The Next Madden - 2008

This post offers much more detail than anything I've seen thus far, as it's pretty much a compilation of everything about the new madden. I hope you guys enjoy it and find it useful. You've probably seen some of the stuff before, but much of it further expands on the new points. If you are bored and have some time to kill, read it, and you'll certainly end up wanting '08 even more. I'm still a little skeptical about how they're going to improve the defense, and I hope there really is enough balance for the defensive players to match-up with the new offensive skills.

http://www.sportsgamer.com/forums/m...18-all-major-info-all-videos-madden-08-a.html

 

How do you mean improve the defense? Are there flaws that you see in 07 that stand out?

Personally, I think the passing game is what needs to be fixed. I've had numerous occassions where a receiver is WIDE open and doesn't go for the ball (even when I control them). The animations on receivers are ridiculous.

 

They need to improve when you take control of a defender. EA also needs to improve when you try to make a grab and the damn player runs out of bounds.

 

^

I hated it when I run a screen and my guy would catch the ball and just run out of bounce instead of runnning down field. Those plays usually cost at least 7 yards I could of gained and sometimes I even lose yards because of this animation.

 

flip the play then...you usually will have more room to run it, or toss the pass a little earlier.

 

I hate when I throw to a guy who has finished a button hook and he decides to run 5 yards back to the line of scrimmage.

 

Well, the problems in 07 are vast, and many have already been fixed for 08. However, number one receivers dropping wide open TD passes or shutdown corners dropping interceptions that fall right into their hands (which they'll fix) are what I'm talking about. Also, they spent all these years focusing on making runners better, but in the end, they needed to compensate on the defensive side. The hit stick wasn't cutting it to stop the truck stick of say, a larry johnson. Plus, I hope players like torry holt, chad johnson, or burner steve smith don't take advantage of easy match-ups every chance they get. That was all. I play decent defense myself and don't usually allow over 400 yds total offense, but every once in a while, there'll be those few guys who love to launch the ball or love to run the ball to the outside with a jumbo formation and scamper for the TD. From what i've seen thus far though, 08 should be stellar.

 

Catches shouldnt be automatic, even the best players have drops at times. I never saw any of that rampant enough to warrant complaint.

My biggest complaints do seem to be addressed though. The animations that dont take you out of bounds, gang tackling, and db ai. I hated when a running back would go into a bunch of defenders, go into a break tackle animation and bc he was stuck in that animation, slip past the 3 other defenders trying to get him. The improvement of db ai should help limit some of the more money routes.

Though I always see people complaining about madden and wanting it to be too easy. I personally was a fan of the passing cones. Allowed for more of a strategic passing game and forced players to read defenses. It made that qb awareness rating meaningful. The current set up, all that matters is arm strength and accuracy to an extent and possibly speed if you are a scrambler. I want them to make it more dynamic.

 

Amen. I'd like to see the passing game developed yet again. I tire of players scrambling around with their QBs who have great passing strength and launching the ball to a 99 speed receiver. Eventually you learn how to try and stop that kind of stuff, but the bombs work more often than not against someone who likes to play that way. As for the catches, I totally see what you mean. See, I'm fine with recieivers dropping balls. The complaint I had is dropping balls multiple times in multiple games...especially the wide open ones who happen to have high ratings. Theyre fixing the CB thing as well, where if you throw a ball right to a guy like Champ Bailey, he'll definitely pick it off this time. That was all. This next edition should be better, and hopefully you'll get to see a lot of what you want next time around.

 

i agree with you guys the passing needs to get better, but with that said the pocket for the QB needs to be improved big time (cant wait to see if they fixed it this year).. thats why IMO a lot of guys scramble out b/c they know they dont have time read whats going on without getting sacked..

 

my biggest complaint is that the Raiders are terrible in this game..... :wink:

 

I agree, the blitz is too powerful so we need a way to counter it. We used to have the slide protection which helped. It sounds like they may have addressed it by fixing the blocking, too many times i'd see DEs or LBs just walk right through my lineman.

I also agree with Mustang, i liked having to use the cone. Its ridiculous to see guys roll out all the way to the right then throw all the way back across the field to guys not even on the screen. The cone at least made you look at your receiver and on defense you could read the QBs eyes and force people to look off a receiver.

 

Really? If you know how to use them, they can be pretty devastating. Not amazing or the best team in the league, but I know at least one particular Raiders' fan I played against who kept it close.

 

Swiper is the best player with a 1-12 record in the Madden League!

Phantom thanks for posting your comments in response to my reply. I often see people complain about the game, but don't put any emphasis in what it is that they don't like about it. It seems like you really understand how to play the game.

Your comment about rolling out the QB is spot on! In my opinion unless the play is designed to be a rollout/bootleg you shouldn't be out of the pocket unless under pursuit. I know a handfull of members in the league now that use this cheese too often. Rolling out to the right and passing across field is not "sim" (hate using that term). Of course the good players will sniff that out and put the wood to the cheesers.

 

hopefully the league survey will get them removed from the league..

 

Can't any of the league commisioners add that to the league rules? I'm in another league right now, and that's one of the many in our fairly large list of rules, and most players don't abuse the roll-out anymore unless taking heavy pressure from the defense. I guess you guys will work all that out, because even though I'm not in the league, I hate to see "cheesers" that take all the fun out of the game, when that is exactly what these leagues are supposed to be about.....isn't that right.....fun? :-D Thanks for the kind words Grand.

 

oh 2 seasons ago I went 8-4 with them , then the roster updates devastated the team! accurate to real life Raiders

I said it mostly in jest , I am a huge Raider fan and part of beinga fan is to cheer when the team rocks and when they suck rocks...

I always roll with the punches :razz:

 

I'm a pocket passer first and foremost...in NCAA. in madden (one reason I don't own this game anymore) the blitz was way too effective and blocking is terrible in the game.I don't think it's cheese to roll out to the side you're throwing to. On crossing routes and drags passes, a lot of the time I'll roll out to the drag side they're crossing to: much the same way any mobile QB does in the real world. but when you roll left and throw to the opposite side of the field to a WR that's not on the screen, now that's cheese....unless you're immitating Brett Farve's real world antics

 

This is what I call an acceptable rollout. If you roll with the receiver that's fine by me. It's the cheesers that rollout and/or dropback 20 yards then pass. That's complete cheese play and gets dealt with on the field. No mercy to cheesers.

 

i'll be honest with ya, i even think rolling out with the WR's is kinda lame (when used all the time).. an occasional rollout is cool, but when this goes on all the time ruins the game IMO..