exactly what it was going to be. A complete bugfest built to cater to the online era of gaming. It makes me sick. They should have left offline franchise alone. Not everyone plays online. Football games are the worst to play online anyway.

People at community days were begging for more editing options and created/edited draft classes. Instead we got what control we did have in the game ripped from us and are forced to play some cheesy BS called Connected Careers.

CONNECTED CAREERS, newsflash, I dont care about seeing some fake tweets from Skip Bayless about some BS trade that the computer made. I dont care to scout and draft a bunch of fake rookies and the cheesy, CHEESY, CHEESY, storylines that come with them like the Heisman Trophy winner thinking of pursuing an acting career. This is just pure ignorance and I have no idea why the guys at EA think this is cool. Its not. I'd much rather create my players, edit players, and even control all 32 teams in a regular franchise mode like I have done for 10+ years. Next gen still hasnt even given us something as simple as a restricted FA signing period that last gen Madden titles have.

To me, it's like Madden as died. And now we are forced to play some mixture of NFL head coach and the retarded superstar modes from previous Maddens. Only good idea is that you can do it online with buddies. That is until you get kicked from EA servers and your game doesnt count and you say F*CK IT.

They need to get away from this online kick that they are on and remember that the game made its name offline with offline modes. Madden 13 looks good visually and presentation is great too. But I can't enjoy it, because of issues like the sliders not working, several players wearing the same numbers. And all these fake storylines, tweets, etc actually make me less interested.

Connected Careers isnt cool at all. Its just one more cheesy gimmick feature that EA thinks is golden, THAT IS NOT. That no one asked for.

[SmoothPancakes]

Based on the last tweet I get the feeling that the Tiburon team is feeling tremendous pressure to return editing at least in some way shape or form. This issue has become a lightning rod for offline and online gamers. Tiburon blew it on this one and I think they are trying to correct this huge oversight.

Tiburon blew it on a LOT of things this year.

[WolverineJay]

People at community days were begging for more editing options and created/edited draft classes. Instead we got what control we did have in the game ripped from us and are forced to play some cheesy BS called Connected Careers.

CONNECTED CAREERS, newsflash, I dont care about seeing some fake tweets from Skip Bayless about some BS trade that the computer made. I dont care to scout and draft a bunch of fake rookies and the cheesy, CHEESY, CHEESY, storylines that come with them like the Heisman Trophy winner thinking of pursuing an acting career. This is just pure ignorance and I have no idea why the guys at EA think this is cool. Its not. I'd much rather create my players, edit players, and even control all 32 teams in a regular franchise mode like I have done for 10+ years. Next gen still hasnt even given us something as simple as a restricted FA signing period that last gen Madden titles have.

To me, it's like Madden as died. And now we are forced to play some mixture of NFL head coach and the retarded superstar modes from previous Maddens. Only good idea is that you can do it online with buddies. That is until you get kicked from EA servers and your game doesnt count and you say F*CK IT.

They need to get away from this online kick that they are on and remember that the game made its name offline with offline modes. Madden 13 looks good visually and presentation is great too. But I can't enjoy it, because of issues like the sliders not working, several players wearing the same numbers. And all these fake storylines, tweets, etc actually make me less interested.

Connected Careers isnt cool at all. Its just one more cheesy gimmick feature that EA thinks is golden, THAT IS NOT. That no one asked for.

I agree nobody outside of EA Tiburon's offices or executive's homes said hey can I get a mode that allows me to play my friend in online franchise, with me playing regularly and him in superstar mode. Lol, still sounds idiotic even after all this time since its unveiling. No not a seperate mode for the extreme minority it was targeted at, but it is the only way you can play a franchise. HUGE blunder and that is why I believe they pushed the Infinity Engine into Madden this year because without it the Madden faithful would have said to hell with this garbage. Fake players after 4 years of importing NCAA draft classes is acceptable not right off the bat. I mean you get a jumbled mess of real players and fake nobodies by year 3 of a franchise. EA Tiburon totally missed the boat on immersion within this mode. Where is the weekly highlight show? Where is the in-game live score ticker (great addition NCAA 13) to show you a living breathing league? Where are the in-game studio updates with important scores (again good job NCAA 13) and real highlights? The total generic feel to the CCM or new franchise mode is what turned me off from buying Madden for the first time in years.

Nobody is asking for a lot of things EA Tiburon decides to put into their games well at least in the manner that they decide to implement them. We as hardcore gamers are at the mercy of the non-hardcore gamers who just see that a new Madden or NCAA is available so they run out and buy it without any clue to what has been added or removed from the game. Just the way it is unfortunately.