Madden NFL 20
Madden NFL 20 Gameplay Changes: Encouraging, But We've Been Here Before
With all of the cool new stuff we appear to be getting this year in Madden NFL 20, Like QB1, a re-commitment to franchise mode, and kinda-sorta, college football coming back, will it even be worth it with Madden’s current state of gameplay? Most people would admit the gameplay in Madden 19 leaves a lot to be desired. It’s not terrible, but it just isn’t all there. It’s just simply average at best in most people’s opinions.
Well not to worry, says Creative Director Mike Young. He says that instead of squashing bugs at the end of the cycle, they have been doing it the whole year. He said the game has been playable much earlier than it ever has been before. He even teased a new gameplay feature that is under wraps that they are trying to get into the final build. As to what it could be, Young told Matthew Kato of Game Informer it “actually became a new way to maybe play.” That sounds pretty exciting. Anything making the game feel new and fresh is always welcome.
As far as how much improvement we will see in gameplay this year, Mike Young had this to say: “There is probably going to be a laundry list of things the community would get excited about…I think we did a lot with animations. It’s a cleaner and a more bug-free game.” I think if this is true, and we get a game that is much less buggy, we could be in for the best gameplay we’ve ever seen in a Madden game. But extraordinary claims call for extraordinary results. So we will have to wait until we see it for ourselves.
Superstar-X
There is also the new Superstar X-Factor feature. This sounds like it could be a huge deal when it comes to realism. Individual elite skills never really seem to matter. It pretty much feels no different when facing Tom Brady or Mike Glennon. If this actually makes superstar players feel like superstar players, it might be hard to put the controller down this year.
Welcome to the RPO
One of the best new additions to this year’s iteration of the game that we have heard about so far is the debut of the run-pass option. This should add a whole new dynamic to offensive gameplay. But let’s hope they were able to make the AI defense be able to stop it and the plays don’t become money.
Final Analysis
These are all some big words that we should all take with just the smallest pinch of salt for now. We all know it comes down to seeing the game itself in action. Even with that said, it’s hard not to be a little excited at this point. It feels like the team at EA Tiburon is pretty confident this year. They are making it sound like Madden NFL 20 will be a totally new experience from past Madden games. As always, we should be cautiously optimistic, but my interest is certainly piqued.
Let us know what new feature excites you the most. And are you jumping on the hype train, or waiting at the station for now?
My favorite has to be the banana in the tailpipe lol gets me every time. As your friend, can we discuss working on changing that avatar? :) (Guy on the left to be exact)
Tbh, I care less if they had 40,000 raggity Ann's in the crowd, work on getting everything else on point.
That just furthers my point really. Madden has set the bar so low that fans are basically just begging them to get core aspects of a sports game right. There is something wrong when they are one of the biggest gaming companies yet consistently make some of the worst games out there. There's no excuse for why a developer like OOTP can provide a better sports simulation than a billion dollar company like EA.
That's any sports game, it's nice but at the end of the day it's just fluff. And I'm not begging them to get anything right, I'm telling them what I would like them to do. I think there on the right track already. My point is that fluff isn't important to me, just a waste of resources. They have way bigger fish to fry than worrying about the sidelines & crowds. Very low on the list of priorities.
Sorry EA Marketing team. I play the game and you can put as much make up as you want on that not attractive person. I know whats under that make up and it aint pretty.
My point is, we're 30 years into the franchise and 6 years into this gen, they should have nailed down most of the core aspects of the game by this point so they could worry about things like crowd and better production. But we're still having to talk about fixing a broken franchise mode that is literally the core of any sports game. There's just no excuse for it.
Sad, but all true man.
The fact that EA is promoting having the Pro Bowl as playable with the correct team's helmets just furthers this point. As a Product Designer at a major retailer who works with engineers daily, that is beyond embarrassing.
Agree to disagree, I don't think franchise is broken at all. Personally, its just right for me. I don't have the time or interest staring at menus. It always can be improved on just like anything else in life. It's a constant cycle of complaints that will never stop. Some ppl won't even play the game because they can't see past stats, others won't play the game because there's not 40 different jerseys in the stands. Should the sidelines look better, sure but that's not going to do anything to fix franchise or gameplay. Can't please everyone at the end of the day. You basically proved my point. EA makes a list of priorities that's important to them & what think it's going to make them a profit. Game is what it is at this point, if it's not for you it's not for you and you move on.
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I have to agree with you on that. I don’t care if the sidelines look alive, if a certain player have on the right type of cleats he wears. If I get good smooth gameplay, and a couple of fun offseason things to do I am happy. A lot of people get caught up in the fluff and window dressing. No video game sports or otherwise will be a prefect extract replica of their real life counterparts.
I'd rather the bulk of resources going into gameplay or cfm vs how the crowd or tv crew looks like.
For all I care, they can wear shorts on the sidelines in cold weather.
Kudos to those who buy it and have fun this year. I'm gonna pass.
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But until I hear them at least claim to have rebuilt the AI "from the ground up", this game will still be far behind.
But until I hear them at least claim to have rebuilt the AI "from the ground up", this game will still be far behind.
I'm definitely looking for more animations to transition a lot smother in 20. 19 has been iffy at times & gringe worthy (I'm looking at you QB that cant find the back of the center while lining up).
Kudos to those who buy it and have fun this year. I'm gonna pass.
Maybe I am messing your point but if it’s a fun game wouldn’t that make it a good game? I call Madden a good game because I have fun with it. It’s not without it flaws of course. But it is what it is, a fun football game that is made for a wide variety of players and football fans.
I stay content with where we are because I realize the people in charge dont care about real life football aspects not working properly in game. Its like rap music nowadays....before the depth of the lyrics/story mattered and the passion in the vocals. Now its whateva rhymes and has a good beat can sell huge and thats what matters. Who cares when trash makes more money, thats EA and almost every other business these days.
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Dice rolls are required to prevent totally predictable ( ie completely repeatable ) gameplay
Football technique , physics , contextual A.I. and any other nice sounding sound bite " buzz words " cant alone replicate the element of chance that a game requires in order for it to be a true representation of football or anything else in real life
In real life players drop passes they should catch , miss tackles and blocks that they usually make etc. Combining ratings and a dice roll mechanic is the only way a game can represent this
Without the variety of outcomes brought about by such a mechanic play becomes entirely predictable ( and repeatable) and the game just becomes a question of which player has the better memory or crib sheet
I'd be first to call for better implementation of physics , better player A.I , more numerous and more appropriate animation selection etc but they alone can't replace dice rolls if you want a realistic and replayable game, without them the game would have the same replay value as a crossword puzzle
See this is the problem though. I should not have to do all of that if ratings/sliders worked like they are suppose too. If I put 0 in sliders and have a 60 overall lineman, I should be getting pressure every time I drop back to pass. Nope doesn't happen. So the second part of that problem is Chise mode itself. It feels like you don't really need to draft to need because you can get away with having 60 overall lineman and still run and pass like you have 90 overall lineman. So what is the point of caring about drafting first overall or high draft pick when you can get away with drafting guys in round 5+?
Doing all that I did made drafting fun for me because I had such low end guys and had a bad record. However, the minute I start getting avg. or below avg guys on O and D it will get easy again. I want to have a some what good to great team to be able to beat the cpu. Not some bum team I can win with because ratings don't matter and sliders don't work..............
See this is the problem though. I should not have to do all of that if ratings/sliders worked like they are suppose too. If I put 0 in sliders and have a 60 overall lineman, I should be getting pressure every time I drop back to pass. Nope doesn't happen. So the second part of that problem is Chise mode itself. It feels like you don't really need to draft to need because you can get away with having 60 overall lineman and still run and pass like you have 90 overall lineman. So what is the point of caring about drafting first overall or high draft pick when you can get away with drafting guys in round 5+?
Doing all that I did made drafting fun for me because I had such low end guys and had a bad record. However, the minute I start getting avg. or below avg guys on O and D it will get easy again. I want to have a some what good to great team to be able to beat the cpu. Not some bum team I can win with because ratings don't matter and sliders don't work..............
I've sworn that for years there is a hidden rubberbanding or fairplay in effect with this. I've been playing NCAA 14 and taking a 70~ overall team into Tuscaloosa is just a guaranteed L unless absolutely everything goes right and even then that's just to have a chance. I never have that feeling in Madden. Even if you want to say "Any Given Sunday" that still doesn't quite explain it. Every team just feels equal within about 1-3 degrees in a way I feel they shouldn't, whereas in NCAA if you have a weak spot and the other team is equipped to exploit it you will feel it all game
I'd say that's more a product of the greater skill gaps present in college as opposed to pro football than any difference in the two games programming
As fair as that is, the ratings gaps are still the same. A 72 OVR team just doesn't feel as different from a 91 OVR team as much as it does in NCAA and both are EA Games after all. Like I feel I could play Arizona and New England similarly enough with maybe a couple extra drops here and there and maybe a few more missed blocks per game, whereas in NCAA using a team like Akron vs Michigan is a complete night and day experience even if you are playing an equal teams let alone one you massively outclass/massively outclasses you
I would definitely imagine that they employ a different ratings strategy in NCAA titles, whereby a ratings point difference reflects greater into gameplay , to reflect the greater skill gap , without having players rated in single digits .
I was more referring to NFL parity being more responsible for tight games than any imagined "rubberband" programming hidden in maddens coding
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You had me up to that point.
The latest interview from Rex mentioned the high start-up cost of not only the exclusive contract, but high cost of operation from the beginning.
Plus, Madden and the NFL have had a bonding business relationship for quite awhile. A lot of people have been talking with their wallets for 13 years, but we are still at the same point.
The latest interview from Rex mentioned the high start-up cost of not only the exclusive contract, but high cost of operation from the beginning.
Plus, Madden and the NFL have had a bonding business relationship for quite awhile. A lot of people have been talking with their wallets for 13 years, but we are still at the same point.
That or if or when all of this NCAA stuff clears up someone could decide to bring back a licensed NCAA title. Unfortunately if that scenario were to happen I still think EA sports would be our best chance of getting a decent game. At least while it is flawed they already have an engine in place for a football game. I know a lot of people would love for 2k to get back in to the football game but after they dropped their MLB title they don't seem to have an interest in making any sports titles other than the NBA and WWE. Unless their was a scenario similar to the golf club which 2K sports picked up where an independent studio developed a good basis for a football game and they pick them up.
As much as I don't like it because I'm tired of EA and Madden, they are probably our best chance at a decent football title right now. All we can do is hope they come through with Madden 20.
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That or if or when all of this NCAA stuff clears up someone could decide to bring back a licensed NCAA title. Unfortunately if that scenario were to happen I still think EA sports would be our best chance of getting a decent game. At least while it is flawed they already have an engine in place for a football game. I know a lot of people would love for 2k to get back in to the football game but after they dropped their MLB title they don't seem to have an interest in making any sports titles other than the NBA and WWE. Unless their was a scenario similar to the golf club which 2K sports picked up where an independent studio developed a good basis for a football game and they pick them up.
As much as I don't like it because I'm tired of EA and Madden, they are probably our best chance at a decent football title right now. All we can do is hope they come through with Madden 20.
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Even if an unlicensed game was great quality, I still doubt it would last just because unlicensed games don't sell well. Casual gamers want to see the brand and actual players without going through downloading the perfect roster. The only positive is that the social media era helps it be easier to promote games. If a game with NFL legends couldn't make it to year 2, I could imagine it being hard for a regular unlicensed game.
I would love to see a return of NCAA. I'm even trying to get NCAA 14 again without paying too much. But NCAA games don't traditionally sell well. There's a reason NCAA Basketball games stopped before the likeness issues took off. I can see it eventually returning but mainly for them wanting more revenue
I would love to see a return of NCAA. I'm even trying to get NCAA 14 again without paying too much. But NCAA games don't traditionally sell well. There's a reason NCAA Basketball games stopped before the likeness issues took off. I can see it eventually returning but mainly for them wanting more revenue
EA's college football game sold really well. It didn't stop being sold for any reason to do with lack of sales, I fact it did so well that EA tried to license individual schools and keep it going but ultimately weren't able to get enough on board to make it worthwhile.
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I agree. My stance was with all collegiate games as a whole. NCAA Football was an exception. At the time, I'm certain many felt NCAA was a better product versus Madden. I think they had more creative freedom than Madden. I just wished they would have made it too NCAA 15. I guess some schools don't want to be involved until the player compensation issues are resolved.
Sorry EA Marketing team. I play the game and you can put as much make up as you want on that not attractive person.* I know whats under that make up and it aint pretty.
It sucks 15 would of had the college football playoff. I probably would have never sold it if we had a version with the playoff in it and would still probably be playing it regualarly to this day. I still do eventually want to track down a used copy of NCAA 14 and start playing it again.
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It sucks 15 would of had the college football playoff. I probably would have never sold it if we had a version with the playoff in it and would still probably be playing it regualarly to this day. I still do eventually want to track down a used copy of NCAA 14 and start playing it again.
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I do believe EA wanted to NCAA 15. But at that time, a lot of teams did not want to take that risk. This year shows more teams are coming back around. But I don't see a new NCAA game anytime soon.
I'm in same boat. I want to get NCAA 14, but prices are ridiculous. I even saw NCAA Basketball 10 for around $30+. Crazy when you can get Madden games for under 20
I'm in same boat. I want to get NCAA 14, but prices are ridiculous. I even saw NCAA Basketball 10 for around $30+. Crazy when you can get Madden games for under 20
It sucks 15 would of had the college football playoff. I probably would have never sold it if we had a version with the playoff in it and would still probably be playing it regualarly to this day. I still do eventually want to track down a used copy of NCAA 14 and start playing it again.
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I still got my copy of NCAA 14 but no PS3 and doubt I will buy another one. If I don’t get another PS3 you can have my copy.
At one point, I found cover 4 quarters and palms to be working somewhat correctly. However, due to certain offensive schemes designed to beat this coverage, patches made to correct this caused me to step away from cover 4 for the most part.
Before patches, I experienced DB's properly matching to attacking vertical threats. After patches, I found DB's hyper-reacting to perceived vertical routes and man matching too quickly, to the extent of jumping short dig and drag routes. This forced another DB who was out of position to try to cover wheel routes or deep outside receiver on switch concepts.
Cover 3 Match and Tampa 2 are the only zones I've found to play reasonably well, although base aligning these coverages against certain formations is necessary. Cover 3 Sky is also effective in certain situations for me.
Now, some realistic additions to Franchise and Presentation might get me to buy the game earlier maybe. But it doesn't sound like they added a lot of actual Franchise depth to the game even though they laid out their key changes. Most of them are more game play related and they sound like things that are going to end up needing to be heavily patched to balance the game out in time.
Before patches, I experienced DB's properly matching to attacking vertical threats. After patches, I found DB's hyper-reacting to perceived vertical routes and man matching too quickly, to the extent of jumping short dig and drag routes. This forced another DB who was out of position to try to cover wheel routes or deep outside receiver on switch concepts.
Cover 3 Match and Tampa 2 are the only zones I've found to play reasonably well, although base aligning these coverages against certain formations is necessary. Cover 3 Sky is also effective in certain situations for me.
Yea I don't know what happened to zone coverages after these last couple of patches. I thought for the most part they did a much better job this year with zone. After the last couple of patches though I've had some really head scratching moments using zone coverage. Hopefully they get some of this sorted out for 20.
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An NFL players Tweet is in the same boat as any other gamer buying the game.
This is what moves the decision makers period!!!
This is what moves the decision makers period!!!
Annnnnnnnnd that's why Fifa Career Mode has less features than it did 3 years ago and why Madden Franchise Mode continually gets minimal support. If the goal is to make money (and it is) and they're making tons of it (which they are) then it wouldn't be smart to change philosophies, even if that means putting out a product that isn't nearly as good as their available resources could make it.
It would be great to live in a world where their goal was to make the best product possible, but when a decent product gets them crazy money and they don't have to spend as much to make it it's understandable why they do things the way that they do. Frustrating... but understandable.
They are abusing our commitment and addiction but they should offer us something respectable period !
No launch day buys for me no more EA sports till you start respecting the consumers a bit
They are abusing our commitment and addiction but they should offer us something respectable period !
No launch day buys for me no more EA sports till you start respecting the consumers a bit
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This week is MUT, Next is Gameplay Pt. 2
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