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One Step Forward – Madden 17’s Franchise Mode Takes Two Steps Back

It has been a rough ride being an NFL fan and having one option for video game representation.

Madden NFL has had a bit of a roller coaster existence since becoming the monopoly that it is. Franchise Mode has been the primary victim when it comes to changes to the game. It has also been the elephant in the room when fans are asked for feedback from EA Tiburon. It seems that the Franchise Mode/CFM/CCM team has finally realized (for Madden 17 at least) that customized rosters and real world features are key to people enjoying Franchise Mode. There are a couple changes new to Madden in general but the real changes seem to be the things that have been featured before or needed since the monopoly took effect.

Coaches Are The Least Important Aspect of Madden Franchise Mode - This isn't a big decision... it's a non-decision. — Coaches Are The Least Important Aspect of Madden Franchise Mode – This isn’t a big decision… it’s a non-decision.

First, the things that truly matter the most when it comes to Franchise Mode improvements.

Full Player Editing – This isn’t new as they might want people to believe. It existed in Madden 12 and provided much needed customization for rosters. The fact that this is available to online leagues is also a nice touch. To add that any changes will be shown in the Transactions is a nice and necessary perk for league members as well. The biggest curiosity for me is whether or not we will be able to edit Draft Classes before the draft or if we will have to draft players that are once again less than stellar prospects and edit them all to resemble legitimate rookies.
Practice Squads are finally entering the Franchise Mode universe. It was always puzzling to me that EA would make claims about not having the resources to put certain small aspects into the game. This was one of the many that was apparently a matter of time. Now we can have players on a practice squad as long as they have played fewer than two full seasons in our respective Franchise Modes. It will be nice to know that I can take a flier on that 7th Round WR that can run like the wind but catch like Simple Jack.
Dynamic Development is one of the aspects that I am skeptical of when it comes to Madden. They have tried and failed to implement all sorts of development and player growth from season to season. Now they are putting the trait of Development into the front of how players grow in ratings. The broken season awards system is going to play a strong role in how players are moved up and down in development traits as well. It really makes no sense for players to be pre-rated in this way as Slow, Normal, Quick, and Superstar. Make every player start each season with the same baseline and allow the season to determine how each player progresses. Sure, Tom Brady is and has been a Superstar, but he isn’t too far from being done. Then we have players like Robert Griffin III that have played up to par in their rookie year and then either fall apart or get injured. Maybe he comes back and becomes a superstar after this season. His slow development rating might say otherwise.

The other changes like ‘Big Moments’ and the ‘score ticker’ make me scratch my head. I love the idea of a score ticker and believe it has been needed for years. This doesn’t change the fact that Franchise Mode has yet to make it feel like anything more than a single team focus that misses out on an entire story outside of your own franchise.

Big Moments are rather insulting as it looks like they want to make the user think that every moment is a big moment. ‘First Drive of the Game’ is probably the least impressive in-game ‘Big Moment’ I have read about. The non-game Big Moments are laughable. Injuries, Free Agents and Coach Re-Signings aren’t big moments. Signing a coach is the least important aspect of Madden and they call it a Big Moment. Give me a break.

Madden does seem to be making strides this year. I am actually excited about it this season.

As jaded as I am and seem to always be about Madden, I am truly excited to play it this year. I just wish 2K would shock the world and release a new football title.

Call of Duty and the Disposable Consumer

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Maybe we should start with the obvious.

Activision doesn’t care about you… neither does Electronic Arts or Ubi Soft. You can go down the list of developers and gaming corporations that genuinely don’t care about you as a customer. Heck… any corporation for that matter.

With that said, the latest announcement of Call of Duty Infinite Warfare being officially released again in November has brought a new reaction from many that once worshipped the series (present party included). Now it seems that quite a few former COD apologists and fanboys have started to go in a new direction… reverse.

Most FPS gamers within a couple years of my age (let’s call it early to mid-30’s) remember when the debate was Halo vs. Call of Duty and coming in a distant 3rd was Battlefield. I recall my wife buying Call of Duty 2 for me as a Christmas gift back in 2006-ish. We were pretty close to poor at the time and the fact that she got me that game meant a lot. The graphics blew me away, mostly seeing the heat from the desert in the first mission. I had the first COD on PC and my machine could barely play it, but I found a way. Now that the 360 could play all these games at great resolution I was hooked. I both lacked the money for COD 3 and after renting it briefly lacked the desire to play it at all… it felt different enough from COD 2 that it left a sour taste in my mouth for Treyarch titles after that.

COD4: Modern Warfare blew my effing mind. We still didn’t have the income for me to justify buying it… so, I had to hope to get it for Christmas. It was almost a double blessing as my 360 died within a couple days of release from the RROD. So I started my MW gaming around Christmas and was hooked. It was tactical and fun. The simple killstreaks were easy enough to use and didn’t totally alter the game in multiplayer.

Hell, even the single player campaign was amazing. I felt like I was in a movie and it was certainly one of the first games that I legitimately couldn’t take out of my system. I basically stopped playing most other games. I didn’t buy COD 5: World at War because I was sick of WW2 shooters. It had nothing to do with wanting to have more mobility or some sort of exo-suit… if I wanted that I’d have bought Hali or even Killzone. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was simple in its own way and that’s what made it great.

Activision started breakin records because of the success of the Modern Warfare games. They improved those games throughout the rest of the trilogy. In the meantime they started releasing DLC to bring in more money. They even had most of the DLC finished prior to release and on the disc… they just wanted to make you pay for it… because they knew you would.

Fast forward to now and we see the money grab that has been Advanced Warfare and Black Ops 3. The terrible campaigns for single player and the sci-fi exo-suit, wall running atrocity that has become common place in Call of Duty.

Meanwhile, their latest launch trailer has received over 300,000 dislikes. It’s a game based in space warfare/invasions/whatever/sigh.

What makes this the worst Call of Duty ever? The fact that if you buy the ‘Legacy Edition’ for $80 ($20 more than regular retail) you will get COD4 Modern Warfare – Remastered. Yeah… they know what you want and now they are going to try and take you to the cleaners if you want to play it again.

This goes beyond not caring about customers… this is as close to bad business as a company can get without encouraging a class-action lawsuit. I will no longer be buying Call of Duty games as long as they continue this type of behavior.

Good bye Call of Duty, it was good when it was good… but you’ve changed man… you’ve changed.

Not In Madden – Big Trades Still Don’t Exist

With the recent trades leading up to the NFL Draft I really have to wonder what makes it so difficult for EA to add things like this to Madden’s Connected Franchise Mode. This isn’t the first time we have had the exchange of more than 3 picks/plays from one team to another. In this case it even involves a pick from the 2018 draft!

NFL_Draft

Madden has unfortunately been an annual addition to my gaming library every year since Madden 2007 (I skipped out on Madden 06 because I was broke and just out of college among other things). Now we are looking at an NFL that doesn’t allow legitimate real-time injuries to take place in the NFL video game. Nor do they seem to allow player morale or other such depth into a game that holds a monopoly over football gaming.

The more I see how front offices work in the NFL the more I realize how broken Madden has been for a rather long time. I don’t expect ultra-realistic things to happen, but seriously – when can we trade more than three draft picks at a time? When will they make trade logic a thing?

Maybe I am asking the wrong question.

When will 2K make a football game again?

What Happened to Great Stories In Gaming?

During this generation of consoles I have beaten more games than I give myself credit for.

Say what you want about hating Call of Duty, but this rendering of Kevin Spacey alone made me want to buy the game months ago.

I don’t mean getting all the trophies or achievements either. I mean playing through the story or campaign.

I wish I could say I remembered them, but there are only a few I can recall that have been memorable experiences.

Here are my brief summaries of the PS4 games I have beaten the stories and campaigns

– Watch_Dogs was the first game I bought ‘new’ for my PS4 and it was interesting and enjoyable for what it was at the time. The story was okay, but in the end it felt like it should have been more. Sadly, it wasn’t anything worth buying DLC for then or after.

– Killzone Shadow Fall was a game that I wanted to play strictly because it was a PS4 exclusive and the visuals were stunning (especially when that first trailer hit… whoa!). The story seemed interesting, but by the end I felt like someone had left me out of a few chapters and the story kind of ended with me killing some guy… every FPS, ever.

– Destiny… Seriously? This game was supposed to be so deep and have so much to do and in the end it was about 7 hours of gameplay for a non-existent story and a bunch of grinding for weapons and loot that only really mattered in the Crucible. I will probably never buy another Bungie game because of this.

– Battlefield 4 didn’t disappoint me because I knew to expect garbage. It hasn’t had a meaningful campaign since Bad Company 2 (and even that was mostly because of interactions within your squad rather than something interesting in the story).

– Wolfenstein was somewhat enjoyable as it was strictly a campaign full of nostalgia for those of us that missed killing a bunch of Nazis and weird robots, etc. The villains were rendered well and they were on par with what I expected from Wolfenstein… over the top and weird and worth every wonderful bullet in the end.

– Knack – Meh, it’s a kids game and the story played much like it should. Adventure meets story meets terribly hidden antagonist meets basic platform game with a kitschy ability for the protagonist.

– Grand Theft Auto V – I played through this game on the PS3 and then bought it again and played through again on the PS4. It remains one of the games I will probably not delete from my hard drive (as it was my first digital purchase and took over 9 hours to download and install… not joking). The story was like every other GTA, a bunch of people need to get shot or run over somehow and then you watch the credits roll before turning the city into further chaos because you are bored.

– Call of Duty Advanced Warfare was just like every other Call of Duty but this one had jet packs and exo-suits. The only enjoyable aspect of this game and the story involved was the acting of Kevin Spacey. He has rarely done something as far as his acting goes that was sub-par. I won’t remember the story as much as I will remember the fact that Spacey was a great villain and did a great job with his performance in this game. Otherwise, this was just as lame as every Call of Duty since the Modern Warfare Trilogy ended.

– Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes was a prologue that offered more than enough reason for a hardcore fan such as myself to pay $30 for it. The only thing about it that leaves a sour taste is that it was a pre-cursor for the disappointment we’d feel in the Phantom Pain.

– Metal Gear Solid V – The Phantom Pain was probably the one game I looked forward to the most out of any over the last five or six years. Then it came out and blew my mind with Chapters one and two only to basically kick me in the balls with a chapter three that was missing. I will never forget that and might not look at Konami or Kojima the same way again.

– Fallout 4 is a game I figured I’d put 400 hours into and totally forget about the disappointment of Metal Gear. Wrong. Fallout 4 let me basically discover mysteries I’d figured out about 3 hours into the game and then when I found new places for settlements I’d get to play post-apocalyptic Sims with a bunch of idiots that somehow managed to forget how to feed themselves or sleep without a bed.

Now I find myself looking at a few games I have yet to finish in my library.

The Witcher 3 – It is coming up on the one year anniversary for this title and I think I will beat this game just before that point. It remains at this point one of my favorite experiences as the story is relatively interesting and the world is enormous – almost too big to be honest. I find it hard to complain about this because it at least has an astounding amount of content and originality.

Bloodborne – I bought it at launch a year ago or so, sucked at it so bad that I sold it online and then bought it again in January. Why? Because it is one of the best games ever. It is legitimately difficult and unforgiving. I often wonder why we as gamers settle for anything less than what Bloodborne provides us with strictly from the gaming level of challenge. The story is almost invisible, but somehow it still manages to grab me through the amazing artwork and design. I could just stare at this game all day and be a happy gamer.

Call of Duty – Black Ops 3 – I have prestiged a few times in multiplayer and have yet to get even a quarter of the way through the campaign. The only other Call of Duty games I have never played through are COD 3 and World at War. Both of them are Treyarch titles and I must say I don’t worship them as much as others seem to. Black Ops and Black Ops 2 were okay at best, but with Ghosts, Advanced Warfare and now Black Ops 3 going in whatever MLG post-millennial direction they are – I wonder why in the hell I bought the digital deluxe version of this game.

Metal Gear Solid V – The Final Theory

MGS V – SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!!!

After my last article about getting over what seems to be a terrible ending to a game that we have put far too much thought into I started to look away from Metal Gear Solid V – The Phantom Pain and back towards Ground Zeroes. I have come to realize a couple things about these games and how we are looking at them from the wrong perspective (figuratively and maybe even literally).

Bear with me on this ride, it might get a bit silly as far as theories go.
There Are Three Chapters to MGS V
Ground Zeroes, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 are all a part of the story we have played through, assuming we played both pieces of software.
That said, if you look at the story and think about them as a stand-alone multi-disc game you will see that they are certainly a complete story in many regards. They aren’t a great story in any sense, but it is also the nature of the beast with games anymore. Now that we have seen the fallout of Konami/Kojima, I am sure there was a lot left out as well. Regardless, it doesn’t take away from the fact that if you look at both games you can see that it really is a rather full story in most cases.
The Deep Theory
Naked Snake- AKA, Big Boss was never a part of MGS V – Ground Zeroes.
I have come to look at the story as a whole in a new light. I believe we have all been lied to since the beginning of MGS V (Ground Zeroes). It is my theory that Big Boss was never present in either game. Venom Snake (AKA ‘Boss’ in MGS V – GZ & TPP) was set up from the beginning to undertake what turned out to be a strange mission of vengeance against a faceless enemy.
This rings of all sorts of metaphors and such if you let your mind wander down the ‘rabbit hole’. or maybe it’s a snake hole?
Ground Zeroes Observations and Points
From the beginning we have an eye patch (much like Snake in MGS 3 – Snake Eater). We also have two functioning arms, as far as we can tell. The intro sees Skullface interacting with Chico and Paz in Cuba as prisoners/torture victims. Snake goes on to rescue both of them and evacuate on a chopper.
A few things to note –
+ We are on good terms with Huey.
+ Skullface seemingly appears out of the blue as far as storylines go. They say he secretly commanded for Cipher and such, and that is likely true. However, it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense for Big Boss to have any beef with the guy.
+ Chico and Paz both react strangely to Snake rescuing them. They almost don’t fully believe it is him – sounds quite similar to what happens later, no?
+ The entire mission and aftermath of the destroyed Mother Base, etc. seems manufactured to me. Afterall, Big Boss is supposed to be building a nation in Africa, not the ocean.
Ground Zeroes Theory(ies)
I believe a few things about Ground Zeroes that will make sense of the entire MGS V experience. The first is that from the beginning Big Boss was never under our control. I believe Venom Snake was being brainwashed and sent on this mission from the beginning. He wasn’t a medic on a chopper protecting Snake from some explosion on the platform. He was in the chopper with Miller on a mission that was supposed to play a part in him being tested as the doppelganger for Big Boss. We have always been Venom Snake as far as MGS V goes. V isn’t 5 in this case, it is V for Venom Snake. Roman numerals were never used for the other MGS games and I believe there is a good reason for that.
GZ – Off the beaten path Theory – There are a few other things that happen in Ground Zeroes that make me question everything as well. The Déjà vu mission is both a flashback for us, but also a strange flash forward for Venom Snake in the supposed time of MGS V (around the early 1980s). This makes me wonder if the snake hole is even deeper than we thought.
Maybe this is all a weird experience within a strange AI. Maybe none of this is happening, from GZ through TPP. It would make sense for this to be a total mindf**k if Kojima wanted it to be. If you played through MGS through MGS 4 you can see that nanomachines and mind altering have been integral within the entire experience. Maybe we are simply experiencing the created memories given to a clone of Big Boss?

The Phantom Pain Theory –
Every other complete Metal Gear Solid game (1, 2, 3, Peacewalker and 4) has had numerous boss fights and interactions. In TPP we also have boss fights, but they aren’t set up to feel that way.
We have to fight Quiet, Eli, The Man on Fire and Sahelanthropus (on a couple occasions). I think a lot of what we experience in this game as far as feeling like something was missing is when we consider two characters that we never really fight – Skullface and Psycho Mantis.

These aren’t important interactions in the sense of the overall story. I believe Kojima made these all rather forgetable because this isn’t meant to be a Big Boss story or Solid Snake… it’s Phantom story… a ghost story. It is supposed to blow away like ashes.

Also… nuclear disarmament and Peace (The elusive Chapter 3) will never happen. Why? Because if they happen there is no MGS – MGS 4. Sure they reference the tech being there in the future… but it is a losing battle.

Ocelot Protects The Man He Will Become. Eli (Liquid Snake) –
There was so much potential for holes to develop in the story that I believe Kojima was brilliant in this way. Ocelot didn’t seem like the Ocelot we have known in every other MGS title. Every other title has him acting incredibly arrogant and sometimes even foolishly. He is so even-keeled in MGS V – TPP (Keep in mind, he isn’t to be seen or heard from in GZ.?) that it makes me wonder if he is on Xanax.
The only time Ocelot really shows his true colors is in the torture room. interesting. Considering the game ends with a discussion between the two men about the future roles of David (Solid Snake) and Eli (Liquid Snake) in the fight for dominance as the real ‘Big Boss’. I think the real reveal is yet to be known. I believe there is something bigger on the horizon and it involves Solid Snake.

Kojima’s Good Bye To Metal Gear –
More than anything else with the Metal Gear Story from Snake Eater through Metal Gear Solid 4 as far as literal story timeline goes – Kojima has completed the circle/spiral. He started it all back in the Early-Mid 80s and then MGS grabbed us and put us on this wild ride. It is my belief that Kojima wanted to finish any of the holes in his timeline. I believe TPP was an effort to if not explain every detail maybe fill the gaps with something. anything. He had referenced on many occasions a wish to move on from Metal Gear. As selfish as I am for more Metal Gear from Kojima, I also understand how much it sucks to work on the same thing for a long time. let alone being an artist that has to work on the same art for decades. It sounds dreadful when you think of it that way. does it not?

Final Theory –
Metal Gear Will Go On And David Hayter Will Return As Snake
This might be more of a hope than a theory. However, there is something to consider with all of the Metal Gear Solid Storyline finished through MGS 4. Solid Snake is still living at the end of MGS 4. and Big Boss has made it to be alongside his clone as well.
Metal Gear as a series is now owned by Konami without the presence of Kojima.
It is my belief that Solid Snake has been cloned and they will find a way to develop a way for him to go on fighting with Hal by his side in the future. Before The Phantom Pain was announced, I posed a theory as to whether or not there would be another MGS game after MGS4 (see here).
I believe we will see Solid Snake once again and it will end up being around the year 2032-2040. This is because I believe Naomi took Solid Snake’s DNA (while probably possessing that of Big Boss and perhaps even Liquid Snake/Ocelot) midway through MGS 4. She seemed to be full of so much regret for having taken part in what turned out to be the brief life of Solid Snake that I think she wanted a chance to for lack of a better phrase – pay it forward.
Solid Snake isn’t dead by the time MGS 4 rolls credits, and Hal is still alive and kicking with Meryl, Johnny and Sunny. It is my hope that we will see Meryl become the new Colonel and Solid Snake’s clone enter the future world of stealth espionage when he reaches the age necessary to learn the skills that are waiting in his DNA.

Operation Intrude – N313

With Metal Gear Solid V – The Phantom Pain leaving a bad taste in the mouth of almost every hardcore fan (myself among them) I am still waiting for Chapter 3 and I firmly believe it was going to be something magnificent.

This isn’t because I think Chapter 3 is coming… hell, it isn’t because I believe mission 51 will be finished and/or released. It isn’t even because I think Konami would all but totally redeem themselves. No… it’s because the last part of The Phantom Pain made me think we were going to the only part of Metal Gear that wasn’t ‘Solid’. I thought we were going to hear David Hayter’s ‘Solid Snake’ arrive in the jungle in search of Metal Gear and Gray Fox. When I first played through TPP and finished learning ‘The Truth’ I saw the tape for Operation Intrude and my heart skipped a beat.

This was the greatest game ever made and I was going to get to finish where I began as a kid. Then the credits rolled and there was no chapter three… there was nothing. A broken mirror with more questions than answers.

Metal Gear as a saga may have ended just before the lines of the circle met. This leaves so many questions among the fans that really aren’t as important as the story and filling the holes that The Phantom Pain left. I understand from the obvious message of literal Phantom Pain being felt by Venom Snake and his missing limb, and even our pain of feeling like the story remains unfinished. Yeah… we all get the message.

What left me in this still somewhat annoyed state was the feeling that I missed out on the last part of a story. It reminds me of James Caan in ‘Elf’ when he approves the story about the puppy and the pigeon although it is missing the last few pages. I saw chapter three coming… I saw Solid Snake creeping through the mist into Outer Heaven. I saw that first sleeping soldier next to a jeep… I saw it all ripped from me. I felt betrayed and yes even a bit angry.

‘What the f**k? That’s it? It’s over?’

I want so badly to join the believers out there that think there is more hidden for us in TPP. However, I also know better than to waste my time with trying to uncover something that isn’t covered to begin with.

The Phantom Pain is an unfinished epilogue and prologue in the same work. At this point we have to let it go and move on to whatever we decide to do next.

New Rules, The NFL, and How You Are Ruining Sports Games

With all their new rules you’d think Bill Maher was the new commissioner of the NFL… don’t get that joke? Either I am the Dennis Miller of gaming commentary and online personas or I am just old and lame.
I am starting to think that Madden has hit that slope as well.
Seeing that the draft is coming up and the NFL is as popular as ever it seems like they would be pushing more and more to make their monopoly on football video games a more true representation of the game on the field and on television. Then again, maybe they are when it comes to all the rule changes that seemingly gut the NFL of any sort of toughness under the guise of ‘player safety’.
In Madden it is nearly impossible to injure a player by hitting them harder (which is basically 80% of the injuries in the league). In Madden your players can’t get unsportsmanlike conduct penalties because that type of thing isn’t in the game either. So, the new rule of two penalties for being an arrogant taunting jerk with a big mouth has no place in Madden to begin with.
This is why I constantly wonder when the madness will stop. When will 2K or another publisher pour in the resources to give football fans and football gamers a different option from Madden? I have been on this journey for over a decade demanding a true competitor to Madden and the football gaming monopoly.
I am starting to wonder if I’m alone out here on the digital gridiron. Everyone else seems happy to play two-hand touch on Madden and I am stuck wondering why I waste so much time playing a Franchise Mode for the sake of having a ‘new’ football option every year.
This might be why I am looking forward to MLB 16 more and more. At least SCEA goes above and beyond to truly add depth to their game every year. Madden has seen their top guys leave over the course of the last few years and with that they haven’t grown or done anything new. They have invested in Ultimate Team because gamers seem to have more money than they know what to do with. So in many respects, if you are playing Ultimate Team you are part of the problem as well. I’d say this goes for Diamond Dynasty players on MLB, but now that SCEA has made it so you earn packs as you play the game rather than simply giving the option to buy more (which you can also do)… maybe they are similar afterall.

Maybe I am just like Mugatu and I have taken crazy pills somewhere along the way.

The Difference Between ‘Versus’ & ‘And’ – FPS Games

A few years ago EA/DICE released Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 as their preemptive attack on the hearts and minds of modern combat FPS gamers. This move was largely in response to the Call of Duty Modern Warfare regime breaking all sorts of sales records and taking a huge number of gamers hostage in their fast paced and crispy arcade-style shooter.

That’s also where the similarities and battle between games stops in its tracks.

Battlefield 4 came out in late 2013 and still has a base of over 60,000 gamers across consoles and PC. Call of Duty releases a new game annually through one of three developers and they are widely considered the preeminent shooter when it comes to gaming these days. Where COD continues to try and freshen up a game with jump boosting and wall running, Battlefield continues to refine gameplay and tighten up on the stability of their online experience.

A lot of gamers jumped into the imaginary mosh pit of COD vs. BF a few years ago when the developers seemed to be at war. It was like they thought they had to choose sides. As time has passed and gamers grew into their habitats for shooter preference it became clear that these games weren’t at war directly from a gaming perspective. While they were certainly at war on the corporate end of EA vs. Activision they were on different planets otherwise.

Call of Duty has a more crisp feeling to its controls and handling. I compare it very much to Halo in this regard. You aren’t going to feel much recoil in the control or screen presentation – ever. It is also much like Halo, focused on maps that are largely centered on infantry based combat. Halo does have its fair share of vehicles, etc… and we will stop the mentions right there.

Battlefield has always felt slower and a bit more difficult to master when it came to aiming and firing weapons because almost every weapon felt different from recoil to carrying speed to aiming in general. Battlefield is closer to a simulation than Call of Duty will ever be. It isn’t a good or bad thing… it is just a fact.

That is why we are looking back to Battlefield 3/4 and now forward to Battlefield 5. It is my hope that Activision will release another crappy iteration of Ghosts and I will be able to save $60 to put towards the premium edition of Battlefield instead. This is because when it comes to
Battlefield and Call of Duty it will occasionally result in Battlefield versus a crappy COD game.

As for Battlefield Hardline, Medal of Honor War Fighter… etc… well, COD had my time and money during that time. Personally, I’m tired of booster jumping and wall running.

Granted… I’m also an OG when it comes to gaming, so maybe I should set aside my bias.

Yeah… nope.

Dear Call of Duty Modern Warfare – Please Come Back We Miss You

I know some gamers out there would blow up every Call of Duty (COD) game in the world if they could. Personally, I can only think of a few I genuinely couldn’t stand (COD 3, World at War, Black Ops and Ghosts). I have enjoyed most of the other titles quite a bit. My favorites have always been the collection of the Modern Warfare Trilogy.

These titles were not only great campaigns (albeit a bit predictable) but they had hands down, the best multiplayer experiences I ever had in a COD game. The maps were usually well designed with the occasional spawn camping nightmares that would see me rage quit pretty fast. Even with the spawning issues these titles held up well. My favorite part about the move into Modern Warfare (COD4) was that it introduced kill streaks. I loved the simple 3, 5, 7 system that made every map feel like there was potential to get a UAV, Air Strike and Helicopter. They were basic and didn’t typically overshadow the battling on the map between the players.

Eventually, we got to dive into MW2 and experience the best maps, the best weapons and some of the best kill streaks ever. The only aspect that seems negative in retrospect is the introduction of the tactical nuke on top of the growing trend if overpowered killstreaks. Don’t get me wrong… I loved the AC-130 and the Pavelow, but these were game-changers for the future of overpowered killstreaks.

Even with these gains I looked forward to MW3 and it didn’t disappoint, but it also didn’t impress me much on the map end of things. They seemed uninspired at best and the kill streaks felt stale. This is something that seems to have become a habit and legacy issue of late… not to mention the weak campaigns over the last four games after MW3… and that doesn’t seem like a trend that will end any time soon.

I truly miss the smooth handling and true battles I felt like were possible on Modern Warfare before they started adding jump boosting and wall running. Now they are adding overpowered killstreaks to a game that doesn’t need any sort of additional reason to make Call of Duty into a caricature of itself. Be it the mini-tank or the robot soldier or the HATR that shows the location and movement of every opponent in real time… these are all overpowered and take away from what Call of Duty used to be back in Modern Warfare.

Maybe I am the curmudgeon of gaming and dream of yesteryear a bit too much. I don’t think that is the case. I truly believe it’s time for Call of Duty to go back to its roots. Make it a battle between players with weapons moving around maps. Take the AI out of it and bring back Modern Warfare.

Taking Your Draft To The Next Level – Madden 16

Now that the order of the first twenty teams of the 2016 NFL Draft have been determined it is officially draft season for many fans. This includes yours truly… the constantly disappointed by my Browns ‘in real life’ Dawg Pound faithful Cleveland fan.

What makes it all better for me is knowing that I can at least build my team effectively in the draft on Madden 16. Fortunately, you don’t have to be an analytics wiz like Paul DePodesta to do this either. Here is a quick-ish guide to scouting and drafting better players in Madden 16.

Scouting…It Matters
It took me awhile to realize that the most valuable moment in Madden 16 scouting is the first and cheapest ‘letter grade’ for each player. This is because it only get worse after that first grade… seriously, once you realize that the best grade they have is the first one you find you can quickly determine who to cast away as a waste of resources.

Scout Needs and Schemes First
Now that we know that letter grades will be a good guide for investing more points we can eventually scout all of the players that fit our scheme first.

C+ Is Not Average, It’s Bad
When scouting any players you should never be excited to see a ‘C’ rating. This is never a good sign and should tell you to move on. If you want to take a chance on some WR with ‘A’ SPD and ‘C+’ catching, that’s on you.

Combine ‘Final Litmus Test’
Never judge your prospects solely by their combine score. Always check out where they ranked in the important categories. If your LT prospect was 12th in the 40 yd dash, who cares? If he is the strongest Bench Press LT you might be happy to take him. The combine scores aren’t as important as the rankings for each workout. Do the extra button press and judge your prospects accordingly.

Don’t Be Afraid To Trade Down
If you don’t believe there is a ‘must have’ player for your team where you are picking you should always look to trade for other picks. If you have a Top 5 or 10 pick and want to trade, you could find a lot of great offers. Don’t take a player in the Top 10 if he doesn’t have at least an ‘A’ or an ‘A-‘ Grade in one category with ‘B+’ after… otherwise, you will find you drafted too high.

Take A Chance In Rounds 3-7
You will find that some players projected well (green projections) will be worth taking in the round before their projection at times, especially in later rounds.

While I wouldn’t suggest taking a projected 5th Round player in the 2nd or 3rd round, they might actually be worth it if their combine and grades check out. Take your time and be picky with this as you learn what your team needs.

Don’t Forget Position Changes
What many people might forget is that some players that might not fit schemes as they are listed for the draft but they would be perfect if they changed positions. That 3-4 DE might be too fat and slow to be a DE for your Attacking 4-3, but that doesn’t mean you can ‘ draft him and edit his position to DT just after the draft. This is the only time you can do it for any player, so don’t forget. Also, take a look at changing CB to SS or FS as it may fit them better. You can always mess with these things to see which ratings will be the best for OVR.

You should now be on track to have a top draft every single year.