Madden 23 FieldSENSE Deep Dive: JJ’s Notes

EA released a Deep Dive on Madden 23’s gameplay, with a new added feature called FieldSENSE that is meant to make animations and passing more realistic and skill-based. Here’s what I took away from this that will be major parts of the gameplay.

• There will be a reticle and target area where you can aim your pass when throwing to a receiver. There will also be a smaller circle within that zone that will guarantee that the receiver will animate to try to catch the ball. This will allow the player to aim where the throw will be based on where the defender is, instead of just relying on your QB’s accuracy ratings and animations
• Madden 23 will also feature the return of precision passing, renamed “Free Form Passing” which will allow you to use the left trigger (LT/L2) to determine where your pass will go with precision accuracy
• The low pass button command will be removed, and instead you will have to aim low on the receiver with the Free Form Passing feature
• There will be 2 passing meters: A power meter and accuracy meter. Through settings, you can activate the power meter only (Placement), or the power and accuracy meters (Placement and Accuracy). Much like NBA 2K games, if you activate the Placement and Accuracy meter, there is a blue section of the meter meaning releasing the receiver’s button at this time will guarantee a perfect pass. If you release outside of the blue zone, the pass accuracy will rely on your QB’s passing attributes. The blue zone of the meter can shrink when attempting to pass under pressure, cross-body, on the run, and other kinds of difficult passes. X-Factors and Abilities can help to make the passing meter easier to use. The power meter will allow you to see what kind of pass you’ll throw by showing when to release the button for a Lob, Touch, or Bullet pass.

• Now, you can use LT/L2 to do a precision cut, or “360° Cut” to determine exactly where you want to go, wether it’s avoiding a defender or cutting into a gap in run blocking

• You can now essentially “juke out” an incoming blocker using the Defensive Evade maneuver. Using the same motion as a juke with a ball carrier, you can evade and step around to avoid engaging in a block

• Madden 23 will feature new hop-steps and other WR release moves. This update is mainly for players who are using a WR at the start of the snap. Using the left stick, flick in one of 5 directions to jump at the release and shake off the defender. When cutting on routes, LT/L2 will be used to make cuts, while RT/R2 is used only for sprinting on the route
• While running routes, flicking the right stick down, left, or right will do a fake cut or stutter step to fool the defender
• The CB can also match this cut by seeing where the WR is moving and cutting in that same direction to avoid getting shake off the press

• There are thousands of new animations a player can receive with FieldSENSE
• When there is a tackler on a ball carrier, taking another defender and running into this tackle will no longer create an entirely new animation out of the tackle, but instead will help the other defender take down the ball carrier
• When a ball carrier is stood up, another defender can come in and hit stick or strip the ball, which will be more effective due to the ball carrier’s vulnerability while stood up
• Sometimes, if you hit stick or run into another defender while he is tackling, if can knock off the defender from the tackle, allowing the ball carrier to break the tackle and run freely
• When a gang tackle occurs, every added defender will help the motion of the gang tackle, instead of just having extra players doing nothing like in previous years
• You can now also hit a block to avoid engaging, and if another player is engaged in a block, you as a defender can run into the blocker to free up the other defender
• Now, when engaging in an interaction at the catch point as a defender, the way you decide to go about the interaction can determine what will happen. When attempting to intercept the ball by selecting “Play Ball”, you have a higher chance of intercepting the ball, but if you fail, the receiver has a very high chance of breaking the tackle after catching it. When attempting to swat the ball, you cannot intercept the ball, but the receiver’s ability to catch the ball is extremely low unless zone abilities are activated. Finally, when hit sticking or simply tackling the receiver, their chance of catching the ball is high and the likelihood of you intercepting is low, but the tackle will almost always be secured.