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Here are my initial thoughts. Keep in mind, I’ve only been playing in the RTG mode thus far.
I was able to create my old HS team, and import the team into RTG mode very easily. I was a little nervous as to how much of a PITA this would be when I created the team, however it was very straight-forward.
I really enjoy the iron-man aspect of if it, and have separate recruiting results for each. Very nice. Still a little disappointed you can’t be a TE, or OL, but oh well. No big deal. I selected HB/SS as my positions. While playing Defense, I quickly realized that it’s very difficult to gain any recruiting points, short of an interception/TD/or other big play each game. I REALLY wish EA would incorporate a skills point system similar to NBA 2k11 where you earn points for doing the right things. For example, perhaps you could earn points for ‘staying at home’ if a play goes away from you; or filling a hole correctly; etc. (depending on position of course). I would really like playing as a DL at some point, however, I’m not sure how one would gain the necessary recruiting points under the current set up. I think DL and LB (and possible OL)positions would benefit the most from a 2k skills points system. Offense is just what you’d expect, in terms of earning recruiting points.
Blocking and tackling: holy crap. MUCH MUCH better. As a ball carrier, you can actually set up your blocks a bit, and blockers (For the most part) seem to be aware of their surroundings. 2011 and previous versions infuriated me to no end when being on the verge of breaking a run, and your WR or pulling lineman would go to a spot, and simply jog in place preparing to block……….while the defender just runs right past them.
Offensive line blocking seems much improved. There is the occasional completely missed assignment, but hey – that happens. You can actually see the blocking develop and run accordingly. So far it doesn’t appear that the linemen are on ice-skates; sliding around to form a pocket etc. Looks like they fixed that.
Tackling is excellent. The tackling animation doesn’t appear to begin until the defender makes contact with the ball carrier. This is great. No more garbage animation that sucks the defender and ball carrier together, in some sort of pre-determined script. The tackling animations themselves seem to also be improved. I’ve seen quite a variety of hits/animations. And it also seems like some of the hits are momentum based. So if the defender has the momentum and clips a shoulder, you react accordingly. As a ‘User’, tackling is taking me some getting used to. Maybe it’s because I haven’t played 2011 in so long or what, but it seems like you really need to get into a position to make contact otherwise you whiff. I like this aspect of it. There’s also tackling feature where you can hit ‘X’ if you’re too far away to wrap up, but too close to dive etc.
“3-D grass”. Yes, it’s in there. But you really only see it on replays etc. It looks great however. On replays you also see blades of grass and paint getting churned up into the air as you run.
Field Degradation – I think it’s in there; looked like my field was getting chewed up a bit.
Uniform Degradation – I think it’s in there…..I can’t recall/didn’t really notice.
My $.02 so far. I’ll probably get into Dynasty this weekend. I’m sure others have already jumped into Dynasty so I’m sure they’ll have some thoughts.
Overall, I really like this game. More than I did when 2011 came out.
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