Quite possibly the worst video game ever.
February 8, 2021 6:35AM
edited February 2021
This is perhaps the worst video game I’ve ever played. It’s not just the worst football or sports game, but the very worst video game out of them all that I’ve had the displeasure of playing. Unfortunately, due to an accidental deletion blunder on my part of my Madden 19 franchise, I was forced to purchase Madden 21. Thankfully I got it on sale, plus I had a gift card, so I gave EA as little money as possible.
I will say, there were two massive improvements from 19 to 21, which I’ll start with. First, the pass blocking did improve. No longer do I get sacked 6-7 times per game. I used to have my pass blocking set to 95 (I also set it to 10 to see if it was an inverse slider, to no avail) with an OL of all 80+ in Madden 19 and it was always at least 4 sacks (usually more) per game. Now I have it set to below 40 and my OL is nowhere near as good as it was on my Madden 19 franchise, but the sacks aren’t anywhere near what they used to be. So, kudos for that. Also, it isn’t a fumble by the QB every time he gets hit like it was in Madden 19. So, again, kudos for that.
Unfortunately those are quite literally the only two positives I can say about Madden 21.
1)Defense is absolutely beyond broken. It is impossible to play defense without getting burned for 60+ yard gains frequently.
2)Tackling is absurdly horrendous. Players regularly miss tackles, even using the “safe” tackle with the ‘X’ button. I always used aggressive on every previous Madden, which is virtually impossible to do on Madden 21.
3)Switching between defenders is a crapshoot at best. More often than not, you will not be switched to the correct player closest to the ball, like you’re supposed to. So when you switch into a defender who you think you will, and you use a motion that will bring you closer to the player with the ball, you’re actually moving away from the ball carrier because the AI switched you to the wrong player, or you just tackle the ground and take that player out of the play entirely. I have a video of this that I’d be glad to upload if anyone wants to see, but I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about.
4)Speed is terrible, you can’t catch up to anyone! I’ve messed with that slider to no avail.
5)It is impossible to defend the pass. Whenever you press the ‘triangle’ button, it almost never ever, ever, eeeeeevvvvvvvvvver works. The CPU will catch the ball 95/100 times. In Madden 19, there were much more even outcomes between pass breakups and catches. This is terrible. It’s impossible to not give up a 300+ yard passing game to the CPU every. single. game.
6)It is way too easy to run the ball, I shouldn’t be able to run the ball with as much ease as I can, even with run blocking as low as it is.
This game is honestly not even fun to play. It’s terribly unrealistic. I’ll be adding to the Madden 22 wish list soon, but the above deserved a separate thread on its own. I’m just glad I didn’t spend $60 on this abomination of a video game.
Honestly, EA should just really give it up though for Madden 22 and take a year off, and come back for Madden 23 with an actual functioning game. That would at least show the fans that they care, it would be EA’s way of telling fans, “Hey, we know we screwed up, we know the game is broken, we know it doesn’t play like simulation football that you seen on Sundays, despite having the technology to be able to make that happen. So we are going to go back to the drawing board and build this game from the ground up and work on physics and not be dependent on animations….etc..” WWE admitted to their shoddy game and skipped a year to give their fans a better game, it would be nice if EA would do the same, but let’s face it, EA doesn’t care.
I will say, there were two massive improvements from 19 to 21, which I’ll start with. First, the pass blocking did improve. No longer do I get sacked 6-7 times per game. I used to have my pass blocking set to 95 (I also set it to 10 to see if it was an inverse slider, to no avail) with an OL of all 80+ in Madden 19 and it was always at least 4 sacks (usually more) per game. Now I have it set to below 40 and my OL is nowhere near as good as it was on my Madden 19 franchise, but the sacks aren’t anywhere near what they used to be. So, kudos for that. Also, it isn’t a fumble by the QB every time he gets hit like it was in Madden 19. So, again, kudos for that.
Unfortunately those are quite literally the only two positives I can say about Madden 21.
1)Defense is absolutely beyond broken. It is impossible to play defense without getting burned for 60+ yard gains frequently.
2)Tackling is absurdly horrendous. Players regularly miss tackles, even using the “safe” tackle with the ‘X’ button. I always used aggressive on every previous Madden, which is virtually impossible to do on Madden 21.
3)Switching between defenders is a crapshoot at best. More often than not, you will not be switched to the correct player closest to the ball, like you’re supposed to. So when you switch into a defender who you think you will, and you use a motion that will bring you closer to the player with the ball, you’re actually moving away from the ball carrier because the AI switched you to the wrong player, or you just tackle the ground and take that player out of the play entirely. I have a video of this that I’d be glad to upload if anyone wants to see, but I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about.
4)Speed is terrible, you can’t catch up to anyone! I’ve messed with that slider to no avail.
5)It is impossible to defend the pass. Whenever you press the ‘triangle’ button, it almost never ever, ever, eeeeeevvvvvvvvvver works. The CPU will catch the ball 95/100 times. In Madden 19, there were much more even outcomes between pass breakups and catches. This is terrible. It’s impossible to not give up a 300+ yard passing game to the CPU every. single. game.
6)It is way too easy to run the ball, I shouldn’t be able to run the ball with as much ease as I can, even with run blocking as low as it is.
This game is honestly not even fun to play. It’s terribly unrealistic. I’ll be adding to the Madden 22 wish list soon, but the above deserved a separate thread on its own. I’m just glad I didn’t spend $60 on this abomination of a video game.
Honestly, EA should just really give it up though for Madden 22 and take a year off, and come back for Madden 23 with an actual functioning game. That would at least show the fans that they care, it would be EA’s way of telling fans, “Hey, we know we screwed up, we know the game is broken, we know it doesn’t play like simulation football that you seen on Sundays, despite having the technology to be able to make that happen. So we are going to go back to the drawing board and build this game from the ground up and work on physics and not be dependent on animations….etc..” WWE admitted to their shoddy game and skipped a year to give their fans a better game, it would be nice if EA would do the same, but let’s face it, EA doesn’t care.
Post edited by blinkfan18211 on
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Defense was poorly implemented for sure and you're right, it really isn't even that fun to play. The more I play it, the less fun it becomes as I'm seeing such glaring deficiencies in the construction of this game.
It would be amazing if EA just sat out 2022 and completely revamp the game from he ground up, but as you said.. They simply do not care. It's becoming more and more obvious.
Anyway, I cannot say I have most of these problems. Even with sliders on 50, I struggle to run the ball and I stop the run quite well.
My biggest issue w/ gameplay is pass defense. Completing and allowing 70% of passes is frustrating.
I'm not sure what the original poster plays on, but I play on All-Pro as All-Madden level always seems to be comprised of CPU being like superman which comes off as cheating, as opposed to just a good challenge. I have my run blocking set to 34 and I'm still averaging over a 150 yards per game.
But my biggest issue is defending the pass. It's virtually impossible to not give up 350 yards per game. If I played at All-Madden, I'd be giving up 450 per game, most likely.
I'm playing at the All-Pro setting. I've never played continuously on All-Madden as I've never felt it's a fair setting. The CPU is terribly overpowered and it feels like the CPU is just cheating. I have my run blocking to 28, and there's no difficulty to run the ball. The passing game is difficult, as I have my QB accuracy under 50, receivers catching ability under 50 and the CPU coverage and pass reaction at 60.
But it is absolutely impossible to play defense. My run defense is pretty good, but pass defense is non-existent. I have my coverage and pass reaction set to 75, and the CPU receivers catch ability under 50 and the CPU accuracy at 40. Despite all that, the CPU still averages well over 300 yards per game. I've ranked last in my franchise in total defense the first year. 27th in the second, and currently I'm 29 in the 3rd. I have two superstar X-factor CBs as well. I hardly ever get an animation where the defender knocks the ball out of a WR's hands. I continuously get burned in coverage. Slants are always wide open. And CPU QBs never get called for intentional grounding. It's terrible. Truly terrible.
And not to mention the shoddy tackling this year. Missed tackles are aplenty. Defense is totally broken this year.
I made an elongated post in the Madden 22 wishlist thread explaining the atrocities and ideas for improvement.
I find that I have to lower the QB passing to mid 30s and WR catching to 38. I think I have my pass defense set at 85 or so. This is the closest that I've come to any semblance of good playing experience. I really hate to complain about this because EA has the tendency to go overboard... next year, defense will be unstoppable.
Once again, the obvious solution to this issue is have more reliance on player ratings and less reliance on sliders and patches. Sometimes EA's patch notes contradicts themselves. They say "simulation mode" is where players will play to their ratings, however their patch notes will say something like "updated zone coverage so that players react quicker." That shouldn't be necessary
Yes, that happens almost every. single. time. Goodness, I'm not sure how they screwed that one up so badly!? It makes it even more impossible to play defense.