EA takes one step forward and two backward

By Aaron Graff

You would think after doing something 26 times, there would be a level of mastery achieved. With EA Games’ Madden football franchise, this is not the case.

Madden 15 is the 27th edition of the franchise, but noticeable glitches make the release worse than its predecessors. Previous editions played almost flawlessly and had good enough graphics to keep it fun and up to date.

The newest edition has the best graphics of the franchise by far, but that does not make a game good.

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Fans have made complaints of certain glitches, which make a mockery of the game.

Linemen have been seen flying up to 30 feet in the air on basic blocks.

Cleveland Browns linebacker Christian Kirksey is listed at 6-foot-2- inches by the NFL, but a typo has him at only 1-foot-2-inches in Madden 15. While EA games is laughing at itself and even created a hash tag called #TinyTitan making fun of the issue, this should not happen.

Kirksey is not rated high on the game, so his shortage of height was noticed by a gamer using the Tennessee Titans in Madden’s Ultimate Team, a featured game mode.

In Madden’s Ultimate Team, gamers start with lower rated players and get coins for every online win. The coins are good for new card packs, containing more players, usually at higher ratings.

Players once had the option of playing head to-head for a single game, but now must play 10-game seasons. It plays the same, but a player can clinch playoffs with five wins and a first-round bye with eight wins.

It gives a higher sense of pride to users who win a lot, but it is an obsolete system. Users who clinch playoffs will have to play other users who clinched playoffs, which means when gamers upgrade to newer editions of the franchise, they may not be able to ever play those games.

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Madden’s Ultimate Team is not the only mode that got more confusing. Madden game modes used to be more descriptive. Franchise mode and the My Player mode used to be separate, and it should have stayed that way.

Now there is Connected Franchise, which allows gamers to go online or offline with their game. Gamers then have to choose between a player franchise, coach franchise, or owner franchise.

They can then create a new character, use a current one or use an NFL legend, such as Mike Ditka, Barry Sanders or Chris Carter. Owner franchise gives the gamer the most capabilities, but it is almost too much to handle.

Gamers set ticket prices and can even relocate a team. That is one of the cool things about it, but it’s tougher than it seems and challenging to keep up with.

Also, gamers who like to do a fantasy draft for their franchise mode will have to think on their toes. Picks are 45 seconds to one minute depending on the round, making it difficult to look at ratings.

Players are sorted by their projected draft round instead of their overall potential.

The draft is fixed.

Consistently after one round, the best quarterback available is Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer, who is rated 83 overall. Players left on the board include 2012 Most Valuable Player Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

In no league should Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill or St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford be selected before Peterson.

The draft strategy is unrealistic, as well as the gauntlet mode, which is something sports fans do not want in a video game.

Gauntlet mode is a series of mini-challenges. The player must complete these to move on. Every fifth challenge there is a boss mode, which are reasonably tougher.

The first boss challenge is to kick a 100-yard field goal with hurricane winds. The wind makes it a chip shot, but frankly annoying since it is impossible in real life.

It’s not all bad though. Graphics are at an all-time high and Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s voice appears in the game, which connects it more with the NFL.

All in all, if you’re playing an outdated version of the game, Madden 15 is worth purchasing. If you have an edition within the past two years, you might want to wait until Madden 16 comes out.

Aaron Graff can be contacted at [email protected]on Twitter @Aarongraff_DE or 536-3311

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