Meet the new Madden, (mostly) same as the old Madden

by shake n bake on Aug 17, 2008 3:42 PM EDT

Just finished my first game of Madden 09. It was an exciting shootout, 7-0 over the Bears. The first 3 1/2 quarters of offense looked like they were coached by Mike Martz and QBed by Jim Sorgi (7.6 per completion 4 sacks, redzone INT), but a deep strike down the seam to Clark in the final minute led to a 5 yard Addai TD up the middle. INTs from Bob and Bethea (and using my "rewind" after Ugoh got blown by on a play action leading to a strip sack and TD return) kept the Bears off the board.

I was really disappointed that there didn't seem to be any improvements to last years franchise mode. The scouting is still painfully slow and awkward, the pre-week training still suckers me into the same boring minigames with the promise of a fraction of a attribute point for 3 players.

The one big improvement I noticed was that the problem finally turned me off of last years Madden didn't seem to be an issue. The downfield fumbles. Last year they were so common and unpreventable I had to stop playing for the safety of all throwable objects within reach of the Xbox 360.

That horrible flaw was replaced by a minor annoyance. The WRs and returnmen take a while to gather themselves after catching the ball making YAC or good returns difficult.

The NFL history fun facts at the load menus are a great addition, although you'll have to speed read as they fly to the next one pretty quickly.

It's an improvement, but I'm completely expecting it to get blown out of the water by NCAA again.

I suck at the drills too much to make superstar playable. I could literally run a 40 faster than one of the 40 times I got in-game.

How do the rest of you who have played like it?

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Comments

I really like the new Madden

I love all the new improvements and more importantly they brought back slide protection for the offense. One thing though. I feel they made way to many improvements on the defensive side of the ball. Its way to hard to score a damn TD on offense.

by metal_militia on Aug 17, 2008 4:21 PM EDT reply actions

I Bought the 20th Anniversary Pack

and I haven’t played Madden. NFL Head Coach is a great game.

http://naptownsfinest.com

by Colts Homer on Aug 17, 2008 8:21 PM EDT reply actions

20th Anniversary Pack

Does Head Coach comes in that?

by MarkFive05 on Aug 17, 2008 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes

by metal_militia on Aug 17, 2008 10:56 PM EDT up reply actions

sweet, then I probably will buy it after all

I just really hate spending 60 bucks on a game that isn’t awesome, and I love franchise mode, but it really sucks when you get 5 years into it and there isn’t any good players to draft and the defense sucks ass.

by MarkFive05 on Aug 18, 2008 5:27 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm hoping that isn't the case anymore.

I am also hoping that the instant money tree I bought on that infomercial will start growing me cash real soon.

by coltsfanawalt on Aug 18, 2008 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions

I like it

I like the Backtrack feature,although it does seem slightly irrelevant at times. I like the way Tamme is on almost every 2 TE set! One feature that is annoying is the fact its SO hard to go deep and really sling the ball down field accurately. Every time i need to get the yards the CB always seems to be glued to the receiver!

by jack-manning on Aug 17, 2008 8:57 PM EDT reply actions

Passing Defense Impossible

I like the new Madden, but I find passing defense to be really frustrating. I normally like to set myself up as Brackett to be in the middle, but it seems like any QB can just carve me apart. I don’t care how low my Madden IQ gets in that area, I still suck at it. The virtual simulator doesn’t help either. Regardless, the passing game is sick. I end up feeding hte ball to Dallas or Gonzo like 75% of the time.

by hoosierdore on Aug 17, 2008 10:02 PM EDT reply actions

not sure what your talking about

I have no problems with defense its more so trying to sling the ball down field. as jack-manning mentioned the CB are pratically glued to the wide out when the Colts wide outs should get easy seperation 1-1

by metal_militia on Aug 17, 2008 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe I just suck

I don’t know. The passing D is where I struggle. I really only try to sling the ball down field occasionally with the play-action. If the safety doesn’t bite, I don’t even try. Not worth the risk throwing it into double coverage.

by hoosierdore on Aug 18, 2008 12:08 AM EDT up reply actions

I got all pro rankings on the Madden Test

in every area but pass D. I always get the angle or timing wrong when I’m trying to defend a pass unless it’s just a awful lob pass.

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." - Thomas Paine

(Yes, that is a non-Lil Wayne lyric sig).

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by shake n bake on Aug 18, 2008 12:17 AM EDT up reply actions

BTW

if any of you guys have madden for the xbox 360 add my gamer tag: metalmilitia189

by metal_militia on Aug 17, 2008 11:01 PM EDT reply actions

Question

I had problems – lots of them- with Madden ‘08 on Franchise mode. One was that when I would go to improve a player’s attributes in those weekly drills, they would disappear the next week. Example: A receiver needs five points in a drill to improve his hands in an area. I earn the five in that drill, moving him from a 64 to a 65. The next week’s game, he is back down to 64 again. Is that how it is suppose to be, or was my game just messed up in one additional area?

I haven’t started a season in Franchise mode yet. Been busy and also getting ready for the fantasy football league that I head up. Any tips are appreciated.

by coltsfanawalt on Aug 17, 2008 11:13 PM EDT reply actions

Yes it is

I believe that those pregame things are for that specific game only

by MarkFive05 on Aug 18, 2008 5:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Thanks.

by coltsfanawalt on Aug 18, 2008 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions

You need to create Eric Foster, but I like that they have Garcon and Hart in the right spots.
I also like the preset audibles for the Colts. I also like playing in The Can.

by purplehog on Aug 18, 2008 1:16 AM EDT reply actions