Why I'm tired of Madden, EA, and the laziness...

Where to begin, where to begin? I know what you're thinking "but Steven, why are you even mad?" or "but Steven, how can you be mad?" You know why? Because let's take it back just a year ago. Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1 have been out for a couple of weeks. Both were fantastic. Sadly, Battlefield 1 was far more successful, recently going on a sales call saying over 22 million people have been on Battlefield 1 since release. Titanfall 2, a fantastic game that "underperformed" EA's expectations, but overall, blew myself, as well as so many others, away. IF you still haven't picked it up after over a year, do yourself a favor, go get it. You could probably find a used copy for $20 and you would only be doing yourself a favor. Great campaign that was on par with DOOM's reemergence into the FPS sphere, and a fun, fast, and frantic Multiplayer you'll just want to keep playing one more match of. Why am I bringing up these two games? Well both where mainly left alone by EA. BF1 had a season pass, and MT, but the MT were basically non existent, literally only selling weapon skins, and the season pass basically being erased by DICE in August by reselling the game WITH the pass for 60 bucks. Titanfall 2? No paid DLC, and MT, but only several months AFTER the game released, and it's not loot boxes. You see a skin you want for a gun you love? Buy it for $2. It's FAR better than what Activision and EA and their bullshit loot boxes. Not much better, but a huge step in the right direction with the feeling that both games felt so much more...complete than stuff recently released. With heart and soul behind both.

So now we fast forward a year later, right? I had hope, alright? Madden 18 was coming out, spouting on about how it was using Frostbite! Single player campaign just like Fifa? A group that funnels $800 million to EA every. Fucking. Year. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, FUCKING FROSTBITE. The engine that powers the beautiful, if not disappointing Mass Effect: Andromeda. The amazing Battlefield 1! The gorgeous, if not fully empty Star Wars Battlefront, and hopefully much better Battlefront 2. So yes, I expected better, okay? But what I got, no, what WE got, was the usual AI Shitfest, lackluster boost in graphics, still riddled with bugs dating back to Madden '15. You're reading all that right! Same bugs dating back 3+ years! Some characters STILL don't accumulate stats after so long in the Franchise mode. I know, because I've had a kicker who hasn't kicked ONE field goal the entire time he's been on my team for 4+ years. Not one. The issue here? Well than those characters don't get any better, they stay at 70 overall, which makes the game that much harder. Balls that will magically teleport out of your receivers hands, and right into the other teams, I'm not joking. Characters that just "can't" be tackled. It's, just amazing. The AI? Still won't block for me. They just jog around the field totally fucking lost while I run for my life as either my QB or my RB. 98 Overall or not, my line doesn't stand a chance against the worst lines in the NFL. AI that jumps for a ball that if they just stayed on the ground and ran underneath it, would have caught it all the same. Than there is that stick figure sideline that makes all the same motions and animations that are a painful sight to see. Which leads us into the graphics. Where I was expecting to get Maddenfield 1, instead got Madden 15.3 and it pisses me off. Players will catch on that same stick figure sideline I was talking about, but they look fucking terrible. No detail is issued to anyone that isn't on the field of play. The numbers are there, but the names and faces aren't. Some players look almost exactly like they do in real life, but a lot of them don't. "New" computer generated players and even made coaches, have the same face presets they have had now for years. NO VARIATION STILL. Really? I guess what irks me is that for every MUT mode that is well detailed, well orchestrated, or well supported, we get a more and more hollow Franchise mode that gets ignored, because it doesn't make "extra" money for EA. Fuck, Fifa '15, a game I bought several years back for $20, would let you go as a player, retire, become a coach, and maybe one day become an owner. Where the HELL is that in Madden? Sure the story mode is really good. It gives me that hint of passion that is still there at the team, so maybe most of my grievances are with EA, but they didn't put the damn game together, just simply funded it. I'm excited to see if they touch on real issues in football. Things like injury, free agency, and eventually what it's like to figure if it's time to retire. There are lots of topics that could be touched, and I hope the company has a bit of freedom to explore these themes. Recently there is passion in giving blind support the game recently enacted. But where is the passion for 75% of the rest of the game? The mechanics? The lack of bugs? Making the game look even better and more life like? I actually do hate using the "L" word, because one day I always thought maybe I'd be a developer myself. Something I'd like to do, but maybe will never get to do. I get crunch time, lack of budget and time, so on and so forth. But than I'm reminded of Fifa franchise, and that even though it's MUT mode is becoming a black hole for people's money, the game does try more innovation each and every year, and they pump out games just as much as Madden. I feel bad about calling out a studio, or a publisher, in fear that it could burn bridges later on with future endeavors, but at the same time, I wouldn't sleep at night if I didn't bring up what's wrong with your franchise, and why it NEEDS HELP SOMEHOW. It needs a serious boost. But for now, as unhappy as it makes me, I'm probably done buying Madden games brand new until either a massive change is truly made, but as of right now, I don't see that happening til people start standing up to this crap. Don't get me wrong. I love Madden. I've grown up with it for pushing 12 years! But enough is enough.