With a ton of Madden 17 live gameplay out I wanted to give you my first hand impression of the game from EA Play! I’ve broken my gameplay impressions down into offense, defense and special teams:
OFFENSE
- The Pressure is coming! The defensive ends really get up the field this year and force your QB to step up into the pocket. On all madden with the rams I had a several sacks in the game. Aaron donald is a BEAST!
- Speedy WRs are still dangerous as ever. I caught a few deep balls on PA shot plays to fast WRs like Tavon Austin and Jeremy Maclin vs slower Corners.
- When scrambling pocket passing QBs seem SUPER slow. I really like this as I’ve seen immobile guys break of 20yds runs in the past
- The pass lead is better. I felt like I was able to lead the ball on bullet passes into spots I wasn’t able to previously. But QB makes a difference as I wasn’t able to lead the ball as effectively with Jared Goff as I was with Alex Smith.
- The quality of WR matters even more, as many of the passes by lesser WRs were dropped in tight or double coverage or when hit right after the reception.
You have to relearn how to run with the new ball carrier moves and LAY OFF the turbo. So many running plays I messed up on by smashing the turbo as soon as I got the ball. The ball carrier moves are nice, but you really need to master them because “the window” you have to do each one varies, so you have to know which is the best move to use in that situation.
Blocking is improved, but it depends on matchups, top DE’s and DTs wreck havoc in the running game. Open field blocking is really good as pulling guards and WR’s downfield find their men and make really great blocks. Although the oline blocking was nice, the blitzes really work well this year, I ran a few zone and man blitzes the blitzes came in how they were supposed to. I can definitely see myself being more aggressive with blitzing this year as the major threat of the aggressive catch is gone.
Playaction is more realistic and looks just like a running play. The camera zooms in on the backfield, so it’s much easier to fake the defensive out especially if you are using a secondary player.
DEFENSE
Aggressive catch is still in the game for top WRs, if the defender does not click on and swat a good WR can still go up over him, also remember for guys who click on the defender on defense get a user bonus that plays in your favor.
- QB sneak is no longer a gimme! Had a big stop of QB dive on 4th and 1 from the 1 yard line to win the game.
- Pass rushers really get up the field and Force QB’s to step up. But top DTs like Aaron Donald push the pocket and break through the line as well.
- Feels like there is More momentum when controlling linebackers and seconddary players. It was tougher to dart around when controller the Middle linebacker but it felt more realistic.
- Ton of fumbles on sacks. With the new ball physics you need to get rid of the ball because if you get hit and your arm isn’t coming forward it will be a fumble.
- New ball physics are great and look realistic, you can never tell exactly where the ball is going or who is going to pick it up on a fumble recovery. There were a coulple of times I was sure my guy would pick it up but the ball squirted out and someone else recovered.
- As you have probably seen already you can now skip all cutscenes which is cool as it gives people the options to watch the replays or cutscenes or quickly get on to the next play.
SPECIAL TEAMS
There are various different blocks you can go for on special teams. You can block left or right. The kick meter stays there the entire time, but you have to hold the direction you want it to go and there is vibration feedback to this.
I missed a few extra points as I got used to the new meter. Normal kick, high kick or backspin kick which all have different effects on the ball. With the new kicking meter, blocks and fakes special teams play in madden should have much bigger impact on the game.
What do you think of Madden 17 now that you’ve seen and heard about the gameplay? Let us know in the comments, and as always, stay tuned to SGO for the latest Madden 17 news.