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In Madden 15, defense wins championships
It's commonly agreed that Richard Sherman is the best cornerback in the NFL. The Seattle Seahawks player was voted by fans as the star of Madden NFL 15 late last week, making him one of a few rare exceptions in a long line of offensive players like quarterbacks and running backs to grace the game's cover. He also may wind up being one of the most fitting cover stars. Madden is typically an offensive player's game. The football sim traditionally favors bold spins and jukes or strong-armed throws over the understated defensive player's actions, and Creative Director of Gameplay Rex Dickson knows that well. In a phone conversation with Joystiq, Dickson recalled choice quotes from fans on how playing defense in Madden was previously "boring," or that players would opt to simulate their snaps on that side of the ball.
Madden 25 features ball-carrier combos, engine improvements
Among the news of all-time great Barry Sanders gracing the cover of Madden NFL 25, EA Sports recently announced two of the series' marquee changes due this year: improvements to the Infinity Engine and a new running game feature called "Run Free."Run Free promises 30 new ball-carrier combo moves. Using the left trigger, ball-carriers will stutter step before slowing down, enabling combo moves through the use of the right stick on the controller. While past games allowed players to use the right stick to take a step in one direction, then rotate in the other direction to spin away from defenders, these were separate animations. Run Free's system combines these animations.Changes to the Infinity Engine – the physics engine that powers the series – include the same improvements such as the Force Impact system announced for NCAA Football 14. Madden will share avoidance animations with NCAA 14, with runners sticking their arms out to push off their blockers instead of taking awkwardly sensitive collision tackles. EA Tiburon has promised run blocking improvements, which has especially been needed since the introduction of the engine last year.
