Madden 07 Q&A

Several members of the VG Team recently had the opportunity to
head down to EA Tiburon to check out Madden 07 for a couple of
days.

When we got back, Big B & Ron hosted a Q&A on the forums. We've
included some of these questions and answers here.

Q: How was the 360? Was it better than 06? Most people were
disappointed with last year, will we be happy this year with the
360?

Big B: Very good game. Once they get the other things from
current to next gen....it will no doubt be the best game ever.
Right now the game is off the chain. It felt like the old days.
No audibles, formation shifting.....just str8 work.

Think of the passing like 05 without the rocket. If you have a
player that is 6'5" vs. a DB at 5'11" the taller player will get
up. I also feel that the manual defending is easier. This game is
about pounding the rock, and running routes.

Big B: The high pass is toned down. Now if you have a big WR he
will get up. The thing is that you can defend it better. Zone
seems to help when you were a manual defender.

You can play they area that the CPU isn't playing. Like the LB in
a hook zone will play underneath. You would have to play over top
with the safety for the easy pick. If they're big they will get
up. One thing is that you can't depend on the cpu to catch for
you as much as before. Yes, guys you need some stick to get
things done to a degree this year.

They do what they do they do best. If they're a smaller back they
will do a series of moves to get free. If they're big they try to
truck the defender. If you're between the tackles and you need to
get past with a smaller back, he will get skinny.

Q: What about screens?

Big B: The screen is off the chain. Just replace the truck stick
with the highlight stick. Nothing changed all that much. You will
be better off using the analog to generate jukes and moves. This
allows you to get the most out of your player. Like when you had
Bush you hit up for the truck stick (highlight) and he will do a
swimming like spin to break the hit stick. Then if another
defender is coming you tap right and he will do a quick juke and
be out.

Q: Do defenders still get "sucked" into blocks?

Big B: No, they don't as bad as before. Line play has a much
better feel to it. Not as scripted.

Q: How did user controlled player's feel in contrast to last
year? (i.e., are they still sluggish with their movement, or have
they been polished up?)

Big B: Better my man. I was able to move around better. The
movement isn't as tight as current gen, but much improved from
last year.

Q: What's your take on the degrading field conditions?

Big B: The field was off the chain. When I was in practice mode
you can see the path of the routes I ran because the grass broke
down because of me running the play over and over again. Wet
weather conditions were crazy as well.

Q: How is the All-Madden AI, will I continue to see Chris Samuels
put on his back by Osi Umenyiora or Carlos Emmons cover S. Moss
on a post.

Big B: It's decent. Samuels was doing his thing when I was
playing with them. You will see that the LB's in the game are
getting faster. There has been a move to speed TEs and LBs in the
NFL. You will be surprised at who upgraded their teams.

Q: If I come out in I form big and the defense comes out in
quarters will I finally be able to pound the rock like I should
be able too?

Big B: Yes you can. The MLB gets in sometimes, but you can
control your own blocking now. So you can fix the problems now.
Run the ball and if you see someone get through, grab your guys
and plug that hole. Please everyone who doesn't lab the run, get
ready to spend some serious time in practice mode. Many people
will be here to beat our forums up for some good run defense. If
you lived just by the run commit feature, you are pretty much
done this year. Practice!

To view more of the Q&A, be sure to visit the VG Sports forums at
http://www.maddentips.com/forums