We’re constantly being teased about Joe Montana Football 16 from the man himself. Although nothing has been officially announced except the fact that the title is coming, we’re still getting excited for a new football game and what it could mean. We’re incredibly stoked that Joe Montana Football 16 will use Unreal Engine 4, and we’ve already seen a screenshot from the game that looks pretty damn great.
If you’re like us, you’re sick of the yearly iterations of the Madden franchise, but you probably buy them anyway (because, well, EA has a monopoly on NFL football games and we need football in our lives). Joe Montana Football 16 gives us hope for a football game that fans will truly love, because we definitely need new football games to play.
So without further ado, here are 6 things we want from Joe Montana Football 16:
1. ‘Joe Montana Football 16’ Needs to Come to PC
We have no idea who is developing or publishing Joe Montana 16, but if the people involved miss the opportunity to bring a football game to PC it would be a huge mistake. The PC crowd doesn’t currently have a football game on PC to play, so there’s a huge chunk of the video game market that would want one to play. Also, what’s great about PC games is that the community is always creating mods — something that console gamers can’t do. I’m not sure about the legality of the idea, but if the Joe Montana 16 publisher opens the game up to mod support, is it possible that modders could potentially create their own NFL game? Hmm… Even if that couldn’t legally happen, the potential for other mods are endless. Zombies playing football? Count me in!
2. The Game Has to Be Developed By A Big Name Studio And Published By A Big Name Publisher.
Putting Joe Montana Football 16 in the wrong hands would be detrimental to its potential success. Fans mostly want the game to come from 2K Sports, but the fact that the developer and the publisher has not yet been announced leads us to believe it’s going to be a big reveal at E3 2015, probably by Microsoft. It’s possible that it could be developed by 2K and published via Microsoft. The fact that Joe Montana himself tweeted that he was on the Microsoft campus a few weeks ago pretty much seals the deal, doesn’t it? Why else would he be there? Of course, the big rumor is that EA’s deal with the NFL only covers third party games and that Microsoft’s current contract with the NFL for NFL on Surface and Xbox One could allow them to use the NFL license if it is a first party game.
3. Be a Football Sim, Not a Blitz-Wannabe.
We don’t want anything other than a football simulator at this point. And no, don’t use the XFL because that’s not going to help your case. Either allow users to completely create their own team, or find a loophole so that you can use actual NFL players. Because if this turns out to be an arcadey football game — and I don’t think that’ll be the case — it’s not going to sell well.
4. It Needs to Be Better Graphically than ‘Madden’ and Run at 60 FPS.
I’m not one to bicker about the difference between 900p and 1080p, but there’s definitely a visual difference between a 30 fps game and a 60 fps game — it’s undeniable. If Joe Montana Football 16 plans to take away some of the Madden crowd, it’s going to have to be better in every possible way that it can, and that means running at 60 fps compared to Madden’s 30 fps.
5. Tackling Physics Need to Be Better Than They Are In ‘Madden.’
Tackling physics in Madden are one of the biggest gripes year after year, and EA has yet to get it right. Last year’s Madden NFL 15 came closer, but there were still a ton of wonky physics that contorted players like they were spineless. Joe Montana Football 16 would have to somehow get it right, whether it be motion capturing full games and somehow utilizing that in the game or something else. Get tackling right, and you might be able to pick up a big chunk of Madden players.
6. Get the Real Coaching Personalities in the Game.
Ever notice that when Madden cuts to the sidelines during a game to look at the coaches, it’s mostly the same repeated animations over and over again. I hate to tell you, EA, but not all coaches act the same. There’s a huge difference in coaching styles between Jim Harbaugh and Joe Philbin, so why are they both crossing their arms and shaking their heads while holding a clipboard the exact same way? Bring some dynamic actions to coaches using their actual likenesses. It’d definitely be more enjoyable to see a crazy Rex Ryan or angry Bill Belichick acting like themselves than to see a lifeless, typical animation.
Have your own ideas about what you’d like to see from Joe Montana Football 16? Sound off in the comments below and get the conversation started.
