TIL Madden 2018 features a story mode called "longshot" that is partially inspired by Nate Boyer

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

I haven't played an EA football game since NCAA Football died several years ago, and never really followed the pros or anything. So cue my surprise when I learned modern Madden games feature full story modes, with cutscenes and cinematics that focus on one player as he goes from college to the pros. Apparently this has been a thing in sports video games since that Michael Jordan mode in NBA2k several years back.

Anyways, Madden 2018's story mode is called "Longshot" and it is inspired by former Green Baret and Texas Longhorn Nate Boyer. The main character is a made up player named Devin Wade who is a former Army soldier who, through the course of the story, rekindles his love of Football after his playing days at the University of Texas. Nate Boyer himself even does voice acting for the story mode.

The story mode is like a damn movie, it's over 3 hours long and all on youtube. It's surprisingly awesome and actually got me hyped:

 

[Sgt Hulk 13,647]

3 hours.  Ain’t no body got time for that 

[BurntEyes 5,833]

1 minute ago, Sgt Hulk said:

3 hours.  Ain’t no body got time for that 

It's in the game.

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

9 minutes ago, Sgt Hulk said:

3 hours.  Ain’t no body got time for that 

To be fair, part of the 3 hours is somebody actually playing the game. As in, the football parts between the story. They're not full games, they're more like offensive highlights (cause the main character is a QB, and the secondary character is his life long best friend and WR), but they still make up a huge chunk of the run time. you can pretty much skip to the last play of any of those sections, since only the last play is cinematic and relevant to the story. For example, the first time you see football game action is when the main character has to lead a comeback as a freshman in highschool off the bench down 21 in the 3rd quarter. From that point on, it's just normal madden video game, except the last play, which is all dramatic and cinematic and shit when the comeback is complete.

Without spoiling too much, the climax of the story is pretty awesome. It's kind of a bad look for Texas Longhorns fans, but it concludes at DKR and it's pretty awesome.

Edited January 12 by WelfareBuysMyWeed

[Michael Knight 12,897]

This post is about 5 years too late

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

29 minutes ago, Michael Knight said:

This post is about 5 years too late

"Today I learned" 5 years ago? No, wrong.

[BabaYaga 15,212]

Listened to a podcast Nate was on and his story about how me made the team.  Pretty cool to have him unpack it like he did.  He basically walked on at practice, and I think it was Mad Dog that had a soft spot for soldiers who talked to Mack and gave him his shot.  He spent months and months learning to deep snap and the rest is history.  

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

Listened to a podcast Nate was on and his story about how me made the team.  Pretty cool to have him unpack it like he did.  He basically walked on at practice, and I think it was Mad Dog that had a soft spot for soldiers who talked to Mack and gave him his shot.  He spent months and months learning to deep snap and the rest is history.  

Everything I've ever heard about Nate Boyer makes him sound like an incredible person. I'm so glad he got to represent the University.

[Deej 76,566]

Too bad EA spent time on that instead of fixing the actual gameplay. 

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

5 minutes ago, Deej said:

Too bad EA spent time on that instead of fixing the actual gameplay. 

You can take it all the way back to "too bad the NFL signed an exclusive deal with EA." NFK2K/ESPN2K was light years better than any EA football game, college or pro.

I remember walking into Funcoland right after I had bought my Dreamcast in '99 with my dad to buy a memory card, and they had NFK2K playing on a small TV in the corner, and it actually fooled my dad into thinking it was a live football game.

Edited January 12 by WelfareBuysMyWeed

[ousux 5,587]

What about it is "kind of a bad look for Longhorns fans?"

I also used to be an avid gamer but pretty much gave up on the football stuff when NCAA went away, and everything else in recent years.

[Deej 76,566]

4 minutes ago, WelfareBuysMyWeed said:

You can take it all the way back to "too bad the NFL signed an exclusive deal with EA." NFK2K/ESPN2K was light years better than any EA football game, college or pro.

I remember walking into Funcoland right after I had bought my Dreamcast in '99 with my dad to buy a memory card, and they had NFK2K playing on a small TV in the corner, and it actually fooled my dad into thinking it was a live football game.

2k was the tits. 

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

Just now, ousux said:

What about it is "kind of a bad look for Longhorns fans?"

Spoiler

The basic gist of the story is Devin is a super highly rated recruit when he comes to Texas, and is supposed to be Colt McCoy's Successor. His dad dies int a car accident just a couple of games into his career, and Devin quits football over it. The Texas fans are brutal, and turn on him, calling him the biggest bust in college football history. He's absolutely reviled at Texas for quitting.

The story ends with him getting to play one last game at DKR for a reality TV show called 'The Longshot' where the winner gets a shot at being in the NFL draft. He leads a comeback at DKR, and the climax is that he finally wins over Texas Longhorn fans, who end the game chanting his name. The announcers even make note of it: "For him to come here, and win over these fans specifically, has to be a special moment for him."

 

[BabaYaga 15,212]

10 minutes ago, Deej said:

Too bad EA spent time on that instead of fixing the actual gameplay. 

@Deej has higher standards from his time back in the day

Edited January 12 by BabaYaga

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

1 minute ago, Deej said:

2k was the tits. 

The very last one, ESPN 2K5, was fucking incredible, and it was only $20 instead of Madden's $60. That game outsold madden, and that's when EA bought the exclusivity deal. One of the worst things the NFL could have possibly done IMO. You're absolutely right about Madden's gameplay, that's precisely why I don't play any football games anymore. Madden has always been pretty awful.

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

2 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

@Deej has higher standards from his time back in the day

There's a game on Playstation and Xbox and PC called Legends Bowl which is like an old school 16-bit throwback that's pretty fun. They actually have a sequel coming out in a few months based on college teams.

 

[ousux 5,587]

Spoiler

The basic gist of the story is Devin is a super highly rated recruit when he comes to Texas, and is supposed to be Colt McCoy's Successor. His dad dies int a car accident just a couple of games into his career, and Devin quits football over it. The Texas fans are brutal, and turn on him, calling him the biggest bust in college football history. He's absolutely reviled at Texas for quitting.
The story ends with him getting to play one last game at DKR for a reality TV show called 'The Longshot' where the winner gets a shot at being in the NFL draft. He leads a comeback at DKR, and the climax is that he finally wins over Texas Longhorn fans, who end the game chanting his name. The announcers even make note of it: "For him to come here, and win over these fans specifically, has to be a special moment for him."

 

That does make us sound like true SEC fans, so I guess a little prophetic? I can see why they didn't follow Nate's story exactly (nobody cares who the long snapper is as long as they have good snaps) and that's just typical Hollywood style sports drama, no biggie.

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

1 minute ago, ousux said:

6 minutes ago, WelfareBuysMyWeed said:

Spoiler

  Reveal hidden contents

The basic gist of the story is Devin is a super highly rated recruit when he comes to Texas, and is supposed to be Colt McCoy's Successor. His dad dies int a car accident just a couple of games into his career, and Devin quits football over it. The Texas fans are brutal, and turn on him, calling him the biggest bust in college football history. He's absolutely reviled at Texas for quitting.
The story ends with him getting to play one last game at DKR for a reality TV show called 'The Longshot' where the winner gets a shot at being in the NFL draft. He leads a comeback at DKR, and the climax is that he finally wins over Texas Longhorn fans, who end the game chanting his name. The announcers even make note of it: "For him to come here, and win over these fans specifically, has to be a special moment for him."

 

That does make us sound like true SEC fans, so I guess a little prophetic? I can see why they didn't follow Nate's story exactly (nobody cares who the long snapper is as long as they have good snaps) and that's just typical Hollywood style sports drama, no biggie.

Yeah, deffo creative liberties. Like, for example, Devin played football in highschool and college, Nate didn't. But it still is pretty cool, it was worth killing an evening watching IMO.

[Deej 76,566]

4 minutes ago, WelfareBuysMyWeed said:

The very last one, ESPN 2K5, was fucking incredible, and it was only $20 instead of Madden's $60. That game outsold madden, and that's when EA bought the exclusivity deal. One of the worst things the NFL could have possibly done IMO. You're absolutely right about Madden's gameplay, that's precisely why I don't play any football games anymore. Madden has always been pretty awful.

Fond memories of 2K1 on the Dreamcast. First time playing a football game with online functionality. So much fun.

[Deej 76,566]

7 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

@Deej has higher standards from his time back in the day

GIve me credit. I started with this. 

 

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

I gotta say I fucking love the opening to this story mode. It begins when Devin and his friend Colt are little kids, practicing pee wee football with Devin's dad. Devin's dad is wearing an Oiler's jacket, and sets up a situation for an "All texas superbowl" where he's the Texans, and Devin and Colt are the Cowboys in a last second drive on 4th down. You can actually win or lose this game depending on what you do, and it affects the story.

[Longboard Horn 40,142]

I haven't played a Madden game in forever, but I would definitely play this. 

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

4 minutes ago, Deej said:

Fond memories of 2K1 on the Dreamcast. First time playing a football game with online functionality. So much fun.

Same. I'd played online before on my computer with stuff like Quake, but playing an actual football game online was like a whole other level. I actually bought the LAN adapter for the Dreamcast for that game to get better online experience. I remember the commercial for the game too, with a bunch of Packers fans jawing over the internet and a virtual Randy Moss begging the player to shut them up, lol.

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

1 minute ago, Longboard Horn said:

I haven't played a Madden game in forever, but I would definitely play this. 

The Michael Jordan mode from NBA 2K a few years back was fucking awesome, too. That was a little bit different, instead of it being one single cinematic story, you had to follow his career and recreate his greatest feats. So, like, there's an episode called "The Shrug" where you have to drain 6 threes in a half against the Trailblazers, which unlocks a cutscene of Jordan's shrug. Or there's an episode called "The flu" where you have to drain a buzzer beater with all your stats down to minimum. Stuff like that. It was really cool.

[SuperSport 1,333]

13 hours ago, BurntEyes said:

It's in the game.

[Deej 76,566]

4 minutes ago, WelfareBuysMyWeed said:

Same. I'd played online before on my computer with stuff like Quake, but playing an actual football game online was like a whole other level. I actually bought the LAN adapter for the Dreamcast for that game to get better online experience. I remember the commercial for the game too, with a bunch of Packers fans jawing over the internet and a virtual Randy Moss begging the player to shut them up, lol.

I had a friend who would come over, and we'd play 2k1 online for hours on end. It was so easy to destroy other people online with second player. I had the keyboard attachment so we could talk shit to the people we were beating up on. 

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5,391]

3 minutes ago, Deej said:

I had a friend who would come over, and we'd play 2k1 online for hours on end. It was so easy to destroy other people online with second player. I had the keyboard attachment so we could talk shit to the people we were beating up on. 

I had this little microphone that plugged into the dreamcast controller, it was funky. It wasn't like a normal modern headset, it was like bob barker's microphone on price is right, a tiny green ball on a very long stick that pointed upwards. It was my first time ever using voice chat in a game, and I talked so much mad shit in that game haha. Great memories.

[Guest]

13 hours ago, Sgt Hulk said:

3 hours.  Ain’t no body got time for that 

If you’re a gamer, that ain’t shit.

[n64ra 1,078]

Here's a read about it that won't take 3 hours, unless you're aggy

 

https://www.armytimes.com/off-duty/movies-video-games/2017/08/16/army-plays-supporting-role-in-madden-18-story-mode-and-so-does-a-former-green-beret/

[CurlyDumps 4,439]

My college roommate and I played the shit outta NFL 2k on Dreamcast.

 

Edited January 15 by CurlyDumps

[Jkwellborn 6,653]

Pretty sure that was the last version of Madden I bought, and it was just because of the Longshot mode. When it came out, I remember seeing tweets from players talking about it. Jerrod Heard especially.