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[Calm Killer]

Joe Haden is on the Steelers. He was traded to them from the Browns.

In real life yes, but not on my supposedly updated roster on Franchise mode. My wording was bad. Joe Haden and JJ Wilcox are not on my roster. A bunch of people that were traded and cut last week are still on it. So it is not an updated roster, but I have the newest available.

 

[panthapanda]

In real life yes, but not on my supposedly updated roster on Franchise mode. My wording was bad. Joe Haden and JJ Wilcox are not on my roster. A bunch of people that were traded and cut last week are still on it. So it is not an updated roster, but I have the newest available.

The newest update doesn't come out until Friday. They haven't put out the 53 man roster/cuts and trades yet

So Everytime I pick a zone defense play, I usually get burned. Any tips on this?

Don't quote me on this but I think zones are bunk but they're working on a patch. Like the zones are really open, you're gonna get burned.

Edit; Yeah, check out this twitter thread https://twitter.com/RexDEAFootball/status/902273721892777985

Yes. Zone is completely broken ATM. Your defenders are basically kids in a tee ball game. Safeties go too far back for some reason and there's just too much standing around.

 

[Calm Killer]

The newest update doesn't come out until Friday. They haven't put out the 53 man roster/cuts and trades yet

Thanks!

 

[Martinski43]

MUT online is NOT any fun after you have gotten a decent team, everyone i meet online is like 10-20 times better than me at madden. Had 4 total drives in the salary cap mode until i rage quited after 4 straight pick 6'es so fuck that mode now. I can't compete if everyone is better.

And WTF is up with the kicking in online? Every PAT i attempt is missed and kick offs is short and all fuckery is going on there.

I will just continue playing this game solo. Yup.

 

[Martinski43]

Why does it say my team is over salary cap when i try play solo challenges now? It's never bothered with me with that before in solo. What is this now? I'm not even in Salary Cap ranked.

edit: nvm i fixed it. And lol i won 76 - 0 against Chargers in the Deion Sanders Challenge today. My defense completely walloped Rivers and i got 8.5 sacks with my DE i lock in as.

 

[Lee Chaolan]

Anyone else experience the terirble glitch where on a punt, they muff it around their 2, and you recover. You should be 2 yards from a touchdown....and instead they put you back on YOUR 2 yard line with 98 yards to go!

This shit has happened twice to me! What the hell, EA.. xD

 

[The Albatross]

In real life yes, but not on my supposedly updated roster on Franchise mode. My wording was bad. Joe Haden and JJ Wilcox are not on my roster. A bunch of people that were traded and cut last week are still on it. So it is not an updated roster, but I have the newest available.

Yeah they usually release the updated rosters on Fridays, so the Week 1 rosters are supposed to be out today at some point. They might already be out, EA was good about getting them out the door early Friday morning last year.

It's probably worth restarting your franchise because it will also have all of the trades from Saturday on it like Brisette to the Colts, as well as pre-existing injuries... Miles Garrett, Julian Edelman, Luck out for 3-4 games, etc.

Which man coverage is the best overall? I suck at picking defensive plays and just let the coach suggestion pick. But they often suggest zone coverage. So what man coverage should i chose for most pass plays? CPU often picks up my blitzes when their team is around 80 ovr. My pass rush aint good enough, i pummel the CPU QB if they are around 60-70 ovr. My current MUT team is 79 ovr.

There's really no such thing as the best overall coverage. I'd suggest playing the Training mode that teaches defensive schemes. I haven't played it this year but it should be carried over from last year's game.

There is a problem with zone defense this year and man has always sucked. I've heard they've tightened it up. Against humans last year, Cover 3 Mable was a very effective all purpose defense, but I've noticed Cover 3 giving up deep posts. Typically, on defense, pick a formation that mirrors my opponents WRs. So, if there's 3 WR, I go Nickel. If there's 4+ WRs I go Dime or Quarter. If there's 2 WR or if there's 3 WR on an early down or short yardage down, I go base defense (either 3-4 or 4-3 for most teams). On short yardage rushing downs or with less than 2WR, I go base (3-4, 4-3) or run stack (4-4, Bear 4-6, or 5-2 if that exists this year). The play call itself is usually less important than the formation for results, as long as you don't call assinine defensive plays. For instance, never call engage 8, ever. Even if it's 4-1 from the 1 yard line and you're up 6, don't call engage 8.

Cover 2 is your all around normal defense, either zone or cover 2 man. The weakness is it gives up the sidelines, so it's not a good defense if your opponent is trying to conserve clock time. Cover 4 is a good defense that allows underneath passes but keeps the ball on the field and avoids getting out of bounds. It's also usually affective against deep passes but gives up underneath routes or plays to the running back. Cover 3 has typically been a great overall defense in Madden for a couple years, but it's got weaknesses this season particularly with the safeties and corners not jumping corner and post routes.

Man defense is usually bad in Madden and horrible against humans, but man can be effectively used if you want to make a quick stunt on the QB or have a 3rd and long, forcing an underneath pass to a RB or TE who might get 6-8 yards but not enough to convert the 3rd down. IT's also effective at bump and run if you're blitzing and want to hold the WR's on their routes for an extra second. Risk reward though, man with bump and run can make a big play for the offense if there's no deep safety help.

Playing the CPU is pretty different than playing real people defensively. When playing real people, if you take away their favorite play or their first option, that'll be an advantage against 60% of players and they'll just crumble because they won't know what to do. Against anybody who has decent skill, you have to mix up coverages and then make small adjustments or take user control of a linebacker or safety to take away their best weapon. Many people love going to out routes / corner routes with the TE, and so taking that away with a safety throws lots of people off. NExt, the drag and underneath routes are still almost automatic gains, and so dropping a lineman into coverage on the opposite side of the slot receiver or taking a LB on the opposite side of the WR and assigning him as man coverage to the drag/slot route receiver takes that away. User D is very different than CPU D. CPU will usually pick apart those sorts of adjustments because the CPU will know what you're doing and then quickly do the opposite. Humans have a harder time reading that.

I haven't played any games against humans in M'18, but that was the strategy in M'17. I wasn't good at the game or anything, but I'd win more games than I'd lose usually, and most of it was just with defensive adjustments, and also keeping my offense fresh/unpredictable.

 

[panthapanda]

Supposedly, the roster update is going to be delayed because of the hurricane.

Saw this on reddit that a Dev tweeted it. Don't have the tweet but if it's not out by today then you know why.

 

[The Albatross]

Makes sense, hope everyone is safe at Tiburon in Orlando.

*edit*
They're out

 

[panthapanda]

And they're up!

They would come up right when I have to leave for the Ortho and work lol. Wanted to start my CFM

Edit: this update is trash. They're missing players and the depth chart has barely been touched lol

 

[Mondrian]

For some reason, the UI looks extremely blurry on my 4K TV. If I switch to 1080p it looks great. This is the only game that has this problem for me.

 

[Randall365]

I am stuck on the last gauntlet challenge against the Patriots. I can kick the field goal, get a fumble, 2 passing and 2 rushing touchdowns easy as, but fucked if I can get an interception! Any tips?

Get the balls checked lol

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

Anyone interested in joining our NeoGAF 32 man league... As the jets? We just started! Pm me or visit thread!

 

[Sizzle55]

I have been playing every day, but for some reason I don't have the Joe Green or the Ted Ginn free cards for the challenges, any ideas?

 

[Zvonimir Boban]

Anyone interested in joining our NeoGAF 32 man league... As the jets? We just started! Pm me or visit thread!

Buy me Madden and a PSN subscription and I'll do it!

 

[The Albatross]

Anyone interested in joining our NeoGAF 32 man league... As the jets? We just started! Pm me or visit thread!

Can vouch for this league, its a good one

 

[Afrikan]

The Jets? How much yall gonna pay me?


But seriously might have to take some time away from the game until they fix some of this shit. I finally started to pay attention to the defense to see why no pressure when I'm blitzing players...and low and behold I see my defenders have a clear path to the QB only to change direction and look for a blocker to lock into... or run into their teammates.

And why the fuck does EA Tiburon always got to change shit JUST to make things more difficult on purpose... when I want my defender to cover the flats, it's like role of the dice to see what your defender's coverage color changes too. Instead of....you know, what you tell him to do.

Make shit complicated JUST to do it...to make the game a challenge? Get the f out of here.

Wrong approach, but this mindset isn't new.

 

[Sizzle55]

The Jets? How much yall gonna pay me?


But seriously might have to take some time away from the game until they fix some of this shit. I finally started to pay attention to the defense to see why no pressure when I'm blitzing players...and low and behold I see my defenders have a clear path to the QB only to change direction and look for a blocker to lock into... or run into their teammates.

And why the fuck does EA Tiburon always got to change shit JUST to make things more difficult on purpose... when I want my defender to cover the flats, it's like role of the dice to see what your defender's coverage color changes too. Instead of....you know, what you tell him to do.

Make shit complicated JUST to do it...to make the game a challenge? Get the f out of here.

Wrong approach, but this mindset isn't new.

Yeah the blitzing glitches are a real pain. I have my DT get straight through QB a yard away and they turn their back to wrestle with someone and I can't stop it happening!

 

[panthapanda]

All-Pro default sliders are pretty good. Slight tweak to the penalty settings but games have been fun.

Had the craziest finish to last night game in yr2 of my Jets franchise. Bills just scored in the 4th, about to kick the extra pt to make it a 7 pt game. I block the kick. They kick it off and the rookie I just signed off my practice squad returns it for a TD. I kick the extra pt and they block it and return it.

Bills still end up loosing but I've never seen that before lmao.

 

[Afrikan]

Edit-I'm posting about online head to head.

They have some how made the game fucking WORSE!

What the fuck kind of patch is this?

They always overreact when tuning shit to solve some issue....it's fucking sad.

Secondary is SuperHuman now... can't throw shit beyond 10 yards without the secondary flying towards everything... no open windows in zone coverages. Even though your guys are WIDE THE FUCK OPEN! Even if your QB has 90+ arm strength.

And the LBs still don't react fast enough (if at all) to scrambling QBs... even when you are smashing L3 to tell them to get the QB.

How in the WORLD can they some how mess up what they had going the past couple of years... this is ridiculous. What's the point of even playing if you just throw to the flats all game.

Hell past Maddens if someone tried to blindly throw to a WR if they thought you were in zone..and you hot route the CB to play man on the main guy they are spamming to.. your CB would be right there to make them pay for it. It allowed you set people up by being patient early in games.

But nope... they still react slow to shit on the flats.

If someone is throwing it to the running back out of shotgun to the flats you could tell your cb or LB to play him man and they would be right there to make them pay... but NOPE NOT THIS YEAR.. they are always like 5 yards away.

You know EXACTLY what is coming but you can't do shit without exposing yourself to some other issue.

I can't really see them getting it right this year... this game is too fucked up. Too many issues.

 

[Evil John Locke]

Bump... so I haven't bought a football game in forever, so I'm really enjoying this. I wanted to ask some questions though. Is this the main MaddenGAF thread? What's the general consensus (here I guess, I know I can look up meta critic) on this year's version (and/or the direction of the franchise in general)? I play mostly solo Franchise, what types of game modes do most of you play? I really don't think that MUT appeals to me, haven't tried online yet.

And a couple of slightly more specific questions:

Is create-a-team just dead now and never coming back? Looks like they haven't done it in a while. Relocating is okay but really lacking in customization - and you would think that would be the cost of higher production values for the limited options they do have, but that doesn't seem to be the case - no London skyline that I saw (skylines were disappointing to me in general, but that's a different issue), no real commentary about my moving a team to freaking London, just eh here's a super limited number of uni options and a generic stadium, we'll say "London" and have a couple of tweets but that's it. And yes I immediately moved the Jags to London in my first franchise to become the Black Knights - sounded awesome but got boring really fast because it was treated like any old create-a-team. If you're going to do that then at least let me make the Denver 420 Blazers with lime green unis or something, don't limit me to half-baked presets.

And finally, if I'm going to do something like say strip or stiff arm (or any similar move), do I try to tap the button or do I press and hold? I've never been sure if some things are supposed to be like a button mashing mini game or if I can just relax and press and hold and be more deliberate.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

Anyone interested in joining our 32 man league? We are Midway through season 1 and have the Steelers open! Visit the thread, we are all best friends

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1413174&page=100000

 

[The Albatross]

Bump... so I haven't bought a football game in forever, so I'm really enjoying this. I wanted to ask some questions though. Is this the main MaddenGAF thread? What's the general consensus (here I guess, I know I can look up meta critic) on this year's version (and/or the direction of the franchise in general)? I play mostly solo Franchise, what types of game modes do most of you play? I really don't think that MUT appeals to me, haven't tried online yet.

And a couple of slightly more specific questions:

Is create-a-team just dead now and never coming back? Looks like they haven't done it in a while. Relocating is okay but really lacking in customization - and you would think that would be the cost of higher production values for the limited options they do have, but that doesn't seem to be the case - no London skyline that I saw (skylines were disappointing to me in general, but that's a different issue), no real commentary about my moving a team to freaking London, just eh here's a super limited number of uni options and a generic stadium, we'll say "London" and have a couple of tweets but that's it. And yes I immediately moved the Jags to London in my first franchise to become the Black Knights - sounded awesome but got boring really fast because it was treated like any old create-a-team. If you're going to do that then at least let me make the Denver 420 Blazers with lime green unis or something, don't limit me to half-baked presets.

And finally, if I'm going to do something like say strip or stiff arm (or any similar move), do I try to tap the button or do I press and hold? I've never been sure if some things are supposed to be like a button mashing mini game or if I can just relax and press and hold and be more deliberate.

Yep this would be the active Madden thread. There's league threads too, especially if you're on PS4, but honestly they talk about anime most of the time.

General consensus might be conflicted... I'm a big time Madden homer and I'm really disappointed with this year's game. I think it's the worst value for a Madden game since Madden '06 on Xbox 360 (which is unbeatable as the worst Madden ever, IMO). like you I mostly only play Solo Franchise or limited online franchise with one friend, we also try to focus on "sim-style" play, and this Madden is virtually identical to Madden '17 for the simulation play style, which is a shame.

The CPU AI is unimproved, franchise mode is unimproved, zone defense took a major step back from M'17, Man defense is still pretty bad, CPU accuracy is still way too high, the wind bug that has been present in Madden for 5 years is still there and makes special teams a mess in franchise mode, there was a ridiculous bug with extra points using super sim that made 'Play the Moments' all but useless, and there were major bugs with supersim that resulted in incorrect spots and field reversals making no sense. SuperSim/Play The Moments has also gone completely unimproved, so you get those ridiculous stat results from 2017, like running backs carrying the ball 40+ times a game for 185 yards and a 4.25 avg ypc. It's like they looked at a backs YPC and then just calculated "Well, ok, if he gets 40 carries, then that's what he'll get for stats," so you just see tons of plays at a 1-4 yard range and wacky statistics.

But w/e.

The entire focus this year seemed to be on MUT, a mode that simply doesn't appeal to anybody whose played these games for the single player (or small online MP) aspect of it. MUT is tailored entirely to the grinding, gambling, online competitive audience. I'm also deeply insulted that they transitioned Draft Champions mode, a pretty solid online multiplayer mode, into "MUT Draft" which now requires tickets to play, and of course, tickets are "earned" or, as mroe common, bought with real money. Just makes the modes shit.

So far, since release, virtually all improvements have gone into MUT, MUT Draft, MUT Squads, and online competitive play. While Franchise and simulation mode have gone largely untouched, except for a few small bug fixes.

Agreed about Create a team, it's gone. You'll never see it in any Madden NFL game ever again. It's partially unwillingness by the Madden team, but also mostly restrictions to the license... NFL is very restrictive with what they allow the game to do, and EA has no financial interest in pushing back or improving the game in that aspect, so we'll never see it again. Relocating is half baked like you said, it hasn't been improved in 3 or 4 years, like most features in Franchise mode.

Madden '18 is definitely my least favorite Madden in at least 5 years, and one of the worst that the series has ever made, IMO. Not the worse, but one of the worst. And this is coming off of a flaw but seriously improved Madden '17 (which I consider one of the best Maddens). You could ask "How can Madden '17 be one of the best, and Madden '18 be one of the worst, especially when you say Madden '18 is almost identical to Madden '17 in so many ways?" It's a good question, and it's about value. It's virtually the same game in every mode that isn't a microtransaction mode. They did introduce "Longshot" which was actually way, way better than I expected, but an 8 hour story game with very little on field football play is not Madden and it's not a football game, it's a Telltale-style game with surprisingly great production quality, but surprisingly little actual videogame football. I'm also cynical, and I think they've introduced Longshot as the future replacement for spending any time on franchise mode, to basically say, "See? Here's this new version of Madden featuring Longshot 2.0!" while franchise mode -- which up until just 3 years ago was the most important mode in the game and the foundation of every sports game -- languishes unchanged and unimproved.

So, I'm pretty down on this year's game, and I'm like the Madden mark. If you haven't bought Madden in 5 years then it's definitely worth it... Solid playing football game with some flaws that show through only after 50 or 60 games. But, if you buy Madden every year or every 2 years, it's not worth it, bad value. Does M'18 have a solid foundation for the future? Sure it does. But I said that in Madden '17 which actually made me very optimistic for the future of Madden. Madden 18 still has a solid foundation for the future, but I'm very pessimistic about the future of the series. Madden '18 is the first Madden where I really believe that EA is going to transition the game into a free-2-play/pay-2-win loot box, card trading gambling mini-game, with just a resemblance to the NFL. They make a fortune off of Ultimate Team and Franchise Mode is a financial loser every year, and this is the first Madden since Madden 1999 where it seems clear that EA is abandoning franchise mode in the future of the series.

 

[Evil John Locke]

Yep this would be the active Madden thread. There's league threads too, especially if you're on PS4, but honestly they talk about anime most of the time.

General consensus might be conflicted... I'm a big time Madden homer and I'm really disappointed with this year's game. I think it's the worst value for a Madden game since Madden '06 on Xbox 360 (which is unbeatable as the worst Madden ever, IMO). like you I mostly only play Solo Franchise or limited online franchise with one friend, we also try to focus on "sim-style" play, and this Madden is virtually identical to Madden '17 for the simulation play style, which is a shame.

The CPU AI is unimproved, franchise mode is unimproved, zone defense took a major step back from M'17, Man defense is still pretty bad, CPU accuracy is still way too high, the wind bug that has been present in Madden for 5 years is still there and makes special teams a mess in franchise mode, there was a ridiculous bug with extra points using super sim that made 'Play the Moments' all but useless, and there were major bugs with supersim that resulted in incorrect spots and field reversals making no sense. SuperSim/Play The Moments has also gone completely unimproved, so you get those ridiculous stat results from 2017, like running backs carrying the ball 40+ times a game for 185 yards and a 4.25 avg ypc. It's like they looked at a backs YPC and then just calculated "Well, ok, if he gets 40 carries, then that's what he'll get for stats," so you just see tons of plays at a 1-4 yard range and wacky statistics.

But w/e.

The entire focus this year seemed to be on MUT, a mode that simply doesn't appeal to anybody whose played these games for the single player (or small online MP) aspect of it. MUT is tailored entirely to the grinding, gambling, online competitive audience. I'm also deeply insulted that they transitioned Draft Champions mode, a pretty solid online multiplayer mode, into "MUT Draft" which now requires tickets to play, and of course, tickets are "earned" or, as mroe common, bought with real money. Just makes the modes shit.

So far, since release, virtually all improvements have gone into MUT, MUT Draft, MUT Squads, and online competitive play. While Franchise and simulation mode have gone largely untouched, except for a few small bug fixes.

Agreed about Create a team, it's gone. You'll never see it in any Madden NFL game ever again. It's partially unwillingness by the Madden team, but also mostly restrictions to the license... NFL is very restrictive with what they allow the game to do, and EA has no financial interest in pushing back or improving the game in that aspect, so we'll never see it again. Relocating is half baked like you said, it hasn't been improved in 3 or 4 years, like most features in Franchise mode.

Madden '18 is definitely my least favorite Madden in at least 5 years, and one of the worst that the series has ever made, IMO. Not the worse, but one of the worst. And this is coming off of a flaw but seriously improved Madden '17 (which I consider one of the best Maddens). You could ask "How can Madden '17 be one of the best, and Madden '18 be one of the worst, especially when you say Madden '18 is almost identical to Madden '17 in so many ways?" It's a good question, and it's about value. It's virtually the same game in every mode that isn't a microtransaction mode. They did introduce "Longshot" which was actually way, way better than I expected, but an 8 hour story game with very little on field football play is not Madden and it's not a football game, it's a Telltale-style game with surprisingly great production quality, but surprisingly little actual videogame football. I'm also cynical, and I think they've introduced Longshot as the future replacement for spending any time on franchise mode, to basically say, "See? Here's this new version of Madden featuring Longshot 2.0!" while franchise mode -- which up until just 3 years ago was the most important mode in the game and the foundation of every sports game -- languishes unchanged and unimproved.

So, I'm pretty down on this year's game, and I'm like the Madden mark. If you haven't bought Madden in 5 years then it's definitely worth it... Solid playing football game with some flaws that show through only after 50 or 60 games. But, if you buy Madden every year or every 2 years, it's not worth it, bad value. Does M'18 have a solid foundation for the future? Sure it does. But I said that in Madden '17 which actually made me very optimistic for the future of Madden. Madden 18 still has a solid foundation for the future, but I'm very pessimistic about the future of the series. Madden '18 is the first Madden where I really believe that EA is going to transition the game into a free-2-play/pay-2-win loot box, card trading gambling mini-game, with just a resemblance to the NFL. They make a fortune off of Ultimate Team and Franchise Mode is a financial loser every year, and this is the first Madden since Madden 1999 where it seems clear that EA is abandoning franchise mode in the future of the series.

Well damn, that is quite depressing lol. In case you might be interested, NCAA 14 has a pretty darn good create a team (connected to a website that gives you great options and control but which also may or may not be turned off at some point soon?).

Anyway thanks for the response. Really starting to get bummed as this shitty business model affects more games I'm interested in.

Does anybody know what current game is considered to have the best create a team franchise mode, regardless of the sport? In my world Javaris Jamar Javarison-Lamar is the 2-time defending NFL MVP, and I like stuff like that. I just wish I could have him playing for a team in my hometown or with a funny name or something stupid like that. And I want my guys to look fly while they're working (custom uniforms).

 

[panthapanda]

Well damn, that is quite depressing lol. In case you might be interested, NCAA 14 has a pretty darn good create a team (connected to a website that gives you great options and control but which also may or may not be turned off at some point soon?).

Anyway thanks for the response. Really starting to get bummed as this shitty business model affects more games I'm interested in.

Does anybody know what current game is considered to have the best create a team franchise mode, regardless of the sport? In my world Javaris Jamar Javarison-Lamar is the 2-time defending NFL MVP, and I like stuff like that. I just wish I could have him playing for a team in my hometown or with a funny name or something stupid like that. And I want my guys to look fly while they're working (custom uniforms).

Any sport? 2K is probably your best best. And you don’t even need VC to enjoy that part of the game!

It’s franchise mode is one of the best and you can go in with custom rosters/teams to your hearts content. Even possible to add custom images for jerseys.

Football wise? No idea.

It’s a shame that EA isn’t going to build on franchise mode. Scouting rookies is one of the funnest things to do in this game for me.

 

[Evil John Locke]

Any sport? 2K is probably your best best. And you don’t even need VC to enjoy that part of the game!

It’s franchise mode is one of the best and you can go in with custom rosters/teams to your hearts content. Even possible to add custom images for jerseys.

Football wise? No idea.

It’s a shame that EA isn’t going to build on franchise mode. Scouting rookies is one of the funnest things to do in this game for me.

Ahhh same here, especially being a college ball fan I've gotten really into the scouting and drafting. And you're saying that I can get what I want out of 2K without being affected by that game's shittiness? I have seen a lot of negative headlines about stuff in that game. Thanks for the recommendation if so.

 

[panthapanda]

Ahhh same here, especially being a college ball fan I've gotten really into the scouting and drafting. And you're saying that I can get what I want out of 2K without being affected by that game's shittiness? I have seen a lot of negative headlines about stuff in that game. Thanks for the recommendation if so.

Yup. Aside from the VC stuff, 2K is a very good basketball game. The Franchise modes have little to no VC implementation. Only the MyGM mode where you specifically take on the role of a GM and it’s like an RPG where you can level up and get perks type your team has some VC stuff. Not gamechanging stuff tho. I’d recommend the MyLeague mode though (the real Franchise mode) where it’s basically a sandbox and you have the freedom to do anything you want. No VC shenanigans in this mode.

 

[Evil John Locke]

Yup. Aside from the VC stuff, 2K is a very good basketball game. The Franchise modes have little to no VC implementation. Only the MyGM mode where you specifically take on the role of a GM and it’s like an RPG where you can level up and get perks type your team has some VC stuff. Not gamechanging stuff tho. I’d recommend the MyLeague mode though (the real Franchise mode) where it’s basically a sandbox and you have the freedom to do anything you want. No VC shenanigans in this mode.

Sweet, well I will probably get that. While we're on the topic, how does FIFA do in this regard? I could see a smaller city create-a-team being potentially more believable in that game with soccer (football) being so global. It does still feel weird making a custom team in such a closed environment as the NFL or NBA (doesn't stop me, but requires a little more suspension of disbelief).

On the topic of Madden, man I could just go on about the game, I guess I've never really talked football video games very much. I feel like the commentary (and presentation in general, but specifically the commentary) is implemented pretty well, especially if you let it play out, and I feel like the commentators themselves did a good job. They have some nice chemistry. Is this the first one without Madden himself? What's the general reception of the commentary (or more broadly the presentation)? My perception may be skewed having not played a new one since NCAA 14.

 

[WatTsu]

Is this the first one without Madden himself? What's the general reception of the commentary (or more broadly the presentation)? My perception may be skewed having not played a new one since NCAA 14.

Madden's been out of the booth for a while now - don't remember when his last game was. But yeah, I like the commentary. It doesn't repeat as often as previous years (I remember one Madden where I heard the same spiel about Ndamukong Suh *every single game* with the Lions) and the announcers are fun. The polish and presentation are really pretty good in general.

 

[The Albatross]

Sweet, well I will probably get that. While we're on the topic, how does FIFA do in this regard? I could see a smaller city create-a-team being potentially more believable in that game with soccer (football) being so global. It does still feel weird making a custom team in such a closed environment as the NFL or NBA (doesn't stop me, but requires a little more suspension of disbelief).

On the topic of Madden, man I could just go on about the game, I guess I've never really talked football video games very much. I feel like the commentary (and presentation in general, but specifically the commentary) is implemented pretty well, especially if you let it play out, and I feel like the commentators themselves did a good job. They have some nice chemistry. Is this the first one without Madden himself? What's the general reception of the commentary (or more broadly the presentation)? My perception may be skewed having not played a new one since NCAA 14.

Yeah the announcers are much much better than what they used to have. If you play 'Play Now' and online then you hear fresh commentary updated throughout the season every week too. I wish they just added that to Franchise mode... They dont have it in probably because they think it'll hurt immersion, but I really don't think it would. Franchise mode is already the opposite of immersive, and so I'd rather just get the variety of the live commentary updates.

Madden has been out for a pretty long time... Probably going back to PS2/Xbox, maybe 2005 was his last year in the booth. When it launched on Xbox 360, Madden '06 had a "Radio announcer" which was a voice actor that they tried to make sound like a radio announcer but it was terrible. It was the right decision, to replace the highly paid voice talent (Al Michaels, John Madden,e tc) with a guy who could be paid shit and keep him in the booth to record a lot, but whoever wrote the lines for him apparently never listened to an actual radio call of a football game... because he'd make inane comments that wouldn't make any sense if you were listening to the game only ("WOW! LOOK AT THAT!" for a big play or something, or "And that's how you do it!" when the home team won). Sadly Madden 06 was such a disaster when it launched it set the series back about 5 years... and I think it was all because of the horrible CG prerendered video they released at E3 that year to try to impress the audience, and it set the stage for this football game that not only would never really be made, but also just wouldn't be a good football videogame. They were kinda doing what Ubi did with the AC prerendered trailers, but then there was this insane pressure to deliver on that, and so they just ruined Madden for half a decade because of that.

Didn't take until 2010 or 2011 to really fully exercise those demons... Although to this day there's still a few remnants of the horrible Madden 2006 / 2007 decisions, particularly, the scoreboard animation at the end of the game, but it's usually not on screen so you can't see it.

Then they went back to paid talent, which was bad, and finally dropped them for the cheaper guys that they have today who do a hell of a better job. THere's still too many canned back-and-forths that you here A LOT, and recurring dumb jokes that I'm really tired of hearing... and there's still a lot of annoying "breaking the 4th wall" which I just don't know why they'd record anything like that. "I guess the person with the controller doesn't want to watch the half-time show, sorry Larry!" I just don't get that especially when the half time show is such dog shit, the same show for the last 3 years with nothing new.

But, that all sai, the commentary is really so much better and I'm glad they went with these two who do a very good job and can record a lot more audio than in the past. They did keep John Madden in the product for a while longer... Coach's decision for plays used to be called "Ask Madden," and John would give you a canned commentary about what play to pick when you did that. Then they replaced him with a generic offensive coordinator for that, which was fine but a gimmick. Then they overhauled the play selection and dropped that mechanic altogether. Madden is actually in Madden this year, which is more than the last 2 years, but it's just at the very beginning talking about how great Tom Brady is.

 

[eternalthree]

Hello,

Long time gamer, and didn't really get into the Madden or many sports games til recently, when i played co-op madden 98 with my friend and had an awesome time. It was terrible defense for both sides, and with seconds left in the 4th quarter, my friend (qb) threw the ball to Jerry Rice and caught it, in an open field. He thought i was in control of the character, so he stopped running. and was tackled, bringing up OT. The opposing team won the toss, advanced, and kicked in the game winning field goal. utter disbelief.

Anyway, thank you for your in depth review of madden 18 a few posts up. very much appreciate it. it's great to see your thoughts on Madden 18 and where you think the series is headed. I've been playing some Madden 12 lately on the ps2 and i've been having ridiculous amounts of fun playing as Michael Vick, running and gunning, throwing interceptions, losing fumbles, and scoring at will. Just curious who plays like Michael Vick in Madden 18? is Kaepernick in the game as a free agent? i barely watch more than an hour each season anymore. my wife's cousin just got the game recently and i've been itching to play a more modern Madden game.

also, what happened to the All Madden Team? or the NFC All Stars, etc. do they have these kinda special teams anymore? Are they unlockables or something?

also reallly enjoying NFL Street, and NBA Street, as i just got a ps2 multitap.

Yeah the announcers are much much better than what they used to have. If you play 'Play Now' and online then you hear fresh commentary updated throughout the season every week too. I wish they just added that to Franchise mode... They dont have it in probably because they think it'll hurt immersion, but I really don't think it would. Franchise mode is already the opposite of immersive, and so I'd rather just get the variety of the live commentary updates.

Madden has been out for a pretty long time... Probably going back to PS2/Xbox, maybe 2005 was his last year in the booth. When it launched on Xbox 360, Madden '06 had a "Radio announcer" which was a voice actor that they tried to make sound like a radio announcer but it was terrible. It was the right decision, to replace the highly paid voice talent (Al Michaels, John Madden,e tc) with a guy who could be paid shit and keep him in the booth to record a lot, but whoever wrote the lines for him apparently never listened to an actual radio call of a football game... because he'd make inane comments that wouldn't make any sense if you were listening to the game only ("WOW! LOOK AT THAT!" for a big play or something, or "And that's how you do it!" when the home team won). Sadly Madden 06 was such a disaster when it launched it set the series back about 5 years... and I think it was all because of the horrible CG prerendered video they released at E3 that year to try to impress the audience, and it set the stage for this football game that not only would never really be made, but also just wouldn't be a good football videogame. They were kinda doing what Ubi did with the AC prerendered trailers, but then there was this insane pressure to deliver on that, and so they just ruined Madden for half a decade because of that.

Didn't take until 2010 or 2011 to really fully exercise those demons... Although to this day there's still a few remnants of the horrible Madden 2006 / 2007 decisions, particularly, the scoreboard animation at the end of the game, but it's usually not on screen so you can't see it.

Then they went back to paid talent, which was bad, and finally dropped them for the cheaper guys that they have today who do a hell of a better job. THere's still too many canned back-and-forths that you here A LOT, and recurring dumb jokes that I'm really tired of hearing... and there's still a lot of annoying "breaking the 4th wall" which I just don't know why they'd record anything like that. "I guess the person with the controller doesn't want to watch the half-time show, sorry Larry!" I just don't get that especially when the half time show is such dog shit, the same show for the last 3 years with nothing new.

But, that all sai, the commentary is really so much better and I'm glad they went with these two who do a very good job and can record a lot more audio than in the past. They did keep John Madden in the product for a while longer... Coach's decision for plays used to be called "Ask Madden," and John would give you a canned commentary about what play to pick when you did that. Then they replaced him with a generic offensive coordinator for that, which was fine but a gimmick. Then they overhauled the play selection and dropped that mechanic altogether. Madden is actually in Madden this year, which is more than the last 2 years, but it's just at the very beginning talking about how great Tom Brady is.

 

[BPK]

The game is on sale for $10 on the PSN store. Is it worth it? I never buy sports game full price and I'd only be playing online.