As all of you know, EA’s Madden 22 Trial Version was available on August 12, 2021 for those who Pre-Ordered or subscribers to EA Play. Thanks to my beautiful wife, I was able to Pre-Order a copy and download the Trial Version of Madden 22.
Like many of you, I’ve been playing Madden since the 90’s. Unlike the hardcore, die hard players, however, I’m an amateur, just like you. Work, family, and other obligations only allow us to play a few hours a week. Now, many of us probably only play against our kids, or when they are not hogging the console.
This article is for you guys, the amateur players. I’ll give you my honest opinion, reactions, and first impressions of Madden 22. I’ll rate the game on our Scale of Hotness, from 1 to 10 chile peppers. I will grade Gameplay, Graphics, Features, Story, and Overall. Based on the overall hotness of the game, I will give you my opinion whether you should pick it up, wait, or skip this season all together.
One more thing, I’m playing Madden 22 on the old gen Xbox One console, since the Xbox Series S/X are still out of stock. Once I get my hands on an Xbox Series S/X, I might re-visit this article. For now, let’s see what EA Sports Madden 22 has in store for us Amateurs.
CHILITO’S MADDEN 22 OVERALL RATING
Seven Chiles
Not to Hot, Not to Mild
Let’s Talk Player Control
Controlling player with the Xbox Controller is as difficult as it was with prior versions of Madden. The sensitivity of the joysticks makes it difficult to control player movements, especially when you are changing from one defensive player to another. Even when you release the joystick as soon as you press B to change players results in the new highlighted player moving in the direction the previous player was moving. Being unable to control the joystick makes the player, especially one in pursuit get out of position to tackle, intercept, or swat the ball.
On the offensive side, hurdling, juking, and dead leg are useless when the movement joystick is so sensitive. The sensitivity of the joystick does not give you time to get the player to move in the right direction to execute the move. The only one that has any chance of working is the “truck” move because you are pushing both joysticks in the same direction – up!
EA needs to do something about the sensitivity of the joysticks. Otherwise it can be very frustrating playing defense and running the offense.
Player Physics
EA talked a lot about this new engine which would simulate the physics of the game much more realistic. However, I think the engine needs some tweaking. The new OP in the game is the running back. No matter how they get hit, they find a way to fall forward and gain more yardage. I don’t think that is realistic. Some defensive linemen and linebackers are strong enough to stop a running back cold and in some situations push him back. That’s not the case in Madden 22, over 80% of the time the running back falls forward for more yardage regardless of what player hits him.
When rushing the quarterback, defensive linemen overshoot the quarterback release from the block or they just shuffle their legs in place and don’t head straight towards the quarterback. When a defensive lineman sheds a blocker either right or left, the movement carries him down to the ground, rather that allowing him to regain composure and pursue the ball. If he spins, he is carried in the the direction of the spin with no hope of recovering.
Even though, it is a new engine, Madden needs to go in there and tweak things a little to ensure that the physics of player movement is accurate.
GAMEPLAY
I’m really surprised at how choppy gameplay is on the Xbox One. The game does not run smooth and many of the animations, especially on defense seem out of sink with the game.
Player’s look more like they are sliding on skates or moving in slow motion. On many occasions when running the ball, my running back, with decent speed and acceleration would run in slow motion. It almost looked like he was purposefully waiting for the defense to tackle him.
On several pass plays, cornerbacks would sit back in their zone defense even when the quarterback had scrambled out of the pocket and was running towards them. Even when pressing B to change defenders, the game would not always go to the closest defender to the ball carrier. On many occasions it would shift to a defender that was in pursuit, but when the defender was activated, it would alter the defender’s trajectory and make the defender miss the ball carrier all together.
OTHER ISSUES
There were other issues with the game that stood out. In particular on the Single Player Story Mode. During the cut scenes, on several occasions, the voice acting was not in sync with the scene. Other times, the scene was missing dialogue. In a few instances the dialogue that the voice actor was saying did not coincide with the subtitles. During scene where the avatar was texting or talking through text, the avatar was not visible only the white bubble from the text.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My experience with the trial version of Madden 22 Overall was somewhat disappointing. I’m hoping that some of the issues I discussed are address in a Launch Patch of some kind.
As an amateur player is it worth buying any of the Madden 22 packages at launch? I would say in its current condition, wait until it goes on sale. With all the bugs, glitches, gameplay issues, its really not worth spending the money right now. As an amateur player, its not like you will be playing it everyday or compete in the Champions Series.
For now, I would tell all you amateur players, unless you are playing in a franchise league with your friends, wait till the game goes on sale to buy. Hopefully, by the time the game goes on sale the developers have updated the game and address many of the issues I pointed to today.
You can find a more in-depth review of Madden 22, including its new features and Face of the Franchise on our YouTube Channel.
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