The Madden NFL 16 take goes way beyond teaching controls

Dispatches from across the pond suggested the World Cup in Brazil was bringing a halcyon age for football in the United States. But as the previously soccer-shy Americans were embracing the heroics of Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey, the most popular sports in the States was plotting its own contribution to the global sporting exchange. The NFL, more than ever before, is becoming a worldwide brand, reaching out from its homeland to thrill fans, perplex the dubious and maybe convert those that stand somewhere in the middle. During the current NFL season, which began last Thursday with no little fanfare, three of the league's most important games will be played at Wembley. Match-ups that have sold out the 80,000-seater stadium at a pace that would make the beleaguered England soccer team blush.

Now, it's not just "press a trigger" and you'll automatically break through, as the opposing QB will more than likely have a defensive man trying to keep you off his back. As this battle proceeds, you'll see a queue to hit a button in order to break free from the grapple, usually something along the lines of "X" or "Square," depending on the version you play. Hit it just right, and you could slip loose, getting the opportunity to nail the QB before he hurls the ball away. Once the ball has been thrown or handed off, it's a whole other story. The moment you know that the enemy has thrown or handed off, your job, no matter what your position, is to run over the ball carrier. It doesn't matter if you're on the other side of the field, run as if you're being chased by a homicidal clown.

As soon as the quarterback makes a pass, hit B/circle, this will switch control to the defender nearest the intended receiver. If ‘Ball Hawk' is turned on, the game will automatically switch to the nearest defender for you. Once you've switched, press and hold Y/triangle at the peak of the flight of the ball in order to get an interception. An interception isn't guaranteed, but gives you the best chance of stealing the ball. Timing is key, being too early or late will take the defender out of the play and gives the receiver a free run at the end zone. If you'd rather get straight to the action as any of the NFL's 32 teams, you can play quick exhibition matches against the CPU, a local friend or anyone in the world via Xbox Live or PlayStation Network.

Playing online was a smooth experience in my testing, so I only had myself to blame when getting shut out by one player's vicious Ravens team. I played during a pre-release period with fewer than 700 players online, though, so Internet performance is subject to change once the larger Madden fan base enters the fold. For instance, the newly revised Skills Trainer is one of the first things newcomers see after they fire up the game. It's still the same collection of mini game-styled tutorials that it's always been, but the Madden NFL 16 take goes way beyond teaching controls. In addition to basic offense and defense categories, you also get deep dives into specific football concepts and play strategies, as well as a Gauntlet mode that mixes up a play list of drills into a scored, multi-round challenge.

A note on accuracy-the audio presentation still drives me crazy at times. The real leap forward for sports games will be when they can somehow figure out how to reproduce announcers who don't just say something based on the total number but the situation. For example, when I have a game where Eddie Lacy breaks off an 87-yard run (which was awesome) and then I get stuffed on EVERY other attempt for a total of 89 yards, I don't want to hear Phil Simms say in the 4th that I've been “running all over the defense because it just sees the grand total. Why is that so hard? And why does Phil never seem to notice how much time is left in the half or game? He'll comment on how we need to “move down the field when it's clearly clock-chewing time.

My point is this: How convinced are we that the people at EA Sports even like football? They've been comfortable shoving out this sort of blithering average for years now. They like money, sure, but where's the passion? Where's the accountability? The teams that craft the NHL, NBA and MLB franchises all clearly bleed for those sports. Can we say anything close to that for the people behind Madden? Shouldn't that make you angry? Let Madden 16 be the moment where we finally realize that we deserve something more.