When I fired up a fresh new digitally downloaded copy of Madden 19 on my bright and shiny new PlayStation 4, I thought that Madden was doing me a cruel disservice by throwing me right into an Eagles-Jaguars game. I was forced to assume control of the unsensational Blake Bortles. The only QB I can’t stand more than Bortles is Brady.

The exhibition game ended with me kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired after a clinical performance by Bortles that could only be possible on Twitter. See @BortlesFacts on Twitter for details.

The game offers tutorial info in a box on the top left of the screen. Madden is a lot more complex than the last version I played. For context, the last Madden I played was Madden 16 on the PS3. It was a stripped down version where the swat ball button didn’t work and the catch ball button worked when it felt like it. It should’ve been a crime for EA and 2K to sell full price NBA and Madden games to previous generation consoles when their games stripped major assets.

I played a couple games of last year’s Madden with friends but owning the game is a completely different animal. Madden doesn’t change the formula too much as it pertains to an online game or a game with a friend. I play Madden for the Franchise experience. The long haul. Any sports title I play is for the career experience. I enjoy building teams, winning championships, and beating challenging AI. My response to Madden 19 is much to do with how fun it is to play football games in Franchise mode. I do have my thoughts on Ultimate Team and Longshot, so stay tuned. But let’s discuss the nuts and bolts of the game.

from Android Central

One of my first observations when judging a sports game is in the fluidity of the game. Do the players’ motions look lifelike and are the motions intuitive with the control scheme? For Madden 19, it’s a yes for the majority. The player physics and tackling have always made smalls steps from year to year. The offensive line creates a more lifelike pocket than older Maddens. Rushing is still a bit foreign to me and I find the control sticks and my player don’t always agree as to what rushing lane we’re running toward. It’s also taking me some time to acclimate to the compact juke move that was a lot more excessive in previous games.

Madden 19 uses more lifelike player motions as for how players cut and how QB’s motion at the line. I haven’t paid too much attention to it but I applaud EA for continuing to improve the on-field visuals. There’s also a FIFA style celebration after you score a TD you can dance, do a team skit performance, a good ol’ spike, or a signature celebration for said player. If you hold three buttons down at once you can also celebrate while running into the end zone.

One of my minor concerns with Madden is the button combinations. It’s a lot of information to process at once. I can see hardcore gamers loving the idea of throwing a low pass or a high pass while at the same time double tapping the receiver icon to throw a medium lob pass. I don’t love the idea because I don’t think that fast. It’s not a Mortal Kombat level of sequential button mashing but Madden is certainly trending that way. NBA 2K has its share of press this button with this timing while holding this button jargon to deal with so it’s more of a sports gaming trend now that a competitive scene is developing.

I say the button combos are a minor concern because I don’t really throw too many medium lobs passes low or high. I often stick with the old lob or bullet throw and lead my receiver if necessary.

Controlling the defense has also been an adjustment for me. Yearly Madden players probably made the adjustment to the new button layout years ago but newer players will have to acclimate. It takes time and practice to get used to the timing of switching from a linebacker or D-lineman to a secondary player and adjusting to the ball and pressing the correct button to either swat or catch the ball. I’ve stuck mostly to playing linebackers and D-linemen before entrenching myself at safety.

from Newsweek

I do heavily applaud Madden for yet another visual tweak on defense. When in zone, there is a dotted line that gives you a hint as to which receiver you should be shadowing in the zone.

Franchise games in Madden are fun, although I’m still experimenting with the difficulty settings and sliders to find the optimal experience. In past Madden’s I dominated at All-Pro but would get crushed by All-Madden. Madden 12 comes to mind. The offensive line play was dreadful no matter how much I tweaked the sliders. D-lineman would just swim by O-lineman in a half-second and be right on top of the QB.

On All-Pro in Madden 19, most of my games have been defensive struggles with neither team scoring more than 14 points. The simulation experience is too harsh on the receivers who drop the ball if they are hit 5 minutes after catching the ball. The arcade experience turns every player into Bo Jackson and breaks every would be tackler with ease. I didn’t notice too much of a difference between competitive and simulation. After about 30 frustrating mostly unrealistic (in relation to actual NFL games) games played, I’ve finally adjusted my settings to an acceptable competitive standard.

I played 3 games in the “key moments” truncated version that sims the boring parts of the game and puts you in the big pressure situations. The full games are a much better experience but key moments may help with a seasonal grind if you’re starting to get years into a Franchise. You can also play offense or defense only, I’ve played quite a few offense-only games.

Madden has added many strategical features that big-time football heads will be excited about. For the casual gamer, you’ll be trusting in the numbers and bars that denote if a scheme fits your roster or not. I’m a big football fan but I’ll freely admit my football knowledge isn’t as extensive as the game permits its players to be.

from TrueAchievements

Whatever level your playstyle is, Madden likely has developed a suitable version for you (you may have to work for it to be lifelike). After making the game for over 25 years, EA has a grasp on the baseline experience of what a football fan wants from Madden. For that reason alone, if you have the urge to play Madden in the year of 2018–2019, Madden 19 has what you desire. Now lets shit on Longshot.

When writing my expose on, should sports video games have story modes, I YouTube’d a good portion of the first year of Longshot.

Can YouTube be used as a verb now? If it can be, I doubt I’m the first to write it out.

At the time of writing, I’ve played a quarter of the way through Longshot: Homecoming. EA needs a swift kick in the balls for many reasons, but here’s one of them.

In Longshot: Homecoming, one of the main characters, Colton Cruise, is abruptly introduced to his deadbeat father. Sounds familiar? Play FIFA’s The Journey with Alex Hunter. Hunter is reunited with his deadbeat father in the story as well. In both games, the deadbeat fathers decide to introduce the characters to their half-sister in a diner. Two different sports games with a ridiculously similar story arc. The stories aren’t copy and paste, but copy and edit wouldn’t be too far-fetched for whoever wrote the script. EA had a Westworld ‘Akane No Mai’ moment in the writer’s room.

Longshot: Homecoming has done the rest of the arguing for me as to the question of whether a story campaign should be a vital part of a marquis sports game. Spike Lee may’ve had a vision, but we learned it wasn’t a good one. No one is learning from his mistake. All these story modes include campy D-level acting and dialogue. It’s time to stop pulling the punches and say video games should get a pass. Nobody gives Pixar a pass when they make a disappointing sequel.

from TrueAchievements

The face capture graphics make the characters look like they’re acting for a soap opera. There are awkward pauses in conversations where one character will try to evoke emotion on their face and it looks like they’re smelling cow manure.

The gimmick of Longshot is to alternate story between the gameplay minigames. Gameplay is mostly comprised of, score a TD on this one drive. Longshot does tempt the Ultimate Team crowd with some unlockables so the MUT die-hards have all probably whipped through it by now. Good on ’em, I can’t be bothered.

I’ve tried three different versions of Ultimate Team in sports games now. NBA 2K’s, FIFA’s, and now Madden’s. I never get into it. I see the attraction of building a fantasy team, but there are only two ways to accomplish it. Grind out the various challenges to earn coins to add new players, or use real-world money. The fact that real-world money can buy your way to the top of MUT is an immediate turn off for trying to seriously compete in the mode. I see Ultimate Team’s as a glorified gambling scam hooking players into spending money to make their dreamworld fantasy team. Appealing to the masses? Maybe. To me? No thank you.

Madden’s reoccurring crux of the past decade has been presentation. In my piece praising MLB The Show 10 for its peak broadcast presentation, Madden is a far cry from the pristine quality of The Show. Madden has never had great commentary, and Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis in the booth haven’t offered any reprieve. I’ve already heard the same stale lines 40 times over. The commentary could be described as plain bread with no butter that was just picked up off of a restroom floor… in McDonald’s. No offense to Gaudin or Davis, voice-over work is excruciating for sports video games, but EA has always been lacking in this department.

Worse still is EA’s lack of enthusiasm to implement creative pregame or halftime or highlight reel footage. EA added Jonathan Coachman to do a pregame and halftime schpeel that is utterly pointless. The halftime report is especially disappointing. Coach shows you the score and stats of a different game on a bland graphic of the United States. Coach might as well have given me an update on NASDAQ or Dow Jones.

Let’s use Madden 05 for context. In the franchise menu screen of Madden 05, EA implemented a radio show with a guy named Tony Bruno. The show was a replicated version of a football sports talk show, and Bruno would provide updates on your team’s performance through the season and take fan calls on trivia questions. While the show became obsolete once all the pre-recorded segments had been listened to, the innovation was fresh, and something that could be improved upon if EA bothered to put in the money and effort. For Jonathan Coachman to put in the voice-over work for a flatly designed halftime update show is a waste of time and money.

from Sports Gamers Online

How EA hasn’t figured out how to make a simple highlight reel for Madden when it’s so easily done in FIFA is beyond my comprehension.

I’ve also experienced some random crashes. As with many games of the last half-decade, I would expect patches to be in progress to fix some of the bugs. The most annoying bug is when a contract extension comes up and you want to withdraw the offer because you’re not going to offer a bum another contract, the game tells me it couldn’t connect to the servers…

Other minor complaints:

My favorite commentary bug is when a receiver makes a catch and the announcer says it’s said player’s first catch of the super bowl despite it being a regular season game.

The soundtrack is all hip-hop, which is great. But it’s all mainstream hip-hop. Not great. That’s my old man get off my lawn speaking for me.

Medium complaint: A couple of play action rollouts lead to immediate 10-yard sacks because the tackles don’t block the defensive end for more than a brief shove in the QB’s direction.

Bare bones coach customization. No owner customization. I haven’t even dared to look at player customization knowing it’ll likely be awful as well.

Features like social media, media questions, free agency, and the draft either add nothing to the game or show no ingenuity or creativity.

There’s a contingent of gamers who complain that Madden is the same every year, but those same people buy the game every year, so their point is mute. EA makes a good quality football simulation. There are many ways to improve the game. Axing Longshot and Ultimate Team would be a start. Starting with more focus on a deeper and more dynamic franchise experience, a more layered Superstar single-player experience, throw the online mode a few bones or innovations, than I’d say EA is going forward. But EA going forward goes against all conventional wisdom of the company. Their stranglehold over the NFL means football fans will have to put up with the company’s inability to give a shit about its consumers.