| Madden 11 demo impressions |
| TheSportsJournal.com was granted permission to download the demo version of Madden NFL 11 earlier than the publically available access date of Tuesday, July 27. Here are some impressions of the demo... |
 Madden NFL 11 demo |
 Madden NFL 11 demo |
 Madden NFL 11 demo |
I have been able to spend some time playing the demo of Madden NFL 11 today and will be posting updated impressions as the day progresses. Remember to read these comments with caution simply because this is a demo - and a demo can differ significantly from the final product.
- The new commentary is nice, Gus Johnson was an outstanding choice. He expresses himself well, it's not the same monotone that you might have been used to
- GameFlow will be a great feature for those who are maybe pick-up-and-play Madden guys, who need their plays called for them or might want to get through an online game at half the time it used to take. For me, I turned it off part of the way through the opening drive... I'll stick with the tried and tested way of playing the game. By the way, there are two settings...
* Playcall Style - which is either "Conventional" or "GameFlow"
* Coordinator Audio - "Off", "On", "Always" or "Headset Only" - useful if you happen to be playing in the same room as somebody
Strangely, however, even with the playcall style set to conventional and the audio to headset only, it still came up with the headset graphic and the instructions for the play at the bottom. There must be something else I need to change...
(edit: there is a setting for coordinator subtitles that I somehow missed which turns off the playcall instructions)
- The running game will be familiar to anyone who has spent some time playing NCAA this past week. I like the blocking so far. One of my biggest problems with '10 - and I'm sure I'm not alone here - was that the blocking was a problem at times. I'm only a quarter into my first demo game as I type this but so far, I like what I am seeing. I also think the new locomotion/running game package works nicely - I've always enjoyed running the ball more than passing anyway so this is a nice fit for me.
- The new kick meter here will take a bit of getting used to. Not sure if that is something that can be changed back to the more conventional analog stick style of past games but it's a lateral bar where timing is the all important factor. I just shanked my first punt out of bounds for like 20 yards... ouch !
- There is a Gatorade Top Performers list that popped up at the two minute warning of the first half as well as a Verizon scoring summary after a Touchdown is scored. Anyone else miss the lineups that were part of the presentational additions two years ago and haven't made it back since ?
- Sideline awareness is in full effect - I followed the gameflow instructions (before I turned it off) and completed a nice pass to the sidelines. The receiver dragged his feet to stay in bounds which was nice to see.
- Because of the time given to the coordinator to audible his play to you pre-snap, the crowd goes silent - I assume that's the reason why anyway - and then picks it up once the QB is set to snap the ball. For that brief period at least it sounds like you are playing in a cathedral. I expect that in the full version, with the new soundtrack etc. that there will be much more atmosphere - not sure what will happen to the music however so it doesn't clash with the audio.
- I don't mean for this to turn into a review or a retrospective of previous football videogames, but I was a huge fan of the camera shake that NCAA used to have back in the day. You could feel the emotion and... I digress.
- The default speed for the demo was SLOW. I changed it to the middle setting. Last year I played Madden 10 on the slow setting largely on the advice of the developers and was happy with the game, but after playing NCAA 11 on the faster (middle) setting I changed it in this demo as well. I think I prefer it on this setting. The rationale for using SLOW last year was that it gave you more time to see the lanes opening up for the running back but with the improvements in the running game already this year I find that it happens without the need to slow the game down.
- Defense is more immersive in NCAA simply because I can choose to isolate one position and play defense as that player - pre-snap, on the PS3 I click the RS to bring that up if my memory is correct - something that doesn't seem to be there in the demo version of Madden.
- Defensive changes are now tied to the D-pad - you no longer press Y/or the triangle button to bring up options. I can't seem to find the receiver spotlight option - not sure if that has been taken out of the game at this point. Also, these defensive options via the D-pad will be difficult to execute in the short amount of time pre-snap.
- My understanding is that the final version of the game is much more polished than this demo.
- The D-pad pre-snap adjustments are awkward to say the least. For instance, it takes three button presses to initiate a change on the DL whereas it used to take just two. Against the CPU when time is at a premium - especially because the CPU unlike a human opponent doesn't have to press the same buttons that you have to - the time just isn't there. You might get one adjustment in if you are lucky.
- Running is still a lot of fun and I am seeing a lot of broken tackles. A CPU running back just evaded two separate tackles running up the sideline without really needing to juke to avoid them. |
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