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.

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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.

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