15 minutes of Madden 15 Gameplay Footage! (Read 85 times)

[M3 Commish]

IGN posted their full gameplay stream of Madden NFL 15 complete with full gameplay. Here are some thoughts I had while watching the video through. Beware this is an early build of the game and some of the things which don't seem right could easily be fixed by the time of release.

I'd recommend listing anything you find with the hopes it might get fixed by the time release gets here. Here are some of my notes:

• Kick meter is interesting, definitely inspired by Tiger Woods.
• QB Run-Outs with real video is quite awesome. Wonder how they'll solve that with franchise draftees/etc.?
• The game is much smoother now that there aren't any cut-scenes. The transitions are much better between plays.
• Jump snap seems ok. It's a gamey thing, but it's one of those things Madden's defense has needed for years.
• The DL/OL interactions are definitely improved. They're still not perfect, but they're definitely the best we've ever seen in a football game.
• On the first user sack, it definitely looks like the d-lineman worked his way past the OL and left the OL standing there. That needs to be fixed, if an OL lets his assignment through, he's not going to return to blocking air. This actually seems to be a big problem in the trenches, kind of negates the other positives. Oops. Going to chalk this up to being an early build.
  Switching cameras in game...that's a small but very significant change.
• The new playcalling system is a huge change. Thankfully EA has left the playcalls by formation and play type in. They've added Coach Suggestions, Concept, and I believe Personnel is new but I'd have to refresh my memory (I'm a play-type guy).
• For all of the talk of lower QB accuracy, Kaepernick and Wilson certainly don't miss much. I know they're really good QBs, but I was halfway expecting to see a few more 'off' throws.
• Coverage seems about the same honestly from the couch viewpoint. There wasn't enough to really go off of, and this could be because that aspect isn't fully tuned or possibly because of difficulty concerns. But I didn't see much that seemed too different from previous Maddens.
• Dropping back 20 yards and throwing still works but it's entirely possible this was on a lower difficulty...maybe.
• Finally towards the end Kaepernick misses a throw to the corner and its almost picked. He was definitely a bit off balance. Again this could be due to difficulty levels being lower
• The matchup stick is actually really awesome. You can see where players have advantages on the field in real time.
• Overall the game is more fluid than last year and definitely looks better. The defensive mechanics look like they add some new level to the game -- but exactly how much will only be able to be determined by some firsthand playtime.

Overall, It's far from bad, also just as far from truly great. Madden NFL 15 will be a Madden game through and through, and as I've said many times you either have to live with that or go without football video games right now if you don't like it -- Madden isn't changing its core style/pacing at this point. This will be another step forward for the series almost certainly, and if the modes offer some interesting/good experiences it could be a good year for the series once again.