OS Fact or Fiction: Super Bowl is Coming Edition

[RaychelSnr]

Its the Seahawks and the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona next Sunday evening.

But before we get there, we took a bit of time to put a few of the staff writers on the hotseat to discuss the Madden NFL series, whether it can compete for sports game of the year next year, and what the most pressing need for the game is.

Let's see their responses (and add yours in the comments below!):

Read More - OS Fact or Fiction: Super Bowl is Coming Edition

[JKSportsGamer1984]

DB/WR interactions are needed but there are a lot more gameplay improvements that are needed as well. Player movement & animations need to be more natural. The game needs to be cleaned up mainly post play with players fusing/morphing together too many times (players walking/ghosting through players lying on the field after the play kills the immersion). Physics needs to play a bigger role with weight, strength & momentum. We need different running styles/moves for players so every player doesn't animate the same way. We need more catching animations (body catches). Cpu AI still isn't where it needs to be. RB's need to run more aggressively & fight for every yard. I could go on & on....Presentation needs to be massively improved (in game updates & highlights from around the league, etc..) Living Worlds while slightly improved is still not close to being where it needs to be (Player names on sideline players jerseys, cheerleaders, mascots, etc..)

Madden 15 was a nice step in the right direction with this being the 3rd year into this gen, I expect Madden 16 to take a huge step & finally deliver a true Next Gen game!

[MossMan84]

Overtime should be simple: Play out a 15min quarter in its entirety the same way as the other quarters are played. Im not a big fan of ties either but I love more football and the playoffs could go to sudden death after the 1st overtime.

Seattle will not win the Super Bowl but hey they are lucky Green Bay didnt feel like going this year!

Madden needs more than just DB help! For me its mostly having a deep, better thought out franchise mode that is separate from choosing a player, coach, owner!

Unless madden is a completely rethought out brand new game then imo madden it has no chance for sgoy!

No excuse not to have unlimited plays, custom plays, ect ect. The whole game should be fully customizable!

[cowboy_kmoney]

So much needed in this game to even begin to talk about. But I will say add player profiles that shows the players true Careers. Meaning I should b able to look at each player award history along side of his career stats. It's should tell u if that player has won a Superbowl and how many probowls with each year it was won. Put MVP of that Superbowl on his award history too if he won it. Injury system needs to b added so real time Injuries r needed.

[bigsmallwood]

Penalties need the biggest overhaul!

[saybur]

Re: OS Fact or Fiction: Super Bowl is Coming Edition

Let us edit players, at least their appearance, in CCM! We're tired of having ridiculous looking players coming out of the draft!

I don't see the game getting better without working penalties and receivers actually fighting for the ball(WR/DB interactions I guess). I've been playing since release and still haven't seen one PI or defensive holding called. How many were called in the NFL this year?

Can't have any more problems like the broken stats early on or the sack problem we still have. Also many of us still suffer from a lot of crashes and are unable to resume game saves of in progress games.

This is what it'll take for me to call M16 an improvement.

[kjcheezhead]

Madden was a lot better than its been recently but competing for GOTY? Not close yet imo. Even with db/wr interactions improved, the game has a robo qb issue where they all feel the same, a sack issue, and the teams all play very similar and usually nothing like themselves including a lack of personalities from the superstars.

It's serviceable, but not even a must own for football gamers. I traded mine in 2 months ago and haven't missed it for a second. Still a lot of work to do for EA.

[Branchurian]

GOTY? You guys at OS are really drinking the EA kool-aid. Far cry from that, they made a positive step but a very far cry. Only reason it's number 2 in America because A.) America loves football B.) Football is the most popular sport in the US & C.) Only football game on the market besides the older iteriations of madden. Facts is facts....

[cowboy_kmoney]

Which Madden title are you playing exactly? Career stats and awards are already in the game, as well as injuries.

Yeah they r but it dnt tell u the team the year the Superbowl was won. When u look in the players stats it won even tell u the team the player was Playing for or Still Playing for along side there stats. As far as Injuries go a injury system is not in place all we have r basic injuries that r not real time or that matter. Player should lose doped and quickness after a real bad knee injury.Not all players can come back frm every injury.Real time injuries r needed.Plus it doesn't keep track of probowls won or Superbowl MVP's

[Fist Of Kings]

Re: OS Fact or Fiction: Super Bowl is Coming Edition

- QBs aren't aware and hold on to the ball and take sack after sack. Every season a bunch of your players will be league leaders in sacks because of this by a wide margin. EA comes out and says this isn't a problem, really?

- You injured Peyton Manning, only for his rookie backup to come in and play exactly the same, going 20/25, 250 yds, 2 TDS, 1INT. This is the norm, the robo qbs have been a problem for a while now, which is why we need a a tendency or player trait system that actually works. I want great qbs to play great, and scrub qbs to play like scrubs. In this game they all play the same unless they're fast, then they'll mix in some scrambles.




- The ai will run or pass more if you struggle to stop it, which is good, but it won't adjust to what you do on offense. So many times I would watch the bad ai load up on one side, while I'm in an obvious running formation stacked on the other side.

- The challenge system is the worst it's ever been, so bad that ea removed the ability from users to challenge plays ourselves. I can't think of any other reason why they would strip control away from users, unless they were trying to mask issues with their broken challenge system.

And when the game challenges for you, the end result is still wrong.

- wrs near the sideline and rbs in the flats often run out of bounds as if they are incapable of turning upfield.

- wrs don't fight for the ball, what's the point of catch, jump, spectacular catch, and awareness ratings?

- The penalty slider works for some penalties, but seems to be ineffective for others, like pass interference, a big part of real football.

- Awareness...when will this attribute finally matter? All it does is inflate ratings. This is throughout madden, but really apparent with OL/DL play, where so many times blockers don't have a clue on what their assignments are.





- It's been 3 years and part of a 3 year project, when will the post play goofiness end? Players often step on each other Suh style, and their torsos are literally eaten by the field during ref cutscenes.

- Stat overlays don't work after the first season in cfm, which is why Nantz every week will say a player 'bounced back' from a poor performance, as his stats show other 0's, or even -0.1's across the board.

- Commentary hasn't improved at all, despite years of complaints about it. They don't recognize situations, like going for a punt fake on 4th down as they will almost ignore that and praise your offense for moving the ball down the field, or claim a team is struggling to run when the 2nd rb is in the game, even when the starting rb has over 100 yards.

And now they don't even say the last names of created players...even last names of players already in the game. That's probably why we can't edit rookies like we could in other madden games.





- They hyped 'player sense 2.0' in that players are not only smarter this year, but celebrated when appropriate. Well I saw defenders celebrating when I gained 6 yards on first down.

- 'Living worlds', which was supposed to improve the dead sidelines on next gen is another disappointment, and is sadly outdone by games on last gen systems.




All of this and it's GOTY? Maybe if you play online, but even then I would think that's a stretch. There is nothing 'next gen' about Madden 15 except for the graphics.

[bukktown]

- QBs aren't aware and hold on to the ball and take sack after sack. Every season a bunch of your players will be league leaders in sacks because of this by a wide margin. EA comes out and says this isn't a problem, really?

- You injured Peyton Manning, only for his rookie backup to come in and play exactly the same, going 20/25, 250 yds, 2 TDS, 1INT. This is the norm, the robo qbs have been a problem for a while now, which is why we need a a tendency or player trait system that actually works. I want great qbs to play great, and scrub qbs to play like scrubs. In this game they all play the same unless they're fast, then they'll mix in some scrambles.




- The ai will run or pass more if you struggle to stop it, which is good, but it won't adjust to what you do on offense. So many times I would watch the bad ai load up on one side, while I'm in an obvious running formation stacked on the other side.

- The challenge system is the worst it's ever been, so bad that ea removed the ability from users to challenge plays ourselves. I can't think of any other reason why they would strip control away from users, unless they were trying to mask issues with their broken challenge system.

And when the game challenges for you, the end result is still wrong.

- wrs near the sideline and rbs in the flats often run out of bounds as if they are incapable of turning upfield.

- wrs don't fight for the ball, what's the point of catch, jump, spectacular catch, and awareness ratings?

- The penalty slider works for some penalties, but seems to be ineffective for others, like pass interference, a big part of real football.

- Awareness...when will this attribute finally matter? All it does is inflate ratings. This is throughout madden, but really apparent with OL/DL play, where so many times blockers don't have a clue on what their assignments are.





- It's been 3 years and part of a 3 year project, when will the post play goofiness end? Players often step on each other Suh style, and their torsos are literally eaten by the field during ref cutscenes.

- Stat overlays don't work after the first season in cfm, which is why Nantz every week will say a player 'bounced back' from a poor performance, as his stats show other 0's, or even -0.1's across the board.

- Commentary hasn't improved at all, despite years of complaints about it. They don't recognize situations, like going for a punt fake on 4th down as they will almost ignore that and praise your offense for moving the ball down the field, or claim a team is struggling to run when the 2nd rb is in the game, even when the starting rb has over 100 yards.

And now they don't even say the last names of created players...even last names of players already in the game. That's probably why we can't edit rookies like we could in other madden games.





- They hyped 'player sense 2.0' in that players are not only smarter this year, but celebrated when appropriate. Well I saw defenders celebrating when I gained 6 yards on first down.

- 'Living worlds', which was supposed to improve the dead sidelines on next gen is another disappointment, and is sadly outdone by games on last gen systems.




All of this and it's GOTY? Maybe if you play online, but even then I would think that's a stretch. There is nothing 'next gen' about Madden 15 except for the graphics.

Graphics and the player movement felt really good to me for the first time in a decade