Video Game Chatter

[Texas Ace]

Blocking doesn't seem nearly as fluid as it does in NCAA, and the only time I was able to get consistent pressure out of my front four was when the CPU would miss a block all together.

Pressure with the front 4? The Madden team wouldn't know what that means.

Essentially, Madden fails to bring anything new to the table.

So basically, it's a repeat of the last 5 years or so?

It is dumbfounding that America's top-selling sports title, developed with the biggest budget, most manpower and greatest resources, continues to feature the ugliest animations and jerkiest player movement of all major sports video games.

This right here is probably the most damning statement you can make about Madden and the development team. How is it that you can have all of this power at your disposal and yet you not only fail to make a good game, but you make arguably the worst sports sim on the market? Honestly, while games like NBA2K, FIFA, The Show, and NHL continue to put out solid products and evolve positively, Madden stays completely stuck in the mud. How is this possible?

Madden NFL 25's Infinity Engine, now in its second season, causes athletes' bodies to bend and contort like gel-filled Stretch Armstrong dolls rather than human beings with rigid skeletons. Upright, WWE-style solo tackles continue to dominate Madden NFL 25's animation library, with minimal gang tackling and few wrap-up attempts.

And why is this still the case? It's 2013 and yet there still isn't any real gang tackling or realistic tackling in general. You have the most unrealistic hitting and tackling occurring in Madden. DB's and LB's will stand completely upright and knock a ball carrier off his feet without even leaning forward. Those tackles almost never occur in real football, but yet they happen all the time in Madden.

The game's four-man pass rush, a go-to call for many NFL defensive coordinators, fails to generate consistent pressure, even with sack specialists like Chris Clemons (95 finesse move) and Bruce Irvin (95 power move) rushing from the ends.

Again, EA wouldn't know what a pass rush, defensive line, or pass rusher is. 4 DeMarcus Ware's facing 5 Rob Pettiti's is a battle that the latter is winning 99% of the time. How can you help create this game or even worse, be a tester for it, and not come away realizing that this is a problem......especially when it's been happening for about 20 years straight?

Football fans' best strategy is to wait for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of Madden NFL 25 this November and see if the new consoles' power can revitalize Madden NFL's tired, broken-down career.

And this is the only hope we have as football gaming fans.

You just have to hope that the new hardware cures some of the legacy issues, but I honestly don't think it's going to. I think the Madden team just flat out sucks. Whether some of that is due to decisions being made by the higher-ups, or a lack of talent on the team, I'm not sure.....but I don't care. The game is bad and has been for a long time. If the new hardware doesn't fix it, then I'll cross my fingers that the NFL doesn't renew their deal with EA.

 

[Texas Ace]

Dumbasses will buy it every year. There's no incentive to do any better.

I've been that dumbass for far too long, but not this time.

I'm going to hope I see some marked improvement on the PS4 version. If not, I'm done with it.

It'll be 2K or nothing from there on out.

 

[Texas Ace]

If Madden sucks for the PS3, what makes anyone think the shitty things are immediately corrected for a version rolled out on a first generation console?

Sorry, that's just stupid thinking.

Fair question, but the greatest Madden of all time was the very first Madden that appeared on PS2.

Madden 2001 was an excellent game and the jump in technology and the advancements in gameplay were clearly evident from the first time you played. We didn't get the same jump or improvement in PS2 to PS3.

The reason why is probably because they used the exact same shitty code on the PS3. Madden 2001 had a learning curve because the game played and moved differently due to an entirely new code and engine. But for whatever reason, they stuck with the same crap when they transitioned from PS2 to PS3.

Hopefully, they scrapped this shitty engine and we'll get a change that is more like PS1 Madden to PS2 Madden than PS2 to PS3 Madden.

 

[dallen]

To me, Madden isn't realistic enough to be a simulation, and not fun enough to be an arcade-style game. It's decent enough for what it is. But I'd much rather have a true simulation or a crazy over-the-top arcade football game.

 

[dallen]

The XBone and the the PS4 are both going to be more complicated systems so I'm not sure why people would expect they would fix all the problems that have plagued Madden

 

[Smitty]

The XBone and the the PS4 are both going to be more complicated systems so I'm not sure why people would expect they would fix all the problems that have plagued Madden

Yeah, but I don't believe they'll fix it on the new consoles either.

They didn't fix shit when they went from PS2 to PS3.

 

[boozeman]

The new Saint's Row game is entertaining. My kid bought it and I have played it a few times. A bit weird, but fun.

 

[Texas Ace]

The XBone and the the PS4 are both going to be more complicated systems so I'm not sure why people would expect they would fix all the problems that have plagued Madden

I don't know about Xbox, but PS4 is supposed to be very developer friendly and it's built on x86 architecture.

It's going to be 100 times easier to develop for than the PS3's proprietary cell processor.

Now, whether this helps to solve Madden's problems is another story.

 

[Texas Ace]

Here are your Madden 25 team ratings:

Chicago Bears - 85
Cincinnati Bengals - 81
Buffalo Bills - 73
Denver Broncos - 89
Cleveland Browns - 75
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 81
Arizona Cardinals - 74
San Diego Chargers - 73
Kansas City Chiefs - 76
Indianapolis Colts - 83
Dallas Cowboys - 79
Miami Dolphins - 78
Philadelphia Eagles - 76
Atlanta Falcons - 86
San Francisco 49ers - 91
New York Giants - 84
Jacksonville Jaguars - 72
New York Jets - 73
Detroit Lions - 76
Green Bay Packers - 88
Carolina Panthers - 76
New England Patriots - 88
Oakland Raiders - 72
St. Louis Rams - 77
Baltimore Ravens - 87
Washington Redskins - 86
New Orleans Saints - 82
Seattle Seahawks - 90
Pittsburgh Steelers - 80
Houston Texans - 84
Tennessee Titans - 75
Minnesota Vikings - 81

 

[EZ22]

I am becoming a fan of Steam and have been using it more and more, but god damn, their download speeds are fucking terrible.

 

[EZ22]

Now, whether this helps to solve Madden's problems is another story.

You say the same shit every year.

The franchise is shit. How do you people keep getting sucked in?

 

[1bigfan13]

You say the same shit every year.

The franchise is shit. How do you people keep getting sucked in?

Personally I only buy Madden every 2-3 years because I know won't see a lot of improvements from one year to the next.

I bought this year's version but prior to that I hadn't bought a copy of Madden since 2010.

 

[EZ22]

Personally I only buy Madden every 2-3 years because I know won't see a lot of improvements from one year to the next.

I bought this year's version but prior to that I hadn't bought a copy of Madden since 2010.

Man, you completely whiffed on a great opportunity to pull the "what do you mean YOU PEOPLE" gag.

wtf

 

[Smitty]

I am becoming a fan of Steam and have been using it more and more, but god damn, their download speeds are fucking terrible.

I get 1.0-1.5 Mb a second. What do you get?

 

[Texas Ace]

I get 1.0-1.5 Mb a second. What do you get?

That's it?!

That's awful.

 

[Smitty]

That's it?!

That's awful.

Yeah, I live in a shitty underdeveloped armpit of a county. I'm sending out resumes.

 

[Texas Ace]

Yeah, I live in a shitty underdeveloped armpit of a county. I'm sending out resumes.

Shit, when I downloaded the Madden demo a week ago, I was getting like 18 down.

 

[Smitty]

Shit, when I downloaded the Madden demo a week ago, I was getting like 18 down.

You must have Verizon Fios.

5 years ago, 1.5 down was pretty good.

 

[1bigfan13]

That's it?!

That's awful.

Yeah it is. That sounds like DSL from 7 years ago.

 

[EZ22]

In the case of steam it's not schmittys provider, it's steams servers. I get 30 down on the reg but less than 1 down on their servers.