Madden 16

[Jason]

I've only played a few games and went through some of the new passing drills but I can see why it's getting a lot of positive feedback from everyone. The new passing and receiving features are some of the best additions they've made in years. Not only do they sound good on paper but they've done of great job of implementing them into the game. I find myself passing much more than I ever did in past versions of the game and even attempted (and succeeded once) a few fade routes in the endzone.

Controlling the type of catch the receiver makes works nicely because you no longer have to first switch to the receiver manually while the ball is in the air. You just have hit either X (possession), Triangle (aggressive) or Square (run after catch) once the ball is in the air and the intended receiver will make your chosen catch type.

Another thing that surprised me were the penalties. I had 4 penalties called in my first game with the default penalty sliders. I can't remember that ever happening before. It seems as though EA finally realized that penalties are a big part of the game.

I think what surprises me the most is that it plays this well without any patches. I'm wishfully thinking it'll only get better.

[Jason]

I don't think I could ever go back to the old passing game in Madden now. I uploaded this video to show how much control you have, which has me manually throwing the pass high by holding L1 when I release it and manually leaping for it via the aggressive catch feature. Bear in mind, the aggressive catch does not guarantee a catch...these types of passes are broken up a lot, but it's a thing of beauty when you connect on one and know it was you who actually did it.

http://youtu.be/QuuUs4AqhlE

[Jason]

Here are two high-thrown aggressive catch attempts. Mine ends up as a touchdown and the CPU's an interception:

http://youtu.be/QR6fTNtHny4

[Jason]

Here's another video of me going to the well one time too many and getting picked off on a high throw to the endzone:

http://youtu.be/vofoNuzdO8U

[Jason]

I don't visit OS much but I usually pop in over there when a new sports game is released and I can always count on seeing this type of comment, regardless of the sport: "I'm playing on All-Pro with my blocking, running, passing and pass-catching set at (fill in some ridiculously low number) and I can't generate any offense. The game is broken".

I see the same thing with baseball...they play on the hardest skill level with the sliders set at ridiculously low numbers for contact and power while making the CPU pitchers almost unhittable and then complain that they can't generate offense.

I realize they're looking for a challenge, but they just seem to suck the fun out of every game they play.

[Brad Company]

It was a struggle, but getting beyond "slider hell" was the best thing I ever did. Either I like a sports game out of the box, or I drop it like hot garbage.

[Jason]

It's really more the belief that to be a true sim player you need to make the game almost impossible to succeed at. Unfortunately, I think they lose most of the fun in the process.

[Brad Company]

All that does is make me throw the game disc against the wall. I got physically angry playing some sports games, virtually never playing anything else.

[Jason]

Amazon currently has Madden 16 on sale for $39.99 for all systems. With the first patch released yesterday, it's good time to get it...especially at that price.

[Jason]

Patch #2 should arrive tomorrow:

http://twitter.com/RexDEAFootball/status/648937740411760640

[Jason]

Downloaded the update this morning. Looking forward to finally starting my offline franchise in what has become my favorite football game of all time...surpassing NCAA Football 14.

[Jason]

Just wanted to say that Madden 16 is the best football video game I've ever played...the 3rd patch pushed it past NCAA Football 14. There's quite a few deals on Madden this upcoming Black Friday, so anyone who hasn't picked it up yet may want to seriously consider it.