EA Sports Madden 15 Gameplay Improvements - What It All Means

Discussion in 'Madden NFL Football' started by Drifterbub, Jun 9, 2025.

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    by Drifterbub, Jun 9, 2025 at 4:04 PM
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    Now that we are officially underway at E3 and are receiving first looks at tons of new games, including Madden 15, EA has given us the green light to talk about Gameplay in EA Sports Madden 15. Instead of giving you guys an overall write-up article, I'm going to do what I have done for the past few years and explain what these features mean to us as avid, hardcore sports gamers. If you want to read more about what EA revealed during E3, I'll link you to those articles here as they pop up on the web.

    Disclaimer: I can only talk about gameplay and presentation improvements at this time. This article will cover gameplay so tune in later for details on other areas of the game, including presentation. Also, I ask that you refrain from asking questions that do not pertain to gameplay and presentation.

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    I should acknowledge a few things before we get into the gritty that should give you more of my perspective on the new information and Madden 15 in general.
    • I could not stand Madden 25. The run-free mechanic and locomotion issues were not a fun experience for me when I picked up the sticks. Passing and defense seemed gimmicky. I had way more fun playing NCAA 14, truthfully.
    • This is my first year as a EA Sports Gamechanger on the Madden series. So my perspective is pretty fresh.
    • I will explain the controls as layed out on the Xbox One. Translate them to PS4 if you wish. It's all the same.

    Gameplay Improvements

    New Tackling Mechanic
    What you will read about it: The introduction of a conservative tackle feature allows users options when defending in the open field. Pulling LT brings up a tackle cone visual that allows you to approximate where you need to position yourself in order to make a tackle by pressing A. Aggressive tackle (formerly known as hit stick) is moved to the X button. Strip tackling receives an overhaul with lots of new animations.
    What it all means: More control over your defender in space - This solves huge spacial problems in football games that have historically existed. Pulling the LT puts your defender into a hip-flush ready stance (similar to a shortstop getting ready for the pitch) which slows down your momentum. I found this feature useful in the running game when I wanted to come down into a hole and fill it with a LB as opposed to last year where you can wait off the LOS (moving laterally) or dive bomb in the hole and hope you collide with the ball carrier. I also found it useful in open space in screen plays and flats when I wanted to make sure the ball carrier wasn't going to go around me. The new strip tackle features basically adds some visual freshness to tackling by increasing the animation pool. I saw some new rips and a couple different punches that were pretty cool.

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    Pass Rush Moves, Disengaging Off Blocks, Block Steering
    What you will read about it:
    The new pass rush mechanic moves away from right stick and to the X and A buttons (finesse and power moves respectively). Timing the snap moves to the RT ("turbo") button and also provides visual on-screen feedback if you were successful. Pass rush moves provide UI feedback for both successful and failed attempts to get around the blocker. Disengaging off blocks is a new mechanic and can be accomplished by pressing up on the sticks (away from the block). Block steering is also a new mechanic that allows you to engage with a blocker and steer him laterally.
    What it all means: Pass Rushing is fun... again - These new features with the additional feedback ultimately leave you with more control over your player. The visual and tactile feedback let you see and feel when you don't time your inputs correctly and allow you to get better. In order to be successful, you must pay attention to what kind of pass rusher you are using. Utilizing finesse moves on a power rusher will likely leave you out of the play... or on the ground. Disengaging is a huge improvement for people who user control defensive lineman as it allows you to quickly get off blocks and into your pursuit angle for chasing down running backs and quarterbacks who have escaped the pocket. Block steering isn't entirely useful, but combined with disengagement could potentially put you in better position to make plays. Honestly, it's just nice to see this as a possibility given the historical 'block in place' we are used to seeing. It does add for a nice overall visual while on offense as the pocket can take essentially unlimited forms.

    Coverage Improvements - Man and Zone
    What you will read about it:
    Improved coverage through better back-7 logic. Defensive backs actually do what they are supposed to. Player Sense Awareness really tightens everything up with improved interactions and coverage concepts. Combined with new pre-play adjustments (more on that later), the importance of defensive strategy is elevated significantly.
    What it all means: Coverage concepts shut down what they are supposed to - This is part of a new initiative to teach people the game by meshing offensive and defensive concepts with appropriate wins/losses. I saw several instances where defenders would come over the top or from behind to swat down bullet passes to a hook route, which in previous versions of every football game was impossible to accomplish.

    Pre-play Adjustments - Offense and Defense
    What you will read about it:
    New implementation for common adjustments such as Max Protection, QB Contain, Defensive Assignments, Protect the Sticks, Shade Coverage (inside, outside, under, over), etc. Authentic Audible remaps leave coordinators with audible selections that make sense for the personnel on the field.
    What it all means: Get ready to kick the crutch out from under your opponent - Shade coverage is absolutely huge. Tired of giving up deep outs? Shade outside and wreak havoc. Tired of giving up quick slants? Shade inside. Using these adjustments to take away your opponents 'bread and butter' will be a huge strategic addition to playing defense. However, it's not without having consequences. If you shade inside to take away a slant and Wes Welker runs an arrow route, get ready to chase him down because he is going to receive tons of separate out of the route.

    War in the Trenches 2.0
    What you will read about it:
    New offensive blocking schemes and AI that further represents blocking in the NFL. Introduction of kick-out blocks on pulling linemen can devastate defenders and open up huge running lanes. Pull blocking in general is overhauled to allow for more realistic defender targeting and appropriate type of block.
    What it all means: Overall general polish from last year's blocking - Blocking wasn't too bad last year and Clint Oldenburg continues to build on the blocking AI utilizing his vast NFL knowledge and experience. From my hands-on experience, running up the middle was tough, but rewarding. The defensive disengagement feature should cut down on the outside run effectiveness we experienced in Madden 25 despite incorrect/bad blocking.

    Passing Concepts (w/ Real AI)
    What you will read about it:
    The game introduces several passing concepts and those familiar with NFL offenses should be plenty familiar with. For those who are not, the game makes a point to help teach you these concepts through tutorials/drills and further emphasizes the effectiveness against certain coverage concepts.
    What it all means: Emphasis on playcall - Former Florida Gators QB Larry Richart spent time in the lab with Real AI teaching the CPU AI on how to read defensive coverages and execute concepts (reads, etc). This means two things - 1) Advantages can be had by making the appropriate playcall. 2) There is still a huge emphasis on making the correct reads/adjustments instead of just concept match-ups between the offense and defense.

    Passing Inaccuracies / Effort Catches
    What you will read about it:
    New passing inaccuracies (bad throws) really opens up the passing game both visually and from a gameplay perspective. Effort catches brings in a new element of attempted catches for both WRs and DBs that ultimately lends itself to a virtually unlimited amount of WR/DB interactions (yes, even in the air).
    What it all means: Elite QBs are differentiated from the pond scum - The passing inaccuracies are obviously tied to ratings, but are also influenced by the QBs momentum in the pocket. Inaccurate throws are essentially defined as throws that can either be hard to catch (spectacular catch), just out of the WR/DBs reach (attempted catches) or simply impossible to catch (overthrows, etc). Peyton Manning rarely makes inaccurate throws, but losing him to injury and having to utilize Brock Osweiller is now a big deal and should bring about a strategic hurdle in your gameplan. Effort/Attempted catches are simply a bridge between the lack of animations for passes that are not within the catch radius. In Madden 25 (and previous Maddens before that), we often would see a ball sail over a WRs head only to have him stop and stare at the ball. In Madden 15, WRs and DBs will make efforts to catch balls that are close. This parlays into some interesting animations for jump balls and diving catches where the DB will simultaneously make a play on the ball even if the play results in a catch from the WR. Compounded with additional adjustments to the catch windows and DB swat, the passing game is definitely more polished than it has ever been and a far cry from last year's frustrating stencil and stamp results.

    [​IMG]

    Kicking Game Improvements
    What you will read about it:
    New meter is a big improvement over previous Madden kick meters. Wind direction is fixed and trajectories received some attention. Trajectories are mapped out for lower difficulty levels that give the user visual feedback of where they are aiming for punts, kickoffs and field goals.
    What it all means: Wind direction is fixed - The new UI for the kick meter is a welcome change. Wind direction is fixed. Not entirely sure how difficult the kicking game will be as they were still tuning it a lot during the last community event. Wind direction is fixed.

    New Playcall UI
    What you will read about it:
    Madden 15 has taken a big shift on the playcall concept by giving users several different ways to find the play they want. Traditional options like by play type or by formation are still in place, but new methods such as by play concept and favorites help users navigate to the appropriate call
    What it all means: New UI... - In my opinion I don't think this feature will change the way most of you call plays unless you are unfamiliar with passing concepts. I could be wrong.

    New Hot Route
    What you will read about it:
    New system gives more options to the user. Hot routes now take a realistic time to implement at the line.
    What it all means: No more spamming adjustments - gone are the days of breaking the huddle, punching in 23 hot routes and adjustments and then snapping the ball in 7 seconds. Hot routes are now delayed such that it gives the defense ample time to adjust. It takes some getting use to, but ultimately it's their to create a realistic timetable to setup the offense, which was needed.

    Skill Trainer / Gauntlet
    What you will read about it: New Skills Trainer designed to help in teaching people the game. Tons of UI feedback while conducting tutorials and drills will have you up and running in no-time. Step into the Gauntlet to play random Skill Trainer drills that increase in difficulty as you complete them. Every 5 levels produce a 'boss' level that requires additional skill to complete.
    What it all means: People will be using the Gauntlet to prove their manhood - In all seriousness, The Gauntlet is one of the more fun game modes I have played in Madden. At the last community event we had a leaderboard going within the group on who could reach certain levels. The 'boss' levels will break you.

    Other Notable Gameplay Improvements:
    Chew Clock
    - The NCAA chew clock makes it's way to Madden. No more sitting at the end of blowouts for several minutes while your opponent or you run the clock down to the buzzer. Huge improvement and long overdue!
    Camera Toggles - Cameras can now be toggled pre-snap. You have your choice of four varying in heights from the zoom camera to coordinator cam. The zoom camera really gets into the details and shows you how beautiful the game is at close range. While other cameras give the user various options for field of vision depending on what they want to see that play.
    HB Draws - The ineffectiveness of HB draws was a huge talking point at the last community event. We received several comments from the dev team in that they were working on solutions to fix HB Draws (mostly from a blocking standpoint), but it was not implemented in the builds we played. So stay tuned.

    Follow me on twitter! http://www.twitter.com/Drifterbub
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 9, 2025
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Comments

Discussion in 'Madden NFL Football' started by Drifterbub, Jun 9, 2025.

  1. Drifterbub
    No problem. Let me know if you have any more questions.
  2. BRUCE80
    Fumbling was a bit of an issue in 25 so with the new tackle strip options did you see an increase in the ball coming out or the other extreme getting a facemask penalty for trying? Or maybe missing the tackle because of trying to strip the ball?

    Love the fact that you cant spam the hot routes anymore str8 out of the huddle, so when you do hot route I am guessing its at the LOS after the O is lined up? When you say hot routes let the D adjust how does that work?

    With the new shade feature for CBs, I am sure the O can see which way they are shading and adjust for it correct? Is there a way to bait the O on shading? Is it a quick button push adjustment that the player will align quickly or does it take some time? The reason I ask is if the O quick snaps which happens at times and your adjusting DBs will they just get torched easier?
    Baron likes this.
  3. roadman
    Thanks, I found this on Twitter with Clint Oldenburg:

    does the locomotion you implemented in the last cycle to the ball carrier now effect all 22 players on the field? Thanks!

    Clint's answer: not at the level you've been discussing with me for quite sometime. Sorry to disappoint you on that
  4. Drifterbub
    I think he is probably talking about OL/DL interaction, reach tackles and gang tackles.
  5. roadman
    Thank you, it get's confusing with an overload of information out there in different places.
    Drifterbub likes this.
  6. Drifterbub
    Yeah, and I'm not saying the information I have is gospel. Just going from my notes.
  7. antcap24
    Drifterbub
    Awesome article! Thanks for the information.

    I have a few questions regarding gameplay...

    Did they fix it where the FG team has to run out onto the field to kick a fg when you are out of time outs or can you still call a play with :06 left and your team is in FG position ready to kick?

    Did they fix the challenge button to not be the Left trigger or any other button you may use before the snap resulting in an unwanted challenge of a play?

    With the new ability to shade defenders, how overpowering do you see man press coverage being? Are we going to see 80+ percentage of man defense called?

    Did they fix the pursuit angles for kickoff team to not get sucked into the middle resulting in players bouncing it straight to the sideline once they get close to the wedge?

    Can you shade a WR with two different defenders? Perhaps outside shade with CB and inside shade with LB on a bunch formation?

    Did they leave run commit the same, where all the players sell out, or is it a little bit toned down?

    Do PA pass plays still have a perceived super boost in blocking?

    Do you see more tipped ball INTs where perhaps a LB or lineman get a hand on the ball and a safety comes up to grab the deflected pass?

    Did they fix the 3rd QB depth chart glitch where a QB cant get hurt if you only have 2 Qbs on your roster in CFM?

    OK, that's enough curiosity for now...

    Thanks for any questions you are able to answer.
    Baron and Danthraxxx like this.
  8. tweety21
    is auto pass working for online now and casn the man lock camera be used for offense too...say i want to play WR all game
  9. OhMrHanky
    Did u say, 'ineffectiveness of draw plays'? R u talking about hum vs hum? I want to see draw plays shut down. They often felt unstoppable vs the CPU. And in real life, they're only effective occasionally. I would like to see draw plays toned down. Lol.
  10. BobJr
    I have one off the top of my head, and will get to the others shortly. I know they fixed the QB Glitch.
    ThaBayouChef and Danthraxxx like this.
  11. BobJr
    Man lock cannot be used on offense.

    Not sure what you mean by auto pass
  12. BobJr
    I found out through HK that Fumbling was tied into the Tackling rating. That was on some own trial and error. I never got a confirmation on that, just thought it was interesting.
    BRUCE80 likes this.
  13. Kidofcrash23
    same here, draw plays are very effective, especially in shotgun form, at least in my experience in the league i played. Always saw complaints about draws.
  14. Drifterbub
    Draw plays are ineffective in scenarios where they should be the only play called and it results in people playing like assholes.

    The most called defensive play, by a long shot, in Madden 25 was 2-man under. This is because the trail coverage technically doesn't allow for a beat-press animation on the outside CBs. Because of this, all you need is speed on the outside. To stop the middle passes, people will drop their DL back into coverage to shut it down. Now you are left with two options: 1) Scramble with the QB and hope you get outside for a few yards. 2) Run a draw.

    The problem with the draw option is that even though the DL are dropping back, they still defend the run. During the community events we talked with several devs about possible solutions to this problem, including having the DL get pancaked if they are dropping back and a draw is called. This would essentially fix the 2-man under debauchery and allow an appropriate counter.

    This is honestly the first time I have ever heard anyone say that the HB draw is too effective. They toned it down major from Madden 13, where it was too powerful.
    Danthraxxx likes this.
  15. Danthraxxx
    Hey Drifterbub was there anything mentioned about pistol formations being less OP this year ? It seemed like a lot of the pistol runs would allow the O-Line to explode off the ball and push the defense back 90% of the time , allowing almost certain yardage. Even in pass protection the pistol seemed to dominate the line interactions.


    Also wondering if formation subs are back (doubt it) , nothing I hate more than seeing an important player in on kick coverage while some scrub rookie is safely on the bench.
    antcap24 likes this.
  16. Danthraxxx

    Ain't that the truth
    image.jpg
  17. Drifterbub
    I know there was a brief discussion about the effectiveness of overload blocking on some pistol plays. It was half shitty pursuit/disengagement from the defense (on almost all outside runs) and part the OL just getting too many men out in front.
    Danthraxxx likes this.
  18. Drifterbub
    There are some additional things you can take from Shop's video below at E3. Stuff I can't necessarily talk about right now.

    Baron likes this.
  19. OhMrHanky
    Lol. Yeah, I think that is more of a hum v hum problem, which is fine, and all aspects of the game need to fixed appropriately. I actually started a thread on another forum titled something like, "how in the bloody hell do I stop shotgun draws from the CPU??!!" Because, vs the CPU, their blocking is always fantastic. They instantly push dline around AND get upfield to take on LBs and/or safeties. And, even with 2 man under d which I think should stop a draw (or, at least corrall it for less than 10 yds) particularly If I know a draw is coming, pinch my line, and instantly try to pursue the RB. The trouble defending it comes from what my safeties are doing in 2 man under. They simply drop back down field no matter what the situation is. I've tried cover-3, inside blitz, sugar blitz vs the CPU and it all plays out the same. They block EVERYBODY at the line, the RB easily gets to the 2nd level, and because my safeties are normally playing zone on 3rd and long, they have dropped back 5-10 yards right from the start of the play and find it hard to get back in the play. For me, I believe what madden is saying this year with smarter DB interactions, I think this will help me out some. The dline interactions should help as well. Hopefully, the d changes will help things play out more realistically, in general. If that happens, we could all be happy. My CPU draws would be less effective, and your 2 man under draws could be more effective. Hopefully, we'll both be happy. Lol. I like what I'm hearing so far from Rex, though. I've been a madden doubter ever since NFL gameday spanked em out of even coming out with a game in 97 cause they knew how bad their product was. But, it sounds like they're actually taking care of some legacy issues this year, and that's necessary before they can truly progress. Very happy with the switch to real time physics engine and actually liked madden 13 a little better, actually. I tried a mostly zero slider set with 13, and the game played fantastic. With 25, I've tweaked the hell out of the sliders and finally have a somewhat real experience going on. Less sacks, less swats, etc. it took A LOT of tweaking, though. I'm hoping for much less tweaking this year.
  20. Drifterbub
    Okay, I understand what you are saying now.

    Yeah, the problem with CPU draws is that the HB doesn't seem to be "stuck in the mud" like it is for human players. I'm not sure if it was locomotion or true step that was causing the issue.

    I didn't have the CPU run a lot of draws against me in our testing, so I don't think I have a good feel for how they play in order to say if they are better or not.
  21. OhMrHanky
    Whoops, just want to clarify at the end of that comment. Less sacks and less INTs with MORE swats. We all know there are NOT enough swats in madden 25. Lol
  22. Danthraxxx
    Speaking of , did they address CPU play calling logic ? Most of our leagues are 32 man leagues but if you do have the pleasure of playing the CPU they will draw and screen you to death, and a screen on 3rd & long once isn't horrible , by after the 4th one of the game it's just annoying.

    I'm not sure if it's horrible AI play calling that makes offline franchise too painful to play or that TSO has ruined me playing the CPU lol. I def noticed that I hate CPU with last NCAA that came out.

    Damn you TSO , ruining my offline experience :)
  23. OhMrHanky
    Lol. Once again, I'm not sure how sliders affected this, but after tweaking and tweaking, somewhere, I lost this problem, GLADLY. I still remember playing out of the box, however, and the Saints, in particular, play selection. 1. Screen 2. Draw. 3. Screen 4. Draw, etc, etc. hopefully, once again, this has been fixed for out of the box play.
  24. Drifterbub
    They fixed swat issues for sure. Passing is tough this year, which makes the CPU tough.

    Shop said the same thing with the E3 build he's playing.
  25. Drifterbub
    The play calling from the CPU on offense was actually pretty good when I played. But it's been good before at community events and then some final tweaks to logic before ship have made it do weird things out of the box.
    Danthraxxx likes this.

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