I have to say this is the worst madden ever. The game play sucks. I don't like the joystick paddles controlling your directions after like twenty years using the keypad. I'll have to fiddle with the controls when I get a chance but so far...epic fail. Someone tell me they dint ruin the ea nhl series the same way!
I thought they improved the gameplay. Momentum seems to be more of a factor in running, so the physics feel a little bit improved that way. Tackles seem much more fluid and it doesn't seem as you'd get sucked into a tackling animation like you did in past years. The passing game was helped in that out-routes and curl routes actually work if you time them now. The Speed vs. Acceleration adjustment they made seems to make perfect sense. Those separate ratings matter now. You can actually throw it deep to a speed receiver who has a step on a slower defensive back going full-speed. I found the joystick controls so much easier than having to reach for buttons or hitting the wrong button. I like having my thumb on the "button" at all times and simply twitching it to the left/right/down/up direction to make a move. Also gives much more control over juking. Haven't gotten used to the spin move on the right joystick yet, so I still rely on the B button for that. Not sure why they hadn't thought of it sooner IMO. My right thumb thanks EA/Tiburon. Give it another chance Boik, it's not as bad as most think. Oddly enough, on the madden forums, there's actually people complaining about the hit stick being gone (WUT). It's very much still there.
Hey I just scooped up madden for the PS3, first time I bought Madden in years.... You have to pay to play on-line now?? It was free last time I played...something about Online Pass? Updated....I found the code on the back of the instruction manual....duh!!!
Liking this new Madden a lot more than I thought I would. Some thoughts. 1. Pat White is the best player in this game. No seriously. I start him at QB in my online franchise, just passed for 433 yards with 6 TD's, while rushing for 179 yards and 2 TD's... His 90 throw off the run makes him ridiculously good. Does fumble at least once a game though. 2. The 9 velcro play is god. Just ran this the whole time in the same online franchise game because this guy doesn't run the ball at all. He went 16-40 with 9 INT's. Play on the DT and rush from the edge, or cover the screen if the guy you're playing likes to run them. 3. The 4-3 is a much better fit for the Dolphins in this game. Cameron Wake becomes an 86 at DE, Misi an 81. Langford becomes an 83 at DT. Wake and Misi are beasts rushing the passer at DE, especially Wake. He's a destroyer of worlds rushing the passer... Starks and Langford get to the QB a lot at DT. Put Crowder at MLB, Dansby at ROLB, Anderson at LOLB. 4. I've already mentioned Pat White, but scrambling QB's in general all seem to be great. So far I've seen Pat White, Michael Vick, and Tim Tebow all beast in this game. Not only do they break every tackle, but all pass with pin point accuracy on the run... 5. Brandon Marshall is a beast going deep. Had 400 receiving yards with him vs. my friend, mostly on deep bombs. If they don't have a safety over top, and you send him deep, almost always a large gain, but usually ends with Marshall breaking the CB's tackle and getting a TD. 6. Vontae Davis and Sean Smith are great in this game. Davis has a 95 press coverage, Smith a 90. I've had great success blitzing with them in press coverage. 7. Cobbs and Bess suck as returners. Put Davis and Caroll back there. Have had several KR's for TD's with both. A couple PR's for touchdowns as well. They will fumble though if you try to break too many tackles. 8. Speaking of fumbles, the strip button (LB on 360) seems to work pretty good in this game. Always use the strip button on KR's. Most people tend to put the fastest guy back there no matter what his carry is. I've seen at least 1 forced fumble on a KR in most games I've played, 9. The kicking/punting method is an epic fail. Reason being, lag. Playing on All-Madden, expect to miss plenty of PAT's in online play... 10. LB's still have Andre Iguodala type hops... Many times have I thrown it to a wide open TE in the seams just to have the MLB hop 10 feet into the air to bat it down...
I finally got to play my first game today. All-Madden, 6 minute quarters vs the Jets.. At half-time i was down 58-0, Shonn Green had 13 carries for 210 yards, Sanchez was 13/14 287 yards and 3 td's. None of my first, second OR third guy EVER made a tackle. The first 3 were guarenteed to be broken and by then they were 20+ yards down the field. Definitely a wake up call in this game
Two things I've noticed so far about playing as Miami. 1. Dansby is unstobbable 2. Marshall catches anything I throw remotely towards him. 7 catches for 148 yards and a TD...in a preseason game. Overall I think the game is fun and above average. Nothing great but not too bad.
I am having a blast (All-Pro - the one just below All Madden)...calling the plays, watching the blocking, watching the routes run, and keeping the QB in the pocket is a blast as chunks of yards are obtained. And the D side is just as fun to call the plays and audible out or adjust OL or LB corps. in the little things like the entire DL jumping to try to block a FG is a legit/realistic improvement.
The d-pads on both the 360 and PS3 are far worse than the joysticks (though the PS3 d-pad is better than the 360's). They are terribly unresponsive by comparison, and I really had no idea people even still used the d-pads with the current gen consoles.
Wouldn't be that bad if PAT's weren't nearly impossible to make on All-Madden because of lag. I actually like the A,A,A method better than that of the previous few maddens.
I have to agree with others about the kicking. One good thing I have figured out is that after a lot of slider tuning that your O-Line can actually block and you have more than 2 seconds to get a pass off.
I played a game after renting it. It's safe to say I am use to NCAA's fast pace... finding holes in the running game was so easy because it was just so slow you could see anything develop. Granted I was playing the Bills, but I threw 6 TDs with Henne and ran for nearly 200 yards with Brown. I really like the Gameflow actually, I thought it'd be annoying but it's pretty cool. Marshall is a beast and so is Brown. It's a fun game, but there's no way I am playing on Pro after that... gotta up the difficulty! I haven't decided if I'll buy it yet... I just wish they would have re-tooled online franchise!!!
That's another thing I noticed about this game. Play action is broken. Every time I use play action there's 5 guys in the backfield sacking me within seconds...
Agreed and especially against better opponents. The Falcons and Cowboys absolutely blew up my PA passes and that's after I tried say 3-4 successful runs. Overall, with all the slider adjustments and finding my sweet spot with the difficulty. I'm having fun playing the game, so I guess that's all that really matters to me.
So, I started my Franchise with the Dolphins yesterday. Got into Game 1 of the Regular Season, and watched that little "Extra Point" show they do. I just about fell out of my chair laughing when they started talking about Kellen Clemens for the Jets doing well under Center. I looked it up, and sure enough Mark Sanchez was out for 8 weeks with a Herniated Disk. If this were for real I'd feel bad, but since its just a video game, I can point and laugh
This. In my game against the Bills, I took a shot to the endzone, and I must have missed the double coverage (guy above in the endzone, guy below at the 5'ish). The ball gets tipped by the guy below, bounces into Marshall's hands, and then he just sheds the tackle from the other guy. Ended up being the Crunch Time play of the game. I knew I'd have fun throwing to him...
Since when is rushing 3 or 4 people a blitz? Play action is just broke. Offensive lineman, namely guards, don't block on play action a lot of the time.
Yup, PA is broke as hell in NCAA too. You really have to move CPU pass rush sliders way down, and user pass block way up for it to work properly.
I think it's stupid I can't choose who to play online, so I end up playing some dude who runs goal line all game. STOOPID!
Don't wanna sludge through 12 pages, so pardon if this was brought up already.... Is anyone having problems where the screen is jumpy?
I don't have time...most of the time as soon as I fake the handoff a guy from the defense is already hitting me. The fact that I am through 8 games (4 preseason and 4 regular season) and Henne isn't in a wheelchair is amazing. Plus I don't know why but I can't play defense to save my life. I've tried different playbooks besides Sparano's too. I can't stop the run and even the pass is tough. I played Madden 09 on All-Madden and could keep the other team to about 14-21 points a game but with All-Pro on Madden 11 I am giving up in the 30s. Even the Bills put up 24 points on me. I don't know what's happening but it's annoying. I may have fixed it last night though against the Pats when I started getting super aggressive and held them to 14 points. Anyone else notice how bad the QBs can spray the ball around the field at times. I can have a wide open WR, throw them the ball, and it go a mile over there head. This game is overall fun but lord does it have some simple errors that any non-sloppy developer could have easily fixed. Also I'm 3-1 so far leading the AFC East by 2 games so I can't complain too much. I barely beat the Jets by a freak catch where I threw the ball to Davone Bess but it went over his head and Marshall caught it, bulldozed Revis, and went to the house. I got a 35-32 win there.
I'm not sure which system you have it on but my PS3 copy has actually ran quite well. One thing I can say is that the presentation is nice and I haven't hit near as much frame rate lag as I did with Madden 09.
I actually like the game play this year more than any other. I'm still pissed over the lack of franchise improvements, and my stud offensive linemen not being able to make the Pro Bowl because of stat bugs, but whatever.... I'm really enjoying it once I get into an actual game.
What's going on with your franchises? Donald Thomas improved to an 80+ after my first season and refused to sign for anything. I had to tag him. Now he's playing but refuses to sign an extension at all costs. Sucks but I'm going to have to trade him. Also, here's something really weird - during the preseason in year two, the Titans released Michael Griffin. Huh????? Interesting enough, I glanced their roster and they drafted a FS in the first and third rounds. The FS they drafted in the third round turned out to be an 84. I picked him up of course because Clemons is nothing more than a backup and I'm grooming Reshad Jones to take over for Bell at SS in 2012 (he jumps up when you convert him, and he improves a lot after year one. I think he only had like 10 tackles, all special teams.... still improved to a 73 overall). Loving my secondary now.... Smith & Davis went to the Pro Bowl and are rated 88 and 86 (should both be 90+ after year two of my franchise). I signed Bruce Johnson in free agency. Michael Griffin is an 86. Bell is still solid, and Reshad Jones is creeping and might just take his spot from him before year two is up.
I managed to draft a linebacker in the 5th or 6th round of my franchise who has 97 speed, 99 acc, 90 agility, 95 tackle and 98 tackle power. I converted him to safety, and while he was like 60 overall as a linebacker he jumped all the way up to 78 at safety, unfortunatly his coverage skills and awareness are dreadfully low, so he gives up some plays when im not controlling him, but hopefully that'll improve after year one.
Seems you've discovered my offline franchise secret of drafting athletes and plugging them into skill positions.
