GODDAMN IT

[Guest MrRant]

Why is it that when you are DOMINATING a season in say Madden at some point during the season when you are playing one of the lackey teams in the league the game seems hell bent on giving that team an upset?

 

I was playing as the Seahawks (12-2) against the Cardinals (4 - 10) and I had already destroyed them earlier in the season. We were playing in Arizona in perfect weather and I looked forward to padding my stats. The game thought different.

 

Almost every play I was stopped. Sweeps? Nailed at the line. Up the middle? Maybe 2-3 yards IF I was lucky. Passing? If it was a play action and I managed to get away from 2 LB's and 2 DT's coming to shorten my QB's life the I was cruising at about 4 yards per (of course the fun part of this is that I was 25 for 60 ).

 

Defense? Superb... EXCEPT for the fact that everytime I stuffed them to say a 3rd and 7 and call the correct play to compensate for whatever they may be calling on the 3rd down what happens? Miracle plays. Jumping catches in the middle of 4 guys? You betcha. CB's slipping on dry grass? You better fucking believe it.

 

I won by a field goal with the score 12-9. I managed to hold them to 3 field goals while I scored 1 TD (with a failed 2 pt conversion) and 2 FGs. AND I was coming from behind practically the whole time. This just should not be.

[Guest Special K]

I remember the original hardball was cheap. If the computer was winning, they's stay just comfortably ahead. If you got ahead, they'd wait like an inning, then just go to town on your sorry ass, until they had that 2 point lead and stopped.

[Guest crandamaniac]

Any kind of old racing game. You'd go into a turn, a freakin 90 degree turn, and have to hit the brakes to keep from wrecking. The other guys? Oh they'd breeze thru at around 200 mph.

[Guest Mad Dog]

I have the same problem with Madden. Except that it usually calls penalties on every single play. Stop the computer to make it 4th and 1 oh no a 5yd facemask. Nice 20 yd. run nope holding. Run a punt or kickoff back always ends with a holding.

[Guest El Satanico]

Every now and then I will get beaten by the computer even though i totally dominated them in the stats. And it's their offense that beats me not scoring by their defense. However while i can't stop them from scoring they stop me everytime.

 

When I play a certain friend of mine on Madden he always gets a ton a holding and other penalties while i get only a few. I don't get it, but the game somehow seems to dislike him and screws him.

[Guest Bob Van Darn]

This happens in every sports game. The difference is, Madden does it the right way. Some real NFL games the defense does stop your running game, even though they have a shitty record.

 

I've never had it in Madden where I'm up by a bunch, and they'll keep scoring no matter what I do. When that happens, it's cheese. See: NHL series.

[Guest redbaron51]

Madden: A holding call everytime i get pas five yards from the line of scrimage.

 

2K Series: The defence will stop you at every play, after the first half, and will usually catch up and win the game.

[Guest Will Scarlet]

I hate it as well. I remember my Madden 2003 team gained a liking for intercepting the ball in the end zone, so they would let the opponent get real close to the end zone, then pull off an INT at the last minute. It topped off with one game against Carolina, where, despite every chance for a blow out, my team kept it close, just so in the waning seconds, they could get an INT in the end zone, as my heart nearly stopped when I thought my opponent caught the ball.

 

I moved teams the next year, and my new team was ALL OVER my opponents. The defensive line was getting sack after sack after sack. They were always after the QB, which shocked me since I was used to my old team. It even included one of my favourite and most bizarre Madden games I have ever played, where my opponent's kick returner could not hold onto the ball and fumbled it like 4 times in the game. I especially loved the last time he fumbled, as I did not even realize it, then I put my head up, and I see a fat ass defensive tackle stumbling towards the end zone.

 

I would not mind it all that much if the game made it more a part of the game, and less of an implied part of the game. Like I can understand if I am playing a game, and my team, who is highly successful has a hard time getting pumped about facing some jobber. Hell, I do not get all too excited about it either. I just wish they would somehow make it a more active part of the game if they MUST put it in there anyway.

[Guest Grenouille]

NCAA 2003 - In the last 2 minutes of play your opponent's offense turns into the '86 Broncos and make a huge drive and will almost always score, whether the score be 34-29 or 78-0.

[Guest MrRant]

My main issue is not just their defense being good but my defense all of a sudden falls apart at key plays while the other team is having plays that shouldn't go down. A 65 rated reciever should not be making a jumping over the shoulder catches against a 92 CB and a 94 SS. Not to mention the fact that both are FASTER then him and yet he somehow gets a speed boost and outruns my CB.

[Guest redbaron51]

not much of the offence does anybody, i rarely blitz, but usually a 95 running back would fumble the ball quite frequently.

[Guest Phr33k]

NHL 2003: The presence of Sandy Moger.

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

NFL Blitz for the N64 was like this. I'd get a 35 point lead or so, then they'd come charging back and it'd be a slugfest for the last quarter.

[Guest DrTom]

Hardball 4 was the worst.

 

A lot of people say the computer "cheats," but a friend and I were convinced that this game really did. So I did a little test when the right situation came up. I was winning 4-1 heading into the ninth. The CPU had done very little on offense, and my closer was coming into the game.

 

The bases quickly became loaded. So I saved the game at this point. My closer had three pitches, deliverable to nine possible locations. So I threw a fastball high and tight. Grand slam. Ok, reload the saved game. This time, a curveball low and away. Grand slam. Reload. A slider hard on the hands. Grand slam.

 

I threw seven more different pitches (ten in all), and all ten went over the fence for the game-winning grand slam. That, friends, is BULLSHIT, and is a prime example of a game cheating. I've never seen anything so obvious and ridiculous since, even from the now-defunct Hardball series.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

"My main issue is not just their defense being good but my defense all of a sudden falls apart at key plays while the other team is having plays that shouldn't go down. A 65 rated reciever should not be making a jumping over the shoulder catches against a 92 CB and a 94 SS. Not to mention the fact that both are FASTER then him and yet he somehow gets a speed boost and outruns my CB."

 

I feel you. I recently started a new franchise mode on All-Madden, and I can't stand the other team's passing attack. I've got a secondary of Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins, Antione Winfield and Adam Archuletta and the computer still racks up a lot of passing yards on me. (I went for defense in the fantasy draft). However, I do manage to get a handful of interceptions, so it all evens out.

 

Do you adjust the sliders? I do, and it makes the game more enjoyable. One thing that used to irk me was the fact every team's offensive line was unstoppable in pass protection while mine always crumbled, even though in previous teams I had Alan Fanaca and Tra Thomas.

 

Of course, one way to stop the miracle catches is to take the other team's QB out. Last night I injured McNabb for the game, then proceeded to break Flutie's ribs. The thrid-string QB only made 3/4 cheese throws against me for the rest of the game...