Madden 15 Review: Midterm Grades

We continue our Midterm Review series with our Madden 15 Review. In hopes of more accurately portraying the ins and out of the game in much more in-depth fashion than the average review. Having months to breakdown the game and fully understand it’s systems and mechanics while the average reviewer may only have had a fews days to give a general overview. With Madden NFL 15, the team at Tiburon looks to expand upon the solid foundation laid by Madden 25 and deliver fans the most authentic football simulation to date. We take a closer look at the finished version of this years game in the video above and the text below.

CONTENT

SCORE: 9

Connected Franchise returns as the most enticing offline mode, allowing the player to take full control over his or her organization, ranging from GM duties, coaching duties, or specific player duties. New this year is the ability to allocate hours towards game preparation each week. Do you want keep your team’s confidence high, or do you want to develop the skills of individual players? It’s all up to you. Your philosophy as a head coach also translates into how likely free agents are to sign with your team. Numerous variables, including more than just money, are taken into account when a player is looking to sign with a new team.

Join 31 of your best friends or co-workers and play full NFL seasons against each other in Madden 15 Connected Franchise Mode.[/caption]

Now the real question becomes, “all these new financial models are nice, but do they produce realistic outcomes?” The general consensus from the Madden community and some of our own testing indicates that specific simulation engines require some fixing. Simulation stats at the end of the year are all over the place, and the progression and regression engines are in need of some serious fine tuning. Regardless, the options remain vast and somewhat robust, if not lagging slightly behind other major sports titles.

Madden Ultimate Team is updated weekly with new challenges.

Finally, other game modes including Madden Ultimate Team and the Gauntlet provide nice diversions from the “main course.” Madden Ultimate Team allows players to take their fantasy football squads on the virtual gridiron, while The Gauntlet is just a fun mini-game diversion with increasingly unorthodox boss battles. But it’s a lot of fun. And finally, online play returns with little lag, making for the best online experience possible. Online play remains the high point for the series.

 

GRAPHICS & PRESENTATION

SCORE: 8

Madden 15’s presentation takes an important leap forward this year. Most notable is the continued transition from pre-rendered cutscenes to real time presentation. Real time wipes and stat banners, along with seamless in-game camera cuts help fashion a more realistic broadcast style presentation. The camera angles help drive the presentation; story elements are visualized between plays and breaks in the actions, immersing the gamer within its NFL-esque presentation. Other improvements include greater graphical fidelity, a much smarter and more engaging crowd, and a brand new, if somewhat convoluted play calling screen.

Passing accuracy has been tuned to allow more “poor” throws from Quarterbacks.

For example, while outside running plays are now less exploitable, their reduced effectiveness is solely a product of equipping defensive lineman with a greater ability to disengage from blocks. Defensive ends rarely seal the edge unless a particular animation dictates a specific behavior that resembles “setting the edge.” Defenses still don’t look to force ball carriers inside or bounce them wide, and defensive lineman still exhibit no gap responsibility when attacking the line of scrimmage. Yet, plays so often end with realistic results. It’s just that the means whereby these realistic outcomes occur are inorganically manufactured through gameplay tuning. Of course, there are more “natural” improvements alongside the trenches that are founded on physics or football principles; defensive lineman occasionally engage in animations that allow for independent movement, and in general, animations aren’t as scripted.

Now let’s go back to zone coverage. In previous years, to ensure that specific routes couldn’t be abused, the speed to backpedaling and sidestepping animations were increased in order to limit the separation wide receivers got from defenders. But this year, defenders look to anticipate receiver movements and attack the ball more aggressively, and you’ll even see zone defenders switch assignments as the play unfolds. It’s this sort of “real football” AI that I hope is extended to line play in future years.

Increased catching animations allow top WRs to shine.

Lastly, other improvements/changes to gameplay include a new, but still easy-to-master kick meter, the seemingly iterative refinements to the physics engine, and an increased number of catching animations. Major oversights include limited receiver/cornerback interactions, a still unsightly locomotion engine, and special teams play that once again resembles something from the dinosaur era.

 

FUN FACTOR

SCORE: 7.5

 

Hopefully you enjoyed our Madden 15 Review, which took an updated look at this years game. Let us know in the comments below and on social media. Check in daily as we will continue this series of taking a second look at currently released sports games.

Madden 15 Review: Midterm Grades