Support NeoGAF

[Truelize]

This is why EA sees fit to charge $60 for it.

:lol

Everyone has the game for $49.99 or cheaper. Heck it's even $49.99 up here in Canada. 2004 was $74.99 when it first came out and 2005 was $69.99 on release day.

I'm still excited about it. Very excited. I just hope our leagues go well and that Vick can actually throw the ball with his horrible cone.

 

[Wellington]

You know what sucks is that you have to be highlighting the player you want to double team whatever receiver it is you want to... so you have to switch all the way to the safety, double up, then switch all the way back. That sucks when you play line.

 

[pilonv1]

That's annoying, it was relatively simple last year to double with a safety.

 

[Fifty]

Yeah....while it's nice that you can now use a LB or second CB to double, it makes it harder to do the thing you're going to do most often which is double with a safety

 

[Rorschach]

Oh yeah, one question: anyone know if you can use playbooks and saved substitutions/rosters online? I don't care that much about playbooks, which could lead to trouble even in leagues, but I felt like I was holding the game up substituting the players I wanted all the time. Granted, last year it was Gannon, Fargas, Johnson/Dudley, and P. Buchannon (two of which aren't an option anymore :'() but still.

 

[Slo]

You know what sucks is that you have to be highlighting the player you want to double team whatever receiver it is you want to... so you have to switch all the way to the safety, double up, then switch all the way back. That sucks when you play line.

Guess that means I'll be using a quick count whenever I want to go deep. Not that anyone would ever want to double one of my receivers.

/sobs quietly

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

i can double team your entire offense in 2 seconds flat. you'll see ladies!

 

[Fifty]

Oh yeah, one question: anyone know if you can use playbooks and saved substitutions/rosters online? I don't care that much about playbooks, which could lead to trouble even in leagues, but I felt like I was holding the game up substituting the players I wanted all the time. Granted, last year it was Gannon, Fargas, Johnson/Dudley, and P. Buchannon (two of which aren't an option anymore :'() but still.

Unless you take more than 30 seconds to do it all, I doubt you'd be bothering anyone inside of league play and play against gaffers (the only way to go!) Good question though.

 

[mj1108]

Give me an original game, not just a roster update.

 

[Fuzzy]

people (who oddly enough dont even play these games btw...) act like every year there should be a revolution with madden. well let me ask you this, wtf do you want? you want EA to change the dynamics of football? you want them to somehow change how the game is played? let me tell you something, EA (just like nintendo and your favorite company) is a business. and if EA starts putting out bullshit like "NEW TO MADDEN 2007! THE TURDUCKEN GLOVES! NOW YOU CONTROL WHERE YOUR RB RUNS WITH NEW MOTION SENSITIVE CONTROL GLOVES INCLUDED IN EVERY BOX! NOW YOU FEEL THE ACTION!" see how that shit rolls over with casual fans. im honestly curious what you want out of EA or any other sports company as a yearly update that you aren't getting now.

Exactly what my point was in mocking the reviewer for expecting more.

 

[Rorschach]

Unless you take more than 30 seconds to do it all, I doubt you'd be bothering anyone inside of league play and play against gaffers (the only way to go!) Good question though.

Well, after a while, you get pretty quick at doing it, but sometimes I would forget and pause it after the kick off which I can see how the other person would find it annoying.

 

[b_dawk]

That review/score is what I expected. But what I'm REALLY curious about is how EA will handle '07, what with NO competition to consider during the entire development schedule (unlike this year's).

oh, yes- good point. mags everywhere (well, OPM at least) are saying – “we were so worried that EA's buying up of the competition was going to mean no game improvements but we were completely wrong.” i mean that is just idiotic- it's too soon to tell what will happen AND when madden 06 started development, there still was competition. sigh, do they pay their journalists in popsicles?

 

[Ash Housewares]

Lalo Schifrin is the man

 

[Guileless]

The only possible justification for not buying this is Eli's vision cone, but I forgive you EA! Well, that and not including turducken glove controllers. The rest of you are free to play Super Tecmo Bowl and curse EA like Ralphie when he's whipping Scut Farkus's ass.

 

[mckmas8808]

Well I'm buying the PSP and PS2 version so...

 

[Slo]

I wonder how many of the naysayers genuinely were on the fence about buying Madden and aren't going to buy it now. I'd guess exactly ZERO. My guess is that people had either:

a) never planned to buy it because they aren't really football game players, and are just posting to in this thread to rip EA
b) never planned to buy it because they genuinely believe that sports games are yearly roster updates and can't tell the difference between 2005 and 2006. These people will be satisfied with NFL2k3 until 2007.
c) planned to buy it no matter what (unless it was a huge regression from previous Maddens), and will still do so.

 

[Solid]

this makes the hater inside me giggle.

 

[crunker99]

i have played it a bit, and being an AVID 2k fan, i give them full credit for designing, devloping and coding.


That being said, the game has such a garbage feel about it. The gameplay feels like trying to thread a wet noodle through a needle. I know you diehard madden fans will probably bite my head off, but i loved Sega Sports, always will. Well what is left of them anyway.

Thank god i still have NHL to look forward to. EA didnt make a blood pact with them. Yet.

 

[Wellington]

You ESPN fans will be happy to note that A) Sometimes DBs just flat out miss the ball on plays and B) If you want your simplistic "run 'em all over" running game, just pick either the steelers, the ravens, or the chargers

See, EA cares for you guys by including the 2K series bullshit in their games!

 

[hgplayer1]

crunker, believe me man I can understand what youre saying about the way the game feels. I hadnt played madden in years until last year and I hated it. felt so loose like the cheap whore that it is but having played through leagues and listening to these guys talk strategy and learning to use the audibles and other features somewhat properly, I have to say Im really starting to get a feel for the game and its pretty solid. I still think it feels kinda loose at times but I guess Im used to it now. its been a while now since Ive played ESPN so I cant remember exactly what I liked about the way it felt (i.e. brainwashed) so Im not sure how I would compare the two at this point but IMO madden is definitely solid once you get used to the animations and momentum and how they relate to your input.

Wellie, Ive been playing franchise in 05 the last couple weeks to get back into madden and Im seeing all kinds of stupid stuff by the AI. just last night I saw one of my LBs standing completely still with no one blocking him as a sweep ran by him. Im not gonna go into a whole ESPN vs Madden discussion but let me just say that Madden is cheap when playing against the CPU. it ALWAYS knows when Im going to run or pass. save the "madden a.i. is the lesser evil", ive heard it.

 

[Jeff-DSA]

You ESPN fans will be happy to note that A) Sometimes DBs just flat out miss the ball on plays and B) If you want your simplistic "run 'em all over" running game, just pick either the steelers, the ravens, or the chargers

See, EA cares for you guys by including the 2K series bullshit in their games!

:lol

I'm a big Dolphins fan so when Ricky was in the 2k series people freaked out on me for using him. I remember getting over 100 yards in the first quarter alone on the ground several times.

 

[crunker99]

crunker, believe me man I can understand what youre saying about the way the game feels. I hadnt played madden in years until last year and I hated it. felt so loose like the cheap whore that it is but having played through leagues and listening to these guys talk strategy and learning to use the audibles and other features somewhat properly, I have to say Im really starting to get a feel for the game and its pretty solid. I still think it feels kinda loose at times but I guess Im used to it now. its been a while now since Ive played ESPN so I cant remember exactly what I liked about the way it felt (i.e. brainwashed) so Im not sure how I would compare the two at this point but IMO madden is definitely solid once you get used to the animations and momentum and how they relate to your input.

Wellie, Ive been playing franchise in 05 the last couple weeks to get back into madden and Im seeing all kinds of stupid stuff by the AI. just last night I saw one of my LBs standing completely still with no one blocking him as a sweep ran by him. Im not gonna go into a whole ESPN vs Madden discussion but let me just say that Madden is cheap when playing against the CPU. it ALWAYS knows when Im going to run or pass. save the "madden a.i. is the lesser evil", ive heard it.

Thanks my man good to know, but as you i will have to get used to it as well, since now there is no choice for another serious footbal game this season. I guess its off to play a season.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

I've preferred the gameplay in Madden for a few years, but I've also hated that the super AI seemed to know the play in advance. Does that feel better?

 

[Wellington]

Wellie, Ive been playing franchise in 05 the last couple weeks to get back into madden and Im seeing all kinds of stupid stuff by the AI. just last night I saw one of my LBs standing completely still with no one blocking him as a sweep ran by him. Im not gonna go into a whole ESPN vs Madden discussion but let me just say that Madden is cheap when playing against the CPU. it ALWAYS knows when Im going to run or pass. save the "madden a.i. is the lesser evil", ive heard it.

I agree with you on that, brother, and unfortunately it hasn't changed. :lol

It just sucks that they can somehow detect when a run is coming and they stack the line like crazy or somehow they get into the perfect zone coverage. I was just playing a game against the Skins, for example, and I had both my 1 and 2 receivers running curl routes just passed the first down marker, thinking that if I can't hit one I will hit the other (4-3 defense). I take the snap, 5 step drop, look up and BOTH of the outside linebackers fanned out to protect against the inside curl while the DBs were behind the receivers. That's just freakin garbage. :lol

Can't wait to play online.

Musashi: AI is the same, but the DBs aren't as insanely talented.

 

[hgplayer1]

hey Wellie, are PA passes still suicide? I can never run one without immediate heat except on ones that roll out. I HAVE to throw to my first opiton because I never have time to read.

 

[Slo]

In 2005 I found that you *could* use PA to go deep, but you couldn't really use it the way teams use it in the NFL. Basically you need a QB that can throw on the run and you need to get rid of the ball IMMEDIATELY after the PA animation ends.

 

[hgplayer1]

my question was regarding offline play by the way. I found it a little easier to use online.

 

[dskillzhtown]

this board is hilarious. One day you all say, "IGN sucks for reviews!!!", then if a game you have no interest in gets a low review, IGN becomes the gospel truth. Pick a side!!!!

The review seemed incomplete to me. Was there ANY mention of online play? Plus the reviewer contradicted himself several times. Most glaringly is when he talked about "EA motion capture must have taken the year off", but then in the next sentence list the new animations he saw.

Not that it matters to me, I was buying the game anyway so I can whoop some GA ass in the league.

 

[Paladin69]

I second this except I totally mean to offend his dumb ass.

I'm not the dumbass who buys the same shit year after year. :lol

oh boy, a highlight passing cone this year...weeeeeeeeee

 

[Rorschach]

I'm not the dumbass who buys the same shit year after year. :lol

oh boy, a highlight passing cone this year...weeeeeeeeee

You didn't even bother to read the updates, did you? Not that you even like football. Maybe it's because you're a cuber and you feel left out. Whaa!

 

[Ninja Scooter]

I'm not the dumbass who buys the same shit year after year. :lol

oh boy, a highlight passing cone this year...weeeeeeeeee

no. You're a dumbass for entirely different reasons.

 

[DMczaf]

I'm not the dumbass who buys the same shit year after year. :lol

oh boy, a highlight passing cone this year...weeeeeeeeee

Paladin69
Banned
(Today, 11:44 AM)

"Shut the fuck up."

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

Paladin69
Banned
(Today, 11:44 AM)

finally

 

[Ramirez]

It's IGN,who gives a fuck? -_-

 

[Wario64]

1up.com review by one of your beloved gaffers

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3142612

9.0

 

[djtiesto]

listen guys, i am a huge madden supporter, but if you asked me to review a sports game that comes out yearly that i like (whether it be madden or nhl 2kx or whatever), i would probably give it in the 8 range. not because they aren't fantastic games, but a game that comes out every year shouldn't get 9.5, 10, etc.

I'm not a Madden fan, nor a fan of the sport in general, but I totally like what you're saying here. It seems, year after year Madden's gotten a free pass with the gaming press, while games in other genres will sometimes lose points for not bringing much new to the table...