A few more observations that I've noticed. Note, I am playing on All-Pro difficulty with some additional slider tweaks (the Madden IQ thing was not my cup of tea). 11 minute quarters. I have all penalties maxed except for false start, which I have set to 75. I got tired of trying to get the defense to jump with the fake snap count and always having my o-line jump instead. If the defense would jump sometimes, it would be worth the risk. But the defense NEVER jumps, even with offside set to 100, so what's the point?
- As has been mentioned countless times on Operation Sports (and first noted by Bill Abner over at his blog), the "Robo QB" issue is starting to get on my nerves. The QB throws balls right on the money, regardless of who is throwing. I just played the Saints and Brees was about 32 of 37 or some ridiculous number like that. From what I can tell, there are a few factors contributing to this. First, the QB's are just too accurate. You rarely see a pass off the mark. Everything is catchable. Second, the CPU refuses to throw deep. I have yet to see the CPU actually throw a bomb down the sideline. Their deepest pass has been a post to the TE down the middle in which the ball traveled about 25 - 30 yards through the air. And last, even when you put pressure on them, they still get off amazing, accurate passes. Throwing off their back foot, moving away from the LOS, twisting in mid-air, the CPU QB's are experts at getting the ball out when under pressure and their passes when doing so don't have nearly the accuracy penalty that they should.
The problem is not isolated to the CPU either. I am finding my completion percentages to be higher than normal too and I've turned down QB accuracy to 30. Looks like I have to keep bringing it down, since I average about 70% -75% completion. But I least I have the ability to tweak that. Can't do anything about the CPU's pin-point accuracy.
- Something that has REALLY been bothering me is the fact that the CPU snaps the ball way too fast. You have less than 2 seconds to make any reads on defense and make pre-snap adjustments, because that CPU QB is snapping the ball as soon as he sets under center. Very annoying. I've been caught controlling the wrong player, or in the middle of an audible, or the game thinks that I am "run committing" because I was changing my d-line's assignment, etc. This needs to be fixed because it gets more frustrating by the day. Then throw in the fact that there is no accelerated clock and the CPU is snapping the ball with 30 seconds left on the play clock each time. So their time of possession is off.
- There seems to be a glitch in which the game shows the wrong coach reacting negatively to a play. If my defense makes a big play and recovers a fumble for example, it shows a cut-scene of my coach angry on the sideline, instead of the opposing team's coach. I've seen this happen a few times.
- The running game can be brutal in this game. Huge holes close up in mere milliseconds. But it is a good sort of frustrating. Some games I've barely been able to move the ball on the ground. Others I average just shy of 5 yards a carry. I do think that people get in the backfield too fast sometimes, but it is not too big a problem at this point.
- What is a problem, is that on play-action passes your QB seems to get sacked 80% of the time without having time to make a read. It is immediate. Play-action, bam, sack. Very annoying.
- Being able to save your replays and uploading them online is really cool. However, once you save a replay I have not been able to view that replay again fullscreen, I only see it as a smaller thumbnail on the top right corner. That is odd. You can upload it to the internet and see a slightly larger version, but if it is saved on my console then I should be able to watch it like normal on there.
- Aside from QB completion percentages, number of tackles per player, and the more than occasional weak CPU running game, the end of game stats are looking really good with 11 minute quarters. Looks like this will be what I go with for my franchise.
- I mentioned this in an earlier post, but man the sidelines in this game are dull, lifeless and ugly.
- Superstar mode is trash. It is exactly how I remember it from Madden 2007. This mode has the potential to be fantastic. If done right, these type of modes can feel like a whole separate game. In both MLB The Show 07 and 08 I have ONLY played in career mode. But Madden gets so many things wrong that I won't even go into it here, I'm going to have to do a whole separate post soon.
- EA needs to add a new easy way to get roster updates. I don't plan on playing much Madden online, but I do want the roster updates for my franchise. Yet the only way to get roster updates is to start an online match, download the rosters when it prompts you, and then quit the match. That is just stupid. I am sure it is also annoying to the person on the other end that is expecting a match, only to have me back out once the roster downloads..
That's all for now.
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