Full game w/ EA Designers (Colts vs. Vikings)

[DarthLeon4]

Good Stuff.

1. Liked the juke and spin moves. Peterson looked very fluid breaking in and out of the tackles.
2. Corners and safetys played less agressively. Went for the knockdown unless they had a good chance of getting the interception.
3. Playbooks looked very nice. Seemed more suited to the individual teams.
4.Kickoffs and punts looked just about the right length.
5.Commentary by Chris seemed accurate.
6. The different camera angles pre-play were inplemented well.
7. Long passes looked much better than 08.

Not So Good Stuff.

1. Offensive line still missed alot of blocks, especially on the outside blitzers.
2. Quarterbacks did seem a little fast when not scrambling.
3. O-line does not seem to block much differently for pass and run plays, although it was better than in 08.
4. Hammond seemed very dull and uncaring.
5. Seemed to be very little interaction between Hammond and Collinsworth. Also seems strange that madden doesnt talk with them during the game.
6. Fan interaction seemed low. The stadium seemed real quiet on the TD plays.


Overall, I like the way it looks so far. Most of the issues in 08 seem to be either eliminated or are no longer a significant issue. Gameplay speed worries me a little. It seemed a bit fast on some plays, and Im not the one holding the ball. Obviously wont know for sure about any of this until I play it myself, but it looks good so far. Keep up the good work!

[adub88]

Great vid, especially since my Colts won. Okay, on to business now.

The Good
1. The strip ball animations look good, you can really see the defender going for the strip

2. Collinsworth sounds great, his commentary is flowing within the game and is very elaborate, unlike Madden's short comments in the past.

3. This is minor, but when the game was paused while Collinsworth was talking, then un-paused he was still talking. Most games interrupting speech will stop the whole comment all together.

4.Gang tackles look pretty good

5. Dallas Clark dropped a ball in the 3rd and the defender made him pay big time!!! Can we stop abusing my man Dallas in vids EA lol.

6. The draw play ran early in the game looked great, just a very very bad decision to bounce it outside.

7. I love the pick by Bob Sanders at the end and the broken tackle. It looked like he was going to take it back to house. This was definitely not something you could do in past Madden games. The defender would have taken Bob down right away.

The Bad

1. QB Mechanics need work

2. Don't really like how tackles are occurring out of bounds

3. O-Linemen are jumping all over the place like they're Lebron to avoid other players

4. The one pass to Dom Rhodes in the flat(3rd quarter) was way too high. I really hope that was an unintentional lob and not a bullet pass.

5. This may be kind of minor, but LB Victor Worsely(#51) is light skin not dark as shown in the video. If I found this, it's possible there are other players that may need to be looked at.

6. Some players bodies need work. For example Tony Ugoh is a very athletic looking LT, yet he looks so chunky in the game.

For the most part, the positives far outweigh the negatives. Keep up the good work EA!!!

[jfsolo]

The Good

1. Post play animations-such as helping an opponent up.

2. Bluff Play Art

3. No defenders warping to the ball on pass plays

4. DB's in good position on pass plays

5. Jackson's accuracy rating actually being reflected in the on the
field gameplay.


The Bad

1. Secondary and tertiary defenders not always attempting to get
in on the tackle, or frequently missing the ballcarrier when
actually making the attempt.

2. When not controlled by the User a player like Freeney didn't
seem as disruptive as one would expect. This may be a
byproduct on the long standing OL/DL interaction issues.

3. Defenders still able to make a play on the ball and recover
quickly enough to still make a play on the receiver too.

4. Crowd didn't seem as loud as it should have been.

5. Kickoff returns and punt returns don't seem accurate in terms
assignments and execution.

[Shockgeez04]

Pros

1-The Offensive Playbooks for both teams look terrific, lots of variety and new plays that all look like they can be effective. Also the grouping of plays looks spot on.

2-The new Running Animations look great, those little stutter and juke steps look nasty, cant wait for the first time im running up the sideline and get someone with a good pursuit angle to miss with a slight stutter

3-Receiving animations are improved, especially liked the Vikes TD sliding TD catch and Dallas Clark's bobble/alligator arms attempt

4-New passing camera, makes it feel like an entirely new game, a definite improvement

5-Not too many players fell forward when they were tackled

6-Tavaris had some accuracy issues especially when didnt have his feet set

Cons

1-No "real" penalties called, you need some holding and false starts in there somewhere its part of the game to have these things happen a good bit regardless of what the tourney players want

2-You gotta tone down the ability to transition in and out of running animations for some players based on ratings, marvin harrison and reggie wayne were pulling off barry sanders-like cuts

3-Would like to see some push outs rather than wrap-up tackles near the sidelines

4-I don't like how quick you can change your play at the line of scrimmage there needs to be some kind of animation of the QB signaling and calling out the new play, the colts are about the only team in the league able to come to the line and have multiple plays called on a regular basis outside of 2 minute drills

5-the crowd, they need to be more vocal in key spots and need to be quieted when stuff doesnt go the home teams way, they pretty much had one low volume all game long, sounded more like a baseball game

OS Criticisms I Dont Agree With

1-The announcers, outside of 2 incorrect situational comments I thought they sounded pretty good, even Hammond didnt sound as bad as I had anticipated, its not the announcers job to be overly excited about stuff all game long

2-Game Speed, its not too fast, stop whining, looks a tad faster than years past but thats a good thing, football is a split second game, everything seemed fine to me even the QB rollouts, you must not watch football, peyton gets out there pretty fast on stretch plays and designed rollouts in real life

[jewelz1132]

ok i finished watching all the quarters...

The Good
1. I love how accurate Peyton was compared to Jackson throwing like a rookie

2. The fact that commentary is there

3. No crazy swats for the DBs and LBs when they where out of play (reggie waynes 2nd TD catch )

4. Jukes and running animations make running look fun like 2K and old gen madden were.

5. Tackling is very improved..loved how the WR was struggling to tackle the CB at the end wasnt able to when he picked it off

The Bad
1. QB Mechanics

2. Not really alot of emotion or aggression

3. the automatic injury report as soon as it happens..no cart or diagnosis later in the game

4. The crowd could be louder and actually boo the away team

5. OL/DL interaction and WR/DB interaction

6. Commentators are dull..im glad they are in the game but i feel they should do their recordings together and actually have conversations like MLB2K, NBA Live, and MLB The Show

[Altimus]

Ian, I had a video request if possible. Is it possible to get a PS3 video uploaded since EA hasn't release any as of yet?

[cowboysfan440]

first off i just wanna say i cant wait to play this game and i cant even play 08 now after watching whats coming

THINGS I LIKE
1. GRAPHICS ARE GREATLY IMPROVED
2. TACKLES LOOK VERY GOOD
3. RUNNING AND JUKING SEEM A LOT BETTER
4. THE SHOT OF THE STADIUM IN THE INTRO IS VERY NICE
5. IT JUST FEELS MORE LIKE A MADDEN GAMETHINGS I DID NOT LIKE
1. THROWING ANIMATIONS NEED TO BE IMPROVED I KNOW YOU CAN'T DO IT THIS YEAR BUT DEFF NEXT, CATCHING ALSO MAYBE
2. MORE EMOTION FROM TEAMS, FANS, AND ESPECIALLY BROADCASTERS
3. MAYBE AFTER YOU COME IN FROM THE OUTSIDE OF THE STADIUM SOME SORT OF ANALYSIS LIKE IN MADDEN 05 ABOUT KEY PLAYERS
4. OL/DL INTERACTION


OFF TOPIC
maybe add some America's game music to instant replay also could you show us the rest of the alternate jerseys like ncaa is doing

this game looks great i still havent heard much about my main concern though franchise thats mainly all i play and what got my hooked on madden in the first place.

[adembroski]

The Good
* I was really impressed with the ALMOST broken tackle animations... not to mention the actual broken tackles.

* Good reads are rewarded... most of the (many) completions in this game seem to be made because of the passing selecting the correct receiver.

* One on One coverage seems to favor the receiver.

* Madden has always seemed a little cartoony as far as color and lighting goes. This game has taken a HUGE step forward from that.

* Good number of defensive linemen on the ground. No 5 man pancake plays.


* Blocking logic looks improved.

* New player models are absolutely outstanding.

* Defensive back reactions look good. Passes into seams work well, but not too well. Poorly timed passes over the middle result in big hits.

* No doubt in my mind, Chris Collinsworth is an absolute natural. He's amazing. Best color man I've ever heard in a football video game. Bar none.

* Pass accuracy looks well tuned. Jackson was hit and miss, Manning was mostly pinpoint.

* Dynamic passing camera is awesome


* The Vikings Lost





The Bad
* Instant injury updates

* No penalties (other than two Delay of Games)

* Run blocking getting a tad too much push. Sliders should correct this.

* Colts should have challenged the spot on the third and 1 at 3:02 in the third quarter

* Kicking still looks way too easy. Proof change isn't always good.

* Crowd noise needs serious work. Not only the amount, but the pitch, the reactions, the level of energy... but up in important situations, and down for between plays. When the crowd is "calm" in Madden, it sounds more like a wildly cheering college crowd... several miles away.

* What was that receiver doing on the out-route?!?!?

* Still too twitchy, need to slow down some animations

* Not NEARLY enough Collinsworth

* Receivers made catches on balls they shouldn't be able to see off of tips.

* Defensive backs were a bit too aggressive, taking them out of position on several plays.

* FG Net goes down too soon after the play.

* Running backwards trying to break a tackle!!!

* Referee looks like he's looking over the top of the monitor rather than into it. Small, I know, but it bugged me:P

The Ugly
* Does Earl have to be jutting his crotch out when he calls penalties?

[Anti Honor]

Quote: Originally Posted by Shockgeez04

2-Game Speed, its not too fast, stop whining, looks a tad faster than years past but thats a good thing, football is a split second game, everything seemed fine to me even the QB rollouts, you must not watch football, peyton gets out there pretty fast on stretch plays and designed rollouts in real life

I'm watching a clip of Manning right now - The game speed is too fast. While it's not a main concern of mine, it still looks a bit too arcade. Whether you watch football on a regular basis or not, you can certainly tell the difference between the real life speed of football players, and the game speed in Madden.

Of course, we almost need that speed, to make up for what looks to be another long year of too many sacks, and pass rush.

[Details]

Thanks for posting the game, Ian!

Good Stuff:

1. Graphics are much better. Animation is smoother. The tipped catch at the end of the 3rd quarter was nice. The punt returner hit with two minutes left in the game was also noteworthy. The QB animations are better.

2. Radio guy is gone. Commentators sound great.

3. The addition of a single back returner on kick-offs. Thanks for adding it. It's a simple, but fantastic addition.

4. Stat overlays. I love stats! It's great to see stats during a game.

5. No more shots of the head coach waving his hands and looking bewildered. The reduction of the zooming-in to the scoreboard shots. I wouldn't mind losing all shots of the scoreboard.

6. Very nice touch showing the Madden IQs during the game. It's potential fodder for trash talking! Ha.

7. Field goal nets. They look great and heighten the drama of a kick.

8. I know it's due to the difficulty level, but the game looks so much better without the weapon icons throbbing everywhere.

Not So Good Stuff:

1. No referees. It's the first thing I notice when I see Madden 09. The players are alone on the field. Please let this be the last year for this glaring omission. Seeing Ed Hochuli during the penalty announcements just reminds me that the game doesn't have referees on the field.

2. The sidelines. Better than 08, but still very much lacking. The sidelines are distracting whenever they're shown. You've asked about next gen. This is not next gen. Not by a long shot.

3. When the center lines up, the football sucks into his hand. I remember reading that this was fixed. I don't consider this a fix. It looks like the center is using the force to attract the ball.

4. Background music and crowd noise aren't used properly. The music should be fading in and out more. Nothing too noticeable, but some music should be there more often. The crowd noise needs to match up better with the action.

5. Lack of close shots. The shot of Manning after the sack was great. It's a game of emotion. Let's get closer to the action. When a player is celebrating a TD, the game needs to get close to him. A wide shot of a celebration feels awkward and drains the emotion out of the moment.

6. Halftime and post game shows. Yeah, they've been talked about before, but they would be nice. You want to relive the highlights without pressing buttons.

Random Stuff:

1. The NFL has cheerleaders and mascots. I'm not asking for NCAA Football 09 type close-ups, but it would be fun to see them.

2. When displayed at the end of the game, the score should be bigger than the stats for passing, running, etc. It's the score. Make those numbers stand out!

3. How about using uncompressed animation for the replays of challenged calls? (I'm assuming uncompressed animation is not being used at all.) They're less than 8 seconds, and it would be nice to see smoother replays of challenged calls.

Overall, Madden NFL 09 looks great! Thanks again for posting the game!