Hard pass. Turd.
So when does the GRG league start?
Not much action these days. I’ll get 19 and bitch about it, no doubt. We’re only 3 strong these days. Creatable draft classes sounds intriguing
By Mark Delaney,
It’s fitting that my first ever trip to E3 began with a Madden NFL 19 demo, as the series has long been very important to me. I may not even be here in Los Angeles if it weren’t for Madden. Before my demo, I was able to get the attention of Madden’s lead gameplay designer, Clint Oldenburg, to chat about the marquee features of this year’s simulation.
Standing 6’ 5", you’d likely expect Oldenburg to be a football player, not a game designer. That’s because he was. After being drafted by the New England Patriots in 2007, he spent time with various teams in the NFL and CFL for five years, before accepting a job as an intern with EA building Madden, He now leads the gameplay design team. How’s that for a post-football career?
I asked Oldenburg what the tentpole features were in this year’s game and he told me Madden 19 is all about player control. The team wants users to have more influence on every aspect of the game, which starts on the field with new Real Player Motion. When I went hands-on moments later, the difference was obvious. Players now move more like their real-life counterparts than ever before. That might sound like something you hear every year with sports games, but honestly, it did feel like a greater leap forward than usual this time.
It’s nuanced but I think longtime players, especially those in the competitive circuit, will appreciate these changes. There’s more control when running the ball through the trenches and a new Push the Pile mechanic is implemented like the hit stick but designed for times when you need to stay right behind your lead blocker, letting him plow ahead while you stay on his heels. Some decry the annual schedule for sports games, but as I believe has long been the case, the subtle improvements are a bigger deal to those who are passionate about the sport and the video game series. On that note, it feels like this year’s physics improvements aren’t as subtle as they’ve been in the past which is a win for everyone when it’s done well.
.Greater locomotive control means players like Dion Lewis will be even deadlier in the right hands.
I was worried when Madden 19 was first revealed a few weeks ago that EA Tiburon had done away with the game’s Longshot story mode after just one try. Mention of Longshot was nowhere to be seen on the game’s official site. Oldenburg assured me they’re just previewing the game in one-per-week deep dives and soon more will be revealed for those who appreciated the story. Once again, players will control Devin Wade as he tries to kickstart his NFL career. Early story spoilers: Oldenburg mentioned that something happens in Longshot season two which lands Wade on the Houston Texans. Meanwhile, his best friend Colt Cruise, whom players may recall was not as beloved by scouts, has to weigh his career options between pushing for the NFL roster spot that eludes him or finding a new path.
For those who liked the Madden story mode in theory more than in practice due to its reliance on mini-games, Oldenburg told me this year’s story will involve more traditional, on-field gameplay than last year’s inaugural season. He didn’t say the mini-games are completely absent, but they’ll be built around more frequent moments that play the way Madden is known for. As a huge proponent of story modes in sports games, this was really my highlight of our chat. I was worried only Alex Hunter’s journey in FIFA was getting the story mode love from EA Sports this fall, but I was happily wrong.
There’s a lot more to see in Madden 19. The venue was loud and busy so I couldn’t easily judge the broadcast-style presentation in my gameplay session. That’s always been a crucial part of the experience for me. I’m curious how this tenet of player control has affected my favorite game mode, Franchise, as well as the more modern centerpiece, Ultimate Team. I look forward to seeing more of the football sim ahead of its August 10th release on Xbox One, PS4, and, for the first time in a long time, PC.
Isn’t “Hard Pass” your default answer Mr. 16 Time Defending SB Champ??
Good share sir! I just read through that and loved the class import from MaddenShare
I’m glad they kept Longshot and kept it connected to last year’s storyline
Madden NFL 19 Review
By Mark Delaney,
Annual sports games are often assumed to be the same thing every year. That’s rarely actually the case, as most sports gaming fans would tell you, but it applies to Madden NFL 19. This year’s game is mostly no worse than last year’s decent entry, but because it’s no better either, it’s hard to recommend. It’s built on three pillars where two of them are marginally improved and one is so bad that it maybe shouldn’t even return next season.
This year’s Madden was especially quiet about its major tentpole changes leading up to release, and depending on where you start in the game, it may be quickly obvious why that is. Let’s start with the good parts. Across online play, Franchise, and Ultimate Team, a new Specialist position has been implemented that allows you to set substitutions more easily than ever before. When you want certain packages or formations to recognize your desired subs, you no longer have to get through several screens of slow substitutions. Just like the series has for years designated a third down running back, you can now also assign positions like slot corner, power half back, and slot receiver. This is a long-absent feature that feels really good for the diehard players who take the game seriously and want to better mimic how its played on the real gridiron.
Also new to Franchise and Ultimate Team are new ways to upgrade your players. In Franchise, this means the process has been streamlined to a semi-randomized system that is actually for the better. Rather than spend hundreds or thousands of experience points across the full list of skills for each player, you now earn a single (or more if you save them) experience point that you insert into a trait, which allows the game to randomly assign related attribute boosts. It’s a system much more akin to other games outside of the sports world where you simply level up, put your skill point into a trait, and move along. It’s faster and the randomization may seem odd, but there are still enough traits to satisfy players who want more control.
In Ultimate Team, player upgrades have been improved in a brand new way using Training cards. With these, you can take your lower-tier cards and upgrade them several times over, eventually turning them into the best versions of that player. This adds a welcome layer for players who like to grow their team more organically rather than chase down high-priced players in auctions and trades. Other new MUT tweaks come in the form of MUT Squads being playable against the CPU and Solo Battles, which play similarly to head-to-head seasons, only it’s all single-player content. The changes to MUT make it the deepest and most rewarding yet, and although the allure of cutting ahead with microtransactions is always present, EA’s sports games have generally been one of the fairest in letting you earn it all on the field without ever opening your coin purse, should you be okay with the slow climb.
Upgrading players is streamlined and simpler than ever.
Within these two modes, these changes are definite improvements over last year’s game, but they feel quite marginal. The best new stuff comes to MUT, but even as that mode is so popular, there remains a contingent of gamers who commit only to Franchise, and for them this year’s game feels especially sparse on big changes. Madden 19 also sports a new locomotion system, or so it’s said, at least. Those changes weren’t easily felt, and in general, locomotion is one of those recurring talking points EA seems to hit every single season, even when things aren’t all that different.
While the changes to two of Madden 19 's pillars are incremental but welcome, its second year of story mode is so poorly written, it may justify the mode disappearing altogether. Full of ridiculous tropes, tired intentional humor retreaded from last year’s debut, and frequent unintentional comedy, year two of Longshot and Devin Wade’s story is a unique disaster. Story in sports games is trending up right now, and it can be done well, but for one-third of the game to be this unenjoyable by anyone without the lowest of expectations is a bad look.
EA and Tiburon need to decide to either take it more seriously next season or do away with the mode completely and commit all that time and money to improve other parts of the game. It feels as though it’s been scripted by developers whose expertise is not at all scriptwriting. That makes sense given how fiction is only a very recent focus for the studio, but if this two-year run is the best this mode can get, all involved parties should let the story in the Madden experiment die.
Year two of Longshot is three to four hours of your life you can never get back.
Like most years, the Madden achievement list is largely a copy and paste of the year before. Story mode ties in a lot of what’s new, and they’re easier this time thanks to the total absence of goofy mini-games. Outside of those, it’s the usual legacy score achievements, a few in MUT, and a few situational achievements that feel like they’ve been in Madden since achievements existed. For seasoned players, it’s another easy completion without surprises.
Summary
It’s usually unfair to say an annual sports game is the same as last year’s, but for the first time in a while, it feels more appropriate with Madden NFL 19 . Small changes across Franchise, online play, and MUT will be welcome by yearly diehards of the sport and the game series, but they ultimately don’t feel important enough to make the game an easy recommendation. On top of that, the third pillar of the game, its story mode, is so bad that it feels quite disappointing to think of how much better that time and money could’ve been spent. On the field it’s still a fun game as always, but for the first time in a long time, it feels like little more than a roster update.
3 / 5
Positives
- Small touches to Franchise mode will be appreciated by diehard football fans
- New systems in Ultimate Team make it the deepest iteration yet
Negatives
- Story mode is a comedy of errors, tropes, and plot holes
- Lacks major additions or changes
Ethics Statement
The reviewer spent 15 hours across all three major modes in Madden 19, collecting 35 of 38 achievements for 810 gamerscore. An Xbox One review copy was provided by the publisher.
Anyone interested it playing a game or two? It’s the first Madden I’ve picked up in years and am terrible, but I’d like to get destroyed in order to get better.
Not sure if we have any PS4 Madden players, but I know our XBox contingent would gladly entertain your h2h needs!
I picked it up for Xbox!
Be sure to hit us up. My GT is azshortbus35 and there is an entire thread about our Franchise GRG League.
I’m always interested in playing Straight Regs or Franchises. MUT is okay but I am really cheap and don’t buy any packs.
I’ll play a non mut game as well, TEXENT I’d my gamer tag
Gurley didn’t listen to the announcers (watch to the end):
I played one game and that was enough with the announcers.