I want to love this, I really do, and I do not necessarily resent spending the money if it leads for them to have the budget to further develop the game in newer incarnations. As it is right now though? ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is awful.
I cannot and do not really intend to comment on the engine and the logic of how the game runs because in reality I cannot get past my roster without throwing my hands up in utter despair at the level this game is pitched it.
So, why do I consider it so fundamentally bad ? It is the interplay between stats and positions, or simply, the lack thereof.
Every single player in the fame only has a few stats Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Arm, Accuracy, Tackling, Speeds, Hands, Endurance, Pass Blocking, Run Blocking, Kick Accuracy and Kick Distance... that is it... In this stat block it in some way defines what a good receiver is? A good CB? A good anything? Essentially stats and a "good" player is defined by how high these numbers are overall, not really weighted toward positional needs.
Then we get to positions, they are pathetically basic. You have the basic positions in any NFL roster but that is it. DO you have outside, slot, possession receivers? Nope. Do you have man, press, outside corners? Nope. Linebackers, you do not even have the definition between and ILB and an OLB. Pass rushers are they power, or speed, do they specialise in setting the edge, who knows? This goes on and on for every position.
So let's step back a second, you have a horrifically basic stat block and a very simplified position tree, what are you left with? Well I was left with the suggestion that, apparently, my best Nickel Corner was T.J Watt.....
The game really needs a redesign at the basic level of stats and positions, this is a very, very simplistic change though it will of course add a lot more complexity and subtlety to the game, right now it is just "trololol big numbers go brrrrr" and thats about it.
They need to do some basic research of a game like Football Manager, look how they set out their stats, physical, mental, skill and then work out which particular skills lean toward being a good positional player and viola, you have a much, much better game.
There are other basic issues such as a pretty horrifically designed and unintuitive UI, laggy as hell despite being a small game and (probably because of my earlier complaints on stats) a weird setup where OL seems to be the easiest position to play in football as every half decent or average (in real life) lineman is rated about 90+
Despite this I will actually continue to buy it, for the sake of £20 I wont miss that and hopefully the game will continue to develop with more money but right now, as damning as this may sound, you get more complexity in Madden Franchise mode.
