Madden NFL 15 Preview

Legion of Boo(m).

Yes, I made fun of them. What?!

Early looks at Madden 15 have quickly shown that it is a brand new year. I can’t stress enough how many times I’ve heard or even been caught saying “things this year are all new." But with what little has already been updated, this will not be your father’s Madden or even your older brother’s walk down memory lane. This, kids, is your Madden.

And as silly as it’s about to sound, everything is “all new." Well, not completely, but for the sake of argument, let’s say it is. Like most year’s Madden titles, many features have been changed, added, or dropped, this year being no different. What keeps Madden’s clock ticking are the small changes. Each year we see tweaks from player physics, to move modifiers, crowds, most of everything dealing with offense, and much more.

This year, all of the same qualities will be keyed in, but instead of offense being the focal point, the attention has been shifted to the defense. The name of the game is “timing." A new tackling system has been implemented with the hopes of giving players a wider range of defensive attack. Now your defender will have an indicator representing the angle you will take in order to tackle the runner. Guess or anticipate correctly and a green light will appear, indicating you have made a good read, and will perform a perfect tackle. Having the green light isn’t a necessity but will increase the possibility of your defender finishing the play.

Another timing tool that can be utilized, in which d-linemen and blitzers will benefit the most, is jumping the snap. Just as the ball is hiked, you can predict the perfect moment to get the jump and quickly disrupt the backfield. Poorly timing the jump can result in offside and encroachment penalties. Or use it to your advantage and draw an o-linemen to false-start.

Other fine details added include better player modeling (tattoos have never looked so realistic), highlights catered specifically to each game, revised play calling, and one of the more stylized features, a new camera changer. Now you are able to change the camera view to a number of angles, including from both sides of the ball.

There are still plenty of areas of the game that will be cleaned up and made ready for the world, but signs point to Madden 15 being one of the better editions of recent years. The only downside is the fact that there’s a Seahawk on this year’s cover. Who would ever allow such treason?! [You mad, bro? ~Ed. Nick] Be ready for Madden NFL 15 to arrive late summer for PS4, PS3, XOne, and X360.